Rockport, Fulton & Lamar

Christmas Eve we spent at the clubhouse here for finger foods potluck. I made some pigs in a blanket because it's a one time a year dish (very bad for you) that I was craving. I think a lot of people had the same idea because there were A LOT of little smokie dishes of some sort. I was having oven issues (not getting hot enough) and my biscuits weren't browning so we ended up being fashionably late. We were only a half hour late but it looked like we missed out on most of the food. If you've ever been on a cruise before you know how older people are when the food is served. LOL You know what I mean, Sissy. There were quite a few people there and it was pretty crowded so we didn't get a chance to mingle much but we did spend some time with Donna and Nolan before they left. We left shortly afterwards.

Christmas Day was spent at the clubhouse again but this time we were on time. However, nobody told us we were supposed to bring our own dinnerware. Sheesh...... We didn't need them for the night before. No problem, somebody must have brought extras because the next thing I knew we were assigned a table and a place setting appeared. All we brought was water to drink and the brownies I made. I made them as soon as I got up to make sure they were cooked and cooled before the 12:00 meeting time. Even those didn't come out quite right (stuck to the bottom) but I was able to salvage enough of them to take with us. Dinner was not actually served until 1:00 so it gave people the chance to mingle if they wanted to. We ended up having a really nice time with the people at our table and in fact, stayed and chatted with two other couples well after everybody else had left. We were all fulltimers so we had a lot in common right there.

The day after Christmas we just had to get out. It's been either too cold or too humid to do anything here. Rod is tired of hearing about my hair. I think I'm just going to start wearing a hat like he does. Anyway......... We decided to take a drive to find out where the public fishing piers were and find our way around town. We stopped at Walmart for a few things and it was surprisingly not crowded. Even where all the Christmas stuff was 50% off there were no crowds. Of course, we had to pick up some more candy. I don't know what got into me this year. Never before have I had a bowl of candy on the coffee table. Maybe I'll double my walk. Yeah, right. We also picked up a couple of bottles of their $3 wine. We never knew they had their own brand of wine and it's good. Somebody told us it's only $2 in California. Next, we just drove around by the waterfront. They have the weirdest thing I've ever seen. A lot of the hotels and resorts and private residences have their own piers. They even have locked gates prohibiting you from using them with signs saying "Private Property, No Trespassing". Maybe other people have seen this before but I hadn't. You have to find a public pier in order to go fishing unless you have a boat or know somebody that has a boat. We got a packet of information from the RV park when we checked in so at least we do know where the piers are. Somebody at the RV park in San Antonio told us a lot of people here go fishing at night so I think we're going to try that also.

Some of the shrimp boats



A public pier


A private pier


Lots of private piers


We stopped and had lunch at Alice Faye's. The lady who owns it was named after the actress with the same name. We had heard they had good food so we thought we'd check it out. The special was the fried fish dinner for $5.95 so that's what we both had. Rod had his with french fries and I had mine with the baked potato. The potato was cooked the previous day and reheated, I think. Next time I would get the fries. The fish was excellent though.

Alice Faye's


Today is another stay at home day because it's FOOTBALL SUNDAY!

New Year's Eve we'll be at the clubhouse for finger foods again. This time I'm making shrimp deviled eggs. Something I don't have to bake. New Year's Day we're at the clubhouse again for a chili potluck. Everybody is bringing different stuff to make chili with. We're also having ham and black eyed peas. Maybe this time I'll take some pictures.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

COLD COLD COLD

I've really been complaining about the cold for the last few months but I have friends and family that REALLY have it cold. We're having temps in the forties for the most part but they're having some temps below zero or near zero with the wind chill factor. BRRRRRRR I thought I'd share some pictures:

George & Jolene's house in Graham, Washington. This was the backyard we stayed in for a few days back in Sept


Bruce & Marvina's front yard in Auburn, Washington


Bruce is digging Marvina's car out (LMAO!)


My brother Art is working in Vail, Colorado and will be there until July sometime. These are pictures from his deck




Another picture of Vail


Here's my friend Jenny shoveling her way out in Spokane, Washington


My friend Janet's yard in Port Angeles, Washington


Soooooo, I'll stop sniveling about the cold, although, COLD IS COLD! It's supposed to warm up here starting today. It's 49 right now but is supposed to get up to 66 later today and then 70's for the rest of the week. Enjoy your snow, guys!

Ashton started school this year so I just had to include his first school picture. Sure does look different than the pictures they took when I was in school.....

