February 14, 2014
It's our second Valentine's Day in Texas. I promised Gil his present would be my agreeing to go to the RV show in Robstown tomorrow. This is a big gift considering that it's been rainy and cold for 10 days and today and for the days ahead it's going to be in the 70's and 80's! Oh well, we're just looking. Isn't that how we got our last dog? Stay tuned.
Tuesday was our first studio dance lesson, which proved to be challenging because in the North you do the two-step with 'slow, slow, quick, quick' and in Texas it's 'quick, quick, slow slow'. Fortunately, we learned some really good things and didn't fall all over each other.
One day, we headed down to Rockport for lunch at the Poor Man's Country Club. This place is a bar right on the bay, which has the absolute best BLT I've ever had...I've become totally addicted to this BLT! The beer of choice is the Texas Lone Star with the armadillo on the can. We've yet to see a real one....armadillo that is.
We also went to the Rockport Science Museum on the bay the same day. I mentioned this place last year. It's free and they have 'science on a sphere' (SOS). It's pretty amazing and one of 30 in the U.S. Photos from satellites in space are projected to 4 cameras surrounding the white sphere. Nothing is enhanced and the sphere weighs about 50 pounds, is made of carbon fiber and hangs from the ceiling. The topic this week was planets of the solar system. Pretty fascinating --- and did you know poor Pluto is no longer a planet? Many of us were led to believe Pluto was one of the planets when we were in school. Now he's been voted off the island!
We meandered over to Flour Bluff where we found the craziest paint schemes for houses. Carefully look at the photos, and note that the adjacent house next door has two colors of paint. The side closest to the first house is painted the color of the first house. It's totally wacky and most colorful.
Honestly, it's been a little hard for me to blog this year because while we are having a fabulous time, the surprise of new things has somewhat vanished. We feel like we're pretty familiar with life around Port Aransas and Corpus Christi so I guess it's a good news- bad news conundrum. It will still be a fun memory for us to read when we are in our rocking chairs and too old to walk the beach. Did I mention
that we had last years blog printed into a book and plan to do the same
this year. It's a great keepsake for treasured travel memories.
I'm not sure how old that would be since today we met a delightful couple in their late 80's who were walking the beach and traveling as companions. They'd each lost their spouses about 20 years ago, were best friends as couples for 55+ years. They raised their kids together and vacationed on a lake near Brandson, MO.in the summers. They are having a ball as travel companions and enjoying walking the beach. She cooks one night and he cooks the next. Way too cute....amazing stories from the beach with some of the nicest people we've ever met.
This week we also watched a little dog named Camero for our friends' daughter. They went to San Antonio to meet their kids and grands arriving from Minnesota.
Also, on our pond, there are several duck decoys (we don't know why there are decoys). In the photo below, one is a decoy but one little duck is so in love with the decoy, it hangs out by it all day long. Maybe it's missing his mom or thinks it's the love of his life.
Last night we went to a free concert in the clubhouse at the RV park. A guy named Bo Rivers was playing his guitar and wow...he could sound just like Willy Nelson and then switch to Roy Orbison and bellowed out, Pretty Woman, like you've never heard! We liked him so much, we've decided to celebrate Valentine's Day dinner on Saturday night at Virginia's on the Bay where he will once again perform.
It was so fun to receive our mail and magazines this week (thanks Kim!) and found a Valentine puzzle from Xochitl along with some fun little Valentine's. You can tell love is in the air on the island....especially since the rain, cold and wind have disappeared. The moon is full, the air warm and the breezes gentle....perfect. So we send our love to each of you from Texas. We wish you a love-filled day filled with lots of chocolate and warm temperatures!
February 9, 2014
Today, we've been in Port A for a month. While the temps have been averaging 30 degrees below normal, we still love the warmth of new friends, walks on the beach and life in Port Aransas. Fortunately, we look forward to another month with hopefully warmer temperatures. On a rainy day this week, we drove down to Brownsville, about 3 hours to the South. It's a border town where South Padre Island is located. It was fun to explore some new areas and while we didn't get to the flea market, we did drive on the island where the road is really narrow. There are signs that read 'drifting sand' and snow plows keep the road clear from all the sand. The fence separating the US and Mexico is below along with the customs checkpoint where armed guards with dogs simply asked, "are you U.S. citizens?". On the way back, we passed the famous King Ranch and ended with a great dinner at the Texas Roadhouse, which is always nummy.
