Year 3 Week 36

February 18 to 24, 2007

Hondo to Port Aransas, Texas

Year 3 week 36

 

Sunday ; Today was sunny and mild.

We had a restful day. I tightened the truck's power steering fluid reservoir which had become slightly loose. We took Bo on an obedience walk, then walked to the edge of the RV park to allow him to see the goats and horses on the farm next door. WOOF WOOF WOOF WOOF ! ! ! Easy, Bo ! We went to the clubhouse, so Joanne could check out their bargain table, and I could check if the TV in the clubhouse could receive CBS, which we can't receive in the trailer. The TV in the clubhouse had no better reception than the trailer. Darn ... we're going to miss the season premiere of Amazing Race.

I read, and napped. Joanne is convinced that there is something wrong with our TV reception so I removed the TV and VCR from the entertainment cabinet and checked all the cable connections. I couldn't find anything wrong. We went to the ice cream social, a weekly Sunday afternoon event in all SKP parks. The ice cream servers were bragging about the Texas sized scoops of ice cream they serve here at Lone Star Corral. And they certainly put their money where their mouths are, so to speak. After eating a huge scoop of ice cream, and a piece of cake, we went to the small Class C motorhome of Mary Anne, our new single woman friend from Virginia and visited for a few hours.

 

Monday ; Hondo to Port Aransas, Texas

Today was sunny and mild, but became windy when we got to the Gulf Of Mexico at Port Aransas.

We departed Lone Star Corral this morning, heading east 8 miles into Hondo. While I refilled with diesel at the Wal-Mart gas bar Joanne went into Wal-Mart with our jar of Great Value peanut butter. Sure enough, we had a jar with the recalled production number, the batch that had some sort of bacterial infection that had caused widespread illness, resulting in something like 167 confirmed cases of bacterial "food poisoning". HMPH ... now I'll never know if my severe illness in San Diego was indeed a flu, or was I poisoned by Wal-Mart peanut butter ? ! ? I suspect the latter.

We turned southeast on Hwy. 173 to Jourdanton, then northeast for a very short distance on Hwy. 97 to Pleasanton. Driving through Pleasanton I saw a Mexican tire shop with a display of used hub caps. I stopped and bought a 15 inch chrome trim ring for the trailer, to replace oneI lost a long time ago. At Pleasanton we drove another very short distance on Hwy. 281 to Interstate 37 where we turned south. When we stopped for lunch at an Interstate rest area, I chatted with the couple parked next to us, in a large motorhome with Ontario license plates. They were from Prescott, a bit south of Ottawa. My memory of Prescott, from the years we lived in Ottawa, was that it seemed to be the incest capital of Canada. For years there were news stories of the large numbers of incest prosecutions and convictions in and around Prescott.

After lunch we continued southeast on I-37 to Hwy. 77, then we turned North on Hwy. 77 to Sinton where we wanted to turn east on Hwy. 181 leading to Aransas Pass and the ferry to Port Aransas. The highway interchange from Hwy. 77 onto Hwy. 181 was closed due to construction. We followed a detour until we finally got lost, in the town of Portland, stuck in a traffic jam in a school zone as school was letting out, and many children were dawdling across the road < fume >. We finally found our way back onto Hwy. 181, then onto Hwy. 361 to Aransas Pass. We got loaded onto the ferry to cross Aransas Pass, to Port Aransas. The ferry left, turned around and returned to dock. What ? ! ? Some goofball had an open container of gas in the back of his pickup truck, and was being evicted off the ferry < sigh >.

We finally got to Port Aransas and found our way to Island RV Resort. We weren't able to get into our assigned site because a motorhome was sticking out into the road, preventing us from turning into our site. We got reassigned another site, and finally got parked. I visited with the neighbours with the Manitoba license plates, from Birds Hill, the neighbours from Colorado, and the neighbours from Harlingen, Texas, down in The Valley. We were in our site for over 2 hours before I stepped inside the trailer.

As we were sitting down to dinner, our friends from Ottawa, Erbon and Lorraine, arrived to visit. We spent the evening visiting with them, planning some activities for the next week. It was great to see Erbon and Lorraine again. We're looking forward to visiting with them over the next week here, in and around Port Aransas, and then after we move south to The Valley, they're going to drive down to visit with us there.

