Week in Review: March 3-9, 2013

This week’s blog is partially split between Minnesota and Texas. (I left Minnesota on the 6^th, back to Dick (er, RJ) and the warm weather of Texas.) These flower photos were taken on one of our walks.

These flower / cactus photos were taken on one of our walks.

Minnesota:

In last week’s blog I mentioned that MacKenzie spent the weekend at Grandma’s, with Grandma and me. And Dolce, MacKenzie’s 18-month old Chihuahua was there too. Sunday we rose early to make sure we could make it to church for the 9:30 service. Afterwards I served a ham dinner with all the fixin’s to Mom, brother Rich and MacKenzie. Later that day my dad’s youngest sister Millie and her husband Wayne from Renville, MN stopped by for coffee and freshly made chocolate chip cookies. They had driven up from the southern part of the state for a friend’s funeral scheduled for Monday.  Was good to see them again.

Monday brought temperatures in the 20s, with a cold, raw wind off Lake Superior. Even though the lake is about 20 miles away, it still packs quite a punch weather-wise. At 11:30 we joined six gals from Mom’s church for lunch at Trapper Pete’s, a steakhouse in Cloquet. Meeting every month for lunch, these ladies helped to continue Mom’s birthday celebration by singing Happy Birthday to her. Not one to like attention drawn to herself, she was embarrassed by this show of recognition. Happy to oblige! Set in a rustic atmosphere, Trapper Pete’s food is fabulous and inexpensive.

   

Mom's birthday flowers from RJ and Gail.

That afternoon I started a pair of wrist warmers for MacKenzie, using leftover yarn from the slipper-sox I made for her for Christmas.  Was a good day to stay in and do some knitting. We expected snow to fall late in the day, and we weren’t disappointed. It started to fall around 8 p.m. , not letting up until late Tuesday. The weatherman said to expect up to 8”–this time he was right!

Photo taken from Mom's back deck, showing
5" of the 8" we received on Tuesday.

Temperatures on Tuesday morning were just right for snow: 22 degrees at 6 a.m. By that time only 4” had fallen, but by that evening we had received the full 8”. Brother Rich plows snow when he isn’t busy with his contracting business (Cornerstone Construction), so he was busy, busy. He started plowing Monday evening, and plowed until the early morning hours on Tuesday. After just a few short hours of sleep he was back at it Tuesday morning, and with the exception of a few breaks, was plowing until about 11:30 that night. During one of his breaks he joined Mom, MacKenzie, his wife Karen and me for a pizza dinner. He was so tired! Temperatures at 8 p.m. were still in the 20s but the snow had stopped. (I was thrilled! Did not want to get snowed in and not be able to fly out on Wednesday!) Oh, and I shoveled Mom’s driveway before Rich could back with his plow—I haven’t shoveled snow like that for years!

 

Thought you’d like to see the latest photos of MacKenzie (and her dad, my brother Rich). She’s in the 6^th grade this year, and is growing up so quickly. Loved spending time with her, as I was able to do, since I picked her up from school almost every day while I was there. The 2^nd photo is of MacKenzie and her dad at the annual “Father-Daughter Ball” held in Duluth.

Wednesday morning’s temperature was 10 degrees. Brr! At least the sun was shining brightly off the new fallen snow, and it was gorgeous. Snow was hanging heavy on the trees, and the snow was such a pure white. Rich picked me up to take me to the Duluth airport, where my flight was due to leave at 12:55 p.m. We took off on time, arriving in Minneapolis with about 40 minutes to spare before my flight left for San Antonio. Dick picked me up the San Antonio airport for the 3+ hour drive to Rockport, stopping for a quick bite at Whataburger. We arrived, tired, back in Rockport and our trailer at about 9:30. Good to be home! (I need to mention that when Rich returned to Mom's after dropping me off, he found her outside on her back deck shoveling! Again, he took her "toy" away from her and hid it, hopefully in a better location this time!)

Texas:

Sunday’s temperatures were a bit cool for Texas; only about 47 degrees in the morning before church. Dick attended the 8:30 service at Rockport First Baptist, followed by breakfast at Caroline’s Turtle Bay Café.  (I was happy to hear that he was keeping up that new-founded tradition!) Later that day, when temperatures had reached almost 70, he rode his bicycle along Fulton Beach Road for about 5 miles.

