Bay View RV Resort, Rockport, Texas – February 16-22, 2015

What a beautiful week here in Rockport. The mornings’ weather always started out on the cool side but warmed to the low 70s by mid-afternoon.

Dick continued to work quite a bit this week, especially since the resort’s owner was in town. There are numerous projects that needed to be addressed, in the park as well as the office.

Not much happened on the home front Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday; I did attend Tuesday’s “Stitch and B…” with about a dozen ladies. A few ladies were working on net scrubbies, and there were other knitting and crocheting projects, as well as quilting, going on as well.

Wednesday after happy hour we drove to Paradise Key, a seafood restaurant in Rockport, for dinner. We noshed on coconut shrimp, fish ‘n’ chips and red snapper with étouffée. (Étouffée is a Cajun sauce made from a light roux, seasoned and simmered with seafood, most often shrimp or crawfish, and served over rice. This sauce also had some tomato in it.) Then, we topped it off with key lime pie. YUM-YUM!

Thursday was another beautiful day, with temps in the 70s, and bright sunshine! Great day to be outdoors! We rode our bikes around the park for about 15 minutes—couldn’t push it, as we hadn’t ridden in a while, and these ol’ bones need to be treated kindly…ha!

That evening we played a Pegs ‘n’ Jokers with friends Marvin and Shirley, Randy and Jeri, Bill and Carole, and Jamie and Annie. Yup, rather than playing 2 tables, we all played together at a table for 10. Sure didn’t help the ladies…the guys won 2 to 1 over us. Darn…

Dick worked Friday morning, taking most of the afternoon off. Lunch was $5.00 hamburgers and fish sandwiches at the Family Club House, served with oven fries and all the fixin’s. Yum! There’s always quite a turn-out for Friday’s lunch—there were about 35 for the meal. After lunch, while I creatively used the La Mardi Gras beads from last week’s outing on a “tip jar” for playing my keyboard at Saturday’s craft sale.

Even though it was quite windy, Dick walked along Fulton Beach Road. He captured these photos.

Left side: Redhead ducks, then the "bottoms' up!"
Middle: Great White Egret, Snowy Egret and a Blue Heron bending in the wind.

About mid-day friends Ida and Joe arrived from Houston. Ida was the office manager here in the park, before being diagnosed with cancer late last year. She and her husband, Joe, are currently staying in an RV park in Houston as she undergoes treatment at M.D. Anderson Cancer Center. (We’re caring for Lucy, the cat that adopted them.) Ida and Joe stayed in cabins adjacent to Bay View for the 2 nights they were here. Sure was good to see them again; they plan to be back here with their 5th wheel in early April. Ida’s doing very well with her treatment, but would appreciate continued prayers for a good outcome and complete healing and recovery.

Friday was a busy day. That evening was the annual “workamper” happy hour and dinner at the Adult Club House, hosted by Paul, the park’s owner. What a fun evening!  There were over 50 people there—it takes quite a crew to run, manage, and keep the park running. Dinner was catered by “The Shack,” a local BBQ eaterie, and man, was it good! We noshed on BBQ brisket, chicken, sausages, potato salad, baked beans, and coleslaw. Wine, beer, soda and water were also provided. For dessert we celebrated Ida and Joe, with a sheet cake decorated with a purple (Ida’s favorite color) ribbon, to support Ida and her battle with cancer.

Workamper happy hour

Workamper dinner with BBQ sausage, brisket and chicken, YUM!

Ida and Joe with her cake.

The day’s activities weren’t over yet! At 7:00 p.m. we trekked to the Family Club House for an evening of gospel and country music by Jack and Deb Stone of Top Shelf Ministries out of Muleshoe, Texas. They have made several appearances on Primetime Christian Broadcasting in Midland, Texas, as well as many affiliate stations of the Trinity Broadcasting Networks in New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas, Arizona, and also in South Africa. They have made quite a few recordings. Here’s a sample of the evening’s music: a song written by John Anderson, entitled, “I’m Just an Old Chunk of Coal.”

Saturday was the monthly craft sale at the Family Club House. Crafters from Bay View as well as other parks in the area come to show and sell their wares. And, I played background music for about 3½ hours. This time I set out a “tip jar,” and didn’t do too badly! Just after setting up my keyboard that morning, I tripped on a piece of loose carpeting and plowed into a wooden lectern, narrowly missing the stone fireplace and hearth. Banged up my left arm and leg, my right arm, and jarred my left shoulder. I’ve developed quite a few big bruises, but thankfully my hands and fingers weren’t affected! The show must go on!