Rockport, Texas

I know, I know it's been over a week since I've updated. Sometimes I just don't know what to write. We did move on Saturday and we have already celebrated our Christmas. I made a prime rib roast for our Christmas dinner on Thursday with John and Erica along with mashed potatoes, gravy, salad and broccoli. We left Braunig Lake because if we were to stay till after Christmas we would have had to pay the daily rate of $45 or we would have had to stay for another month to get the discounted monthly rate. We had our own little celebration. We got some nice gift cards for restaurants and also some slippers which Erica thought we might not like. I absolutely love mine and I know Rod loves his too. Funny how we can get so excited about things like that but we are so tired of being cold and they really do keep our feet warm. Can you believe I didn't take a single picture?? Oh well, we'll be back at the end of February.

We also got all our shopping done for the grandkids and got those packages shipped out. The little post office here is great. For one, it's very small so there's no big, long lines to stand in and for another it was very close by. Michele called me today to let me know they got them.

Ashton also lost his first tooth this week. Well, actually he lost both bottom teeth. The dentist had to pull them out because the new teeth were coming in and the baby teeth weren't budging. Michele said he was very brave.


We decided to switch roles for breaking down and getting ready to leave on Saturday. I had to instruct Rod on what I do inside as far as securing things and getting all the stuff put away and he had to instruct me on how to unhook everything outside and hook up the rig to the truck. I think it was the hottest and most humid day we've had since we've been here and by the time I was finished outside my hair was, well quite different than when I started (you know what I mean Sissy). Well, we both did really good changing roles and we got on the road at 10:45 for our three hour drive down to Rockport which is about 30 miles east of Corpus Christi on the Gulf of Mexico. Pretty good since we didn't get up till almost 9:00. It was an uneventful and boring drive of about 150 miles south through the Texas countryside.

We arrived at the Big D RV Resort at about 2:00 and after getting set up we walked over to the office to see if any of our mail had arrived yet. On the way there we stopped and met some people that I knew from my RV chatroom who had arrived a few days before. Donna and Nolan were sitting outside with their two little dogs so we stopped and chatted for a little bit (again, no pictures). We hurried to the office before they closed and found we had a package of mail and a Christmas card. We headed out to the grocery store for a few things and then back to the RV park and watched TV for the rest of the night. The next few days were going to be really cold AGAIN so on Sunday we stayed inside and watched football all day. YAY CHARGERS!!! Oh yeah, Rod's Seahawks won too.

It's cold again today and the wind has been rocking our rig all day and night. I made a big pot of cabbage soup (thanks Gerri) so we'll be eating that for a few days.

Our Christmas presents to ourselves were two new reels for our fishing poles. We plan on spending two months here so hopefully we can get in some fishing. Supposedly the fishing is really good here. Black drum, red drum, cobia. And the shrimp you buy for bait is what I'd put on the barbecue so if we don't catch any fish we'll still have dinner. LOL

Saturday was our one year anniversary of the escrow closing on our house in Florida. Since we didn't sign the papers until 4:30 in the afternoon and our rig was up in Georgia we stayed overnight at our neighbor's house. Thank you Dave and Pennye. Sunday was our one year anniversary of living in our rig fulltime. This one year really flew by. We've stayed in fifteen states from Florida to Washington starting out with a one month stay in the Camping World parking lot in Georgia getting warranty work done and getting the hitch put in the truck. We're still really enjoying the travels and don't think it's going to end anytime soon. The diesel prices going down have really helped the budget too, especially since we are planning on spending the summer up in Alaska.

These are a few things I miss about our house in Florida

My neighbors & our cocktail parties
My friends at work
My pool
Having my own bathroom
Having a car
Having a guest room
My big side by side refrigerator
My HUGE freezer
My hairdresser

Things I DON'T miss

The hot Florida summers
The humidity
The noisy scooters going up and down the street
Hurricanes
Lightening storms
Andy's drumming (LOL Andy)
Hurricane insurance
Whiny customers at work
Stupid uniforms we had to wear for work
Cleaning those tile floors
Palmetto bugs!

That about sums up the last week. Hopefully we'll have more going on this week. We are looking forward to spending some time with the people we've already met here and getting to meet some other people that will be arriving here later next month.

Riverwalk AGAIN!

Yes, we did. We went to the Riverwalk again last night. Everybody is probably getting tired of hearing about the Riverwalk. First we went to dinner at Don Pedro's. Really good Mexican food. In fact, it's so good that John & Erica had their wedding rehearsal dinner there six years ago. I have to say, it was just as good as I remember it.


We took a ride in one of the boats that cruise up and down the river. These boats hold about 40 people but in order to hold that many you are really packed in tight. In line right in front of us was a group of twenty-eight cub scouts. We told the driver to go ahead and go and we would wait for the next boat. We really didn't want to be crammed in with twenty-eight kids.

