2010

New Year's Eve - how can the year go by so quickly?? We had a great New Year's Eve party/dance here in the park and danced the old year away!!  We had a great time but do miss the New Year's Eve parties we used to have at our house when we lived in MO!!

The kids took one last trip over to St Joe Island before heading north. They called when they got back to Port A to tell us good-bye. We were hoping that the book we ordered for Tracy for Christmas would arrive in the morning mail - but it didn't, so I will have to forward it when it finally gets here. It was shipped quite some time ago!! We spent the morning doing some computer work and took a walk down to the beach after lunch. The waves were quite large again - so pretty!!

In the morning, we met Pam and Tracy down at the beach to get pictures - somehow we had managed to miss getting pictures of us all on the beach! After lunch, we went down to the jetty to see what was happening. The water was quiet but there were a lot of black skimmers in the parking lot.

We met the kids at Kody's for their Wednesday special of All You Can Eat shrimp dinner - yummy!!  There were several couples from the park there also and we took up quite a few tables!  Then we went down to the condo for a game of Mexican Train - Tracy won this time!  We hated to tell them good-bye but they had to leave the next morning!

We had to go up to Walmart to pick up a few things and stopped in at Lowe's to see about getting some pavers to widen our spot here so we don't have to walk on the grass to get in the coach. While we were there, I noticed their cyclamen were only $2.50 so had to get a really pretty fuchsia one with white edges.  I don't want to put it out in the wind, so now we have a dashboard full of plants with that, our bougainvillea and Christmas cactus!

We stopped by the park on the way back and watched the brown pelicans - more than we had ever seen there at one time and it looked like they were trying to see who could make the biggest splash!  They are so funny when they go fishing!!

In the evening, we took fixin's over to the kid's condo and made flautas for supper.  Then they taught us how to play Hand & Foot.

The kids took the ferry over to St Joe Island this morning to go exploring - that is supposed to be a good shelling beach. We went over to the clubhouse and played bridge after lunch. While we were playing, they came back with lots of sand dollars (over 70!!) they had found on the island. We decided to meet them at the Crazy Cajun for supper and then go to the condo to play Mexican Train.

We met Pam and Tracy at the Trout Street Grill for dinner after church. They were going to Aransas Pass to check after-Christmas sales so I had her get me some Christmas wrap. We went down to the park to see what was happening and watched the dolphins playing in the channel. A couple were jumping clear out of the water!! The kids came by after shopping and wanted to watch a movie so we decided to stay home and went to the clubhouse and played pass the trash.

Pam and Tracy came over and we went to the Christmas Potluck Dinner here in the RV park. I made a fruit salad and took rolls and butter. The dinner was delicious - the park furnished ham and everyone brought side dishes. Later in the evening we went over to the kids' condo and we played Sequence. Girls won 4-3 :)

Another beautiful, warm day so we went to the beach for awhile. Pam & Tracy planned to explore the beach - we drove down to their condo to catch them unaware and get pictures of them on the beach - but they weren't there!! I called them and found that they had been down near the jetty. We met them at The Thirsty Turtle for lunch and then went down to the jetty. It was pretty quiet down there so we headed back, stopping to look at a group of birds on the beach. Pam & Tracy caught up with us again there and we were able to point out some of the different birds to them.

They met us at our coach and we went to Christmas Eve service at First Baptist church at 6 pm. Then we stopped back for food for our Christmas Eve Buffet and then went down to their condo to eat and open gifts. It was wonderful to have family here to spend Christmas with us and we had a great evening!

It was a beautiful, warm day in paradise so it was off to the beach again! I enjoyed reading my book and listening to the waves and Don put his water shoes and swim trunks on and went out in the water for awhile. This is the first time the water has been warm enough to do this in all the years we have been coming down here!!

Pam and Tracy arrived about 7:30 pm and we met them downtown and went to Moby Dicks for a delicious seafood dinner.

We went down to the beach for awhile and I had to go out and get my feet wet in the gulf!! Later, we went over to HEB to get groceries for Christmas Eve and stopped at several seafood stores to price shrimp, We found some that was the least expensive - it was pieces, no tails and some of the shells were off. Good deal! We didn't have to pay for the tails which we throw away anyway!! We came home and cleaned and cooked them and they were ready for tomorrow night.

In the evening, it was caroling in the park. Don wasn't interested in going, but I went and had a good time. Afterwards, there was hot cider and cookies in the clubhouse.

A pretty day, so we decided to to up to Goose Island and see of the Whooping Cranes are there this year. We didn't see them, although a couple of fishermen said they have been seen in the area - guess we will try another day! We had a delicious lunch at Charlotte Plummers in Fulton and then drove back along the bay and saw lots of other birds! One one of the piers, there was a White Pelican holding his wings out to dry! We have never seen that before - maybe he has been watching the cormorants!!

On his walk this morning, Don saw some Roseate Spoonbills in the pond here in the park - our favorite birds!! The moon was so pretty this evening!! We did go down and play dime bingo this evening - no winnings this time! Guess it was time to let others win :)

After church we went to Moby Dick's for a delicious dinner of baked rosemary chicken with enough chicken left over for a couple more meals. In the evening, it was our weekly ice cream social and a game of pass the trash.

We finished up the Christmas packages and took them to the post office. It is getting to the point that postage is costing as much as the items shipped. Bev played bridge while Don worked around home on this and that. She saw some Whistling Ducks on the pond near the clubhouse - we miss hearing them fly over this year since we have moved to a different area of the park. Nine of us played pass-the-trash in the evening and Don won the big pot of $1.44. It is always fun whether we win or not!!

At bingo Saturday evening, Bev won twice and Don won once so now we can play 2 more weeks without costing us anything!

We went into Corpus Christi to pick up the calendars at Office Depot and do the rest of our Christmas shopping at the mall. We did laundry this afternoon - one thing that continues when traveling!!

We started leading the line dancing this afternoon. There were only two others there but still had fun getting back into it. I'm sure that once Christmas is past, there will be more dancers. We will do it again Sunday afternoon. We played bingo again after supper, but no winnings this time. Bev finished her quilt - a seashell and sand lap quilt for her sister, Cookie!!

Don took the calendars to Office Depot for binding, made a deposit at Wells Fargo, and picked up some groceries at HEB Plus on the way home. Bev played bridge while he was gone. We played dime bingo this evening and Bev won twice and Don won once. Now we have enough dimes to play for quite some time!

After church we at lunch at the Thirsty Turtle - a new restaurant this year. We had their 2 for $12.99 special of sautéed flounder which was very good. We then went to the Dollar General and HEB in Aransas Pass for a few items for Christmas and tonight's Christmas party. We stopped by the park on the channel for awhile in the afternoon and saw this barge coming in with some huge cable on it. The Christmas party was fun, as always - good snacks, carol singing, good fellowship.

Another beautiful day in paradise. Bingo this evening, we didn't win anything but enjoyed the evening.

Friday, December 10

A beautiful day so we took a walk down to the beach. It is almost ½ mile from our coach to the beach - not bad!! In the evening we had our first dance of the season - "Welcome Back" featuring the Sons of Texas band. They were fairly good and we had a great time.

Once our ink arrived, we went back to work on our calendars. After supper, we played Sequence with Bev, Bob Romero and Bill & Diane Nutter. Bill and Diane are Romero's friend and are from British Columbia. The girls won 4 to 3!

We got some work done during the day - worked on our Christmas calendars until we ran out of ink and had to order some more! We can order from HP and have it here the next day!! After supper, Millers and Knorrs introduced us to a new game: Five Crowns. There are five suits, no aces nor deuces. Has similarities to Canasta - we had a fun time!

We got the palm tree and the dolphin set up. The poor palm tree is not in too good shape; too much salt air and wind has taken its toll. This may be the last year that it is going to be usable. We had to use lots of string to hold it together!! We started playing dime bingo this evening and Don won the last game. Now we have about enough money to play another few weeks.

After church, we went to Pelican's Landing for a delicious lunch. We split a cup of gumbo (very good!) and each had fish (flounder) & chips. Then, after a stop at the grocery store, we came home and I worked on Christmas calendars until time to go to the rec center for our ice cream social. We had a good visit with several friends and got home about an hour and 1/2 later.

After spending some time working on this website, we headed for Ingleside and the bank. We had a dolphin playing right beside the ferry on the way across the channel. They are so cute! We stopped on the way for some gumbo at a restaurant in Aransas Pass that we discovered last year. They are under new management and their gumbo was good, but I think I liked last year's better - I did have a very good crab cake and Don said his oyster sandwich was good. We stopped at HEB on the way back for a few groceries. It was a beautiful afternoon, so I sat outside for awhile and worked on my quilt, enjoying the sunshine and about 80° weather! Then I took a walk down to the beach before supper. After supper, it was time for bingo - no winnings this time :(

We took a drive down to the beach in the morning and then down to the jetty where we saw 3 dolphin playing in the bow wave of a big ship coming in. After lunch, I went over to play bridge, but there were only 3 of us, so I came back home and worked on my quilt. Don spent the afternoon trying to get the DSL working, only to finally decide that our Qwest modem won't work for CenturyLink, so ordered one from them - maybe next week we can get it going!! We went over to the rec center for hamburgers for supper. We had a good time visiting and then played a few games of Sequence with Bob and Bev - we played with them last winter and the girls were ahead at the end of the season! The guys actually came out one game ahead tonite!!

It was time to head on to Port A and get parked for a few months. Traveling so much does get tiring and we were glad to get settled in for awhile and see our "winter" friends. The park is kinda' empty, I guess many of the "winter Texans" wait until after the holidays to come down.

Tuesday, we took a trip to the grocery store and then spent the rest of the day at home. We have been on the go so much, it was nice to have a day at home. It gave me time to get some computer work done and even a little quilting! Wednesday was another day spent at home and time to get the laundry done.

We took the bus down to the Riverwalk...being in a different park quite a ways from where we usually park, the bus ride was about 1 hour long! But, beats paying $5 for 1 1/2 hrs of parking in a lot downtown. It cost us 25¢ to go in and $1.25 to come home (we came home too late for the really cheap fares). We met Marie (my best friend from college days and maid of honor at our wedding) at the Zuni Restaurant and had a delicious lunch and great visit. Then we wandered down to the mall where we always like to get a Starbucks and sit on the patio and listen to the band that plays there. Then, we got the bus back home. We had a beautiful day for our trip - sunny and about 80°!!

We went to church at Calvary Hills Baptist church, not too far from the park. It was a very friendly church. Then We went to Bill Miller Bar-B-Q restaurant for lunch before returning home to relax for the rest of the day. I actually managed to get some quilting done!

We decided to go to the store and be back by noon; Sherel Knesel was coming to visit about 1. Don started getting the card ready to take off of the dolly and discovered that the dish antenna was blocking the bay. So he had to untie it and then carefully moved it forward to the next bay which is not needed until we leave the park. We stopped at the office on the way to sign up for the pizza and movie this evening. When we got ready to leave, a young fellow came over and told us that we had a flat tire on the car! With great effort, Don finally got the tire replaced with the small spare which did not have much air in it. We headed to Sears only to find that our GPS sent us to an office building and not a Sears store!! We did find a Walmart not too far away so did my grocery shopping while they fixed the tire. It would have been free at Sears, but was only $10 at Walmart and not worth the hunting around for Sears!!

Sherel, a friend from our Boulder days, came over shortly after we got home and we had a very nice visit with her. It is always fun to catch up with long-time friends and we appreciated her coming over. She lives in Austin, but was down here in San Antonio visiting her brother, so came to see us before heading back home.

About 6 pm we headed down to the rec center for pizza and the movie. There were only 4 couples there for pizza - guess most of their guests were busy or the winter residents haven't arrived yet. We had a nice visit, good pizza and then watched the movie and got home about 9 pm.

