Something we missed….

Linda had heard from one of the winter Texans that we needed to go to The Gaff, a local bar in Port Aransas, to see the belt sander races. They are held on Saturday afternoons, on every other weekend (the off weekend they are held in Rockport). They start around 3:00 but we were in the middle of breaking down our job and didn't get to go. Next year, we'll make sure to plan for it as it looks like fun. The Gaff is one of those "hole in the wall" type of bars, down near the beach. Here's some footage of a race held there I found on You Tube.
Hope your day is off to a zippy start !

Port Aransas

We’re finishing up in Port Aransas and will be leaving on Sunday. One of the upcoming events, here in Port Aransas, is Sandfest. It’s happening April 20 – 22 this year and usually attracts around 100,000 people. It’s a qualifying contest for the World championships. Last year 24 master sculptors attended and the event has become the largest master sand sculpting competition in the U.S.In addition to the master sculptors, there are over 200 amateur sculptors that also attend. Here are some pictures from the Sandfest website. I would think it tough to sculpt in this sand since it’s so fluffy but apparently it makes for a great medium. If you want to see some amazing work, go to the link above and see some more of the photos. This event is completely free to the public and certainly would be an awesome thing to witness. Might be something to put on a future “to do” list.
One of the restaurants downtown, has a sand sculpture outside that is pretty neat. It’s to promote a nearby development. What an amazing amount of detail in this piece !





As I’ve mentioned in a previous post, the birds that winter here are pretty spectacular. We saw this  one at a nearby RV park and the blue color was so pretty. Last weekend we took the bike out on Saturday but Sunday was so windy and chilly that we took the car out. Went to the channel to see if the dolphins were playing. Sometimes, while we’re crossing on the ferry, we can see them jumping alongside the boat. We thought we’d take time to sit and watch for them but there was no sign. They must have taken the day off. We did sit, in the park near the channel (in our new camping chairs), and watch the ferries cross. Each captain seems to have their own little routine on how they cross and line up with the opposing dock. It was fun to watch. Here they are lined up at the dock waiting for some passengers.
We took our usual drive on the beach to get back to the park at day’s end. The wind is really whipping today (17 – 27 m.p.h.) and look how strong the surf is. We can’t drive up the beach without Boomer getting a little run in. Look at this happy guy ! While we were driving up the beach, we saw a grader plowing sand on the beach. We’ve seen this a couple times, since we’ve been here. Not sure if it’s a regular thing….to move sand back that’s gotten pushed up onto shore or just a prep thing prior to the season kicking off. Love our daily drive and gonna miss that when we pull out next week.

CC & Beyond

We left the house this morning around 10:30, intent on going on a nice ride. We backed the bike out of the garage and discovered the front tire pressure was low. This has been a thing that’s been occurring lately and upon closer observation, Linda discovered that there was a crack in the valve stem. We added some air to the tire but decided that we really didn’t feel safe going on a really long ride until we got it fixed. This was AFTER we had to jump the battery to get the bike started. We’ve been putting off having to get a new battery cause, well you know….ya just get sick of shelling out money to fix things ! I’ve resigned myself to the fact that ever since I bought that 1972 Chevy Vega, when I was 16, that I work to pay for vehicles. I guess the alternative is that I’d need to take a bus or some sort of mass transit to wherever I need to go and that just wasn’t possible when you grew up in the country. So quit whining, Linda, and go get it fixed.
We went to a couple of garages in Port Aransas and they either didn’t do tire repairs on motorcycles or were closed. A guy, at the one garage we stopped at, told us to go to Corpus Christi so off we went, hoping the finger nail polish I applied to the crack would buy us some time. We found a Yamaha dealer in CC and after a donation of $213, we rode away with a new valve stem and a new battery. I could stop worrying about breaking down out in the middle of nowhere.
We headed out for our ride and had a wonderful afternoon, driving along the coast. We stopped outside of Portland, near a fishing pier and walked along the water. There was a bird sitting in the water and he could barely move. I wasn’t sure what was wrong with him but after looking around him, I saw a jellyfish right next to him so we’re wondering if he got stung trying to eat the jellyfish. I thought he might drown cause his head would fall down in the water and he wasn’t moving his legs at all. I reached down to pick him up and he mustered up enough strength to reach around as if to peck me. I put my gloves on and reached down and gently closed his beak, then put my hands around his body and picked him up and placed him on a rock. We’re hoping that if he did have a neuro-toxin in his system, that it would wear off in time. We left him there…hoping for the best.


All of the “stuff” that was part of the jetty appeared to be construction waste….slabs of concrete and such. With shells and seaweed all over the surface of these chunks, it was actually really neat looking. Looked a bit artsy in its’ new form.
Temps today were in the low 60’s and the air was a little cool but it was so great to get out on the bike. It’s been far too long since we’ve had Vanessa out on the road. Hoping tomorrow is a repeat of today (except for the donation part of it). Hope you enjoy whatever you do this weekend…..live life !

