Bay View RV Resort – Rockport, Texas – November 21-27, 2016

Hope y’all had a wonderful Thanksgiving with family and friends. We certainly did! The week was full of eating, talking and laughing with our Bay View family. Friends from Wisconsin, Cindy and Ray, showed up here in the park, too, which was a wonderful surprise. Wish we had had more time to talk; perhaps when they come back in March we’ll have that opportunity.

Temperatures ranged between the mid-50s to the high 70s this week, with sunshine almost every day and, low humidity. Perfect!

Dick worked most every day, both in the office and at home. And, since he’s the park’s “computer doctor” he helped friends with their computer issues, too. He did a few things around the camper, as well, like sealing the area around the antenna, eliminated a squeak that had around the jacks and, got rid of a crop of mushrooms growing in the back yard. There were dozens of them!

I attended Yoga classes Monday and Wednesday and, Stitch & Bitch on Tuesday. We’re making quite a bit of progress on the “plarn” mats for the homeless, although the cutting and rolling plastic strips is going a lot faster than the crocheting. Friends Tom, Steve and Marty and I got together on Monday, again, to rehearse our chosen songs—apparently we’re singing at happy hour at the clubhouse on the 16^th. Won’t that be a hoot!

Other activities included Wii bowling on Tuesday afternoon and Texas Hold ‘em on Wednesday night. We also played Pegs & Jokers Thursday night and Sunday afternoon. Gals are falling a bit behind in the winning bracket but we refuse to give up! The guys have won 5 of the last 8 games played. Sad…

We ate out quite a bit this week, too. Monday was Mexican at Arandas here in Rockport, with friends Pam and Gary and David and Marihelen. Good stuff! Tuesday night was pizza at Panjo’s with friends Bill and Arleen, Dick and Fran, Sharon, Marge, and Dick and me. Again, good stuff! Then, Wednesday night it was on to the Oyster House for raw oysters (and other stuff from their menu) with 11 friends from the park. Good times and good music and good food! Lovin’ those oysters—can you believe it?!? (David shared his love of these delectable morsels, fixed his way: a bit of red cocktail sauce and a drop of Tabasco. YUM-YUM!! I can’t get Dick to try them—yet… Thanks, David, for getting me to try them! I’m sure Pam thanks you, too!)

Here are photos of our Thanksgiving Day feast that we shared with about 100 of our “closest” friends here in the park. The park owner provided food that Chef Lynda and her kitchen crew prepared: 12 turkeys, the stuffing and the gravy and a ham donated by a park guest. Everything else was provided by us campers: salads, sides (including tons of mashed potatoes) and desserts. Good food, good fellowship, and fun times. 

Friday, after burgers in the clubhouse, Dick and I drove to Portland, Texas to shop at Academy Sports. Their sale was pretty good. We picked up a couple of Christmas gifts and 3 fleece jackets ($9.99 each!), a pair of capris for me. Then on to Walmart for a few grocery items and to refuel the truck. By the time we returned it was time for happy hour at Pam and Gary’s—just the 4 of us. We enjoy their friendship so much.

Saturday afternoon we headed to friends Butch and Laura’s for happy hour, with about 16 friends. The weather was a bit cool, so some of us sported jackets for that hour.

Sunday morning we attended First Baptist Church of Rockport, for the first Sunday of Advent. Pastor Scott Jones continued his Christmas sermon series, “God With Us.” This week’s message was from Matthew 1:18-25, entitled, “Savior.” His 2 main points were these: 

1.     Jesus’ birth occurred to fulfill God’s ancient promise to be with us—Jesus came to be with us, right where we are. When we trust in God’s Word and what it reveals to us, we need never doubt God’s presence with us.

2.     Jesus’ birth means God’s presence accomplishes our salvation from our sin. “Jesus” or “Yahweh” means “salvation.”  Do we/you believe and trust that in Jesus Christ your sin is forgiven?