We were tired after traveling for 4 days in a row! We seldom do that many!! So decided to take a day resting since the shoppers will be out in full force! Don spent the morning on the phone with Chris trying to get our internet set up - so he had another frustrating day!!! They finally got it working - yeah!

We hated to be on the road Thanksgiving Day, missing dinner with Marie and her family, but it couldn't be helped. The traffic was pretty light as we came in to San Antonio. We stayed at a different park from where we usually stay when here. This one is on the west side of town and a nicer neighborhood than were we have stayed in the past. We will be here for a week. We had a good turkey dinner since I brought leftovers from our dinner with Pitts before we left home. We had turkey, dressing, potatoes and corn and it didn't take me long to fix it!!

The park office was closed, of course, when we arrived, but they left info on where to park. We were unable to get hooked up to the internet, which was rather frustrating.

We had a pretty day for travel with some wind, but not too bad, as we went to Ozona TX. The park there isn't fancy but did have good WIFI. We got a discount at the nearby restaurant so had hamburger steak for $4.49 and it was a good meal for the price - and I didn't have to cook.

We traveled on to Van Horn TX. It was a short day (only 166 miles) but there are few places to stop in this part of TX, so we had to stop where we could. This KOA has a cafe with delicious food - I always look forward to eating there when we stop. We had a delicious German baked chicken dinner and a relaxing evening.

Leaving Socorro, our "fun" began! About 17 miles north of Truth or Consequences, a trucker (our angel in disguise - a lady trucker!!) stopped us and said it looked like the fender on our trailer was hitting the tire. We looked and wiggled it but couldn't see anything, so drove on slowly and shortly the tire began coming apart and taking the fender of the trailer with it. It didn't blow out - the tread just came off! It didn't hurt the car and broke the cover on one of the coach back lights but sure made a mess of the fender! So, we pulled to the side of the road, took the car off the dolly, took the tire off and Don went in to T or C to find a tire. Fortunately, we were close to a town and not in the middle of nowhere (and we drove through lots of that! Or in the middle of El Paso traffic!!) and they did have a tire (after stopping at a couple of places). So, that took a couple of hours and it was too late to go on to Van Horn, so we spent the night in the RV park we like in Las Cruces NM and delayed everything else for a day. It was a fairly windy drive, so Don was ready to stop by the time we got there. Quite a day!!

We went to First Baptist Church here in Socorro this morning. People were fairly friendly and the pastor had a good message. Then we went to Smith's for a few groceries and then to El Camino Family Restaurant for a delicious dinner. I had a hot chicken burrito (it had peppers in it) and a chili relleño and Don had a chili relleño and tamale. both with very good rice and beans. We were quite full when we finished! Then we came home to relax - well, I worked on websites and Don worked on getting our satellite working. He finally got someone on the DISH chat that discovered we were not signed up for local channels!! Now it is finally working!

We packed a picnic lunch and headed for the wildlife area about 10 am. Upon arrival, we actually found a parking spot fairly close to the visitor center and went to the artists' tent where there were many beautiful photos, paintings, etc. Then we headed out on the drive around the area. This trip has to set a new low record for number of species seen, but there were many, many snow geese and sandhill cranes. And - lots and lots of people!!

On the way home, we had to stop at the Owl Cafe in San Antonio (NM) for one of their famous green chili hamburgers. They are handmade burgers (not the pressed meat) and are delicious - and hot!!! Don again spent quite a bit of time on the computer chatting on the DISH helpline but, again, they were unable to help - just said the dish was not properly aligned.

We left Gallup about 10 am and headed to Socorro. We made a stop in Los Lunas at the Walmart to have lunch and do a little shopping. We arrived in Socorro about 3:30 pm. We found out when we arrived that this is the time for the annual Festival of the Cranes in the Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge. Which means that the sandhill cranes have arrived and also that there will be lots of people there!!

Don spent quite a bit of time trying to get our satellite to work, to no avail. Maybe tomorrow! He spent quite a bit of time online chatting with DISH, but they didn't solve our problem!

Thursday we took the drive from Moab to Gallup NM. Lots of miles of nothing, although part of the drive is pretty.

We finally got things all loaded and left Fruita around 3 pm. Fortunately, we only went to Moab so it was a short trip and we got settled in just before dark!

Don took the coach out and filled it with propane and fuel and then backed in in so we could start loading. Somehow, what used to take us 1/2 day now takes 1 1/2 days!!!

After line dancing in the morning, we started getting things gathered up for our trip.

Back to the daily grind. Nothing much happening but the usual daily activities. We are starting to get ready for our trip south in a few days!

After church, we went to Schlotzsky's for lunch and then did a bit of shopping. We had a chili supper over at the clubhouse in the evening. Since it was Halloween, a few people dressed up. We had a fun time - several couples dressed up as hillbillies and sang and played for us - that was great! The chili and sides were delicious, as usual. After dinner some of us stayed to watch the movie The Blind Side. I had been wanting to see it and we thought it was great.

Nothing much happening - the usual computer work, housework, Wednesday coffee time at the clubhouse, evening social time twice a month, shopping, bridge on Fridays.

After church we went to Palisade for a Habitat For Humanity home dedication. Since we have been working on their website, we thought it would be good to go to the dedication. It was a home for a single mom and her daughter and the dedication ceremony was really nice and it was neat to see them and see how thankful they were. On the way back home we stopped at the Texas Roadhouse for dinner - it is across town from us so we don't get there often.

It was a very pretty day so we took the 150 mile trip over Grand Mesa. We had planned to eat at the restaurant at Ward Lake but it was closed for remodeling and the other restaurant was closed also. So we ate a snack and went on to Cedaredge and ate a good late lunch at Ole' Bakery & Restaurant.  Then we stopped in Eckert to visit Bev's sister, Cookie for about an hour before heading on home.

A busy day - we went over to coffee in the clubhouse in the morning, then lunch with the Lunch Bunch at Olive Garden. We tried one of their new dishes and it was delicious! Then, we had a meeting with the Director of Habitat for Humanity regarding the website. We stopped at a couple of shoe stores while we were downtown looking for something comfortable for me - but they had nothing!

Monday we didn't go to line dancing because I had a sore foot and Don a sore knee. We went to see the doctor on Tuesday and he said he didn't see anything serious with Don's knee, so to go ahead and walk and take some ibuprophen for it. He said it looks like I have a heel spur - at least I know that will heal in time! We made a stop at Walmart while we were in town to finish stocking up.

After church, we went to Genghis Grill for lunch and then came home. Don cleaned the carpet in the coach and then put it back in its storage parking place.

Don worked on cleaning the coach a bit in the morning, then we went down to the Habitat For Humanity ReStore for their 8th Anniversary Celebration. We wanted to see the store and take some pictures for the website. Then we had to make a stop at the grocery store and restock our pantry and freezer.

Our last travel day for awhile! We headed home and had a few sprinkles here and there, but nothing bad. There were some pretty fall colors going up over Soldier Summit. We got home about 4 pm and got most of the coach unloaded before collapsing for the evening! We had a great trip but it was good to be home.

Travel day - on to Draper UT - a suburb of Salt Lake City. The last few miles we encountered lots of traffic!! Wish there was a way to avoid Salt Lake City area going to & from OR, but there really isn't any other way to go!! We spent 3 nights in Draper - had planned on 2 but because of rain forecast and not wanting to encounter snow on Soldier Summit, we spent an extra night! We didn't venture out much...just sat around and relaxed a bit and got some computer work done. I had planned to go to a quilt store that I thought was nearby, but either they moved or I remembered wrong - anyway we didn't want to go that far! So - probably saved some money!

Travel day - to Wendover UT. We had some drizzle along the way, but nothing bad. Part of the trip was pretty desolate, but I did manage to snap a picture of this interesting barn somewhere along the way.

We went to church this morning at Winnemucca Christian Fellowship. It is a small church and quite friendly. We went to lunch at a Mexican restaurant we had gone to when we were here 4 years ago. The food was good, but the service was quite slow. After a stop at the grocery store (we barely got back in the car when it started raining) we came back to the coach. It stopped raining for a bit so we got the car loaded back on the dolly and ready to leave in the morning. The 50% chance of showers turned in to 100% and we got quite a bit of rain - and it cooled off considerably.

Travel day again. this time 178 miles from Verdi NV to Minnemucca NV. This time we stayed in the High Desert RV Park. It appears to be a fairly nice park and rather full; many pipe line workers are staying here while building the pipe line. The spaces are rather small and just dirt and rocks - very little grass. It got hot in the coach so we finally turned on the AC for a couple of hours in the late afternoon.

It is hard to believe it is October already!! We had planned on taking a picnic and going to Lake Tahoe today, but were tired and decided since we have been there a couple of times, we would just stay home and relax. I even took a book and sat in the shade and read awhile. It was a beautiful, if warm day! And it was nice to take time to relax. We did walk around the park in the evening/

This morning was laundry time. The laundry facility at this RV park was very small for such a large park! Fortunately, we only really needed to do 2 loads to get us home. We worked on the Habitat website for a while before lunch and made good progress. After lunch we went to an RV parts dealer in Reno to purchase a new water pressure reducer. Our old one reduces the pressure too much! guess they don't last forever! We went to Walmart for the trailer tire, but they did not have the right sized tire and suggested that we try Big O's not far away. They did have one in stock. So we left the tire to get fixed and then went to Walmart for some shopping. Went back to Big O's and got the tire ($104; way more than the tire we got 3 years ago when we got two for $131 at Walmart).

Back home we went to the Casino after supper. We both spent $3 on the penny slots. On my first dollar I won back nearly $30 at one point, but quit when it got down to $20. The bottom line is that considering the $8 loss last night and today's investment of $6, we ended the evening with a total gain of $6. Not bad for two evenings of entertainment.

Travel day - but only 93 miles this time! We do like short Travel days!! We arrived in Reno/Boomtown KOA about 1 pm. Coming out of the office after registration, I noticed a bump on one of the trailer tires! So it will have to be replaced. PTL we didn't have a blowout somewhere along the way!! After getting all set up, we worked awhile and then went up to the casino for supper at Denney's and spent a little money on the penny slots - of course, lost it all - but it was fun. Then we took the shuttle back home and relaxed the rest of the evening.

Another sunny day ! We decided to stay home again today - will have to go to the grocery store and post office, but will not go up to the lake about an hour north of here as we planned when we scheduled this stop. We have decided that we have had almost enough sightseeing for awhile. And - do have some website work that needs to be done. It seems like this has been a very busy trip so far!

Travel day - again! We left Mt Shasta and drove to Susanville CA, 133 miles. Not a long day, but did get held up a bit with road construction. It was about 3 when we got all set up. Walmart was very close, so we made a trip there to discover it was not a superstore, so will have to find a grocery store. On our way back to the park, I noticed a Safeway, so we won't have to go far.

Leaving Mt Shasta

A pretty drive

Pretty Aspen grove

Lassen Peak

Another beautiful day! We went to church at the Evangelical Free Church where we have gone in the past when in Mt Shasta. Then to dinner at the Black Bear Diner. We had thought about going up to Castle Lake, but decided to just stay home instead. I enjoyed the afternoon sitting out in the shade with a good book while Don spent some time on the computer and even took a nap. We have been on the go so much since we left home, it is nice to just relax awhile!

We spent the morning at home getting some work done and enjoying the nice RV park here in Mt Shasta CA. After lunch we drove east about 20 miles to McCloud Falls. The website said it was an easy 20 minute hike from the lower falls to the middle falls. Well....it took us a lot longer than that!!! But both falls were beautiful and it was worth the hike. Middle McCloud Falls is 46 feet tall and almost 100 feet wide. On the way home we stopped at Burger King for supper and then at Ray's Market for a few groceries. They actually had Tillamook Mountain Blackberry ice cream - yeah! Then it was time to rest - oh my aching feet!!! A shower certainly felt good after that dusty hike!!

Lower McCloud Falls

Don and Bev at Middle McCloud Falls

It's beginning to look like fall

After a long 2 mile hike, now I have to climb up there???