Dr. Pepper is becoming a new favorite drink ---- just like a true Texan where it's the soda of choice. We've been watching TED talks in the morning to keep our mind challenged and we've seen more movies than we did in the whole last year! The Monuments Men was great! Crazy to go to the show at 11:15 a.m. --- popcorn for lunch always seems to work.
Corpus Christi is the 10th fastest growing economy in the US and it's fun to see all the new construction and building going on, people employed and the signs of a strong economy. Unfortunately, it's ranked 3rd in the country for the most diabetes - lots of overweight people as well. Probably because of all the good restaurants and eating here.
So my heart is still beating at a fast rate from the concert last night. We went with some new friends from Winnipeg to the American Bank Center in downtown Corpus Christi. On the way to the concert, as the traffic slowed for the parking area, the taxi behind us with three passengers, did not see we were slowing and swerved quickly to avoid a more severe impact. He clipped our right rear bumper and fortunately, no one was hurt.
I was worried we were going to be late for the concert as critical information was exchanged for the insurance claim. But we made it! We had fabulous seats and he exceeded our expectations and delivered a tremendous performance. I fell in love all over again....be still my heart! He will always be one of our very favorite country performers.
I stole the sand man from the park website because I wanted to show what Texas snow men look like. Also, the turtle photo shows the type of turtles coming to the beach due to the cold water temperatures. They have a very organized group of volunteers that you call to rescue these endangered turtles.
Gil has recovered from his cold so we're been walking again and are excited for a week filled with more practice two-step dancing, a real lesson and shrimp at Kody's with our favorite Imperial beer from Costa Rica.
February 5, 2014
Today my mom is 91 years young! I've talked to her a coupla times today - once to attempt to sing Happy Birthday to her and once to hear her cry tears of joy as she shared all the 'attention' she wasn't used to getting. She's received lots of cards, new pants, a clock, flowers, pictures and calls. She is feeling very blessed right now and fortunately, has made the decision to stay at her apartment and get the house and stuff ready for an estate sale. I sure hope I not only live to 91 but look this good! Happy birthday to the best mom ever.
So the weather hasn't been too great, but nothing in comparison to the North. Lots of wind and cloudiness coupled with cool temps. When I was complaining about the high winds when walking the beach today, daughter Kim, said, "enjoy the fresh, non-freeze-your snot-in-your-nose air!" You see, it's really all relative. I thought it was gale-force at 40 mph, but again it's all relative.
So the last few days have been interesting and we've done some new things. The RV park held a style show with beachy, vacation/resort wear modeled by some of the ladies at the park. Wine and snacks were served ---wine at 1 in the afternoon! We sandwiched about 50 people into a small room and had lots of fun. Jodi and I headed out to Corpus for a TJ Maxx fix after the show and of course, a quick stop at Ross For Less - my favorite.
There is a big cray fish shortage going on, with special concerns due to Mardi Gras just around the corner. They say it's due to the cool weather (can't call it cold!).
To my chagrin, dance lessons didn't work out as Gil got a nasty, nose-running cold. I did laundry and came home and booked tickets to see Alan Jackson at the Corpus Christi American Bank Center on Saturday night. We're going to dinner first with new friends from Winnipeg and then the show! I can't wait....he is our favorite. We'll catch dance lessons next Tuesday.
I've finally used my oven for the first time, baking banana bread and grilled veggies right now. It really works great!
Since we've been cooped up for a couple days with Gil's cold, we headed out to the DQ last night....the peanut buster parfait is the best! I've been doing pretty good walking despite the wind and cold. I figured I really couldn't afford to skip a day after the trip to the DQ!
The photos below show some of our park, the sunset and my favorite beach dog. The weather changes quickly...one way on the beach it was stormy and on the way back, sunny with beautiful cloud formations. Tomorrow, we hope to head down to Brownsville for a look-see at South Padre Island.