 

Tuesday ; Today was cloudy and mild. The humidity here on the Gulf Coast is a lot higher than we've been experiencing so far this winter. We've been in desert climate for most of this winter.

I've caught a cold. Yesterday I thought I might be catching a cold, but wasn't sure. This morning there was no doubt. It made me feel rather poorly all day. This morning we chatted with the very friendly neighbours surrounding us in this park until Erbon and Lorraine arrived. We all piled into Lanoire and headed over to the mainland, to find the restaurant called The Big Fisherman. At a social hour at the SKP park in Benson, Arizona, when we mentioned we were heading to Port Aransas, we were told we must go to The Big Fisherman for their Tuesday lunch special. So today we did. Margaritas for a dollar. All you can eat chicken fried steak, and / or chicken livers, and / or chicken gizzards, with a bowl of soup, mashed potatoes with gravy, and coleslaw for ... wait for it ... a dollar seventy-five ! HA HA HA HA HA ... welcome to Texas ! Joanne had chicken fried steak. I had chicken livers and gizzards. And we had margaritas. I preferred the chicken livers over the gizzards, so I put my gizzards into my empty margarita cup and brought them home for Teddy and Bo, who thought they were great !

After lunch we found our way to Wal-Mart in Rockport where I refilled Lanoire with diesel. We drove slowly back towards Aransas Pass and Port Aransas, exploring as we drove. We stopped to walk out on a boardwalk over a marshy area and look at birds. Back on Mustang Island / Port Aransas we drove to the condominium where Erbon and Lorraine are staying, so Joanne and I would know how to get there, then we drove down onto the beach. We drove along the beach for a couple of miles. I drove Lanoire into the Gulf Of Mexico surf to "baptize" her. I thought it was evident what I was doing. I guess it wasn't. Erbon and Lorraine had their windows open, and their forearms and shoulders got splashed. Ooops ... sorry ! We parked at the breakwater on the main shipping channel of Aransas Pass, and walked out on the breakwater part way, chatting with the fishermen. We drove off the beach back into town, and stopped at Oceans Of Seafood. I bought a half a pound of fresh, large shrimp, and a "tea bag" of shrimp boil seasonings. As we drove back to our RV park, people were beginning to congregate on the side of the road for the small Mardi Gras parade that was about to take place. Oh, yeah ... today was Mardi Gras.

Joanne cooked the shrimp for me for dinner tonight, but I didn't have enough of an appetite to appreciate them. I put them in the fridge to eat tomorrow. Maybe I'll make myself a shrimp po'boy.

Despite feeling ill and weak, and with great reluctance, at Joanne's strong urging, I spent the evening trying to determine why we seem unable to get decent TV reception using the roof top antenna. I fiddled with the big TV, the little TV, the VCR, all the cables, and all the connections. I can't find anything wrong. That doesn't mean there isn't something wrong. I just don't have the electronic skills to find it.

 

Wednesday ; Today was sunny and warm. Until we arrived here, the weather here had been awful for about 3 months. We've been telling everyone that we talk to here that we're responsible for bringing the great weather, and it will probably leave with us next Monday. HA HA HA !

This morning Joanne prepared a picnic lunch, and we drove over to the Aransas Princess condominiums to pick up Erbon and Lorraine. We drove south on Hwy. 361 along the length of Mustang Island, until it crossed a bridge over to Padre Island. We entered Padre Island National Seashore ( National Park ) and spent the day exploring. First stop was to do some bird watching on the Laguna Madre side of the island. Laguna Madre is the Intracoastal Waterway between Padre Island and the mainland. I took off my shoes and socks, rolled up my pant legs, and waded in the warm waters of Laguna Madre. Then we drove down to the entrance onto South Beach. I shifted Lanoire into 4 X 4 mode, and off we went driving down the beach. A couple of times I swerved Lanoire over to drive briefly through the surf. Just because she's a big 4 X 4 ( or 6 X 6 ) truck, and it makes me feel like I'm 20 years old to do that ! HA HA HA ! Although ... I now have to contend with the dried out salt spray on her. Joanne ... wash the truck ! HA HA HA HA HA !