John & Erica on the Riverwalk


The Riverwalk ends (or begins) at a three story shopping mall


Another view


Going under one of the bridges


I just caught a glimpse of the San Fernando Cathedral (where John & Erica were married)


More lights. By the way, it takes them two months to put these lights in the trees and two months to take them down.


Speaking of lights and trees, here's the new Christmas tree!! We like it sooooo much better than the "stick".


Remember the "stick"???

More Visitors

We had some more visitors on Sunday. It's so nice to meet people that we've been corresponding with for so long. Jesse and Ginger stopped here for a few days on their way to the Rio Grande Valley where they'll be staying for a few months. They came over to see us and we made plans to get together for dinner on Monday. We took them to a place that has become one of our favorites, authentic barbecue. It's served on butcher paper and put in a plastic box to carry to your table. It's not the typical place where you can order a "combination plate." If you want brisket you tell them you want a half pound or if you want ribs you tell them whether you want a half rack or a full rack and then you order your sides to go with it. It also comes with that white bread that the southerners seem to like. I can't get into that part. Anyway, we really love that place. I've got to get some bbq sauce before we leave here.


Ginger & Jesse


Rod's showing Ginger how it's done


After we were sufficiently stuffed we headed for the Riverwalk. We found a parking lot pretty quickly so didn't have to navigate the downtown area in the "big butt" truck. They had already been there during the day but wanted to see it lit up at night. It's so pretty at Christmas time with all the trees lit up. We ended up dragging them up and down the entire river, I think. After all that walking the guys decided they just HAD to have some ice cream. The ice cream place was packed and only one girl working. She never lost her cool and just waited on people one at a time.

Yummy! Ice cream!


My little camera doesn't do justice to the beauty of the Riverwalk but you get the idea



The Alamo


The tree in front of the Alamo


We had a really nice evening with Jesse and Ginger and dropped them off at their site at about 10:00. We're sorry to see them leave but we'll be getting together again in March when we're in Kerrville. Thanks, you guys, for spending some time with us here. Glad you made it safely down to the RGV.

Riverwalk & Tamales

We went to the San Antonio Riverwalk on Friday night with John & Erica. We were supposed to do the whole river but I forgot the camera so we're going back another night. It's so pretty at Christmas. In case you don't know, the Riverwalk is a man made section of the San Antonio River that flows through downtown and is lined with restaurants, shops and hotels. They have guided boat tours filled with tourists going up and down the river so that's what we're going to do when we go back. Right after Thanksgiving they decorate all the trees and bridges for Christmas and have a ceremony with a parade down the river with floats and it's just really pretty. John & Erica were married here in San Antonio on Thanksgiving weekend six years ago and we didn't know anything about the parade. Their rehearsal was the same Saturday that the parade was taking place. We were supposed to go from our hotel to the Cathedral but had to go through downtown to get there. Needless to say, we missed the rehearsal and had to meet everybody at the rehearsal dinner (which we were paying for). They were very happy to see us. This time we just went and had dinner at the Saltgrass Steakhouse and boy oh boy was it ever good. We also went and visited a few of the little shops there and I found a Texas tree ornament for my "stick". They also decorate the grounds in front of the Alamo (which is also downtown) and there's a huge Christmas tree there. I took a picture of it with my cell phone but I promise to take better pictures on Thursday night when we go back.

The Alamo


Saturday we decided to go shopping. What's the matter with us that we are going out shopping on the weekends? We have all week that we can go shopping and we pick Saturday?? Oh well, we needed propane also. They do sell propane here at the park but it costs more here than anywhere else. We decided to go to Stone Creek RV Park where we stayed when we were here before. They only sell propane from 8-10 and 3-5. Jeez, it was 11:30 by the time we got there. Right down the road was a Garden Ridge and I knew they were having a 50% off sale on Christmas stuff so we (Rod) decided we needed a new tree NOW. Neither one of us likes our Christmas "stick". We picked up a few other things and left. Next was Walmart where we picked up a few grocery items. Along the frontage road there were several RV dealers but none of them could sell us any propane. Bummer. We went back to our park and had to bite the bullet and pay for it there. We had a 30 pound tank which holds 7 gallons of propane. The office charges $27 whether you need a full tank or not. We knew ours was empty because it ran out while we were using the heater. Well, the guy filled it only 5 1/2 gallons and we still had to pay $27. This park just keeps getting better and better. GRRRRRR

Here's another pic of our site


Since I lived in the Seattle area for 12 years we call this the Space Needle "knock off" mainly because it was built after the Space Needle but really because it irritates Erica. It's really called the Tower of the Americas.


