Bay View RV Park, Rockport, Texas – March 3-9, 2014

Another week has come and gone. Time is flying by, now that we’re entering the final few weeks here in Texas. Folks have come in the park, and have left as friends; old friends have come in the park to renew friendships from years past. What a neat transition.

I misspoke last week when I said Spring had sprung…temperatures hovered in the low 30s at night, getting not much higher than the low to mid-50s during the day—until Thursday and Friday when the sun shined brightly and we were blessed with temps in the mid- to high-70s. Chilly weather does not deter us from getting out and enjoying ourselves, though.

Monday, even though the wind was blowing and the thermometer read about 40 degrees, Dick and friend Bill Townsend (Arkansas) installed the new window regulator in the black beast, so now the driver side rear window is fixed! Thanks, Bill! Sure do appreciate you!

Thunderstorms hit overnight and into the day Tuesday. Heavy rain poured down, making the roads a sloppy mess here in the park. About 2 a.m. the power went out in our section of the park, due to what they called a “phase failure,” whatever that is. Thankfully, we had propane and 12-volt battery power to keep our furnace running and our camper warm. And, most importantly, we had coffee left over from Monday that I had put into a thermos so all I had to do was reheat it on our propane stove. Power was restored by 9:30 a.m. while I was at “Stitch and b…”

And the rain continued to fall, netting us about 1½” by the time it was all done. Not wanting to stay inside, we ventured out that afternoon with Bob and Sharon, to see “12 Years a Slave.” A most depressing movie, but we thought it was very well done. Apparently, according to Bob who did hours of research on the movie, it was pretty true to the original true story, with a few creative changes to make the movie more interesting. Afterward, we hit Panjo’s pizza for dinner. Nothing like a large supreme pizza to put smiles on our faces!

Here's the movie trailer:  12 Years a Slave movie trailer

Wednesday dawned overcast and chilly, but no rain. This is the day we hit the tables to play Pegs and Jokers, followed by happy hour and dinner at the clubhouse. There were 6 couples playing so we had to split us up between 2 tables: Marvin and Shirley (Illinois), Jamie and Annie (South Dakota), Bob and Sharon (Missouri) played at one table, while Bill and Carole (Arkansas) and Dick and I played at another. The men must’ve had an extra boost of something because they beat the women 3:1 at both tables. What in the world…??? Dinner was our choice of a chicken or “chicken of the sea” casserole, fruit salad and rolls, with a cream cheese cake-type dessert. Yum! There was plenty of casserole left so we all took some home for another dinner. No cooking for another night!

Then, friends Jim and Connie (Colorado) asked Dick to help them videotape a birthday message for their son-in-law, so after dinner Dick went to their camper to do just that. Oh, and while he was there, they also had a question for the “computer guy.” (Dick has made quite a name for himself here…!)

The much acclaimed Oysterfest started on Thursday, and what a beautiful day for it! Temperatures hit 70 degrees by late morning, and the sun was a-shining! Dick and I walked along Fulton Beach Road, enjoying the sun and breezes off the Gulf.

After we returned, and after I delivered a taste of Mulligatawny to friends Marty and Steve, I sat with friends and neighbors Lawrence and Anna (Toronto area) on their patio, just enjoying the sun and conversation. What a delightful couple! They’re going to be celebrating their 50^th wedding anniversary in July; Anna says it’s the best thing she ever did. What a tribute!

While we were sitting together, Karen and Steve (Wisconsin) came over, and then Dick joined us. Lawrence and Anna make their own wine (this time it was a Cabernet-Sauvignon blend) which they shared with us. Man, was that good! We sat for a couple of hours, just passing the time, getting to know them better. They’ll be here ‘til sometime in April.

The Oysterfest fireworks were scheduled for Thursday night at 8 p.m. so some of us decided to go to dinner first, and then park somewhere along the water to watch them. Los Comales, a local Mexican restaurant, was the choice for dinner, so 4 couples ate our fill of chips and salsa followed by dinners of chicken and beef fajita salads, chili rellenos, seafood enchiladas (with shrimp, scallops, crab and fish), and chicken and beef enchiladas. Oh, and the ever popular Margarita! What a fun evening of conversation and laughter.

L to R: Dick, me, Steve (Wisconsin), Steve (Michigan),
Marty, Karen, Sharon and Bob.