Travel day today - heading to Mt Shasta CA. The road was narrow and very windy - it took us over an hour to go the first 30 miles!!! A beautiful drive, but not an easy one with our coach. The 194 miles took us about 6 hours. The last 100 miles were back on the interstate, so was much easier traveling.

East from Crescent City on Hwy 199

Mt Shasta

Mt Shasta KOA

We got up to sunshine for a change!! Beautiful! We thought about driving 25 miles south to another part of the Redwoods State Park to see the Big Tree and sights down there. But, decided to take it easy and stay close to Crescent City. We went out to Lake Earl Wildlife Area where the travel book claims it to be a "paradise for birdwatchers" - But we saw few birds. 4 turkey vultures, 1 great white egret and 1 cormorant. Quite disappointing!! We came home for lunch and then drove down Pebble Beach drive and went down just south of Crescent city to Enderts Beach Road where we had magnificent views of the coastline. Then we walked along the beach on the bay for awhile looking for shells - found nothing but broken ones and lots of crab shells. We went for our last seafood dinner on the coast and I had salmon fish & chips and Don had calamari fish & chips. Very good!!

Lake Earl

The coast from Enderts Beach Road

Crescent City Coast

Coast at Crescent City CA

We took a picnic lunch and drove up to the Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park to see the redwoods. We found that it wasn't the park we remembered from a trip here many years ago, but it was very pretty and we had a nice day. We enjoyed a picnic lunch in the picnic area along the Smith River. Apparently the Redwoods Park we remember is 25 miles south of Crescent City. On the way home, we made a stop at Safeway for a few things.

Don and Bev at Jedediah Smith Redwoods SP

Bed of clover under a redwood tree

Redwoods

Covered Bridge

It was a cool, cloudy, foggy day. We went down to the Historical Museum here in Crescent City, which took most of the morning. The lady there recommended a restaurant down on the bayfront near the Battery Point Lighthouse, so we headed down there. After lunch, we walked out to the Battery Point Lighthouse which is only accessible at low tide. It was quite a walk, sand, rocks and some sidewalk. We were going to take a tour, but they only took 4-5 people at a time and there were several people ahead of us so we decided to save $6. We spotted a new bird on the rocks by the lighthouse - the black oystercatcher - we have never seen them before! We then drive up along Pebble Beach Road which had several pullouts to view the coastline. At the end of the road we could see Castle Rock which is a wildlife refuge a ways off shore. All we could see were gulls and cormorants and lots and lots of sea lions and seals....and we certainly could hear them!! After a stop at Walmart so Don could replace his computer mouse, we returned home to relax for the evening.

Battery Point Lighthouse

Don and Bev at Battery Point Lighthouse

Strange little plants growing in the rock

Battery Point

We got up to a cool, partly foggy morning and since it wasn't raining, we drove back down to see the Cape Arago Lighthouse. We weren't able to see it yesterday because of the rain. Then it was time to pack up and head on south to Crescent City CA. It was a pretty drive and we saw some peeks of sunshine! The KOA campground is just north of Crescent city, buried in the redwoods - beautiful!

Heading south on Hwy 101

Oregon Coast

Our spot at Crescent City KOA

View from our front window

We went to church at the Community Church in Charleston and then to lunch at a seafood restaurant nearby. After a delicious lunch, we drove into North Bend and Coos Bay to go to the bank. We could not locate the one listed in North Bend so drove on to Coos Bay. After a stop at Rite Aid, we came home and changed clothes and drove down to the Shore Acres State Park and enjoyed the beautiful gardens there in spite of the rain. We were certainly glad we had purchased a couple of water-resistant jackets! Offshore were several big rocks covered with sea lions and seals - very noisy!!

Seals and Sea lions

Pond at Shore Acres SP

Bev - Shore Acres SP

Shore Acres SP

A rainy day, again, so we stayed home and got a few things done that had been delayed because of all our busyness lately.

Travel day and it was raining lightly most of the way! We got settled in our spot in Charleston and then went in to Walmart to pick up a few things. On the way home, we stopped at a fish market because we had seen signs for fresh tuna. The man we talked to said he only sells whole ones but we could get fillets at another nearby shop. We bought a huge fillet (a little over 3 lbs!) and brought it home and cut into 3 pieces. We cooked one for supper and froze the other 2. I marinated it awhile (as the fellow at the store suggested) and then baked it - it was delicious!! It stopped raining so we took the short walk to the beach! It was a very pretty spot and practically deserted.

Fandrey's checked out of the park in the morning and met us in Old Town where we went through a few stores. We ate lunch together at Bridgewater Fish House. Don had a spinach wrap with chicken and rice in it; about as large as the big burritos we have at restaurants at home. I had fish (salmon) and chips. Both were very good! After lunch Ron & Marilyn left for home and we went the bank in Reedsport to make a deposit. On the way back to Florence, we spent the rest of the afternoon out on the South Jetty, bird watching.

It was a cloudy day, but we went down to the beach. Not many shells on the beach here - we did find half of a large sand dollar. Ron & Marilyn joined us after they took their dog in to be groomed. We went in to town for lunch and then came back to the campground. We went back to Fred Meyers to get a new coffeepot because ours had a funny smell this morning. In the evening we went over to Fandrey's and played Sequence. The guys won the first 4 games and the girls won the next 3 games.

It is hard to believe we have been here two weeks already! It is always hard to leave family - but it is time to move on. We left about 11 am and headed for Haceta Beach RV Park just north of Florence. Fandrey's are joining us there for a couple of days. We stopped in Veneta for lunch and then headed for the coast. It was a relatively easy trip to Florence; 84 miles with a lot of winding road. We got set up in site 18 at Heceta Beach RV Park and then headed for the beach at the North Jetty. The weather was not too bad; sunny in Florence and foggy on the beach. We had quite a bit of soft sand to walk through to get to the beach but then walked back to the car on the jetty. By then it was time to eat supper so we went to the Driftwood Shores restaurant near the RV park. We split the special - a pasta with pesto and shrimp - very good! After dinner, we went to Fandrey's and taught them how to play Pass the Trash.

Our spot at Haceta Beach RV Park

View from our front window

The Oregon Coast

Don went up the hill and picked 4 cups of blackberries so we would be supplied for the next few mornings. I went down to Fandrey's church with Marilyn to see the banners her friend made for the church using the lead-line method. They are gorgeous! Then we went by another friend of hers to get fresh eggs and got some yummy looking tomatoes as well.

We attended the 8:30 service and SS at First Nazarene with Ron & Kathy. Then we met Heather and family at a Mongolian BBQ place for a good lunch. Then we came back to Ron & Kathy's and took it easy the rest of the day.

Ron, Kathy, Don & I went down to the Farmer's Market in Eugene today. There were lots of craft booths, merchandise booths, food booths and a farmer's market area with many produce booths. Lots and lots of goodies! Each of us picked out a booth to get lunch; Don had a hot Indian plate called Mergedo, hot - but he liked it. I got quesadillas made with pesto, spinach, tomatoes, cheese, etc. - yummy!

In the morning, I went down to Marilyn's to learn the lead-line quilting using the kit her friend, Diana, gave me last week. It is an interesting method - similar to stained glass quilting, but easier due to the fact that you use double needles on the machine. I have never used the double needles before but was quite pleased with how it worked!

Since this was Ron Fandrey's birthday, we went down to their house for supper. Heather, Jared and girls joined us there. We miss living close enough to family to celebrate birthdays together! But, with our family so scattered, it would be very difficult to decide where else to live!!

This morning I looked out the front window and saw a family of turkeys wandering around. One nice thing about living in the woods is all the wildlife you see....although they can wreck a garden!!

Ron Fandrey came up to see if he could help Don find the problem with our generator - it runs but doesn't produce any power! He said that the problem could be caused by a number of different things: transfer switch, regulator, etc. The bottom line is that we don't need it so we will not worry about fixing it until such time that we sell the coach.

We had a delicious supper of Brook Trout that Ron had caught earlier in the summer and kept in the freezer for us.

This morning Don spotted some cute little quail out under the tree beside the coach. He went into town with Ron in the morning to run some errands. They got back home in time for lunch and then took Cindy to the the airport. We left at noon so that we could stop and see Heather and the girls one more time before she left. Grandpa Ron had to read the girls a book while we were there. We got her to the airport just in time for her 2pm flight!

Since Cindy had to fly home on Wednesday, we took her over to the coast today. It wasn't a very pretty day, but we did stay dry!! We stopped at Mo's in Florence for lunch before heading up the coast to Yachats. We stopped at a couple of the scenic sopts where Cindy climbed down to check out tide pools, but the slick rocky areas were too much for my feet! Don went down to part of it with her. She got some great pictures of the starfish, anemone and sea lions. So, it was a successful trip in spite of the clouds, fog and drizzle!!

Cindy down checking out the tide pools

Cindy

The coast

Holly

Chris & Carol came out to Ron's in the morning to tell us all good-bye before their flight home. We were so glad they could come out for the wedding. We did miss Pam & Tracy as well as Cindy's family, Josh & Millie and Megan & Colby, but were thankful to have as much of our family together as we did!

After Chris & Carol left, we went to a brunch at Noelan's parents' home. They had quite a house-full with all their family and ours! It was nice to get to know them better. Stephanie and Noelan opened their gifts that had been brought to the ceremony. They left Tuesday for their honeymoon in Hawaii!!

After we got home, Don went up the hill to find blackberries for our breakfast tomorrow. They are so good!!

This was wedding day for Stephanie and Noelan! It was held at 3pm near the Arboretum in Mt Pisgah Park in Eugene. Ron and Kathy went over about noon to set up and found that things had not been cleaned from the evening before! So, they had some cleaning to do as well as getting set up! We went over about 1:30 to help finish getting the area set up. The weather was absolutely perfect! Stephanie was a beautiful bride, and Kaitlyn did a great job as flower girl! The reception was held in the shelter with catered dinner and all the trimmings. It went well, the dinner was delicious and, of course, Cindy's cake was delicious as well as beautiful! We had it all cleaned up, thanks to many helpers, and were gone before the 8pm deadline!

About noon, we all went to Mt Pisgah for the wedding rehearsal. We had only an hour since the place is VERY busy with weddings, etc. It is a beautiful spot for the wedding! Afterward we had the rehearsal lunch at Roaring River Pizza. we have eaten there several times in the past. Ron & Kathy stopped by Chris' hotel to have them follow him out to their house.

Ron and Stephanie

Bridesmaids and flower girl

The Pastor, Stephanie, Noelan and groomsmen

After a fun time of visiting we went to the KFC in Cottage Grove for dinner before Chris & Carol went back to their hotel.

Don went with Ron to run errands and get final things for the wedding in the morning. Cindy continued to work on wedding cakes - now it was time to get the frosting done!

We went down the hill to Ron & Marilyn's for a delicious burrito supper. Heather, Jared and girls joined us there so they had a house-full!! We had a great time of visiting....it is so much fun to get the family together!

In the morning, Cindy & Kathy went shopping to get the rest of the items needed for the cake. I spent most of the afternoon keeping Cindy company while she baked wedding cakes. It takes lots of cake for 150 people!

It was nice to be able to spend time with her since it had been a year since we had seen her.

I went with Marilyn to run some errands and we went by her friend's who has developed some lead-line quilting patterns. She gave me a sample to try so I am anxious to try it out - but with the wedding in a few days, I am sure it will have to wait awhile! In the evening, we went down to Ron & Marilyn's to visit with them awhile. They live right down the driveway from Ron & Kathy. Our Ron picked Cindy up at the airport about 8 pm.

This was another travel day - from Sisters to Creswell. We had a beautiful day and a beautiful drive. At Ron & Kathy's, Ron Fandry (Kathy's dad) helped Don back the coach into the space beside the garage. Last time we had nosed it into the space but pointing out is better because it allows room to put the awning out and we can see the driveway and house.