Here’s the link to his message: fbcrockport.net/sermons

Returning home for a very light breakfast, we headed to the clubhouse for a mini repeat of Thursday’s Thanksgiving dinner, with leftovers. Still good! Then it was Pegs & Jokers, during which we introduced the game to friends Mitch and Cindy. (I covered the outcomes of our games this week earlier. ‘Nuff said…)

We leave you with photos of birds taken earlier this past week—mostly ducks in our back pond. There were a lot: American Black Ducks, Black-bellied Whistling Ducks and, Northern Shovelers. Of course, there were the Roseate Spoonbills, too!

That’s it for this week. ‘til next time, we hope you have a wonderful week, happy and healthy.

Hugs,

RJ and Gail

Bay View RV Resort – Rockport, Texas – November 14-20, 2016

Wow! The middle of November already, which means we’ve been here almost a month and a half. Time flies… And Thanksgiving is here!

Temperatures were quite comfortable all week with lows in the high 50s to low 60s and highs in the mid-80s. That is until a cold front went through on Friday night that dropped temps quite a bit. It was 53 Saturday morning when we got up, and just 48 on Sunday morning. Brrr! I know that to many of you these temperatures are nothing—but here in south Texas, it’s cold!

Dick worked 5 days this week, putting in his time at the office. I kept busy with Yoga on Monday and Wednesday, Stitch & Bitch on Tuesday (this week there were 10 gals who got together to work on plastic mats for the homeless!), and Pilates on Thursday. (Friday was a day of rest.) 

Happy hour on Monday was at Gary and Pam’s—12 of us got together to chat, laugh, and really just to enjoy each others company. Later that evening we all got together there again around a campfire to enjoy the Super Moon. Beautiful!

 

Dick spent time doctoring on Tuesday, just getting checkups. He’s good! In between visits he worked. I managed to keep busy with Stitch & Bitch (A LOT of stitching was going on; crocheting with “plarn” is not easy! For those of you who don’t know what plarn is, it’s a medium made from plastic shopping bags, joined together and then crocheted into many different items). Later that day, I attended a Rockport Tours informational meeting getting details on what they offer. (We’ve decided to take advantage of a few of their day trips, but more on that in later blogs.) After that was an hour of Wii bowling, and then pizza at Panjo’s with 15 friends. Yummy stuff!

Dick and friend Gary went to nearby Lamar and Goose Island State Park to photograph birds and butterflies. They did see doves, a titmouse, cardinal, hummingbird, white pelicans, butterflies, and whooping cranes.

While at Goose Island State Park he videotaped the Queen butterflies doing a little dance. We haven't figured out what it means...

While they were gone I enjoyed our Yoga class with 15 of my friends. Uff-da!

Later that day, Dick rode his motorcycle about 50 miles around the area. The day was so beautiful he couldn’t stay home! He found more birds: spoonbills (the most he's ever seen in one place at one time!), sandpipers and ibises. 

That evening we had our weekly dinner at the clubhouse. This week was sausage and peppers, salad and lemon bars. Yum-Yum! Oh, and that night Dick won $8 playing Texas Hold ’em! Whoopee!

Thursday was another work day for Dick, and Pilates for me. Feelin’ good! Happy hour was at Gary and Pam’s again (they have a larger patio that is perfect for these get-togethers). We also cheered the return of friend Prescott, who had been in the hospital for almost 2 weeks. (He’s on his way to being healthy again.) That evening Dick and I learned a new game, Fastrack, taught us by new friends Tony and Erma. It took us all evening to play 1 game! Oh, the women beat the men! That same evening the clubhouse is full of folks playing Bingo, and quite a few guys playing pool. The photo shows just 4 guys playing, but there were 8-10.

After breakfast at Whataburger Friday morning, Dick and I did laundry and then washed the truck. So glad we did that—we had a deluge that afternoon! Dick was walking through the park to photograph birds in the back ponds when he was caught in the rain. Thunder, lightning, wind and lots of rain… He did see lots of birds and turtles.