John came over after work to watch football with us (GO GATORS!!) because Erica and her family were having a tamalada at their house. In case you don't know, a tamalada is a tamale making party. Women friends and family all get together and make LOTS and LOTS of tamales, all from scratch. They made pork, bean & cheese, and cream cheese with jalapenos. There's nothing better than fresh tamales. Now, I've never had the cream cheese with jalapenos before but I have to say, I think I have a new favorite. I can't believe how many Erica brought over for us. We'll be freezing some for sure and then we'll have tamales for a long, long time. Again, thank you, Erica. You're my FAVORITE daughter-in-law. LOL

Here's a pic of our "booty"

Aransas Pass and Rockport

This is what the sky looked like as we left


Monday we decided to drive south 130 miles to check out the gulf coast. Aransas Pass and Rockport to be exact. They are little beach towns on the gulf coast of Texas. The RV parks down there are also a lot cheaper than here. Rod had done lots of research on the parks in the area so we were armed with a huge list. We set the alarm for 8:00 and were on the road by 9:30 or so. Can you believe I didn't even take any pictures??

We started our search by checking out this lot in Aransas Pass. There's a blog I read called Gypsy Journal written by Nick Russell. He had stated in his blog there was an empty space next to where he was parked and the price was really good. He wasn't there when we got there so we left a note with our phone number and continued our search. We really didn't find anything that we liked in Aransas Pass so we went down the road a little bit to Rockport. As we were looking around there Nick called so we drove back. We met Nick and his wife Terry at their converted MCI bus. They've done an amazing job restoring their bus and it's gorgeous. We talked for a little while and had a nice time. They were meeting some friends later for dinner and graciously invited us to join them. We still had some other places to look at so we told them we would if we got our business taken care of. We showed up at the Chinese restaurant (one of Nick's favorites) about a half hour late. This buffet was huge and the food was excellent. We met Wes and Jan, who also have a blog that I've read and I can't remember the names of the other couple. That's really bad, I'm usually very good with names. Anyway, it was a great visit and I'm looking forward to going back down there and getting to spend some time with these nice people.

Nick & Terry on top right, I can't believe I cut off Wes on left and Jan on right. The "nameless" couple are top left.


We did find a place for a reasonable rate and it's on a lake so we did find some water to put the boat in. It's called Big D RV Resort and it's owned by the father of Dat Nguyen who is a linebacker for the Dallas Cowboys and grew up in this area. It's not out in the woods or even in the trees but it will do for a few months before we move up to Kerrville in March. The rate is $260 a month plus electric. Our reservation goes until the 20th of February so we'll be going somewhere else for those eight days till the first of March.

We'll probably come back here to San Antonio and visit with John and Erica again before we head out of town. But I'm getting way ahead of myself. We still have until the 20th of this month before we leave. We'll probably have an early Christmas with them with a rib roast and stuff. I did buy a little tree at Home Depot but I'm very disappointed with it. We call it our Christmas "stick". I think we'll get rid of it after Christmas and get a better one next year.

Our Christmas "stick"

Thanksgiving & The Day After

We had a fantastic dinner with John, Erica and Jessica (Erica's sister). The kids did ALL the cooking. The only thing I brought was a box of wine. I'm not kidding. These guys got up at the crack of dawn to start cooking. John was responsible for the 18 pound turkey and the girls took care of all the sides and the dessert. I'm not a big fan of Thanksgiving because frankly, I don't like the food. I don't eat stuffing, sweet potatoes, yams, pumpkin pie or that nasty green bean casserole with those onion things on top. The girls did none of those things except for the stuffing and one pumpkin pie. We had turkey, ham, regular green beans, corn, broccoli casserole, smashed red potatoes and gravy, and rolls. For dessert there was jello surprise, frozen chocolate pie, little pecan pies, fresh berries with real whipped cream and of course that one pumpkin pie for Erica.

We got there at noon as instructed and the table was already set and the food was out. They were supposed to pick up a couple of military recruits to join us for dinner from the nearby military base as they have done for years. When Erica went to pick them up she was told they weren't needed this year. It seems there were more people sharing their dinners than there were recruits. They really should have told her before she went but at least it's nice to know that so many families opened their doors to these guys. I totally forgot to take pictures of the food set out on the table. John, Erica and Jessica thought their food wasn't "blog worthy" but that wasn't the case at all. It was just me excited to be eating and not taking pics. By the time I thought about taking some the dessert was out. It looked pretty good, right?


Rod, Erica, John and Jessica


Rod, Erica, John and Me


Jessica just couldn't take any more excitement!