Heather and the girls arrived soon after we got settled and it was great to see her and our great-granddaughters!! There was a full house for dinner with Ron, Kathy, Stephanie, Noelan, us, Heather, Jared, Kaitlyn, Paige and Kathy's folks, Ron & Marilyn. It was great to see everyone since it has been 4 years since we have been here and 3 years since we have seen Ron, Kathy, Stephanie, Heather, Jared and Kaitlyn.

Paige

Kaitlyn

Bev checking out Kathy's new pond

Stephanie, Bev, Noelan, Heather, Ron, Jared, Ron, Marilyn, Kathy

We woke up to a light rain with 49 degrees at 9:00. The rain let up by noon and we had sun most of the rest of the day; some clouds. Don went into Bend and finally found a locking pin for the dolly - he found it missing when we got to the campground! That involved going to several stores but he finally found an exact replacement at Oregon Wholesale Hardware.

I was able to get the quilting finished on Stephanie's wedding quilt. All that is left is to get some blue marks taken off and then it will be ready to wrap and deliver. It was nice to just stay home after being on the go so much the past few days.

This morning, we discovered a Nazarene church just about 2 miles from the campground and decided it was a good place to visit. It was a small church, only about 40 people and was very friendly. We had a beautiful view of the mountains from the parking lot and a beautiful sunny sky today. We came back to the motor home to change clothes and then went to Sisters for lunch. While we were here, Ron called and suggested we try a BBQ restaurant there in Sisters....well, when we got there, he and Kathy were waiting for us - what a nice surprise!! We had a nice lunch and visit and then walked and checked out some of the shops before they headed back to Creswell.

After the 100+ temps in ID, it got down to 57 in the coach last night!! We were glad we had changed the sheets and put the flannel ones on! Guess we will have to turn the furnace on tonight. We certainly used it this morning!

This morning, the repair business had not bothered to return Don's calls, so we stopped at another parts shop as we went through Bend and Don purchased, for $2.30, parts needed to fix the water heater bypass valve assembly. It took about 15 minutes to replace the bad parts and now we have water! No more "camping"!! And, we were able to stay here at the Sisters KOA for the 3 nights we had scheduled. Later in the day, after getting settled in the KOA, we went back to the RV parts store in Bend to get a light for the dolly and a new flasher for the coach. On the way back to the KOA we ate an early dinner at McGrath's Fish House. Bev had a seafood combo called Cioppino (fish, shrimp, clams, fettuccine, carrots, celery, potatoes, and a special tomato sauce) and Don had Bayou Chicken; both very good. We took about half home so we could have a marionberry cobbler with ice cream; VERY rich and good!

This is a very nice campground nestled in the trees about 6 miles south of Sisters. It is nice to be out of the desert and up in the pines!! Here is the view from our front window.

Moving day again...on to Burns OR. Where we had a "fun" afternoon and night. We developed a leak in the water heater bypass valves. After taking it apart 2-3 times Don discovered a major error when the coach was built. One small connecting pipe had been subjected to heat and almost melted thru; they used it anyway. The water finally broke thru the burned area; we tried to fix but not successful. Thus no water in the coach until it gets fixed. The mobile repair we found had Saturday hours and was located in Bend - already on our route to Sisters. Until then we were "camping"; water in a bucket for our needs.

Today was travel day again, moving from Brigham City to Mountain Home ID; 249 miles. The temp in Mountain Home was 102 upon our arrival at 3:15. The weatherman said that we were going to have quite a bit of wind, including 60 mph gusts. However, the strong winds never did arrive in our area so no rockin' & rolling this night!! We parked at the Mountain Home RV Park where stayed 4 years back when it was very new - a very nice park and the trees have grown up a bit since we were last there. the cold front did come through and it was much cooler the next day!! There was lots of lightening and little rain and we saw quite a forest fire in the morning when we left. They said there were several around the state.

When we got to the Bear River NWR Visitor's Center, we found that the refuge was closed due to road construction. It will be closed for the rest of the summer so we did not get very far. However, they are paving the entire road so next time it will be very nice to visit. So, we went to the Golden Spike NHS about 30 miles from Brigham City. It was a good choice since we have talked about it every time we come thru this area. There is a very nice visitor's center complete with replicas of the two engines that were at the laying of the last rails which completed the Pacific Railroad from Omaha to Sacramento. The ceremony was at noon, May 10, 1869. Now, at 4pm and 4:30pm volunteer engineers move the engines to the garage for the night. There were VERY few visitors and for the engine moving, we were the only ones at the center.

Picnic Lunch at the Golden Spike Historical Park

Sign at the park

Union Pacific Engine 119

The Central Pacific Jupiter

On the way back to the RV park, we made a stop at the ATK rocket display - they had some huge rockets there! If you look close you can see Don standing in about the middle of the picture with a blue shirt. ATK builds the booster rockets for the space shuttles.  They have a large facility away from the metropolitan area because of the dangers associated with their products.  It is about 23-24 miles west of Brigham City.

Tuesday was travel day again - from Green River to Brigham City via US-6 and I-15. We ran into a lot of construction in several places. The worst was many miles of it south of Salt Lake City. And - it seemed like it took forever to get through Salt Lake City and its suburbs - it goes on and on and on!! We finally made it to the KOA in Brigham City where we usually stay and where we would be for 2 nights. We always like to go to the Bear River Wildlife area to see the birds. We needed to run to Wal-Mart which isn't far from the RV park. After putting the Wal-Mart items in the coach, we went to the Maddox restaurant and split a delicious ground bison steak with mushrooms, onions, mashed potatoes, corn, etc. It was good to have split it because there was plenty for both of us.

Sunday, we pulled the coach in beside the house to start loading for our trip to the Northwest. Monday we finished loading and left for UT about 3 pm. We stopped at the fruit stand in Green River before going to the RV park and got a couple of cantaloupe and watermelon.....theirs are always good! We spent the night there at Shady acres RV Park. We had nice weather so ate supper out on the picnic bench beside the coach!

Well, a month has gone by - boom!! We have been home working and playing most of the time. We have been taking more dance lessons and are beginning to learn the East coast Swing. Our line dancing group here where we live is going well and we do have lots of fun. We are getting ready to head to OR for Stephanie's wedding over Labor Day weekend.

We finished reworking a couple of the websites we are updating and have started on redoing the one for the local Habitat for Humanity. This one is going to be quite a job! But - we are enjoying the work and their site is badly in need of updating. So, we will have this to work on while on our trip to the northwest. We are looking forward to our trip and seeing our kids, grandkids and great-granddaughters!!

We did take the plunge a couple of weeks ago and got a Droid Smartphone.  Now to learn how to use it!!!  The only problem is that it really is intended for one person so we will have to see how sharing it goes....we may have to get me one too.  But, hate to pay all the extra costs in having 2 cell phones...

Well...not much has happened in the past 2 weeks....we finished our remake of one website and started on another, I have been making great progress on Stephanie's wedding quilt and we have been active in the usual activities here in our neighborhood. We did find a new place to go dancing and the first week we learned the East Coast Swing and last Friday we worked on the waltz, learning some new turns. This is at a dance studio in town and on Friday nights they have an hour of group lessons and then 2 hours of dance. The next couple of weeks are Latin dances which should be fun!

Tonight I happened to look out the front door to see a gorgeous sunset!

Saturday night was the local fireworks. They shoot them off down by the river, but we have a pretty good view of them if we go out by the entrance to our village. There were several of our neighbors down there also...we all take our lawn chairs and sit along the sidewalk. It was a very pretty display and nice not to fight the traffic afterwards!!

Thursday, July 1, was the Centennial Band concert and ice cream social at the Civic Center. We were disappointed to find that the band started 1/2 hr earlier than was advertised! Good thing we arrived 15 minutes early!! Then, they only played 1 hr instead of the usual concerts' time of 1 1/2 hrs. We did have a nice evening for the concert and Jane joined us for dinner and the concert. Several of our neighbors were at the concert so we sat together.

Today was the 5K run for the Children with Hope Orphanage. The run was along a road near the Colorado National Monument - a much better place than last year when they ran on wet grass!!

Today, we decided it was time for a visit up to the southern part of Glade Park. It was a beautiful, sunny day, perfect for the trip. We packed a picnic lunch, gathered up our cameras, binoculars and left our work at home!! The flowers were not quite as plentiful as last June, but were still very pretty!! We drove about 78 miles but took all day to to it! We are so blessed to live close to the mountains!!

Today after church, we drove up to Eckert to see Cookie & Roy, stopping at the Fruitman's Reservoir to check on the birds. We saw quite a few in the distance, but did see a flock of white-faced ibis and a yellow-headed blackbird close enough to get pictures!!

We had a good dinner and a nice visit with Cookie & Roy. It seems that since they moved up there, we don't get to see them much since it is an hour away!!

We decided it was a good day to head out to see the flowers in the desert! A wet winter has made the spring flowers plentiful this year. We first went to Rabbit Valley - just a few miles west of us.

Then we took the river road to Moab looking for a spot to picnic. But - it was such a pretty day (and Saturday) all the campsite picnic areas were full! So, we ate in the car at one of the river access points. It was a gorgeous drive and nice to get out and enjoy the beauty around us!!

Our days have been full of the usual - Don gets out for his morning 3-4 mile walk/runs, coffee on Wednesdays at the clubhouse, website work, housework, bridge on Fridays for Bev, etc. I finally got started on the quilt for Stephanie & Noelan's wedding...I was waiting for her to tell me what color she wanted. Now I must work fast!!!

This morning Don was all set to run the "Mike the Headless Chicken" 5k run, but it was 49° and rain, so he decided not to go.

Now we are back to the normal day-to-day activities - computer work, relaxing with a magazine, watch TV in the evenings, etc. I do need to get busy on a wedding quilt for Stephanie and Noelan if I am going to get it done by the first part of Sept!!

Wednesday we went over to our neighborhood coffee - it was nice to see everyone again. We met some new people in the neighborhood who were just a block from us when we lived over on Saddle Rock and it was fun visiting with them. Then it was laundry time - it was kinda' nice to have it here in the hallway and not down the street :)

Monday we put things away and spent some time getting computer stuff caught up. Tuesday we had to go to Wal-Mart - our freezer and pantry were pretty empty - the total was not nice to see!!

Saturday, it was on home! I woke up with a really sore throat and feeling pretty rotten but once we got home, the coach had to be emptied out and things put away. The guys from DISH came in the afternoon and got out TV's all set up and Don got our DSL working so we were back in business. We got most of the unloading done Saturday but left the coach in the driveway overnight and finished on Sunday. We didn't try to go to church - I didn't think they would appreciate me exposing everyone to my "bug".

Thursday, April 22, we headed on to Moab for the night. Coming west out of Dove Creek, it was nice to see some trees again after so many miles in the desert! We had a pretty nice day for travel - some wind but at least some sunshine! Because of a car show in Moab, our usual campground was full (as were most of them) so we stayed north of town at Arch View. This park caters to people with ATV's etc. who want to camp rather than RV... poor WiFi and no TV. We did have a nice view from our front window of some of the arches.

Wednesday was a pretty windy day, but at least it wasn't cold! We went down to Bosque Del Apache to see what birds are there in the spring. The first one we saw near the visitors center was a pretty kingbird sitting up in the tree singing to us. Then as we entered the preserve, we saw a roadrunner! They are so cute! I had been wanting to see one ever since we got to TX and this is the first and only one! Don got some good pictures of it from the car window. We first took the farm route and were very disappointed because there were no birds out that way. Then we took the wetlands drive and saw lots of ducks. Most of them were too far away to get pictures but we could see them pretty well with the binoculars. All in all, we spotted 31 different birds on this trip. I would say that was a success!! On the way back, we stopped at the visitors center to see the cactus blooms - so pretty! Heading back to the coach, we stopped at the Owl Bar & Cafe in San Antonio (NM) for one of their famous green chili hamburgers. Good but VERY HOT!!!!