 

We spent happy hour at the clubhouse and then went to dinner at Crab-N Seafood Restaurant on the way to Aransas Pass. Twenty of us enjoyed 10 lbs. of fresh fish (caught by David and Marihelen and their daughter Krista) prepared in a variety of ways and served with sides of our choice. What a wonderful evening! Friends, food, fellowship… 

Dick worked Saturday, returning home for dinner before we headed to the clubhouse for an evening of music and entertainment by Jef (with one “f”) Wilson and Deb—the Riptones. What a wonderful time! 2 hours of music and laughter.

   

We were entertained with almost all genres of music. Click here to listen to a sample the Riptones singing Amarillo by Morning

Sunday we attended First Baptist Church of Rockport; Pastor Scott began his Christmas message series, “God with Us: Light and Life”. (He said that if Walmart could display Christmas stuff before Halloween, he could start his Christmas series before Thanksgiving! Ha!) Pastor’s message was taken from John 1:1-14; this passage describes Jesus’ startling transition from being with God to taking on his human attributes. The key to a vital Christian life is the personal reality of Christ’s presence; do we really believe Jesus left the Father’s presence to find us? Here’s the link to his messages: fbcrockport.net/sermons

After church we went to breakfast at JJ’s Little Bay Cafe in downtown Rockport. Dick had sour dough French toast and sausage; I had the traditional 2-egg breakfast with bacon and cottage fries. Good stuff! Part way through breakfast friends Bonnie and Jerry walked in, so we had them join us. We chatted for almost an hour through both breakfasts; such good friends. And, good food!

After a stop at Walmart to pick up items needed for Thanksgiving dinner, we headed home. Dick worked for a few hours, and I spent a bit of time with David and Marihelen, and Pam. At 2:00 Dick and I went to the clubhouse for the ice cream social, and to play Pegs & Jokers with friends Bill and Carole, Bob and Sharon, Alice and Patty. Unfortunately, the guys took both games. Never fear, ladies, the gals will rebound!

At 4:00 we all headed to Bonnie and Jerry’s for happy hour with 18 of our friends. Again—good friends, good times. We’re so happy to be here!

That’s it for this week. We continue to find things to fill our days and sometimes our evenings. The perfect place for us!

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving,

RJ and Gail

Bay View RV Resort – Rockport, Texas - November 7-13, 2016

Well, we’re into November and preparing for holiday dinners, parties, etc. Already, Thanksgiving is next week, although temperatures certainly aren’t putting us in the mood for fall activities! Temps, in the mornings, range from 63° to 75° and get up to the low- to mid-80s during the day. Actually, it’s really nice as long as the humidity stays relatively low, too. We could use some rain, though; the ponds are diminishing…it did rain quite heavily Monday morning for about 15 minutes, but that’s about all we’ve had of any significance recently.

Speaking of activities, they’re in full swing here in the park! Thought I’d give you an idea what is available every week. You can choose to participate, or not.

We’re enjoying yoga on Mondays and Wednesdays, as well as Card Bingo on Mondays; Stitch and Bitch and Wii bowling on Tuesdays; Texas Hold ‘em on Wednesdays; Pilates (not necessarily “for Dummies”), Bingo, and Pegs & Jokers on Thursdays; Pass the Aces on Fridays; Pegs & Jokers again on Sundays; and Guys Pool (billiards) on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays. Along with these scheduled activities, there are impromptu get togethers like the jam sessions on Thursday night at the Adult Clubhouse for any and all musicians and vocalists. Dick and I aren’t participating in all those things, but we are doing a lot of them: Yoga, Wii bowling, Pegs & Jokers and Texas Hold ‘em. We’re not letting any grass grow under our feet, that’s for sure!

We're crocheting plastic mats for the homeless, out of plastic shopping bags. We have to cut them, tie them together, and then crochet them into 2 1/2'  x 6' mats.

Last weekend we had our first craft and bake sale of the season the clubhouse. There was a light turnout, but those who came did buy, which was a good thing. There were photographs, jewelry, knitted and crocheted items, quilted items, sandals and "happy pants" and, whirligigs for sale. I had a few items for sale, too (5 baby/kid sweaters); I sold 3 of them. And, I played the keyboard for a bit of background music. The bakers in the park provided brownies and bars cookies, cakes and breads. Folks love their sweets!