February 2, 2014
Walking 12 miles on the beach this week, helped us prepare for two-steppin' at Ropers. We put on our boots, hats and headed out with Curt, Jodi, Kathleen and Ev on Friday night. We started with a lesson in both line dancing and the country waltz. OK, we quickly realized we need more lessons! Our goal is to dance at Whiskey River!
We're pretty sure some of these Texan's learned to two-step at the same time they learned to walk. So we've signed up for a studio lesson on Tuesday. Great fun, super music and a fun night at Ropers followed by a hearty breakfast at the San Juan the next morning. Can you believe, two pancakes, two eggs and two bacon for $3.29. Never mind the bacon was way too crisp! And never mind that my Reba cowgirl boots are considered 'vintage' in the local shops. Maybe we need to head to Cavender's Boots for an update!
We continue to be amazed at the treasures on the beach. Sandcastle school was a hit with the kids, the sea onion...well we aren't sure about that. It actually looks like the sea onion I found on Google, but then again, it could be an onion that fell overboard from a ship. The wooly bear caterpillar? He's way too far from home and missing his Minnesota stripe AND he kept crawling towards the surf instead of away.
We went to Port A and sat on the jetty for a while yesterday. The fisherman are abundant, the pelican's friendly and the bottle-nosed dolphins playful. We watched one guy reel in his line like he had a lunker...we were all holding our breath only to find he'd snagged the line of the guy down the jetty. The pelican's walk the jetty like they own it and constantly supervise the fishermen as they wait for a small tasty tidbit of something fishy.
Willie had his bath yesterday and his safe-haven is in his beddie under the table. He's such a great camper and a favorite in the park. Everyone knows Willie.
A couple of good news, bad news thoughts to share:
Bad news:
A new front has come through bringing 40+ mph winds from the North and temps dipping to the 30's
It's 100% humidity, with light rain and a totally bad hair day
Nothing EVER dries....
Sometimes the beach walk is so foggy, you can't see in front of you
The cable went out during the first quarter of the Super Bowl!@!$@!#@
Our family is pretty sick of hearing from us and how great the weather is in Texas
It's time to do the dreaded laundry AGAIN!
Good news:
We need to remember to eat less so we'll still fit in the shower
There are more ways to fix shrimp than we ever imagined
The ishy weather doesn't last very long and soon it will be in the sunny 70's again
When you walk the beach, you can get an even tan on both sides of your body
The beach is forever and ever
The sound of the surf is our new favorite song
We are into country dancing!
We are officially winter Texan's
My mom turns 91 this week
My good friend, Kathy, retired after 38 years with Cargill
Way more good news things than bad news! Ya'all...thanks for traveling with us!
January 30, 2014
Tomorrow means we have been in Port A for 3 weeks...we feel like our trailer is our home and we love being Winter Texans. Our rig is really small in comparison to most of the big Class A buses and 5th wheels here, but it is perfect for us AND we have no snow to shovel. The photo below shows 'plowing Texas style'. The little trailer is a 'decoration' we picked up at our stop at Lake Livingston.
We had a fun dinner with two other couples on Tuesday at the local Mexican restaurant where the margaritas are $1.50 along with beers for the same price. The food is great and the company was even better. You get authentic Tex-Mex in Port Aransas. We went back to Ev and Kathleen's for nummy strudel dessert. They are full timers right now and we are pretty sure that isn't for us. At least not now.
I hate to say it to our Northern readers, but it's been really cool and windy here. Buster's delivers propane on Wednesday and there are lots of tanks lined up for a fill. He's got quite a business going and the price escalates every week. This also means we flip the bun warmers on in the car, bundle up and head for town. We drive 15 miles on a flat and straight road that is really a flood plain to the JFK causeway where the bridge rises so far over the waters, you can see forever. It's an amazing sight and the main route for the oil barges to the Gulf from Corpus Christi. We are only about 20 minutes to Corpus Christi. We really like this town and know our way around pretty good. We love that there is always water in almost every direction you look.
