Monday, December 28, 2015

Bay View RV Resort - Rockport, Texas – December 21-27, 2015



What a beautiful day Monday was, to start out the week. By 7:30 a.m. the temps were already in the low 70s, although the humidity made it a bit muggy. Dick played Texas Hold ‘em at 3, and then we walked around the RV park for about 45 minutes, to see what we could see in the park ponds. Here’s what we saw.

 
Afterward we stopped at friends Gary and Pam’s, to meet Gary’s sister Laurie from Salem, Oregon, who had come to spend the Christmas holidays with them. Of course, this meant happy hour for the 5 of us, as we chatted about everything from weather and family to what to do in this area while Laurie was here.

Tuesday morning brought another session of Stitch and Bitch. There were 6 or 7 of us there, during which we mainly chatted about the holidays and plans for the New Year. Dick and I made a trip for groceries, and then that afternoon spent about an hour at Wii bowling. There were 9 of us so we made 3 teams. Fun times! Dick then walked along Fulton Beach Road for about an hour, and this is what he saw:


Panjo’s Pizza is becoming a habit for Tuesday nights. Nine of us enjoyed their luscious fare. Since Christmas Eve fell on Thursday evening, the night we usually play Pegs ‘n’ Jokers, we decided to play a few games that night. Unfortunately, the gals didn’t do too well, losing to the guys 2:1. Dang.

Wednesday morning brought a new activity to the park—at least for me: “Sweating to the Oldies,” with a Richard Simmons DVD. It’s amazing how much of a workout you can get following his moves. Whew! There were 7 of us stomping around the clubhouse, really sweatin’ to the oldies—or was it the oldies just sweating???

Afterward, friend Sharon and I mixed up 2 batches of egg nog for the Christmas Eve festivities. Most of the recipe needs to be combined the day before serving; just shortly before serving egg whites and heavy cream are whipped, then folded into the egg nog mixture. Yum!

Sharon and I also collected photos from camper friends so that we could create a slide show of everyone’s travels through 2015. I created the slide show, Dick tested it on the TV at the clubhouse,  and then it was shown during the Christmas Eve get-together. Was so fun to see where folks visited; we had over 130 slides to share. (Sharon is co-activities director this year, so I’m helping her when she needs it.)

Later we attended happy hour at 4:00 p.m., followed by another Wednesday night dinner at the clubhouse. This week we were served lasagna, salad, garlic bread, and tiramisu for dessert. YUM-YUM! Oh, and Dick and I won the 50/50 drawing (7 tickets for $5, split 50/50 between the activities fund and the winner). We won $44!

Dick continued his attempt to win at Texas Hold em’…so far he’s down a few bucks…there’s always hope1

Christmas Eve. The weather so far this week has been in the 70s; this day did not disappoint. Temps were in the low 70s already by 7:30 a.m. We decided this would be a good day to get the laundry done since everyone else would be out doing last minute shopping, baking, wrapping, etc. But first, breakfast at Whatburger, our standard fare for laundry day. We were in and out of the laundromat within an hour and 20 minutes. Coolio! On our way back to the park we stopped to wash the big black truck, then home to prepare for the upcoming festivities.
 
I made a fruit salad with yogurt and strawberries for Christmas dinner, along with homemade mustard for the ham that was going to be served. 

Festivities on Christmas Eve began with happy hour at 6:00 with heavy hors d’oeuvres and egg nog, followed by a blind gift exchange, and then a carol sing during which I played my keyboard. The slide show played for the entire 3+ hours of the party. About 90 folks came for the fun.

The gift exchange was done a bit differently from the past. Everyone who brought a gift stood in a circle holding their gift. Sharon read an augmented version of “The Night Before Christmas” with folks passing their unopened gift either “to the left or right” depending on when that word was read. Afterward, based on questions asked by Sharon, gifts could be stolen. It was quite fun, but some folks were a bit confused by “left” or “right.” Ha! All in all, everyone seemed to have a good time.


We woke to a foggy and muggy morning on Christmas Day. Temps were still in the low 70s, and the air was heavy. Ugh. 


Our gift to each other this year was a camera, a Nikon P600 digital with 60 optical zoom and a view finder. We decided a view finder would be very helpful when photographing birds on sunny days. However, Dick was bad; he also gave me 2 bottles of Nicole Miller’s “New” perfume—I love it! Thank you, Honey! I’ll be finishing your sweater soon, I promise!

Dinner was baked ham with a honeyed bourbon glaze and scalloped potatoes, furnished by Paul, the park’s owner and prepared by Chef Betty and her kitchen team. YUM-YUM!! The rest of the meal was potluck, provided by the campers. There were 113 for dinner, so there was plenty of food to choose from!



Saturday morning was so windy! Dick worked at the office for most of the day. Later, when we still couldn’t walk along the beach because of the wind and blowing salty air, we elected to walk through the park. By the time we returned the wind had died down a bit, so we sat outside our camper for a while. Sharon came over for an impromptu happy hour (Bob had gone to a jam session in Lamar, across the Copano Bay Bridge).

We attended First Baptist Church of Rockport on Sunday morning; Pastor Scott Jones’ sermon was taken from Matthew 2:13-23 and Revelation 12:1-17. This was his final message on “Nativity Scenes Revisited,” entitled, Seen and Unseen. The gist of the message was God’s presence among us is both seen and unseen; we are called to live by faith and obedience. God through the Bible never promises us we will be safe from troubles; God does, however, promise that He will be with us, making a way for all who trust and obey Him. Here’s a link to this sermon, as well as those preceding.

On the way home we made a quick stop at Walmart for a few items, and had breakfast at Subway. Then, Dick worked in the office for a while before the ice cream social at 2:00 p.m. and a few games of Pegs ‘n’ Jokers. There were enough people for 2 tables that afternoon. Again, I’m sad to report, the gals at our table lost 2:1. We will come back strong!
 
Well, that’s it for this week. We trust you had a wonderful Christmas with family and friends. We sure did. Now, it’s on to a new year, and more excitement. Have a happy and safe New Year!

Hugs ‘n’ love to y’all,

RJ and Gail 


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