Along with these activities we have an ice cream social on Sunday afternoons ($.50 per scoop), Happy Hours at various sites during the week and at the clubhouse on Wednesdays and Fridays, the Wednesday night dinner at the clubhouse ($7.00 per person), hamburgers at the clubhouse on Fridays at noon ($5.00) and, hot out-of-the-oven cinnamon rolls and coffee on Saturday mornings ($1 each). 

 

A few of us have also continued our tradition of getting together on Tuesday nights for pizza at a local pizzaria in Rockport.  Our group is continuing to grow as the weeks go by!

 

We also have special groups coming into the park to entertain us, but more on that next week. Fun times!

Dick continues to work in the office about 5 days a week, keeping the computer systems up and running. And, I’m enjoying doing my thing, with knitting, reading, crocheting, and playing the keyboard. And, shopping with friends!

Wednesday, Dick went with David to Port Aransas, thinking they’d do some fishing. Fishing turned out to be not so great, so they spent time walking around, visiting with folks. These are some photos Dick took while there. 

Port Aransas Nature Preserve at Charlie's Pasture. The pasture itself dates back to the late 1800s.

Last week I shared with you our trip to Mexico for dental work. Dick went back on Thursday this week, along with 3 others from the park, to have his crowns inserted (I stayed home). The four of them left at 6:30 a.m. for the 3-hour drive to Nuevo Progreso, arriving for 10:00 appointments. They arrived back in the park around 5 pm. One of the travelers, Ed, was having all his teeth pulled for a full set of dentures. He goes back the Friday after Thanksgiving for the final set. (He was sent home with a full set of temporaries, so at least he could eat after his gums healed.)

Here are a few shots of downtown Nuevo Progreso. Notice the large dog atop the entrance to the Veterinary Clinic! The grave marker is that of General Zachary Taylor, which is located at a rest stop about halfway between Corpus Christi and Nuevo Progresso

While he was gone, friends Marihelen and Pam and I went out for a bit of shopping and for lunch. We managed to do a bit of damage at Academy Sports and Bealls! Then, we had happy hour at Pam and Gary’s where we met new neighbors Larry and Lorraine from Colorado. We also met David and Marihelen’s daughter Krista, who had arrived from New Mexico along with her Great Dane Piper for a week’s visit. Fun times!

That evening the gals knocked the guys for a loop, winning at Pegs & Jokers 3:0! Yahoo! We played with Bill and Carole, Tony and Erma and, Dane and Tammy. Gals rock!

Friday evening 8 of us went to see Rockport Little Theatre’s rendition of “Best Little Whorehouse in Texas,” following by a stop at Dairy Queen. Parts of the play were funny, but the language was pretty rough throughout. We all thought the play could’ve accomplished the same results without it.

Sunday we attended church, at First Baptist Church of Rockport. Pastor Scott wrapped up his series from 1 Corinthians (verses 13-24), on “Being Transformed People in an Unbelieving Culture.” He left us pondering this question: “What are we (as believers) doing to make a difference in our world?” Here’s a link to his sermons:  fbcrockport.net/sermons  It’s worth listening to, and thinking about.

From there Dick and I headed to Arandas, a local Mexican restaurant, for breakfast. YUM-YUM! We had a typical American-type breakfast (Denver omelet, potatoes and toast for me; pancakes, scrambled eggs and sausage for Dick), with a bit of a Mexican twist: refried beans and salsa. We’ll definitely go back for breakfast! (We had dinner there a couple of weeks ago, which was just as good!)

That afternoon after the ice cream social, we once again played Pegs & Jokers, gals winning 2:1 over the guys. Gals rock! Then, it was on to happy hour at Bonnie and Jerry’s for more laughing and chatting with friends. Their backyard is a paradise of plants and trees. Lovely!

I believe that’s it for this week. Stay tuned for more next week! We leave you with this stunning photo of a sunset from our patio, over the trees.

Hugs,

RJ and Gail