Bay View RV Park, Rockport, Texas - January 20-26, 2014

Monday, Martin Luther King Day, was a quiet day here in the park. We did walk along Fulton Beach Road for about an hour, enjoying the sights and sounds of the water. Three birds seem always to be in sight when we walk: the blue heron, white egret, and roseate spoonbill, and we weren't disappointed this day. All three were hovering and eating in the same waterway. Very cool.

Blue Heron

Egret

Roseate Spoonbill and Egret

Blue Heron

Roseate Spoonbill

Just another beautiful afternoon...(sigh)

And, here's a video Dick made of a pelican "fishing."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-CKTSQth8Zs

Tuesday's "stitch and b…" session brought a dozen women together to talk, share, and work on projects. Women were quilting, making jewelry, crocheting, knitting, and just sittin' and sharin'. Quite fun! Someone always puts on a pot of "Dunkin' Donuts" coffee to share, too.

I've been working on a couple of projects, and just completed one this past weekend. This is a "counter-pillar," that comes apart to be used as a teaching tool for little ones; it's all knitted and stuffed, so there are no dangerous parts. There are beads on each section, but they're really secured so they shouldn't come off. Really cute, don't you think? It's over 2' long!

The other project is a knitted shawl, made from yarn I purchased in the '80s when we lived in Connecticut. I've been carrying it with me for 30 years, and finally decided I needed to do something with it. It's a very nubby yarn of wool, acrylic and nylon, so the project needed to handle that yarn on rather large needles. I've decided to add beading to the edges, so will see if what I picture in my mind comes to fruition! Will post a photo of the shawl when I'm done.

Wednesday could'’t go by without another hour or two of Pegs and Jokers, with Bob and Sharon, Bill and Carole, Wes and Carolyn and the two of us. (Women still rule!) Women won both games. Woot-woot! This was followed by happy hour, and then dinner. This week's dinner was chicken cordon bleu, rice, mixed vegetables, and pecan pie for dessert. Yum-yum! All for $6.

As we were playing Pegs and Jokers, friends Marvin and Shirley from Kamper’s Supply in Carterville, Illinois arrived in the park. So good to have them back here with us for the next couple of months. (They’re the ones who taught us Pegs and Jokers! Thank you!)

Early on Dick decided to hold a class on “computing and other stuff” for the RVers so most of Wednesday was spent preparing for the Thursday class. He wanted a PowerPoint presentation as a teaching aid, so that’s what I did…including charts, graphs, cartoons, text, etc. Using PowerPoint was rather like a riding a bike…it all came back to me, even after not using it for 3 years. Held in the clubhouse, there were 18 people in the 1½ hour class and everyone appeared to get something from it. (photo of Dick in class)

Afterwards Dick and I decided to make a Walmart run, and then have an early dinner at Panjo’s Pizza in Rockport. We were the only ones in the place when we arrived, but enjoyed our pizza with everything to the fullest. Oh, wait, that was us being the fullest…we put away a medium! Wow--we must've been hungry! Teaching's a tough job!

Friday greeted us with 37 degrees and wind. Brrr! What crazy weather. Guess most of you are experiencing the same where you are. Temps did warm to the low 60s by mid-afternoon but there was still a chill in the air.

This was the Friday for burgers for lunch at the clubhouse for $3 each. Served with chips and coleslaw, we didn’t go away hungry. At 2 p.m. we met Marvin and Shirley for a few games of Pegs and Jokers (everyone else was otherwise occupied)…men came out on top this time, 3:2, but we women are still holding our own. Happy hour at 4 brought quite a few folks out, regardless of the chill. Wanting to try something new I, brought along a platter of fruit (strawberries, mandarin oranges and sliced bananas) and drizzled them (actually doused them!) with a dark chocolate flavored balsamic vinegar.  The more balsamic that was drizzled on them, the better. The women thought it was really good…the men, not so much. That’s OK…more for us!

 There was a quilt show Friday through Sunday in Rockport, held at the high school, sponsored by Piecemakers by the Bay Quilt Guild. Karen (from Wisconsin) and Marty (from Michigan) are avid quilters, so they asked if I’d like to go along. Sure! So, off we went Saturday morning. What beautiful works of art! There were vendor booths set up, as well, selling everything related to quilting, including fabrics and sewing machines. No photos were allowed, but I did snag these from websites of participating shops, giving you an example of what we saw.

Quilting is something I never got into, rather spending my time knitting, crocheting, doing counted cross stitch and sewing, but I do appreciate the time and effort expended, as well as the beauty of the finished product. 