Tuesday, we had a fairly short travel day - only about 150 miles to Socorro NM because we wanted to visit the Bosque del Apache Wildlife area. We have never stopped there in the spring. We usually stay in San Antonio NM which is closer to the wildlife area but no TV and no WiFi. Socorro did have WiFi but the TV reception was bad and the pull-through sites did not have cable. The park was pretty empty this time of year! We spent the afternoon doing some computer work and relaxed a bit. We did stop in Hatch along the way to get some roasted chilis.

Monday, April 19, we headed for Las Cruces NM. About Van Horn, we ran into quite a bit of fog but it wasn't as bad as it looked at first. It only lasted about an hour and then we were back to just mostly cloudy skies. We stayed at Hacienda RV Park - a very nice park! We took advantage of the warm, but windy, weather to walk over to Wal-Mart for a few things. It was about a mile from the park so wasn't bad except that coming back was mostly into the wind!

Sunday, we attended FBC of Ft Stockton for their morning service and then lunch at Alfrados Restaurant. We had a very good lunch and would go back there again - if we stay in Ft Stockton again. We relaxed most of the day... I did some reading. Don read some also and we strolled around the park. In the evening, we played Upwords and I won both games.

Saturday, we moved on to Fort Stockton RV park for the weekend. We probably will not stay there again - the WiFi was not good at all and no TV. They did have a cafe in the park and we had a delicious supper of BBQ ribs. We played a game of Upwords and Don won.

Friday, we stayed in Kerrville, planning to go up to Fredericksburg and the hill country to see the flowers, but it was still rainy with flood warnings in the area we wanted to go, so we stayed home and rested a bit. We enjoyed a cardinal singing to us during the day - probably the last one we will hear for a long time!!  We hated to miss seeing all the wildflowers but they aren't as nice in the rain, anyway!!

Today it was time to start heading north. It was cloudy in Port A as we left about 10:30 am. By the time we got part way through Corpus Christi, it started raining and rained all the way to Kerrville! Sometimes a drizzle, sometimes a hard Texas rain. We could almost see the wildflowers along the road - they would have been beautiful on a sunny day!! But - rain has been the story of our trip this time.

Wednesday, Don did his last beach/park exercise...he will miss the beach to walk on - but not the humidity!! I spent about an hour on the telephone getting our television set up with Dish network. It was rather cloudy most of the day but with a bit of sun in the late afternoon. We took one last birding trip and we saw several spoonbills in the pond across from the post office and they were about as pink as we have ever seen them! We went on out to the birding center to see what birds were still around: Roseate Spoonbill, American Avocets, Neotropic Cormorants. Blue Winged Teals, Northern Shovelers, White Ibis, American Coots. Not very many! We also did the laundry and cleaned up the inside as much as possible getting ready to head north.

Tuesday, Don had a nice day with a mild wind so he walked around the park twice for a change in his exercise routine. More of our friends pulled out this morning. We made a last trip to the bank and Wal-Mart since we had a check to deposit and our fridge was getting rather empty. Don got us signed up get DSL at home when we get there. In the evening, we played Sequence with the Romeros and again the girls won 6-1.

Monday was time to tell Forrest & Judy goodbye until Dec. It was kinda' a quiet day. I missed our usual bridge - but most of the bridge players have left.

Sunday was cloudy and very humid...When Don returned from my beach/park walk/run, he was soaked and it took a while for him to cool off. After church, we went to the Trout Street Grill for our last lunch of calamari appetizer, sides dish of a veggie, and a baked potato. It makes a great lunch and plenty for us to eat. Then it was time to see the final sculptures at the SandFest. Click here to see pictures. Again, we parked about 3/4 miles from the center. This was not a bad walk and I did better this time wearing my sandals which got full of sand! There were many amateur sculptures several of which were quite good. Then we paid $2 each to enter the master sculpture areas. There were several that were amazing sculptures, one section done by one person and the other section done by 2 people. It is amazing what can be done with nothing but sand and water. They do use forms (round or square) to get the sand settled. They start by taking of the top form and sculpt that and then take off the next form and continue to the bottom. We came home and rested until about 5 when we went to Bernie's for a last dance with Tumble Dry Low. The played some good music and some, well.....we don't care much for their "rock" music - but we weren't the only ones there. We finished the day with a trip to Dairy Queen for a bit of ice cream and we shared a foot long chili dog. A busy day!

Saturday, Don did his beach and park walk/run since it was such a nice morning. I got up with the allergies bothering me something awful so we stayed home and took it easy. We did get our trip to the NW pretty well laid out. Also we got 3 reservation made for out trip home starting next Thursday. After grilled hamburgers, we played bingo for the last time this season. We didn't win but still had fun even though the hall was rather empty. Most of the remaining Winter Texans are leaving next week.

Friday, we finally completed the administration screens for our latest website in the morning. After lunch we went to the sand fest to see what new had been done. Most of the vendors were set up and selling this, that, and the other. They will probably do a big business since about 100,000 people are expected.!! We had to park about 3/4 mile from the center piece but it wasn't bad. We sat and watched people for a while before heading back to the car. We went to Romero's for a dinner of red chili pork enchiladas which was spicy warm but just about right. Then we played a game of Sequence and ended up tied 3-3.

Thursday, April 8, we went back down to SandFest and found several sculptures under construction and a couple finished. The vendors are getting all set up and ready for the crowds. I actually managed to get a picture of the whistling ducks that spend a lot of time on the pond at our RV park. Before we moved, we heard them fly over a couple of times a day and it is so strange to hear them :)

Wednesday, we spent the morning on the computers (where else??) and then took a picnic lunch down to the beach. We first stopped to check out the beginnings of the SandFest - some neat sculptures already beginning to take shape! Then we went down to the picnic benches by the park and ate lunch. Then we went down to the jetty to check out the birds there - saw seagulls and Caspian and sandwich terns. There was nothing happening in the channel so we then drove down to Roberts Point but it was quiet there also, so came on home. It was a cloudy, windy day, but nice to be on the beach with the temp at 74. The water is clear up to 72, so the next sunny day, Don will probably be ready to go in the water!!

Tuesday was quite warm and still windy. We have gone from 50's to upper 70's very quickly. What happened to spring?? We worked most of the morning and then met Sizelove's and Faeth's at Pelican's Landing for one more garlic fish lunch for this season! Then we went up to Aransas Pass to the bank & Walgreens, stopping at Sonic for cherry limeades (only $1.00 for 2 of them during Happy Hours). We had regular bingo at 7 and Don & I each won one game, having to split the meager winnings 2 ways as someone else won the same games. Oh well....at least we did win!! Saturday will be the last bingo for the season.

Monday, April 5, CenturyLink finally showed up and got our DSL working! Yeah! We went down to the beach in the afternoon and watched the birds and waves for a very relaxing time. There were several others there but it was not crowded like it was over the weekend. There seems to be lots of seaweed on the beach here in the spring! After dinner we played card bingo and Don won a 3-dime game for $9.60.

Easter Sunday we did not get going in time for the Sunrise Service, but heard it was very nice. We went to church at the usual time and had a good service. We then went down to the beach to take our annual Easter pictures before coming home. There was a potluck dinner here in the park at 4 so we didn't go out for our usual lunch after church. I made a spinach & strawberry salad which quickly disappeared. As usual, there was too much good food and we managed to stuff ourselves!! Later in the evening, we played Sequence with Bev & Bob and the gals won 4-3 :)

Saturday, we decided not to wait on the telephone man and went to Wal-Mart in the morning. We spent most of the afternoon on the computers. We met Sizeloves and Faeth's at Marcels for a good German supper - this is the first time we have been there - it was very good. After supper went to bingo. Don actually won one game - there isn't as much competition now that many have left for home!!

Friday Don again called Century Link and they said we were hooked up, but we have no connection. So, we had to sit here all day waiting for him to show up. We need to go to Wal-Mart and the grocery store! I had to go get breakfast at the rec center this morning because we are out of milk, eggs, and bread!! Don grilled burgers for supper and we actually ate outside on the picnic table for a change. Then we took a walk around the park and down the boardwalk to the sand. There were some nice waves again this evening - so pretty.

Thursday was moving day for us. In order to stay another 2 weeks, we have to move to a different site. We will be next door to where we will be next winter. We waited all day for the telephone man to come change our connection to the new site but he never showed up! After 4 calls and 30 minutes on the cell phone, they told Don that they ran out of time and that we would be first on tomorrow's work order. We are able to connect to the wireless from this new site, but the connection is not good.

Wednesday morning, March 31, was the last bible study for the season. We had a small group left but the study was good. We spent most of the day working on various websites. In the afternoon, I took advantage of a warm, sunny day and sat outside and read awhile and soaked up some sun. Must have sat out there longer than I realized because I noticed that evening that I was pretty red in places! After supper, I took a walk around the park and down the boardwalk toward the beach. I was wearing my sandals and didn't want to walk in the sand! But, had a nice walk and sat and watched the waves awhile.

Tuesday we met Meeders, Faeth's and Sizelove's at Pelican's Landing for their garlic fish lunch special. Yummy!! Then we had our last line dancing session in the afternoon. It has been fun! In the evening was bingo - Don didn't feel ling going this time after a busy day. I actually won one game!! Then it was time to tell Meeder's good-bye as they are leaving early tomorrow morning. Lots of people are heading home - the park is really getting empty!

Monday, like it or not, we had to do the laundry - something we never get away from! I played bridge this afternoon - we had only 5 to play but will continue as long as there are at least 4 players. While I played, Don took a nap which revived him a bit. Since it was such a nice day, we went to the beach for a while and just sat in the car out of the wind and watched the waves. We had our last potluck dinner of the season this evening and, surprisingly, there were quite a few people there - and lots of good food! After eating we played card bingo with Meeders and I won one hand for about $7.

Sunday After church we met Meeders at Fins for lunch. They will be leaving this week and we will miss our Sunday lunches together! We had our usual line dancing at 3 and had 5 besides us. Tuesday will be our last session for this season. It has been fun and we have learned one new dance to take to our group at home. That evening was the usual ice cream and pass the trash except Don came home after the ice cream and rested as his allergies are really bothering him.

Saturday, we went down to the beach to watch the skydivers for awhile and then up to Rockport to do some shopping. We stopped at the flea market but didn't find anything there. Then we went to the old section of Rockport and didn't find what I was looking for so went on to the city park and Market Day. I didn't find what I wanted there, but did find out that the Mexican vanilla is available here in Port A at the candy store! Yeah!! Now I can get Cindy some for her birthday!! We stopped at What-A-Burger for supper and then played bingo - no winnings again :(

Friday, Don did his walk/run beach thing; 1.0 mile run and 1+ miles around the park. We went down to the jetty for awhile in the morning and were able to see the dolphins leading a ship out to sea. I played bridge in the afternoon and we were supposed to have line dancing at 3 but our instructor did not show up for it. Then in the evening, we played Sequence again with Meeders and Romeros. This time the guys beat the girls 5-3.

Thursday, March 25, it had rained a bit during the night after the front came through with strong wind - again. But by 10 am it had cleared up to beautiful blue skies but continued wind. We finally cleaned the coach; it really needed it. Don did the floor and I did the dusting. It looks a whole lot better now! We made a run to the bank and Wal-Mart in the afternoon. The wildflowers up in Aransas Pass are so pretty!! We were not gone long and had virtually zero wait at the ferry both directions. A bit different than when the spring breakers were here! Then in the evening, we played Sequence again with Meeders and Romeros. This time the guys beat the girls 7-1.

Wednesday, we went to Bible study at 9:30 and then messed around in the afternoon. I did some sewing, and Don was able to make good progress on completion of the admin pages for our latest website. It has really been a challenge, for sure. After supper, we took a walk around the park. It is great to finally have some nice weather!!!