At the 5 mile mark was a sign advising only 4 wheel drive vehicles to proceed beyond that point. The sand became a bit softer and deeper after the 5 mile mark. We had a nice pleasant picnic lunch on the beach. I was feeling kind of miserable with this cold, and the sunshine and warmth helped me to feel better. We walked along the beach for awhile, Erbon and Lorraine doing some bird watching, me chatting with fishermen, finding jellyfish, watching little crabs scuttle down into their holes in the sand, etc.. I found a dollar bill washed up on the beach. Maybe I'll keep it as my version of a lucky sand dollar. HA HA HA ! We continued driving slowly along the beach, just exploring. We tracked our mileage on the way back. We had driven 9 miles along the beach.

We drove over to the Visitor Centre at Malaquite Beach and looked around. We drove back to Mustang Island. I saw an entrance to the beach along Mustang Island, so once again shifted Lanoire into 4 X 4, and off we went. WOW ... deep, soft sand. WOO-HOO ... felt just like a redneck bouncing along the beach, destroying the environment. HA HA HA HA HA !

We dropped Erbon and Lorraine off at their condominium, then went to the pharmacy to buy me more cold medications. I napped briefly before we went to the RV park's potluck dinner. Nice dinner, and pleasant company chatting with 2 couples from the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, but ... like many American communal meals ... chomp, swallow, goodbye ! Merkins sure do like to eat and run. I found out that the park's malfunctioning Wi-Fi system was repaired today, so after dinner I got online to send and retrieve e-mail, and retrieve our 2 MasterCard statements. I also took a quick look at our investments "bottom line". WOO-HOO, WOO-HOO, WOO-HOO !

 

Thursday ; Today was overcast, hot and humid.

I had a slow start to the day, due to having a cold. Today is day 3 of my cold, usually the worst day of a cold for me. Hopefully tomorrow I will begin to improve.

This morning I trimmed my beard, then printed the MasterCard statements. After lunch we went grocery shopping to the only grocery store here on Mustang Island, Port Aransas IGA. I had difficulty selecting a jar of peanut butter. I'm a little paranoid about peanut butter right now. Back at Island RV Resort I reconciled the MasterCard statements.

At 5:30 Erbon and Lorraine picked us up. We went with them to a Mexican restaurant called La Playa ( The Beach ) where we met their friends from New Brunswick, Glen and Marion. We had a lovely dinner. I had the daily special, a blackened Redfish with small grilled shrimp and Pico Gallo on top, served with Mexican Rice, grilled zucchini, grilled squash, and grilled Portobello Mushrooms. Very nice ! Although a bit expensive. When the waitress explained the daily specials, I thought she said the Redfish was $8.50. When the bill arrived I realized it was $18.50.

After dinner we drove to PACT, the Port Aransas Community Theatre, to see tonight's performance called We Love To See You Smile. When we arrived at the theatre, I realized I had left my sweater at the restaurant. We dropped off Joanne and Lorraine at the theatre, and Erbon drove me back to the restaurant to get my sweater.

The theatre production was an agonizing 2½ hour hodge podge tribute to Broadway musicals, written, produced, directed, and performed by a no talent, off key group of local, amateur thespians. It was horrible !

 

Friday ; I was too sick to get out of bed today !

 

Saturday ; Today was sunny and very warm.

I woke up still feeling quite ill, but as the day progressed, I improved. I wonder if my cold is something more than a cold ? I phoned Erbon this morning to discuss our plans for tomorrow, and whether or not we were going to get together today to do something. He told me that now Lorraine is sick with this same cold, or flu, or whatever it is.

We drove over to Port A Pharmacy to buy me more cold medications. We drove down to the beach, to allow Bo to romp in the sand for awhile. And I thought some sunshine and fresh air might make me feel better. We stopped at Port Aransas IGA, and Joanne went in to buy a few groceries while Bo and I waited in the truck. Back at Island RV Resort I went to the clubhouse to get online with Wi-Fi and send and retrieve e-mail. We took Bo for an obedience training session. I read the newspaper. I coughed a lot !

DSK