Fluff

Something I keep forgetting to mention, when I talk about us frolicking on the beach, is how different the sand is here. It’s not gritty like sand typically is. It’s like talcum powder….so soft and it gets into everything. We’ve tried to end each selling day by driving onto the beach and driving up the beach to the campground. We stop and let Boomer run on the beach. Boomer acts a little like he did back home in the snow but doesn’t go so far as to roll in the sand (thank goodness). He does love to run across the little dunes though and loves the wind and watching the birds and other dogs on the beach.
The other aspect of the sand, for folks who live next to the beach, is the drifting of the sand into residents’ driveways. I know shoveling snow, back east, is a huge bummer but shoveling sand (so you can get into your driveway off the beach) would be just as bad. Boardwalks have huge sand drifts over them, which would need wading through, to be able to get into your property. I think there’s been two days of no wind since we’ve been here….it never stops.
Today we took the bike out. Did a little business in the morning and then went to a couple birding centers in town. There are so many neat birds here although the drought has had a severe impact on the wetland areas around here. We went to the top of an observation platform and could see all of the dried up areas surrounding this one small area of shallow water. A lady, on the platform, said the only reason there’s water in this one area is that the sewer treatment facility, next door, recycles its water and releases it into the wetland area. So sad to see that these birds are in danger due to lack of water in their winter home.






There were lots of different types of ducks, brown pelicans and other birds that I have no idea what they were. We saw signs telling us to beware of alligators but didn’t see any. Did see some interesting flowers, at the entry to the birding center. This one was called something like  a Mexican Bishop Hat. The spiral design is really neat…..just hanging from the bush , it has a flat appearance to it until you look at it from the end.
We bought a Whataburger combo and went to the dock area to eat it. We’ve never had a Whataburger….they are not in our neck of the woods..back home. Gotta say, they are pretty awesome ! Vicki, your talk of Whatabugers has made believers out of us. We love the wheat buns that you can get them on. Left the dock and drove down Padre Island way. Had a great time walking on the beach and enjoying the warm temps (was around 76 today). It was a wonderful day, driving around the area. Not sure what tomorrow holds in store for us.

Alaskan String Band

There was a performance tonight, here in the park, by the Alaskan String Band, from Juneau, Alaska.

What a talented family ! Here is a video of them from four years ago. The youngest, Abigail is now 14. They travel and tour, in the warmer areas of the country, during the winter months. The women were dress in traditional KUSPUK attire, that had been hand-made by the mother and daughters. Learning how to make these traditional dresses is something that’s passed down from mother to daughter, over the generations. They were beautiful with beads and rickrack stitched on for decoration. Each of them played so many instrument. I saw mandolins, banjo, violin, guitar, bass and snare drum being played at one point or another. They played bluegrass, gospel, swing and some things that were a combination of styles. They all sang too. If you recall me mentioning, in a previous post, the mother (Melissa) and one of the daughters (Laura) were in the hot tub last week when Linda and I went over. We got to spend a little bit of time talking to them. They recognized us tonight, when we sat down, and waved to us. The young man, who played bass, had a whole basket full of hats and he put on a different one for each song. It was really cute ! He’s quite the showman too and a real charmer with the young ladies, I’m sure.Such a fun night….so glad we went over to listen to them ! If you ever hear of them coming to a place near you, be sure to go see them. They’re great !

New Chairs

Linda and I have had the same camping chairs since before we went on the road and besides being big and bulky, they were getting a little beat up. On a recent visit to Camping World, a chair there caught my eye that was folded up really compact but I was on a mission for something else so didn’t take the time to open it up and check it out. I found the chair on Amazon but since they were almost $50 each, I put it on our wish list. After discussing it with Linda, we decided to buy two of them and try them out. When we went back to them, on the Amazon site, they had gone done $10 each so yippee, it was meant to be. On top of that, we had built up a bunch of cash back on our Discover card so the whole purchase was done using our cash back proceeds.
They are called an X-Press Lounger Director’s Chair and are made by GCI Outdoor.The carrying handle is part of the back rest. They are super compact….17.5” x 2.5” x 16.5”. They are really comfy and we think we’re going to store them in the car since they are super small. That way we’ll have them if we get to an event where we want to sit a spell. There are pockets on each side of the chair, for a cell phone or book or a bottle/can. Seems like some good thought went into the design of the chair. I was a little concerned that some of the people who had purchased them had problems with the chairs and needed to get a replacement. That’s why we got them from Amazon…we knew how good they are about replacing them if there is a problem. There is also a lifetime warranty on the chairs from the manufacturer. We’re happy with them…they take up less space and are comfy.

This Really Sucks….

This morning Linda, Boomer and I walked down to the beach. There is a nice boardwalk at our end of the park that crosses the dunes onto the beach. Folks were out walking, jogging, fishing, and just hanging out. We stopped to talk to three guys who were fishing. They were catching whiting, which from the looks of their bucket, were biting really good today. We asked what they use for bait and they said “ghost shrimp”. They use home-made “suckers”, made out of PVC pipe, to get them out of the sand. You look for a mound of sand, where there are air bubbles coming out and you put the tip of the sucker over the spot and start sucking. The plunger pulls the sand up inside and then you dump the sand out on the beach to see if the shrimp is in there. You usually have to do this 2-3 times because these little buggers dig like crazy to get deeper in the sand. The tide was pretty high so he wasn’t sure he’d be able to find one for us but he finally did. They don’t really look like shrimp but are probably distant cousins to the ones we like to eat. They are very delicate so it’s hard to keep them on the hook when you cast out into the surf. They wiggle for a long time so that, and their smell, attract the fish. Here are some pictures of a ghost shrimp.
 