Followed by lunch at Ken’s Diner, we trekked back to the RV park to attend a concert by “Amber Waves Band” from Colorado. A family of six, these folks travel year-‘round performing mix of traditional acoustic music found throughout the US, including the Celtic, Old English, Colonial, Bluegrass, and Gospel, as well as their own original music. What a fun afternoon! Here’s a video of one of the songs they performed here entitled, “Johnny Has Gone to a Soldier,” an old folk tune.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pFVLFj8NFVo&feature=youtu.be

The following information was taken from their website: www.AmberWavesBand.com:

“Starting in 2008, this young family band has grown from a living room band to a full time family band of entertainers. Today they travel the country in a converted school bus named Benny, pickin' and singin' as they go!
The band consists of some amazing young instrumentalists, including (16-year old) identical twins, Alexandra, with her fast flat-picking guitar, and Kaitlin, who combines Scruggs-style playing with her own style of folk and Celtic banjo. Also included is their younger brother Sean (13 years old), with his phenomenal fiddling, and little sister Mary (8 years old), with a darling voice that charms any audience. Parents join in as well, with Michael on the bass, and Cheryl on mandolin with the occasional flare of the fife.

Though the instrumental skill of the children has certainly gained them attention, the family is probably best known for their stunning vocals. Alex shines on stage with powerful lead vocals, often joined in haunting harmonies by Katie. Sean, with a keen ear and full of excitement, sings lead as well as harmony. Cheryl, a former opera-singer-turned-"band mom", brings in a rich lead and helps out with the harmonies, and Michael brings in the lower sounds with a smooth baritone. Little Mary joins them occasionally, singing out as though she was born for that very purpose!”

Pastor Scott’s Sunday’s message at First Baptist Church of Rockport was from John 4:1-42, the Samaritan woman at the well meeting Jesus.  His points were that Jesus challenges our presuppositions and prejudices about our need of Him, with the truth of who He is and our need for Him. Here’s the link for this week:  http://fbcrockport.net/online-sermons/

That afternoon after our walk along Fulton Beach Road, we met our Pegs and Jokers fans at the clubhouse for ice cream and another afternoon of the game. Woot-woot!!! Women knocked the men flat, 2:0, although I have to admit the second game could’ve gone the other way for us. So much fun! Never a dull moment! Carolyn (from southern Minnesota) provided homemade pecan-caramel rolls to share with all of us, for a little burst of energy. Yum-yum! Thanks, Carolyn!

We hope this finds you all well, and staying warm! This marks the half-way mark for our stay in Texas this year. Where has the time gone? Hopefully the weather will warm up for all of us soon.

Until next time,

RJ and Gail

(Oh, yeah, “GO HAWKS!)

Seattle Space Needle boasting the Seahawks' 12th Man

Bay View RV Resort, Rockport, Texas – January 13-19, 2013

Monday morning came early this week. I was going to Coushatta Inn and Casino in Kinder, Louisiana for 3 days with 8 other gals from the park. The bus was scheduled to pick us up at 6:45 a.m., to arrive in Kinder about 7 hours later. Owned and operated by Rockport Tours, the bus was quite comfortable, and the host and bus driver were very accommodating. There was time for a movie onboard, so we watched SeaBiscuit, and stopped at a couple places along the way to pick up other passengers and for restroom breaks. We arrived at Coushatta about 2 p.m. Weather there was almost the same as in Rockport, perhaps a bit cooler at night, but beautiful, none-the-less.

The casino is located about ¼ mile from our hotel; we either took the shuttle, which runs continuously 24/7 or walked. It offers blackjack or slots, in over 100,000 square feet of space. After checking in we spent a few hours at the one-arm bandits before gathering for dinner in one of the many restaurants onsite. (I was back in my room by a little past 6 p.m. for the evening.) My roommate cancelled at the last minute due to illness so I was fortunate to have a room to myself.

The sign reads, "The Luck Starts Here."
Mmmmm, not so much!

Coushatta Casino Resort sign.

Christmas trees are recycled as Mardi Gras trees!

I noticed there weren't any coffee packets in my room, so I made a trip to the front desk. The next morning when I attempted to turn on the coffee maker, the on/off switch popped out of the machine; after much finagling I did manage to get it to work, but made another trip to the front desk to let them know that it needed to be replaced. Then, when I turned on the television, the picture went from perfect to snow in just minutes. This I reported to the front desk on my way to breakfast—it took 2 visits by the maintenance staff to fix the problem with a new cable. Wednesday morning I had to reattach the chain in the toilet tank to get it to stop running…all in a day's work at a Best Western!

There weren't any shops or other means to occupy our time, so after a few hours at the slots on Tuesday morning, friends Connie and Marty and I headed back to the hotel to sit in the sun to knit and read.  What a beautiful sunny and cloudless day! We went back to the casino for dinner, then directly back to the hotel. Wednesday morning we packed up to load luggage onto the bus by 8:30, with a scheduled departure time of Noon.  After, once again, contributing to the Louisiana economy, we boarded the bus for the trip home—all except Lyn and Marty. Lyn had hit on over 300 spins and Marty was keeping her company, thus being coined with the nicknames "Spin and Marty." Ha! By about 12:20 we were all on board and heading home.  We arrived back at Bay View by about 6:45 that evening, and I can truthfully say that a good time was had by all.