The Beach

Finished up a busy day with a meeting with one of the campground owners. Since his park is on the beach, we drove down to the beach to check it out. We’ve never been to a beach before that you could drive on…it was pretty neat. Sunny day today, with temps close to 60 and just a slight breeze (an oddity for here). We parked on the beach and took Boomer for a walk. He had a ball, running around. You could tell that he was really happy, he was running as best he could out to the end of his leash and around in figure eights. As we drove down the beach, there were a number of campers set up. Wow, talk about the ultimate boondocking location. The sound of the surf would lull you to sleep and you’d get to see the sunset over the water. Apparently they know how far high tide comes in, so they aren’t set up in harm’s way.

I had a meeting today with one of the advertiser’s who is an RV detailer and we were discussing the salt spray’s affect on the rigs. He said he’s heard, from the RV’ers that it’s the worst here of any place in the US. He’s developed a special spray-on protectant that the full time residents, in this park, have him put on about every six months. It clings to the frame and is a rust inhibitor. He has a salt neutralizer that he said he can put on our undercarriage, for $25, before we leave to combat the affect of the salt spray while we’ve been here. We’re going to run our car through local car washes every week to keep up with keeping the spray off since it’s already got a lot of rust underneath. We don’t need an accelerator on that process!










This is the beach access for the park where we are staying. One of the neat things about Port Aransas is that golf carts are licensed and can be driven on the road, down to a road called “beach access road 1….the entry point to drive onto the beach. This road is where one of the RV parks, we are working, is located. RV’ers here can park their car throughout their stay and drive a golf cart to town to shop or dine and use it on the beach. The park where we are staying cannot have rental golf carts in the park. They can own a golf cart but cannot rent one. Carts cannot be driven on the road here, since it sits further down the coast from town. As you can see in this picture, they have driven their carts from the park onto the beach but I’m wondering if they can just drive down the beach to the access road and then go into town (as long as their cart is licensed). There were golf carts all over the beach and I can only imagine how crazy the beach is in the summer when it’s crowded. You’d need a traffic cop directing cart and car traffic on the beach to keep people safe.


Supposed to be a nice weekend. We’re anxious to get the trike out and go riding. Hope everyone has an awesome weekend doing what you love to do !

Lack of Humanity

Been a long day and I don’t mind telling you, I’m a bit weary. We had a great time at Pecan Park, in San Marcos, TX for our overnight stay. They had a hot tub (more like a tepid tub) and an indoor swimming pool with a waterfall spillway at one end. We had such a good time, relaxing in the tepid tub, letting the one good jet work the kinks out of our sore backs. Then we got in the pool and paddled around. Then back to the tepid tub, to realize yes it was a little warmer than the swimming pool. Slept like babies last night !
Got on the road at 8:45 this morning. We were going down the side street, leading out to the main road when we hear sirens and see lots of cop cars in front of us. An ambulance comes up this little road and pulls in front of us and parks right in the middle of the road. On our right is a shirtless man, covered in blood and holding a towel to his head. The paramedics rush to him and we squeeze around the ambulance, while hearing tree limbs screeching down the side of the rig. (I hate that sound !) Down the road, maybe a quarter of a mile, are five cop cars. They too did not practice courteous parking methods, respectful to passers by. Linda sees a guy, in the back seat of a police cruiser and another guy sitting at a picnic table in the front yard. Other police officers are seen inside the open front door of the house, milling around. Linda had heard something on the news about a shooting this morning. Was this where it had happened ? Sure was a lot of blood on the guy we saw. What over ? Humans being indifferent to each others’ needs. Violence taking its toll on someone’s family. How sad….
We’d been driving for a couple hours when I needed to stop so I pulled off at a picnic area. I took Boomer outside and noticed two boxes along the side of the road. I thought it odd that there was a 20# bag of cat food and two gallon jugs of water sitting near these boxes. I put Boomer in the house and went to check out the boxes. Approaching the boxes gave me the same feeling I get when I come up on a wreck and look in the wrecked car to help those who wrecked. I really was hoping there wasn’t an illegal alien in those boxes or a child….oh my. There were air holes cut in the tops of each box so I figured that some living breathing “thing”, was or had been in there. Was there still something in there? I leaned down and peaked in and two sets of eyes looked out of each box. Four black cats in total. Who could be so heartless as to leave these four kitties out here ? Linda and I were sick over it. She took our tablet and started calling SPCA’s and shelters, from  San Antonio to Corpus Christi. Answering machines or overflowing facilities….No one would come get them and no place to take them. I spoke to one woman who only takes in stray dogs or puppies and she didn’t have any answers for me. The kitties didn’t have any more water left. Someone had left them two jugs with slits cut in them, sitting in aluminum pans. Our water level, in the rig, was below the level where the water pump would work since we don’t like to travel with the weight of a lot of extra water. I filled a water pitcher with water, from the low drain valve and filled their pans. One kitty came out and drank and drank. I took some of the cat food and put it inside the boxes, as they acted really skittish and only one would venture out to the edge of the box. A couple of the kitties ate the food. Adopting four cats wasn’t a possibility for us since I’m allergic to them and we already have Boomer. We pulled out of the picnic area, with heavy hearts and tears streaming down our faces. Linda took a black marker and wrote on the boxes for someone to please adopt them. We hope that they find great homes and make out ok. It made for a really sad ride to Port Aransas.
We took the ferry over to Port Aransas. What a slick operation. The deck hands guided us onto the ferry and told us when to depart. It’s a short ride….you can see the far shore from where you sit at the first shore. The smell of the ocean air, blowing through the rig’s windows, was heavenly. It only took a few minutes to cross over and get unloaded.
We arrived here around 2:15. Temps were in the 70’s….still 68 degrees out tonight. Great breezes, blue water….blue skies. Our site is about 100 yards from the hot tub…..I’m headed over there as soon as I post this to find out if it’s truly “hot” or if it too is tepid. I’ll let you know next time around.