Alice Faye’s Restaurant is on the water in Fulton, so we were able to find the best parking spot from which to watch the fireworks. The beautiful starlit evening, reflections on the water and fireworks topped off the perfect evening. Thought we'd share a video of the fireworks, as well as a few cool photos of them.   Fireworks video 

Friday’s weather didn’t disappoint us at all! Beautiful sunshine, warm temperatures hitting the low 70s, and very little breeze. After our morning walk along Fulton Beach Road (have I mentioned that it’s about 2½ miles round trip?) we dined on hamburgers at the clubhouse for lunch. Afterward, Steve and Karen (Wisconsin) joined us on our patio for the afternoon. Amazing how sunshine can work wonders for our mental conditions!

Marvin and Shirley (Illinois) were set to leave Saturday, heading to Vicksburg, Mississippi for a week. We couldn’t say goodbye without having dinner with them and another evening of Pegs and Jokers (since they’re responsible for getting us interested in that game). Four couples went to Charlotte Plummer’s for dinner, where we ate shrimp (prepared in every way imaginable), salmon and flounder. YUM!

L to R: me, Marvin, Shirley, Bill, Carole, Sharon, Bob and Dick

During dinner we watched boatful after boatful of oysters come in to unload. (I provided a brief overview of oysters in last week’s blog).

Photo taken from inside Charlotte Plummer's, as the oyster boats
were coming in and unloading.

Oh, and Pegs and Jokers: women 2, men 1. (We women are coming back!) Thanks, Marvin and Shirley for another wonderful month and a half of friendship, love, laughter and Pegs and Jokers! See you next year!

Saturday morning 3 couples went to breakfast at the Masonic Lodge in Rockport. For $5 we got pancakes, sausage, ham, scrambled eggs, and biscuits and gravy, juice and coffee. Yum! Afterwards, while Marty and I visited at our camper, Steve (Wisconsin) and Dick helped Marty’s husband Steve (Michigan) install a replacement window in their motorhome.

That took a couple of hours, during which Marty and I walked to visit Bonnie, a friend from Idaho, to look over her precious stones hoping to find something close to a ring Marty has to use in a pendant. Sadly, we found nothing, but did see beautiful and unusual stones that Bonnie uses in the exquisite wire-wrapped jewelry she creates.  Bonnie shows her work at local craft shows, as well in an artisan gallery in Sandpoint, Idaho called Sandpoint Art Works, Inc. It’s a working artist's cooperative featuring 36 artists in all medias. She also has pieces at the Artist's Gallery at Schweitzer Mountain Resort, Sandpoint Idaho.

Around noon Dick and I decided to go to Oysterfest, to watch the parade, see the crafts and carnival. We parked and walked, and walked, and walked to the Oysterfest site—about 2 miles away—and found ourselves walking along with the parade participants. Good grief! As you can tell by the following photos, there was a bit of everything in the parade, with entrants from quite a few of the local RV parks, too.

Bay View built and entered a float in the parade, to support spaying and neutering animals. The float was of a big dog (cute!), pulled by Ed and Angie (Wisconsin). Also in the Bay View entry were a few golf carts decorated like pets, to support this endeavor, as well. In the past years Bay View has placed first in the competition for floats. Don’t know how we fared this year.

Here are a few photos of the midway.

The weather was cool and rain was always threatening, but thankfully it didn’t manifest itself until later in the day when we were home. I found a pair of silver earrings, a small purse (perfect for when riding the motorcycle) and a couple of Oysterfest t-shirts. We found Bob and Sharon in the food tent, so we spent time with them. Sharon had her first taste of a fried oyster. She said it wasn’t bad; actually, it was quite good!—and they gave us a ride back to our truck. (Thank you!) Of course, on the way to our truck we had to stop at the local farmer’s market for bags of grapefruit and a pineapple. Yum!

Food, beverage and entertainment tent

Bob, me and Sharon

The time change Saturday night messed up our clocks, so we slept in. which is unusual for me since I am  usually up at the crack of dawn. That afternoon was the ice cream social at 2 p.m., followed by 3 games of Pegs and Jokers, with Bill and Carole, Bob and Sharon, and Jamie and Ann. WOMEN RULE! We won 3:0. Woot-woot!

Well, folks, that’s it for this week. Until next time, stay healthy and happy. We’ll see you on down the road!

Hugs,

Dick and Gail