Bay View RV Resort – Rockport, Texas – December 7-13, 2015

One week closer to Christmas. This week marks 1 month since we arrived here to Bay View; time is going too quickly!

The weather this week was mild, with temperatures ranging from the 50s in the mornings to mid-70s by the afternoon—that is until Sunday morning when the temps dropped from 71 at 6:30 a.m. to 56 by 7:00 a.m. Brrrr! The wind and rain had picked up overnight, as well, so it was a pretty miserable start to the day.

All in all it was a quiet week here in Rockport. We continued our walks along Fulton Beach Road; often Dick walked more than me due to other things I was involved in here in the park. He was able to capture photos of egrets, herons, pelicans and osprey, but no spoonbills yet.

Tuesday morning about a dozen of us gathered at the clubhouse to decorate for Christmas. While the gals put up lights, decorated the hearth and tables, Bob and Gary put up the tree and decorated it. The room was transformed! 

Later that day we joined Gary and Pam, Bob and Sharon, Bill and Arlene, Dick and Fran at Panjo’s Pizza, for what has turned out to be our Tuesday pizza night. Such fun! We never run out of things to talk or laugh about. Afterward, Gary and Pam and Dick and I drove through Rockport to capture just a few photos of Christmas lights we found in town.

Wednesday morning was spent doing laundry (after breakfast from Whatburger), followed by a stop at Walmart on the way home to pick up a few items. The day was beautiful: sunny and warm with temps in the high 60s—which feels very warm here in Texas. I sat outside reading, while Dick did some computer work here in the camper.

When 4:00 p.m. came, we headed to the clubhouse for happy hour followed by another of Betty’s dinners. This night’s dinner fried chicken (an old family recipe from one of the campers here in the park), cornbread stuffing, cabbage au gratin, salad and German chocolate cake or angel food cake topped with whipped cream and strawberries infused with Moscato wine. Yum-yum! There were close to 70 people for dinner that night, and none of us went away hungry! 

Just before dinner on Wednesday, friend Lynda and I looked out the windows and noticed a turtle in the pool. Knowing that it wouldn’t be able to get out by itself, we rescued the little guy and set it free…our good deed for the day!

Dick returned to the clubhouse that evening to play Texas Hold ‘Em. I stayed home to knit.

Thursday morning brought more sunshine, and another cooking class. This week’s topic was cooking with herbs. 14 ladies joined the class this week—we did a really good job of talking it up! Chef Terry Thompson-Anderson shared more of her recipes with us, and we got to taste everything she prepared: Texas goat cheese with sun-dried tomato relish and cayenne pepper toasts, creamy cilantro soup with chipotle crème, roast pork tenderloin with mushroom, sage, and sherry cream sauce, roasted new potatoes with rosemary and garlic, and finally—dark chocolate cookies with fresh thyme. YUM-YUM! She also served Oak Leaf Chardonnay, which went over quite well… (Not bad for just $5 per person for this class!)

While I attended cooking class, Dick walked along Fulton Beach Road, and then rode his motorcycle for about 35 miles around the area: Rockport, Fulton, and Lamar (hoping to see either sand hill or whooping cranes). He saw only sand hills.

…just a little bit of information about the sand hill cranes  They’re a fairly social bird, usually living in pairs or in family groups, especially during migration and winter, when they come together to form “survival groups.” When this happens, you may see them grouped together in the thousands! They eat a variety of foods, depending on availability, but are mainly herbivores. The larger males can weigh up to about 10 lbs., while the females weight slightly less at just under 9 lbs. It’s amazing to watch these birds in flight, as their wingspans can reach up to 7’6”. Their loud, trumpeting calls can be heard from quite long distances, and mating pairs are engaged in “unison calling,” standing close together and calling in a synchronized and complex duet. I know you men will chuckle at this, but the female makes 2 calls for every 1 call from the males.

That evening we played Pegs & Jokers with Bill and Carole, and Gary and Pam. Sadly, the gals fell to a 3:0 loss, but we’re not letting that get us down. We’ll come back strong!

Friday morning we walked along the beach again, for about an hour. Unfortunately, it was so foggy you couldn’t see much. We returned to have hamburgers for lunch at the clubhouse, served with potato salad provided by Angie, a camper here in the park from Wisconsin. (Below is a photo of Alice from South Dakota, enjoying hers.) Another Yum-yum! 

Later, the Jam Session Guys provided music at happy hour. Good times!

Saturday, Dick worked at the office on computer projects for the park while I stayed at the camper and did my stuff (knitting, getting caught up on emails, etc.) 

Long ago, before the carols, Christmas trees, and streets lined with lights, there was one thing that signified Christmas: the Savior of the world lying in a humble manger. We continued to welcome the Christmas season by attending the presentation of “Christmas in His Presence,” the cantata performed by the sanctuary choir of First Baptist Church of Rockport. They had 2 performances: 6:00 Saturday night, and 11:00 Sunday morning; we opted to attend the Saturday performance. What a blessing! Friends and park neighbors Dave and Marihelen (Texas) went with us. There were 50 choir members, 4 soloists, and 2 narrators bringing us the story of the birth of Jesus. 

Afterward, we just had to stop in at the local Dairy Queen for a treat: blizzards were the choice for Marihelen, Dick and me, while Dave had a foot-long chili dog. Good stuff! 

I awakened Sunday morning to temperatures in the low 70s. As I mentioned earlier, within just a few short minutes it had dropped 15 degrees. Brrr! Plus, there was rain and wind. Ugh. That didn’t deter Dick from working a few hours in the morning, returning in time to join Gary and Pam as we went to the 10th annual “Holiday Symphony by the Sea,” a concert featuring the Corpus Christi Symphony Orchestra and the Rockport-Fulton High School Choir. What a wonderful afternoon! Andrés Franco was guest conductor for the symphony; the high school choir was under the direction of Yvonne Jaggard. Mr. Franco, who also was guest conductor in last year’s Symphony by the Sea performance, holds a bachelor’s degree in piano performance from Pontificia Universidad Javeriana in Bogota, Colombia, as well as master of music degrees in piano performance and conducting from Texas Christian University. With his background in music from the time he was just a small child, you’d think he’d be rather staid and stiff. Not so! He conducts with a great sense of humor, guaranteeing that the audience is kept entertained!

We thought you'd like to hear a couple of numbers from the concert: a selection featuring the bassoons, entitled " BasSOON it will be Christmas," and the "Hallelujah Chorus" from Handel's Messiah featuring both the orchestra and high school choir. Enjoy!

Then, the 4 of us went to a local restaurant, MoonDogs, for a bite to eat. We started with calamari and a delicious Asian infused dipping sauce, then on to fish tacos with blackened grouper, a grouper sandwich, BBQ beef brisket tacos, and a prime rib sandwich. These were accompanied by pinto beans, grilled asparagus, mashed garlic potatoes and coleslaw. Yum-Yum!

That’s it for this week. We continue to enjoy our time here in Rockport, and the friends we’ve come to know and love. Thanks for continuing with us on our journey.

With hugs ‘n’ love,

RJ and Gail