Tuesday, March 23, We worked on the computers until time for line dancing at 3:00. We had 4-5 people and I guess we will have fewer and fewer from here on. We will have only two more times to line dance. This evening was spent at the rec hall listening to bluegrass and gospel from The Lindley Creek family from MO. They were very good and it was a very enjoyable evening!

Today, Don was able to go for his walk/run on the beach and a walk around the park. I even managed a walk on the beach!! Since it was such a nice calm day, he used the roof cleaner and made the rubber roof nice and white again. He got a massive amount of gunk off the roof; buckets of very dirty water. Then he rinsed the coach sides to remove the runoff from the roof and put the Dry-Wash on all of the windows. I played bridge in the afternoon and Don rested for the remainder of the day. There was no bingo this evening because of the employees dinner in the rec hall.

Sunday, March 21, after church, we met Meeders at Moby Dick's for lunch. Good food with good friends. Before going home we went to the jetty for a few minutes but there was very little happening. We had our usual line dancing at 3 and then ice cream at 6 followed by pass the trash. This seems to be a regular activity for Sundays. Afterwards we walked around the park since it was a nice evening and virtually no wind. We have not had many evenings like this!

Saturday was a rainy day...It started raining this morning and grew steadily stronger as the day went on. We had some nasty-looking clouds! However, by late afternoon it quit and we even had a little bit of sunshine. Bingo this evening and, as usual, we had fun but did not win any games.

Friday, Don and I played bridge at 1 and had line dancing at 3. There was only one other couple at line dancing beside us. I think that we are finally starting to get our feet to understand the Blue Rose dance - maybe! This was the last burger night for the season. It seems that we are getting to the end of activities for this year. A number of folks have already left and most will be gone within the next couple of weeks. We played Sequence again with Meeders and Romeros with the girls winning most of the games.

Thursday, March 18, We took the day off from work and went to Indian Point Park near Portland. On the way, we stopped at Walgreen's, Wal-Mart, and Taco Bell. We had a beautiful day for the trip. However, the wind picked up and made it a bit cool by mid afternoon. At Indian Point we saw a number of different birds which we expected would be there. It is always fun to watch the Ruddy Turnstones walking along turning over the shells looking for a snack! We stopped at Corey's Seafood in Aransas Pass on the way back and got a couple of bowls of their gumbo to take home for supper. We had to wait a few minutes for the ferry to get off the island and upon return we waited a little over an hour to get back to Port A. We were backed up about two miles; the most that we have ever had!

Wednesday morning started out with full sunshine and clear blue skies although it was a bit cool. We made the decision to not go to the Valley this year since it seems to not be wise to go into Progresso. There has been quite a bit of violence between the military and the drug cartels along the lower Rio Grande border. So we will stay at Pioneer an extra two weeks which will allow us to see this year's Sandfest. We cannot stay in site 208 so on April 1st we will move to site 148; next door to where we will be next year. We went to Corpus Christi so I could see the specialist about my loose front tooth crown. He said it probably had some decay and needed attention. He suggested that I should go get it done when we return home since there just might not be enough time before we leave for home. Back at Pioneer, we had a St Patrick's Day dinner and danced to the Tumble Dry Low band. Good food, fellowship and good music!

Tuesday, started with a gentle rain during the night and rained for a good portion of the morning and some in the afternoon. I went to see a dentist, Dr. Binder, in Aransas Pass. He refer me to a root canal specialist, in Corpus concerning her loose crown. We got back home in time to rest a few minutes before meeting the gang at Pelican's Landing for Garlic Fish. It is SO good!!! Back home we worked computers for a while, line dancing at 3. Elaine again tried to teach us a cha cha dance which we find to be a challenge! It will just take time and practice... Then regular bingo at 7. And, as usual, no wins but an evening of entertainment.

Monday, March 15, Don was able to get out for his morning walk - in the wind. I played bridge in the afternoon and we had a potluck dinner before dime bingo.

Sunday, March 14, after church, we met Meeders at Trout Street for lunch. We split our usual: Calamari, baked potato, and veggie. Yummy!! We drove down the beach a ways after lunch and it was quite crowded with spring breakers in spite of it being a cloudy, cool day. In the evening we had the regular Sunday evening ice cream followed by pass the trash.

Saturday was the beginning of Spring Break and was a beautiful day so we decided to take advantage of it. We went to the Bird Walk, Whataburger, Charlie's Pasture, Mustang State Park, and finally the beach at MM100, Beach Access 2. We saw a number of birds but no new ones. While at the Bird Walk we looked up and saw a cloud of White Pelicans. It is so neat to watch them fly around all staying together!! We also saw some Roseate Spoonbills there - such neat birds! The beach, as far as you could see, was covered with spring breakers. We did find a spot along the beach and just sat for quite a while watching birds and people. There were many of the kids out in the water but it is cold - only 54 degrees! However, I did get in the surf all the way up to my ankles! Just couldn't resist!! After we got home I sat on the patio and read for awhile. Once, when I looked up, I saw a sundog in the sky! They are quite amazing!! It was a good day to just relax and take it easy. We did go down and play bingo in the evening - no winnings again!

Friday, March 12, we again spent the morning on the computers then I played bridge. At 3 we had couples line dancing - fun but challenging!! After that, we took a drive down to the beach since it was a sunny day and spent some time watching the birds.

Thursday was another foggy morning. We continued computer work until about 11:30, I got some more programs on my computer. Then Meeders went with us for the afternoon. The fog had mostly cleared by noon and it was a beautiful sunny day for the trip to Fulton. First we had lunch at the Big Fisherman and then on up to Rockport, Fulton, and Goose Island. We saw several birds in the bay on the way to Goose Island. Then we did find two Whooping Cranes along with a few Cattle Egrets out in the field. Not as close as when they were in the bay, but at least we got to see them again! From there we went to see the Big Tree and saw a cardinal there - we miss seeing them, they are so pretty!! The wildflowers are in bloom and so pretty!! Then we stopped at Wal-Mart for a few things and then a treat at Dairy Queen. As we were driving the causeway, we could see fog south of Port A and by the time we got a mile or so south of the city, we got into the fog and it was totally fogged in at the park. Apparently, it was foggy in the park all day but not up the coast.

Wednesday was another foggy morning. I spent the time putting programs back on my computer. Then we went to the bank and Wal-Mart after lunch. We went by the jetty for awhile to see what was happening and got this cute picture of a pelican drying his wings! This was the last spaghetti dinner for the season so I didn't have to cook! After dinner we played Sequence with Meeders and Romeros. The girls won 6 to 1 again!!!

Tuesday was a foggy day but Don did get out for a walk around the park. Then we worked most of the day on computer stuff. At least until my computer crashed!! Fortunately, Don had purchased a 500 GB hard drive when he got his new computer in September and never used it. So he put it in my computer with Windows 7 OS on it. I figured that it would be good to go ahead and put the latest OS since XP is on its way out. Now I have to learn it and get all my programs reloaded - a BIG job!!! We went down to play bingo in the evening - had to get away from the computer!!

Monday, March 8, we worked on computer stuff in the morning and played bridge in the afternoon. After supper it was dime bingo time - we could use a win because we need more dimes! But it didn't happen this week!!

The weatherman said last night that we are 4 inches ahead of normal for precipitation this year although 1/4 inch below for March! Rain, rain, rain!!! Today it was not raining so Don ran a mile on the beach with an 11.5 minute pace. Then a mile walk around the park. After church at FBC, we met Meeders at Moby Dick for a good lunch and fellowship. After a short time at the jetty we went back home and prepared for line dancing at 3. We had a couple of new people but not some of the regulars. Still there were 16 dancers. Sunday nights mean ice cream and the pass-the-trash.

Saturday, March 6, was the craft show along with a park-wide yard sale. There were many very nice craft items although there were also a few commercial tables. Many folks had tables set up at their RVs and there were a lot folks out wandering around picking up a few items. We did not buy anything; wouldn't have room for it anyway - but it was fun looking! We continued work on the website and do seem to be getting closer to being finished. In the evening, we had a great dance with the Elvis impersonator for about 2 hours and then he did his show. He does a good job and so it was a good fun evening.

Friday, as usual, more work on the computer. I went to a birthday luncheon for Carolyn Timmons at Trout Street Grill with some of the gals. Don played bridge at 1 and we had line dancing at 3. Then, after a quick supper, it was off to Sharkey's for the last gig for the Medicare band until next season. We met Red and Donna there and then Sizelove's came a little later. We had a good time - good music and good friends!

Thursday, March 4, We worked on the new website most of the morning. Gerry wanted some help on a quilt block. so I took my quilt along after lunch and worked on it for awhile while we visited and tried to get her block figured out. This is the first time I have had this quilt out since we left home - and I thought I would have plenty of time to work on it while on this trip. Ha! Ha! We had hamburgers in the rec center this evening since they will be setting up for Saturday's craft show tomorrow evening. After dinner, Meeders and Romeros played Sequence with us; men against the girls; girls won!

Wednesday, we had a rather nice day and worked on the computer in the morning and then spent some time on the beach in the afternoon. There were no park activities today.

Tuesday, We did not have line dancing as they were getting ready for the dinner/dance this evening. This dinner was for all the volunteers who worked this season and the dance was open to all. The dinner was delicious (always is when I don't have to cook!!) and well attended by all of the park volunteers. The Medicare band played for 3 hours and so we got quite a bit of dancing in as well as listening to the big band era music. We always enjoy them. By the time we got home, the wind had stopped and it was not real cold.

Monday, March 1 - already!! It was so nice out that Don did his 1 mile beach run and 1 mile park walk. It was really nice except for a light wind which got stronger and stronger all day. At least it was not the cold wind but - still wind. We hope that spring might be on its way. This morning was cleaning the coach time; it was needing it pretty bad but now is all clean for week or so. We worked on computer projects until time for bridge at 1:00. Just about the time we finished bridge, Meeder's arrived so we talked to them for a bit. Then at 5:30 we went to the regular potluck; Meeder's were with us. After potluck we played our regular card bingo with them as partners. We didn't win anything but had fun anyway. Meeder's won twice - not bad for their first time here this season!!! When we went home, the wind had gotten stronger and colder so it was time for rock and roll!

Sunday, the 28th, After church at FBC, we went to the Cancun for a delicious Mexican dinner of shrimp fajitas. The we headed for Wal-Mart in Aransas Pass for the necessary essentials. Got part way home and realized that we forgot to get a card for Don's new camera. After getting it, we stopped at Sonic and got a cherry limeade; first one in a long time. It was yummy! Then in the evening we had to go to the rec hall for Ice Cream!

Don made the 5K Beach Dash on February 27 and surprised himself by running the full 5K without stopping! He made it in 35:03 which was good for third place in his age bracket.

After a bit of rest, we went to the Port A Civic center for the Whooping Crane Trade Show. We purchased some birthday presents and a couple of pairs earrings for me (just what I need! But they are so neat!!!). I also had fun looking at all the neat things and found a tee shirt to match the Spoonbill jacket we got 2 years ago. Yeah!! Then it was off to Aransas Pass for lunch and Wal-Mart. We had a bowl of gumbo at a new restaurant, Corey's Gallery. It was very good and enough to be our big meal of the day. Then it was Wal-Mart time for those ever needed essentials. Back home after a short rest, we went to the rec hall for the Laughing Bird Comedy show. We agreed that it was ok but probably would not go to see them again. Too much showmanship for our liking.

Friday, Don's new camera arrived - his old one died and he sent it in for an estimate on repairing it and decided it was better to get a new one. So he got one like mine, only a newer version. It was hard for him being without one for several weeks!!He did get out this morning for his morning walk/run. We had bridge in the afternoon and in the evening was the Hillbilly dinner/dance. It was fun to see all the costumes!! We had a good crowd there and everyone had a good time.

