Kathryn and Ron invited us to their place for breakfast
Tuesday morning, before we hit the road. What a treat! They served bacon, eggs
(to order!), English muffins, fresh squeezed orange juice and coffee. It was
the perfect meal to fortify us for our trip. YUM-yum!!! Thanks, guys!
With a little over 230 miles to go, we hit the road about
9:45. The day was perfect for driving: a bit overcast, light winds and light
traffic. Even driving through San Antonio wasn’t an issue. We did hit wind
about 30 miles from Rockport, but even that was manageable. Along the drive we
passed exotic animal sanctuaries so we saw lots of zebras and camels in the
fields—totally unexpected!
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| Bay View entrance and adult clubhouse |
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| Family clubhouse exgterior |
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| Family clubhouse interior |
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| Family pool |
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| Our site, #514 |
We all headed to our first happy hour of the year at friend
Robin’s new home (a park model) just down the road from us. It was so good to
see everyone again, and meet new folks, some here for just a while and some for
the season.
Afterward, other friends from the park, Gary and Pam, joined
Bob, Sharon, Dick and me for dinner at Panjo’s Pizza for dinner that evening.
We spent a couple hours eating and laughing, sharing stories of our travel
experiences over the past few months since we last were together. Such fun, and
I’m sure other pizza patrons wondered what in the world we were laughing about
the entire time we were there.
Wednesday brought rain, rain, rain…but that’s OK because
Texas is still suffering from drought, as I mentioned last week. We took
advantage of the inclement weather to do laundry, but not before we hit
Whataburger for breakfast. Yup, it’s good to be back in Texas! Dick spent time
working in the office, and then we headed to the clubhouse for yet another
happy hour, seeing more friends whom we’ve gotten to know over the last couple
of years, and meeting more folks. Winter Texans are arriving almost daily—it’s
so good to see them all again!
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| Anastasia's 1st birthday! |
Wednesday was our newest granddaughter, Anastasia’s first
birthday! She is growing sooo fast! I love the excuse to make baby stuff. I
made her a baby afghan and sweater for those winter Tahoe days.
We woke Thursday to still more rain, which had continued all
through the night. Running through the raindrops we ran some errands, and
returned to the park so Dick could spend some time in the office. I stayed at
the camper doing what I do… (Dick often wonders what exactly that is…ha!)
By Friday the rain has subsided with just a few showers now
and again. While Dick worked in the office again, I went to a local clinic to
establish a relationship with a medical professional here in Rockport since
this is where we spend the better part of a year. That’s one of the issues that
needs to be addressed if you’re considering becoming a full-time RVer. You need
to decide what you’re going to do about a doctor, a dentist…and of course a
hairdresser.
That evening we spent time at the clubhouse playing Pegs
& Jokers with friends Bill & Carol, Gary & Pam, and new friends Ron
& Pat. The women aren’t doing too well this year; the men took both games.
Dang!
By Saturday morning the rains had shifted to the Gulf, the
sun was shining, the temperatures had climbed to the mid-70s, and it was
beautiful! After breakfast Dick and I walked along the water for about an hour,
reacquainting ourselves with this part of Texas. The only birds we saw were
seagulls (of course), pelicans, a blue heron and an egret. Nevertheless, we are
so happy to be back here.
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| Blue Heron |
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| Pelican |
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| Egret |
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| Beautiful hibiscus along our walk |
As we were walking back to our site, we met Don and Ed (Bay View work campers), so we had to photograph them. Don had his cap specially made--he's in charge of all the maintenance work campers.)
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| Ed (left) and Don |
Friends Bob and Sharon were out walking their 2 dogs,
Shane and Furbie, so while talking with them we decided to drive across the
bridge to Lamar for lunch, where they were also having their market days at the
new fire station. Not much to see/desire/buy, but man, the BBQ brisket
sandwiches were so good! They pretty much filled us up for the rest of the day
as far as meals were concerned.
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| Shane (lab), Furbie, Bob and Sharon |
Bob and Sharon had just purchased another new RV (3rd brand new one since last year), so
we spent the rest of the afternoon at their place watching football on their
outdoor TV. (When they arrived here last year they had just purchased a brand
new pull-behind trailer and new truck. After seeing our 5th wheel
they traded in their trailer and truck on yet another new truck and 5th wheel. We gave them such a
hard time after that, but that didn’t deter them—this year they show up in a
brand new 43’ Newmar motorhome, towing their 3-year old car. Good grief…I asked
Bob what was next: a space shuttle???)
Sunday’s weather didn’t disappoint us. We woke to sunshine
and temps in the md-50s. Even though the thermometer didn’t register a high
temp, the sun is pretty intense, making for another beautiful day. We attended
First Baptist Church of Rockport’s 8:30 a.m. service where Pastor Scott Jones
spoke on the Old Testament scripture found in Isaiah 65: the choices we make
today will reflect where we spend eternity. This is a real world; we have real
choices to make. These choices have cosmic consequences, and the reality to
come will reflect those choices. How we respond here will be reflected in the
world to come. Here’s the link to his powerful message. http://fbcrockport.net/online-sermons/
Caroline’s Turtle Bay Café beckoned us for breakfast, so we
just had to stop on the way home from church. Dick had Turtle Bay Toast, eggs
and bacon, while I had her wonderful corned beef hash, with eggs and rye toast,
toasted dark. YUM-yum!
RJ helped Butch and Laura with Wi-Fi connectivity problems and
Marge print a family photo. Always a computer issue to track down. Following a
bit of rest we played Pegs & Jokers at the clubhouse, with Bill &
Carol, Bob & Sharon, and Gary & Pam. Women and men tied, at 1:1.( C’mon
gals…!!! We can do it!)
Dick left the game at 3:30 to attend a conversational Spanish class,
being held at First Baptist Church of Rockport. After the game I spent some
time with friends Marty and her sister Mary while waiting for Dick to return. I
was anxious to hear how the class went…he learned a few words, but feels he has
a long way to go to develop some proficiency. Others in the class were more
advanced than he. Guess we’ll see what happens next week.
Although this week was light on activities and photos, we
wanted you to know that we arrived at our final destination safely. We hear that the winter will be cooler and wetter
than years in the past, so we’re just hanging on to the hope that there will be
many days of sunshine, too. As I write this, the temps today should be in the
low 80s, but dipping to the low 60s by mid-week before they start to climb
again. The cold front coming through by Tuesday evening is supposed to bring
more rain, but that’s OK. The ponds are so low…
That’s it for this week. Hope all is well on your end.
A = Cloquet, MN
B = Washburn, WI
C = Eastport, MI
D = Buchanan, MI
E = South Charleston, OH
F = Terre Haute, IN
G = Carterville, IL
H = Saulsbury, TN
I = Arkadelphia, AR
J = Bridgeport, TX
K = Fredericksburg, TX
L = Rockport, TX
Hugs,
RJ and Gail
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