We saw the new movie, Jack Ryan (which was GREAT!), Gil got a new hat and we did the tour of the USS Lexington. This aircraft carrier is moored in Corpus Christi permanently. It was a great tour and the day was perfect to view the planes on the flight deck. Four football fields could fit on the deck and this was a small carrier. We felt like true tourists on vacation . The bridge in the background is lighted at night and is in downtown Corpus. Even found time to say hi to Maycen on Tango while on board the ship.
It's interesting that the Gulf shores of Texas, have Adopt-A-Beach like we have Adopt-A-Highway. It's a very successful program and next Saturday is the day to clean the beach. They say the things gathered from the Gulf beaches will fill 90 semi trailers. Pretty amazing, since we never see debris on the beach here...just shells and treasures from the sea.
It warmed up today, so we're back walking the beach. Willie has become a reach beach bum, but crashes pretty early at night. The desert is blooming more, the days are getting longer and we pray the temperatures will continue to keep warming up! And we hope, really hope, the brutal winter relaxes for our friends and family in Minnesota. They deserve an early and warm spring! If not, we may never come back:=)
January 27, 2014
OK, our friends and family in the North are getting even! Another Arctic blast is coming to the Island with lows around 34 with 30 mph winds! This means walking with gloves on and flip flops. We've had so many nice days and take advantage by walking our 4 miles on the beach and of course, talking, talking, talking with all these wonderful people.
Everyone is is in the same boat...sick of the snow and winter but missing the kids so much. Thank heavens for Skype, FaceTime and Tango! A lot was recently sold here and the owner has spent the last three days trying to start and move a big class A motor home, which hadn't been moved since 2008. The sea rusts things beyond comprehension, so finally today they got the slides in and were able to move it onto a flat bed and off the lot. This was not without a lot of muscle, beer and hard liquor for three days. The women set up chairs to supervise the event all three days. The guys were more hands on supervisors.
Last night we went with Curt and Jodi to Pizza Hut. What a crazy event. About 20 minutes into our ordering, the waitress came and said our order had been taken and delivered out to someone. Good grief...who would order the same thing we did? They brought us bread sticks for good will. When the bill came, it was wrong, not once or twice but three times!!! What a crazy deal, but good pizza with wonderful friends.
On a walk yesterday, we met a man whose business is "sand castle lessons" --- now this is my kinda job! When we have 'cleaning day' it's a 5 minute job to get the rig all cleaned...even Cici is learning to clean! We are loving it here and the simple life of no schedule, great friends, sunny and warm temps and of course, our beloved beach and ocean. And the desert is starting to bloom, which means the flowers on the cactus are bursting out along with the rattlesnakes coming out of hibernation.
It's super sad our Minnesota buddies/families are making the national news for the brutal winter in the North. We are blessed to totally be missing these sub-zero temps and snow. Today we went to the H=E=B (the grocery store of choice) and bought fresh shrimp and made wonderful shrimp pasta... all while it was 80 degrees. I know I really hate to even mention it! Well, the chocolate chip cookies are done and we have a Redbox to watch. The Arctic blast is coming so we are getting cozy. Tomorrow we go to the really great Mexican restaurant in town with two other couples.
January 25, 2014
Wearing jamies all day - having a movie marathon...it's just like a snow day only we're in Texas and not sub-zero Minnesota. Can you believe the Corpus Christi morning paper showed 20 school closings with a THREAT of 1/8 inch of snow? Of course, the snow never materialized but the 50 mph winds and cold (33 degrees), makes it pretty terrible outside. The trailer was really rocking last night with the high winds so we told our neighbor to make sure we didn't blow into the pond overnight. We didn't!
Fortunately, Gil figured out how to stream Netflix through the computer as the wireless has been experiencing very heavy usage during this inside day for most RV'ers. The ones that aren't inside are at the laundromat:=) That is where I should be!
So yesterday, like every other Texan around the area, we prepared for the 'storm' by heading to town to stock up on groceries and do a little shopping. We finished the day off with a fabulous dinner at Howard's BBQ. Really great stuff! Ribs and brisket....nummy.
We are getting our fill of Texas Ruby Red grapefruits, we've booked a boat tour in February to see the Whooping Cranes in the Wildlife Refuge and we really hope our Northern friends and family stop sending us these Arctic blasts and the stock market quits diving downward!