While I was away, Dick kept the home fires burning, and did some vacuuming in between time spent working on software for the park. He's also going to be teaching a computer class this coming week so he spent some prep time on that, as well.

Thursday was our 32^nd wedding anniversary! Hurray, we made it another year! (Upon my arrival from Coushatta, he gave me a beautiful bouquet of pink roses to celebrate. Love that man!) That afternoon we played Pegs and Jokers with friends Bob and Sharon (from Missouri), Bill and Carol (from Arkansas), and Steve and Marty (from Michigan), splitting the wins, 1:1. That was followed by happy hour and the weekly dinner in the clubhouse, held Thursday this week because the chef was "Spin-ning away" at Coushatta. This week's dinner was spaghetti with red sauce and meatballs, salad and garlic bread with a lemon crème cake for dessert. Yum-yum!

Friday welcomed us with 54 degrees and sunshine. The sun and warmth certainly brightens everyone's mood! That afternoon we attended happy hour at 4 p.m., and after dinner at home headed back to the clubhouse to hear Cody Dooley, a local boy who made it in the country western music scene, perform country western music impersonations. He has over 150 impersonations in his repertoire. Currently living in Branson, Missouri, he's been performing the Country Legacy Tribute Show for 9 seasons. He's opened for Willie Nelson and Janie Fricke, to name a few. It was a good entertaining couple of hours.

The third Saturday of the month is the Rockport Market, held in downtown Rockport, near the harbor. Marty joined us for a walk-through, to see if there was anything worth purchasing. We each made small purchases while Dick walked around the harbor taking photos. Marty and I saw a huge flock of white pelicans fly over—there must have been about 150 of them—but sadly didn't get photos—Dick with the camera didn't see them… Hopefully we'll have another opportunity while we're here. Quite a sight to see! The following 6 photos were taken of Rockport Harbor.

(I remember a different "Love Boat...")

A shot of Rockport Market.

The following photos were taken at the Rockport Sculpter Garden, in downtown Rockport.

"The Birds of St. Francis"

The dolphins featured in "Off Port Bow"

"Into The Wind"

"Man's Best Friend"

"Return of Ancient Wisdom"

Whooping cranes, featured in "Rites of Spring"

The Lighthouse Fountain. Notice the
seagull on top surveying his world.

That evening Marty and her husband Steve took us to dinner at a local restaurant, Latitude 28'02', to help celebrate our anniversary. What a wonderful evening! I had crab-stuffed shrimp, while the others dined on grouper. For dessert Steve and Marty split crème brulee; Dick and I shared a Sambuca infused chocolate mousse. Dare I say YUM-YUM?!!!! Thank you again, dear friends, for a wonderful evening.

Sunday we attended church, followed by breakfast at home. The message, brought by Jordan Mims, the youth pastor, was from Nehemiah 8:1-12—"A Proper Response to All God Is."  Gave us lots to ponder on. Here's the link to his message:  http://www.sermon.net/fbcrockport

That afternoon we joined friends Bob and Sharon, and Bill and Carol for ice cream at the clubhouse, and another 3 games of Pegs and Jokers. WOMEN RULE! We won all 3 games! Woot-woot!

We were surprised by the arrival of friends Wes and Carolyn from Welcome, Minnesota that afternoon. (They decided to check out this place, based on our blog.) We met them originally on our first trip south in 2012, then again in Grand Portage, Minnesota last summer. What fun! We turned them on to Pegs and Jokers last summer, and Wes has subsequently made a set for himself and for their kids for Christmas, and who knows how many more! They’ll be here for at least a week, perhaps more if they like the area. Regardless, this weather is much better than that in Minnesota at this time of year!

We watched the Seattle Seahawks win over the San Francisco 49ers, 23-17, in the playoff for the Super Bowl. Woot-woot! The Hawks are heading to the Super Bowl! GO HAWKS!

This should really read, "We're In!"

These photos were taken during our walks this week, along Fulton Beach Road.

Blue Heron and Roseate Spoonbill

A Bufflehead

A squawking Cormorant

Snowy Egret

These photos are of a Roseate Spoonbill.
They're so beautiful, I wasn't satisfied
posting just one photo!

Turtles in our pond.

We hope this finds you well, and surviving any strange weather in your area. As I write this, I’m sitting outside in 70 degree sunshine, with a slight breeze off the water. Lovin' it!

Hugs,

RJ and Gail