Thursday we had another clear blue sky, gentle wind and 46 at 7 am. It warmed up quickly with little wind so we headed toward Goose Island to see it there were any Whooping Cranes around. On the way out of the park, we stopped at the office and made our reservations and deposit for next year here at Pioneer. We had lunch at Charlotte Plumbers in Fulton and then followed the bay up to the bay bridge and then to the area where we had seen the cranes a few weeks ago. There were eight Whooping Cranes in the bay just a couple of hundred feet from us! Quite a sight!! We watched them for quite a while and I took lots of pictures. Such beautiful birds. We got home just in time to go to the rec hall for a Colorado get-together. At 7, we met Bob and Bev Romero and they taught us to play spinners, a domino game. Had a fun evening with them!

Wednesday, February 24 ^th, first thing this morning I went to help decorate our table for the luncheon then we had to close up the coach and take it over for propane. That is kind of a pain, having to put everything away but we shouldn't have to do it again before we leave here. At noon was the ladies luncheon and fashion show. It is always nice - several of the boutiques here in Port A put on the show and always have some cute outfits. Then we went down to the beach for awhile since it was a pretty, if cool, afternoon. I did get a picture of a pretty green-winged teal in the park pond.

Tuesday was another rainy day. We did go do laundry in between showers - one of the jobs that doesn't go away! We had line dancing in the afternoon - a smaller group this time, probably because of the rain. In the evening we played bingo - no winnings this time!

Monday it was still cool - it has been running at least 10° below average most of the winter. We played bridge in the afternoon and the evening was spent playing dime bingo.

Sunday, we went to church and then to Moby Dick's for dinner. We split one of their platters and it was very good and plenty to eat! We do enjoy all the seafood down here!! Then we had line dancing at 3 pm, ice cream social at 6.

Saturday, the 20^th, was a nice day so we went down to check the birding center. We found the usual birds there although there seemed to be a large number of blue and green winged teals along with a bunch of shovelers. The wind came up so we didn't stay too long. I did get this wonderful picture of a pelican. We had a customer appreciation dinner this evening - it was very good. We got to eat first and then I helped serve and Don picked up trash as people finished eating. After the dinner was a dance. The band wasn't as good as some we have had but we had a good time.

Another cool, rainy day.... We had a nice group at the couples line dance lessons this afternoon. Some day we are going to get these learned! We just about have the waltz down pretty well - now to learn the others! We ate an early supper and then went to Sharkey's for a fun evening of dancing to the music of the Medicare band. It was our first time to Sharkey's but we will have to go back another time this winter.

Yesterday was spent working on websites. It was not a very pretty day, so was a good day to stay home and get things done. We did start the day with yummy cinnamon rolls made by some of the gals here in the park as a fund raiser for our recreation fund.

Wednesday, I went to the quilting group to hear a gal talk about hand quilting. Her method is awkward for me, but I did make smaller stitches than I usually do when I tried it. She also brought several quilts for "show & tell" and they were beautiful. It made me want to get quilting, but I can't seem to find time!! Don went down to bible study while I was at quilting. In the evening we had a spaghetti dinner down in the clubhouse and then we played Sequence with Bev & Bob and the Bev's won again!!

Tuesday, we went out to do some bird watching but it was quite cool so didn't stay long. We stopped for a garlic fish lunch, which was delicious, and got home in time for line dancing - our group was much smaller this time. Then we braved the cold breeze and went downtown to watch the annual Mardi Gras parade. It was a nice parade and seemed quite large for such a small town. After coming home and warming up, I went down to bingo but Don stayed home - said he was on the go too much for one day!!

Monday, February 15, was another cool day - didn't even get up to 50°! This certainly has been a cool winter down here - but still better than all the snow and cold at home!! The wind has really been doing a number on our poor little lighted palm tree. The plastic has been coming loose but we have been able to repair it to some extent. However, this morning, the plastic is almost totally gone for one of the fronds. We decided earlier that we could just take all of the plastic off and it would still look fine at night, sort of like our dolphin; just the outline of the fronds. But we may try taping it one more time before taking such a drastic step! We spent most of the afternoon playing bridge with the bridge group in the rec hall. Don is back to the game after not playing for 30-40 years and has discovered it does come back after a little practice! In the evening was dime bingo - fun but no winnings.

Sunday, Don was able to get out for his morning walk/run and ran 1.0 miles nonstop. After church, we went to Walmart for the usual. I need some things for a fruit salad for the Valentine's dinner this evening. And, of course, we bought a few other items. This was a beautiful warm sunny day - wish we would have more of them. This has been about the worst winter ever seen at Port A. It has been quite cold and windy along with record rainfall - they now say that nowhere in TX has drought conditions anymore! Hopefully next year will be better! We stopped at the Islander gift shop to get a couple of charms for my birthday but could not find any that I wanted. We did find items for Becca's birthday though. At 5:30, we went to the Valentine dinner and dance getting home about 10:30. The dance was over at 10 but we always stay around to help clean up and get the hall ready for tomorrow's activities. We had a delicious dinner and lots of fun dancing. We are going to miss all these dances when we get home!

Saturday was a beautiful day - sunny but cool. We cleaned the coach in the morning and shortly after lunch I e-filed our Federal taxes. We are going to get a refund this year - yeah! We participated in the Great Backyard Bird Count which is happening across the country for 4 days. For our part, we went to the jetty and "counted" the black skimmers and others. The count: 53 Double Crested Cormorants, 80 Laughing Gulls, 10 Great Tailed Grackles, 4 White Pelicans, 23 Brown Pelicans, 500 Black Skimmers, 15 Forster Terns, 3 Pigeons, 6 White Ibis. We met Faeth's and Sizelove's at the pizza place for dinner - we have been wanting to get down there all season. They have good pizza and salad buffets. Then at 7 pm we played bingo and I won a bonus game for $6.

Friday, February 12, was my birthday We played bridge with the regular group this afternoon. We did not have the couples line dance this afternoon since the rec hall was set up for the Mardi Gras dinner. Later there was a Mardi Gras "parade" of decorated golf carts. At 6 we had a Mardi Gras dinner of sloppy joes followed by a rowdy game of pass-the-trash which is always fun and noisy!

Thursday was another rainy, cool day so we spent the day on the computers. I got a lot of our tax work done.

Wednesday we stayed home most of the day but had a chili dinner after a chili cook-off. Unfortunately my chili did not win any trophies this year. After dinner, we played bridge with another couple so Don could brush up on his playing.

Tuesday, February 9, the wind howled all night and we did the rock and roll along with it. I believe that it was the windiest night yet. At 8 this morning it was 48 with 23 mph wind. We spent most of the day getting things done here at home. We had line dancing in the afternoon - had a good group there! In the evening was bingo - always fun even if we don't win!!

Monday was a busy day with bridge in the afternoon, potluck supper and then card bingo.

This morning Don went down to the beach for his morning walk/run. :) He ran 1.4 miles nonstop. It felt good but he did have to run against a mild wind for half of the run. But, he did get about 2 1/2 miles in this morning, by adding 1 mile for around the park. After church, we went to Aransas Pass and had lunch at Taqueria Guadalajara. Then to the bank in Ingleside and Walmart in Aransas Pass. That makes a nice easy circle. We decided to try Bernie's for some dancing in the evening evening. We figured since it was Super Bowl Sunday, it might not be too crowded. It was a fun evening dancing to the Tumble Dry Low band. They have been at Pioneer Park in past years.

Saturday morning Don got down to the beach for a walk/run. :) He ran 1.2 miles nonstop which is a surprise since he has not been able to get to the beach for several days. He said it felt good but he did have to run against a mild wind for half of the run. It was such a pretty day, a day to be outside. However, we did have to do laundry and got it completed before lunch. Many park folks were out and about - I think everything had cabin fever!! After lunch, we drove down to the beach and sat on the downwind side of the car for an hour or so soaking up sunshine. Then I walked on up the beach for a round trip of 1 mile! Then we went to the jetty to see what might be happening and found hundreds of Black Skimmers and Forster Terns. A good number of the terns were out in the ocean diving for fish. It is so funny to watch them dive for a fish. We stopped at Whataburger for a burger and got home in time to go play bingo. Don won once and received $18 for it. Now we have money for awhile.

Again we worked computer stuff in the morning, Friday. I played bridge in the afternoon and then we had couples line dance. I believe that we am starting to get the hang of a couple of the dances. The waltz is relatively easy since it is so similar to the singles line dance. Then burgers at 5:30 followed by 2 gospel singing groups. It was a very good evening. By the time we got home about 8:30, we were kind of tired. The sky was completely clear in the evening!

Thursday we again worked on the computers. Sometimes I wonder how we can have so much work to do!! We did take time out for a walk to the beach even though it was not a very nice day. It ended up drizzling a good portion of the day but near sunset it did clear up a bit and we had a pretty sunset. After supper we played a round of bridge so Don could brush up on it a bit. I think he is finding that it does come back even after so many years away from it!

Wednesday was another rainy day so we stayed home all day and work hard at getting some more computer work done. It seems that there is always something that needs our attention.

Tuesday - we have been having cold, windy, rainy weather and are all ready for sunshine!! We both did work on the computer a good part of the day. We had a good turnout for line dancing this afternoon and all seemed to enjoy the time. We played bingo this evening and I won once, receiving $22. We now have some to play with and not out of our pocket like it has been lately. Again we had to walk home in the windy mist. Fortunately it was in the mid 50s so not real cold.

Monday, Feb 1, I got some work around here done in the morning and then I played bridge in the afternoon while Don worked on the website. At 6 pm we had a Luau Dinner and Dance in the rec center. Delicious dinner and recorded music for a change but it worked out fine and we had a great time.

I can't believe how fast this month has gone by!!! Tomorrow is February already!!! How can that be???? Let's see....what has happened since the 22^nd??

Today, it was too cold and windy again for Don to get out for his walk/run. Hopefully, this week will warm up a bit!! We went to church and then to Fin's for lunch where we split a shrimp and oyster platter. We had a coupon for free onion rings which were delicious! We brought about half of them home - hope we can reheat them successfully! We drove down by the jetty again on the way to lunch and saw lots of skimmers again! This afternoon we had line dancing again at 3 and had about 20 people there. If we get any more, we will have to move tables to make room! This evening we went down for ice cream (had to put heavy coats & gloves on for the walk; it is only 47° with a very cold wind!!) and then we played Sequence again with Bev & Bob and we gals won again 6 games to 2. Poor guys!!!!

Saturday we went up to Rockport to the quilt show. Lots of beautiful quilts but it seemed strange to see only 3 hand-quilted projects. All the rest were machine quilted - mostly with the long arm machines. They do a beautiful job, but I still like the hand-quilted ones!! The big excitement for the afternoon was when one whole section of racks fell down like dominos!! Fortunately, no one was hurt but there were lots of quilts on the floor! Several of us pitched in and put it all back together without too much trouble and it didn't take very long once the guys got some ladders to put the frames back together. Unfortunately, the framework is not very stable. After that, we stopped at Wal-Mart, Walgreens and HEB and got home in time to fix supper and go down to bingo. We didn't win - again - but one of our friends won the final game in the allotted time for the jackpot!

Friday, I printed some more scrapbook pages - am now up to June 2009! Yeah!! In the afternoon I played bridge and then we had couples line dancing. We are having quite a challenge learning this!! But - it is fun! This evening, we just stayed home and relaxed for a change.

Thursday, Don was glad it was nice enough to get out for his morning beach walk/run. Then he bought us home-made cinnamon rolls that some of the gals here make - yum!! I went down for a Mary Kay makeover - I haven't seen the newest products and it is always fun to try new ideas. We then went to the post office to mail some packages - it is getting so expensive to mail packages!!!! One of the fishermen we know brought us some drum yesterday so I fixed it for supper tonight and it was delicious! I don't think we have ever had that before.