That afternoon I made a wild rice casserole for the park’s pot luck dinner, while Dick took a 30+ mile ride on his motorcycle. The day was stellar; it was good to enjoy the sun and warmth, with the windows and door open to the light breeze. Loved it!

About 50 people showed up for the pot luck dinner at the Family Club House. There was so much food! Beef stew, beef stroganoff, spaghetti and meatballs, mac and cheese, calico beans with ground beef, salads, fresh fruit, myriad desserts…YUM-YUM!!! No one walked away hungry!

Pot luck dinner serving about 50 people. Yum!

Afterward we met with Bill and Carole, and Joe and Ida, back at the Adult Club House for a few games of Pegs ‘n’ Jokers. We hadn’t yet played with Joe and Ida, and this was one of the things they wanted to do before heading back to Houston on Sunday. Unfortunately, the gals lost all 3 games…darn… But, it was a fun evening, and good to share time with good friends.

Late that evening friends Bea and Mike (from Missouri) arrived to Bay View, in their 43’ Allegro bus. Because it was so late and so dark, we parked them in the overflow parking area ‘til we could get them moved into their site on Sunday morning. We met Bea and Mike almost 3 years ago in Grand Portage, MN during our first summer on the road, and have kept in touch with them ever since. There’s something so special about meeting folks with whom you have an immediate friendship that carries through the years. We secured a site for them across the road from us. They’ll be here for about 6 weeks, until the time we head out for Minnesota.

Sunday morning we got Bea and Mike parked, and at 2:00 p.m. headed to the ice cream social at the
Family Club House. Between 30 and 35 folks showed up. Everybody loves ice cream! Then came time for another round of Pegs ‘n’ Jokers with friends Bill and Carole, Bob and Sharon, and Jamie and Annie. While Mike watched the Daytona 500, we taught Bea how to play. This time the women own 1 of the 3 games. (We need to get our Mojo back!)

Weather started to turn cold again Sunday night. We expect rain, cold temperatures (in the 40s and 50s) for the next few days, with occasional mist and rain. Brr…although we’re so thankful we don’t have snow and ice to contend with. Dick and I hunkered down to watch a fabulous movie, “Life of a King,” starring Cuba Gooding, Jr. It’s a movie not to be missed.

“Life of a King” (rated PG-13) is the true story of Eugene Brown, an ex-convict, and his one-man mission to give inner-city kids something he never had: a future. He discovered a multitude of life lessons through the game of chess during his 18-year incarceration for bank robbery. Using the simple chess-inspired motto, “think before you move,” Brown worked to bring a positive aspect to kids’ lives that they were sorely lacking. He developed and founded the “Big Chair Chess Club” in Washington, DC to get kids off the streets and working towards lives they never believed they were capable of. His chess program began in an inner-city high school with students in detention, and helped them progress to the teens’ first ever local chess competitions. The Big Chair Chess Club has captured five city titles in four national championships, prompting the mayor of Washington, DC to proclaim June 15th as “The Big Chair Chess Club Day.” Since the Big Chair Chess Club was established, it has developed partnerships with 7 local schools and one juvenile detention center.


I finished an excellent book this past week, entitled, “My Name is Resolute.” It was written by Nancy E. Turner, the sister of one of the gals working in the park office. Almost 600 pages in length, it captivated me from the first page. The year is 1729. Resolute and her 2 siblings are captured by pirates, taken from their family home in Jamaica, and brought to America. Although they are white, Resolute and her sister are sold into slavery in colonial New England, eventually finding themselves in a convent where they’re taught the trade of spinning and weaving. Escaping to find her own way in this new world, Resolute finds herself alone in Lexington, Massachusetts, where she struggles to find her way in a society that is quick to judge a woman in her circumstances during the tumultuous years preceding the American Revolution. She has no family, no friends, no means to support herself other than her knowledge of weaving. The kindness of an old woman starts Resolute on a path to happiness and contentment. Her talent at the loom places her at the center of an incredible web of secrecy that helped drive the American Revolution. I highly recommend this book, and look forward to reading more from the pen of Nancy Turner. She has written at least 4 other books, focusing on the lives of women in the 19th-century Southwest to that of World War II. If they’re anything like “Resolute,” I won’t be able to put them down!

Well, that’s it for this week. Stay tuned for more adventures!

Hugs ‘n’ blessings,

RJ and Gail