Those flat things on their bellies act like paddles and help them to dig down into the sand really fast. This is a really small one. They can be as big as six inches or so, he said. Those they break into pieces to bait their hooks with. The guy we were talking with is from Ohio. He’s been coming down for the last eight years and he enjoys the relaxation of fishing in the surf and listening to the waves. I can’t blame him at all. We’re really enjoying it !
I also saw this thing on the shore. It looks just like a red onion so not sure if there is something that grows in the ocean that looks like it or if someone threw one on the beach, thinking someone like me would come along and wonder about it. If they did, it worked. Hope you learned something new today and were amazed by something simple or complex. Ain’t life grand ?

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 !

Hold Onto Your Hat…

Wow, was it windy last night ! Had 40-45 m.p.h. winds and it was rocking the rig and blowing the car around as we were driving around this morning. The guys on the ferry were all bundled up and I felt so bad for them. They looked like they were froze to death. I did see a little of the dolphins as we crossed on the ferry, amidst the white capped waves. There are docks for four ferries so we never have to wait to cross. It’s a very quick process to get across so we never have to add in a lot of extra time when we know we’re doing to Aransas Pass or Rockport.
Yesterday was gorgeous…temps of 82 when we went to Corpus Christi and a great breeze.
We’re trying to figure out what to do this weekend. There is a uninhabitable island that we can take a boat to and spend a few hours wandering around. There are no services, no buildings….nothing. Kind of like pretending we’re Gilligan for a few hours. Might be fun…a lot will depend on what the weather is going to be.

Last night, when we went over to the hot tub for our nightly soak, there were two women in the tub already. They are from Juneau, Alaska and have a large bus-type rig that they use during the summer months. They escape the winters in Juneau and travel around the warm states, performing for RV parks. They are called the “Alaskan String Band”. They were double booked last night so they got the night off. They will be back to perform on the 18th. There’s a mother, father, two daughters and a son who perform in the band. We’re hoping to go listen to them when they return to the park to play. We had a nice time talking to them. They said they already had four feet of snow before they left Juneau. They leave their rig in the states, when they return back home. It’s so nice to meet people on the road and learn about their lives and where they are from.
Anxious for the weekend to be here so we can explore the area. We’re hoping the temps will be warm enough that we can get the trike out and get a ride in. We’ll let you know what we come up with.

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.

This and That…

It’s been a few days since I’ve put up a post. Vacation is over for us. We moved back to Arlington on Sunday. We left Livingston on Saturday and hung out with friends on New Years, part way to Arlington. On the way to their place, we could see how much the lakes have receded. Boats, in their dock cradles (don’t know what the official name is for the things that pull them up out of the water at the dock) were high and dry….a long way from being able to be launched in water. So sad to see how dry everything is. Had a nice time hanging out with them but Linda and I didn’t make it to midnight. Just a couple of old farts….made it to about 11 p.m. but then off to bed for us.
We’re back at it, trying to wrap up this job in Arlington. Still was hard to find people at work today….still  off from the holidays. Frustrating for us but not much we can do. While we were out today, we went to Petsmart and bought a “cone” for Boomer. Apparently he’s got allergies or scratched his eye and nose and he won’t leave it alone. It would just start to heal up and he’d scratch it again overnight and open the wound. Poor guy looks like he was in a bar room brawl ! He must feel so clumsy with it on his neck cause he keeps running into things. I’m sure it might be tough for him to get comfortable tonight and sleep but he needs to let his scrapes heal up. We’re putting antibiotic cream on it so in a couple of days he’ll be as good as new.

I replicated the cover that our friends Wendy and Cindy put around their water softener. Had to look in several stores before we finally found a pop up hamper with cover. Just cut holes in each side for the garden hoses to pass through and it’s good to go. The black material attracts the warmth of sun first thing in morning for those chilly overnights. The girls put a trouble light in the bottom of theirs if they need to generate a little warmth for those iffy nights when it might get chillier than we’re comfortable but not a horrendous freeze. Here’s a couple pics of what it looks like now. The lid zips on so it’s really handy to get in to check things or dismantle to move to a new location.


We got an e-mail from a friend of ours who just left for Hawaii on a business trip. He arrived and was at the Marine base, working out in the gym and President Obama was there working out. That would be kind of cool….to look over, while working out and see the President of our country on a piece of equipment next to you.
Speaking of light” moments…I heard on the news the other day that production of the incandescent bulb has ceased. Once the existing supply, in retail stores or warehouses around the world, runs out we won’t be able to buy a regular ‘ole light bulb anymore. They are energy hogs…better to buy a CFL. Wouldn’t Thomas Edison be sad to hear that his invention has outlived its usefulness?
Hope everyone had a great New Years eve and have a happy, healthy and prosperous 2012.