Debate Fumbles

Summary

Truth took a punch or two at the first of two GOP debates before New Hampshire’s critical presidential primary.

• Romney, talking about taxes, said federal, state and local government consume 37 percent of the economy today compared with only 27 percent when John F. Kennedy was president. In fact, taxes now consume only 27.4 percent of GDP.
• Paul blasted Gingrich for avoiding the draft during Vietnam, and Gingrich said Paul had a “long history” of inaccuracies. The truth is Gingrich was both a student and a father at the time, and probably would have failed the physical anyway, according to his stepfather, an Army man.
• Santorum said the term “middle class” implies class warfare and is one “I don’t think we should be using as Republicans.” The fact is his own campaign used it in an Iowa flyer, and he has used it in the past himself.
• Paul attacked Santorum as a “high-powered lobbyist.” Santorum was never registered as a lobbyist, though he earned more than $200,000 working as a consultant for a lobbying firm and an energy company.

Candidates also recycled some false or doubtful claims we’ve gone over before. Romney repeated his misleading claim that his firm Bain Capital invested in businesses that “have now added over 100,000 jobs.” Huntsman again claimed Utah was “No. 1” in job creation while he was governor, which isn’t true according to the standard statistical measure for employment. And Santorum again put words in President Obama’s mouth by claiming that the president “supported” the results of a disputed election in Iran.
And finally, Gingrich, Santorum and Romney were all a bit confused about which sports teams were playing an important game on another network. Perhaps they had more important matters on their minds.
To see the full article, go to http://factcheck.org
Hitting the road this morning to continue our trek to Port Aransas, Texas. Will be there this afternoon.

Johnson’s Rock Shop

Several friends told us that we need to go to Johnson’s Rock Shop before we leave Livingston. It’s located about 30 minutes from the park, way off the beaten path with just a few home-made signs showing the way off of route 190. A cute little old lady, in her 80’s (I’m assuming she’s Mrs. Johnson) runs the “complex”. I call it that because there are a bunch of little buildings, all clustered together in a little village-like atmosphere that each house different types of rocks.
Mrs. Johnson said that they’ve had the shop for only 38 years but have been rock hounds for 67 years. They go to Tuscon, to an annual rock show to buy the rocks they sell in the shop. Her daughter, who has recently retired, has moved back home to help her mom. She makes a lot of the chokers and jewelry. Her mom seemed to be very happy to have her daughter helping her these days since her husband has been sick off and on and unable to help her. There’s so much to see as you walk through the village.
One building was the silversmith shop, another the music shop and another was called Tammy’s Hotel. Prices seemed pretty reasonable compared to prices for similar gems we’ve seen elsewhere but when you live in an RV, rocks are the last thing to come home with. Neat place to check out on your next visit to Livingston.
Speaking of heavy….tomorrow morning we’re scheduled to get our rig weighed here in the park by the Smart Weigh folks. We went into town and filled up with gas today (dang it if gas hasn’t gone up 13 cents in the last couple days). Water tank is filled and tanks are dumped. We’re ready ! Will let you know what the verdict is.
Got word on our next assignment. Our new scheduler called and we’re going to an island below Corpus Christi….Port Aransas. There are two parks there that need to be done so we’ll be there for three weeks once we finish up next week in Arlington. We’re excited ! The parks are right along the water and the temps have been pretty nice there (especially the night temps). As good a place as any to spend January !