Although Dick doesn’t like to be alone, he did manage to keep himself busy. Monday’s temps reached the mid-70s by noon—a perfect day for a walk. But, he reported, it was really windy! The winds, at 40 mph, made for a tough walk along Fulton Beach Road. He managed only 45 minutes rather than the usual 60. Because we’ll be here in Rockport for only another month, he worked on the route we’ll be taking on our trip north in early April. Stay tuned—more to come on that as the date for our departure draws closer.

Tuesday was another sunny but windy day, with temperatures in the mid-60s to low 70s. (Tough to hear, eh?) Dick met with Dave, a friend from another RV park; they compared notes on visiting the USS Lexington, which Dave and his girlfriend Pat did on Tuesday. Later, Dick walked 60 minutes on the Copano Bay Fishing Pier. Nope, he didn’t fish, so therefore he didn’t catch anything! (A few days ago when we talked on the phone, he said he was having fish for dinner. I asked if he caught it, since I thought he’d take advantage of my time away to go fishing. He was truthful, saying that it was from a can—tuna! Ha! I’m still waiting for fresh fish…!)

Finally, Wednesday arrived! I was coming home! Dick did his usual 60-minute walk, and then picked up the rental car to drive to San Antonio to pick me up. Then, he vacuumed the entire RV before he left. He’s such a good guy! My flight arrived on time at about 5:20. As I mentioned above, we got home about 9:30. (Marvin and Shirley, it’s just not right to look out and see that your King of the Road and Freightliner is gone!!!!)

Thursday was a typical day one has on returning from a trip: getting groceries, and residual cleaning (I dusted and Dick did the exterior windows). There’s a wonderful fruit market not far from our RV park where we picked up grapefruit, oranges, green pepper, and tomatoes. (A couple of weeks ago I picked up a quart of full-strength vanilla for $11 at that market. That should last a while!)

As it’s getting closer to April 15, we met with an H&R Block rep on Friday, to go over our taxes and file. (Our accountant back in Washington State is no longer in the business.) Glad that’s done, but we’re not liking our government very much.  We had our weekly lunch at the RV park’s clubhouse: hamburgers with all the fixin’s for $3. Yum! Then, it was time for laundry. Luckily we able to get right in at the park’s laundry facilities. With over 350 sites, you never know if equipment will be available, even though there are two laundry facilities on site. I was able to do three load simultaneously, which was great. We were done with that chore within about two hours. It was nice to be able to sit outside, enjoying the sun and slight breeze that afternoon. Nice to be home

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After breakfast on Saturday we walked for about 40 minutes, along Fulton Beach Road. So beautiful. The sun was trying to shine through the cloudy skies, and a brisk wind was blowing off the water. Not much photo opportunity this day

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Thursday March 7 through Sunday March 10 is the 34^th annual “Fulton Oysterfest,” in Fulton, TX, sponsored by the Fulton Volunteer Fire Department. Not wanting to miss out on the festivities, we rode the motorcycle the 5 miles to the “fest” on Saturday, during which they pay tribute to the “tasty bi-valve found in the local waters.”  And, no, we’re not raw oyster enthusiasts, preferring to just watch others enjoy this tasty(?) treat.

The Oysterfest features carnival rides, games, food, and oyster eating contests for men and women, as well as live music, vendor booths and lots of fun for all ages.  (Sorry, we did not take advantage of the rides—yup, we preferred to just watch, as most of them would’ve made us either dizzy or sick!)

One of the refreshment stands: Tropical Sweeties.

The Ferris Wheel

The Zipper loading its riders.

The Zipper spinning and rotating.

The Slide for the younger set.

The Kamikaze

The Tornado

The food and beverage tent: this was just 1/3 of the tent, with
food (shrimp, oysters, Polish sausage, fries, crab cakes, etc.)
at this end, and beer and oysters at the other. Live
entertainment was in this tent, too. The tent was HUGE!

8- and 10-year old hula dancers
were part of the entertainment.

Belly dancers, part of the entertainment. There was also
live music thrown in from 11 a.m. to midnight.

Alex from Equador, winner of the belly dancing contest!
He was really good!

These are just a few of the shots we took as we were walking around.

Last year over 36,000 people visited the Oysterfest, making it the most successful festival in Oysterfest history. Over the past 32 years funds from the festival have been used to purchase new firefighting equipment. This year proceeds will go towards a new fire station. The monies from these festivals are the major source of funding for the life-saving and firefighting equipment in the community.

Stay tuned for more fun-filled stuff next week! We wish you the best as we’re away from you.

Hugs ‘n’ Love, 

RJ and Gail