The next day we decided to go out and find a liquor store. I was almost out of rum (OH NO!). We knew there would be big crowds but by the time we get out I'm sure most people are already home. HA HA On the way there we saw a Big Lots so we stopped in there just to see what they had and then we saw an auto parts store so we went in there for a few things too. What boring shoppers we are. We found the liquor store but didn't like their prices. Way too high! When we were here back in April/May there was a liquor store right by the RV park we were staying in so we decided, what the heck, let's go there. It's not exactly close by (Schertz) but we weren't doing anything else. It was a nice drive and the rum was seven dollars cheaper. Hmmmm, good buy. The lady remembered us too. LOL

We went home and ate MORE leftovers. Erica packed us up with a TON of leftovers so I don't think I have to cook for the rest of the weekend. Thank you very much you guys for all the work you put into that feast. It was FANTASTIC!!!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING! (Tomorrow)

It was just before Thanksgiving in Walmart and a woman was anxiously picking over the last few remaining turkeys in the hope of finding a large one.

In desperation she called over a shop assistant and said, 'Excuse me. Do these turkeys get any bigger?'

'No, madam, 'he replied, 'they're all dead.'

Things You Can Say on Thanksgiving & Get Away With It

1. Talk about a huge breast!
2. Tying the legs together keeps the inside moist.
3. It's Cool Whip time!
4. If I don't undo my pants, I'll burst!
5. Whew, that's one terrific spread!
6. I'm in the mood for a little dark meat.
7. Are you ready for seconds yet?
8. It's a little dry, do you still want to eat it?
9. Just wait your turn, you'll get some!
10. Don't play with your meat.
11. Just spread the legs open and stuff it in.
12. Do you think you'll be able to handle all these people at once?
13. I didn't expect everyone to come at once!
14. You still have a little bit on your chin.
15. How long will it take after you stick it in?
16. You'll know it's ready when it pops up.
17. Wow, I didn't think I could handle all of that!
18. That's the biggest one I've ever seen!
19. How long do I beat it before it's ready?


Hope everybody has a GREAT Thanksgiving!

Errands and Company

Yesterday we decided to go out and run some errands. Rod needed a haircut (badly), we needed groceries and fuel. What in the world were we thinking??? It was SATURDAY!!! Everybody and his brother along with their 10 or so kids was out shopping. First, we found a barber shop for Rod. While I was waiting a lady came in selling huge bags of oranges for $6 each so of course I had to buy one. They were very thin skin oranges which are perfect for fresh squeezed orange juice. After we finished there we went to Sam's Club. We didn't buy all that much but man was it ever crowded. We got our stuff and left for the grocery store. That was even more crowded. I got a call from John who said he and Erica were coming to see us. I gave him the directions and left the store without even completing my list. There was just way too many people (and kids) and I had the excuse that John and Erica were on their way. Erica also informed us that we're invited for Thanksgiving. That's really nice but John was supposed to tell us awhile ago and I bought a lot of stuff for Thanksgiving dinner. Oh well, we do love turkey and we can cook it some other day. It'll be nice to have dinner with them anyway. We did have dinner with them last night. They were taking us to dinner to celebrate Rod's birthday (back in November) and his favorite barbecue place in San Antonio is Tom's Ribs. So off we went to Tom's. We got there and it was closed. WHAT??? How can Tom's be closed??? Sure enough there was a note on the door that said, CLOSED THANK YOU FOR YOUR PATRONAGE. Wow, too bad. They do have another one but it's pretty far from where we were. So we decided to go to Rudy's which would have been our second choice anyway. Actually, I think I liked Rudy's even better. We even bought a pound of smoked turkey to take home.

That's one BIG bag of oranges


YUM!! Fresh squeezed juice for breakfast


Today we planned on just staying put and watching football all day. We were waiting for one of my RV Chatroom friends Arlene and Kevin (leno) to arrive. They were on their way to Vegas and were going to stay in this park for the night. I got an email from Arlene at about 11:30 this morning telling me they were on the way when they had a blowout on one of their trailer tires 127 miles away from us. They had contacted AAA and were going to be rescued but AAA was 70 miles away so all they could do was wait. They finally arrived about 5:00, I think. We had no plans for dinner so I decided to make a pot of beef stew so they wouldn't have to worry about dinner when they got here. We had a really nice visit and we're so glad they made it. Tomorrow morning they'll be leaving early to go find a new tire and then continue their trip. Thank you so much you guys for stopping by.

Arlene and Kevin


Tomorrow we'll probably finish at the grocery store, go to Home Depot or Lowes and then do some laundry. It's way overdue.