Wednesday, Jan 27^th, it was nice enough for Don to get out for his morning beach walk/run and had to rush breakfast and shower afterward to get to Bible Study in time! Then, after that, I took a walk down on the beach - it was a beautiful day for it! I even took my lawn chair and soaked up some sun in the afternoon - it felt so good!! That evening we had a spaghetti dinner down in the rec center. They are always good and we had a really big crowd - looks like most of the Winter Texans have arrived!! After dinner we played bridge - Don has decided to try and remember how to play and he did quite well. He says he isn't ready for the afternoon players yet, so we will try again next week for more practice games for him.

Tuesday, Don was again able to get out for his morning beach walk/run. Then since the day was rather nice, we went birding to the Birding Center where saw the usual birds; lots of blue & green winged teals, northern shovelers, black necked stilts, white & brown pelicans, coots, and moorhens. From there we went to Charlie's pasture and walked a mile or so but really did not see much. Besides, the wind started to be a bit strong and cool so we gave that up and came on home. We played bingo again in the evening - fun but no winnings again!

Monday, Don did get out for his morning walk/run but it was only 51° so not a very comfortable time! I played bridge in the afternoon while he did some computer work. Then we went down to the beach with our chairs, but found it too cold to sit very long! We then went to the jetty to see what we could find. We saw several terns and, of course, many gulls. We also spotted dolphins playing in the channel. There were quite a few of them this day and they are always fun to watch. After supper, we went down for dime bingo and Don actually won one hand, so now have dimes to keep playing awhile!

Sunday, Jan 24, Don got down to the beach early for his morning run. Then we went to church and to Trout Street Grill for a delicious lunch. We decided to go check out Paradise pond since it is kinda' sheltered from the wind - which was blowing again! - but there were hardly any birds there. A phoebe, some yellow rumped warblers and a couple of black vultures up on the poles. There were quite a few turtles out sunning on the logs, though! The evening brought the ice cream social time down in the rec center and then a game of pass the trash.

Saturday, Jan 23, we wanted to take our chairs and go sit on the beach awhile as it was supposed to get up to 78° - but it started out foggy and never got nearly as warm as it was supposed to - and no sun until late afternoon so we gave up on that idea. We worked on the website awhile and I printed some of my scrapbook pages. We went down for bingo after supper but no winnings again this time!!

This morning Don took his walk/run on the beach again and I took a shorter walk down to the beach and back. We again worked on the website awhile and then it was time for bridge. That was followed by couples line dancing - still a challenge for us! Supper was burgers down at the rec center. Then we played a game of Sequence with Bev and Bob Romero - we gals beat the guys 6 games to 2!!!

Thursday was another foggy day! It seems that it is foggy every morning. However, Don did walk around the park twice, about 2 miles. When he got home, every hair on his arms had little droplets of fog (water). We spent the morning working on the new website. Shortly before noon, the fog burned off and so it was off to Rockport! We saw several dolphin playing in the channel on the ferry ride across. We had planned to eat at Captain Benny's in Fulton but found that they do not open until 4. We drove up the road a block or two and found a restaurant that we had seen but had not stopped before; Charlotte Plummer's. We ate on the second floor deck overlooking the Fulton harbor. I had crab cakes and Don had the oysters. Both were very tasty! Since we were this north, we decided to go on up to Goose Island SP which we did but at $5/person decided to take their 20 minute (free) tour. Saw a couple of birds, a kestrel and a coopers hawk but no ducks or shore birds. So were glad we hadn't paid to get in! The lady at the park entrance said that we might see a whooping crane on eighth street (not in the park). So after our 20 minute tour we went to eighth street and did see two cranes. This is the first time we have really seen them. Once, from the Aransas WLR tower, we saw them as small birds in the distance. We stopped at Wal-Mart for a few essential items and on the way back home as we got just south of Port A we got into the fog again. Yet, the whole time in Rockport and Fulton, we had beautiful warm sunny skies. A gorgeous, warm day!

Wednesday, we attended the first bible study in the rec hall being led by Ann Stone. It was good but Don had trouble hearing her as she has a very soft voice. Then after lunch we took care of laundry. Then, we went to the Castaways restaurant with others from the park and had a good dinner for just $5 each because we got there at 5 pm. They have a special where you have a select menu that charges for the time you arrive...not large portions, but good. Then we went to DQ for dessert!!

Tuesday, Don made it down for his early walk/run on the beach despite the foggy conditions. Later we went to the beach and walked about a mile. We saw hundreds of starfish which had washed up on the beach. We really have seen VERY few starfish in past years. We picked up a few shells including 4 olives; we not had whole ones in the past.

Line dancing was real good this afternoon with 15-20 participating. We had some fun exercise and all seemed to enjoy the hour. The at 7, we played regular bingo. I split a bonus game win with 3 others and received $2. It costs $8 per night so she did not win enough to pay for this evening even with the $2 left from previous winnings. This is the first time this season that we have had to pay out our pocket to play. Time for some winnings!!

Monday, Don went for his walk/run down to the beach. What a nice place for it!! I was feeling somewhat better so went down in the afternoon for bridge. Then came home and made a salad to take to the potluck supper. We had a big crowd at the potluck and, of course, too many delicious things!

Sunday morning I woke up with stuffy sinuses and feeling generally rotten, so Don went to church without me and stopped at Cancun and brought lunch home with him. He had to do line dancing without me this week, but I am sure, managed quite well. We also missed ice cream and games in the evening.

Saturday afternoon we went down to the rec center to a Glogg (a Swedish drink) party, The drink was quite good and there were various chips and other goodies to go with it. Saturday was bingo ... However we did not win any games which means that we will have to pay out of pocket instead of winnings next time.

It actually stopped raining by the time I went down to bridge on Friday (the 15th) but the pond was clear up to the rec center! We had 3 tables of bridge again this week, which makes it more fun! Couples line dancing was a small group this week - but it gave us individual instruction - and we need it....it isn't as easy as it looks!

The dance that evening was fun (and exhausting). We always love a chance to dance!! That's one of the things we like about this RV park.

Well, it rained all night and there are lots of big puddles all around us! We have a lake beside our coach! No walk/run on the beach for Don this morning!! Looking at the radar now (11 am) it does look like it is going to taper off a bit. Sure hope so as I have bridge this afternoon followed by couples line dancing and then a dance this evening. We do have a ways to walk to the rec center and hate to get drenched getting there!! At least it isn't really cold - is 58°.

Thursday, it was nice again this morning so Don ran/walked 1.2 miles on the beach this morning and just in time because it started to drizzle again just as he got home. This morning, before his beach walk, he went to the rec hall and got our breakfast: two fresh home-made cinnamon rolls. Some of the gals here make them and they are very good! We had a short period with no rain but warm temps so we went to the jetty to check out the area. We were surprised to find the skimmers have returned. There were a few hundred of them napping. of course there were many laughing gulls and several royal terns. We did see three dolphins. We also went to the channel park but did not see much there so came home for lunch. We spent most of the afternoon on the computers. I made some cream of broccoli soup for supper - yum! The rain started in the evening along with strong winds again. They predicted a long, widespread storm with some areas getting up to 10" of rain! That is more than we get at home in a whole year!!!

Wednesday, January 13, it was about 51° again this morning so Don ran/walked 1 mile of the beach this morning. There was a bit of rain throughout the morning. In the afternoon. it was a trip to town for essentials like bank deposit, medicine, Rx, food, goodies, etc. We also purchased a new CO detector; our old one seems to have lived out its useful life. We had light rain most of the afternoon. We had our periodic spaghetti dinner at the rec hall. It was a sold out dinner, very popular get-together. We did not stay to play games but went home so that i could rest as I was getting a scratchy throat.

Tuesday, we had line dancing again in the afternoon - a smaller number than last session. We had a great time anyway and got some good exercise. Tuesday means that we played regular bingo in the evening and as normal we did not win anything. Oh well - it is fun anyway!

Monday, we put the new website online "live" and our customer seems pleased with our efforts. I played bridge in the afternoon - with more people coming in, we had enough for 3 tables instead of the 1 we have been having. In the evening was dime bingo and Don again stayed home to nurse his cough.

Sunday after church, we went to the San Juan for a good lunch; first time there this season. We spent a bit of the afternoon working the website before line dancing at 3. We are getting a good response to the dancing. There must have been about 20 there this afternoon. Back home we worked the website until time for Sunday ice cream. I stayed to play pass the trash but Don came home to rest.

Saturday, January 9, we had to pack everything up and go around the corner to get propane. This cold weather has really used it up!! Then we headed to Rockport where we had a great day at the 15th annual Rockport Gospel Festival and visiting with friends from Loveland, Carolyn & Dick Timmons. They are staying in Rockport this year instead of Port A. We left home about 11 this morning and got back about 10:30 this evening. Lots of good Gospel Music!! We went to a Chinese buffet for a good supper and then back for more music! It's a shame that we do not have this kind of opportunity at home. We find gospel concerts rather common in the south including southern CA. We love them!

Friday, It was about 28° at 7 this morning and the wind blew hard all night. It was cold enough that our water line froze. So, Don braved the bitter cold wind and got the water working again. Don worked the new website most all day. I worked it in the morning and played bridge in the afternoon followed by our first try at couples line dancing. It is definitely different that the singles line dancing that we know. This is going to take some practice! This was burger night in the clubhouse followed by a game of Pass the Trash. Don was fighting a sore throat and cough, so he didn't stay for the game.

Thursday, It was 61° at 8:30 tin the morning. However, it was raining off and on so no walk today. It started getting cooler as the day went on and was 38 when we went to bed. Also the wind started it predicted blow about mid morning and it blew and it blew all day... Strong gusts said to be over 50 mph. We really rocked and rolled! We worked very hard all day and evening on the website.

Wednesday January 5, it was 59° in the morning about 7:30 with light wind off the ocean. Don walked around the park this morning with a side trip to the beach where he ran 9/10 mile. We worked on the newest website and actually made some progress. We had a great gospel concert in the rec center in the evening with the Golden's from Tyler TX. On the way back home we took a "shortcut" by walking around the park and down the boardwalk just to the sand - then it got really dark! Temp was 61° - nice evening for a walk. We probably won't want to go out the next few days when the cold front hits!

Tuesday, the temp in the morning was 41° so Don bundled up and walked around the park. He also tried to walk on the beach but the wind made it too cold. We had a big crowd for line dancing in the afternoon - we may have to start moving some tables out of the way. In the evening was bingo. Bev won one game but had to split it so only got $2. Oh well...guess that is better than nothing!

January 4, We worked on a couple of websites and just barely had time to do laundry before lunch time. Then I played Bridge in the afternoon while Don cleaned the inside of the coach. He also fixed the indoor/outdoor thermometer so that we can know the outside temperature; not that we really want to know! In the evening, we had our regular pot luck dinner followed by Dime Bingo. We had a good time but did not win anything!

Today, we went to church, then to a new restaurant for lunch - it was OK - the shrimp was pretty good. We came home and spent some time on the computer (I had to get this updated before I get scolded!!!). Then it was time for line dancing - we are teaching it until Dorri gets down here and can take over. We will have an hour on Sundays and Tuesdays. Gotta' keep in shape!! We had 15 people there today - 13 gals and 2 guys. Then at 6 it was time for ice cream social and a game of pass the trash. We haven't played the last couple of times because we played Mexican Train.

I can't believe we have been here over a month already!! Saturday was pretty well spent working on website. I think we are beginning to get a handle on some of the things the previous webmaster had done. We did talk with Chris for about an hour - always nice to visit with our kids!! In the evening, we went down to play Bingo - no winnings this time :(

New Year's Day we were kind of lazy in the morning since it was so late getting to bed. Then we participated in Port A's traditional Meander starting at 2:10. I walked the 2010 meter meander and Don ran the 2 mile, making it in 20:36. This rate would have him running a 5K in about 31 minutes. After this, we drove down to the jetty for awhile, but there was not much going on, so returned home. Fortunately, we had a pretty nice day. After dinner, we played some Upwords...it had been awhile since we had time for that!