Life's Journey is not to arrive at the grave safely in a well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, chocolate in one hand, totally worn out, shouting "Wow...What a Ride!"

Thursday, December 20, 2018

Enjoying The Down Time\New Friends


November 23-December 20, 2018






Christmas has come to Gulf Waters!!! 





Not much going on here, enjoying being with friends and making new ones, guess our friends in Canada didn't warn them about Dave. Fishing, rides, and walks on the beach, fire in the fireplace and a good book when the weather isn't fit to be in. 






Since we are owners of our lot here at Gulf Waters Beachfront RV Resort taking care of issues, on our lot, that crop up are our responsibility. This year our kitchen area was losing power. After some investigating and digging we found the problem and Dave being the handyman he is fixed the problem.
Our truck is a 2012 Chevy Silverado 3500 DRW, our workhorse that moves our house around. The motors that control the seat placement have been making some wonky noises, they finally gave out a few weeks ago. Fortunately, they quit in a position that with the adjustable brake and gas pedals we were both still able to use the truck, just glad there were no long trips planned. We ended up ordering the base of the seat online, motors couldn’t be replaced any other way, for about ½ what the dealer wanted. Dave then spent a few hours taking out one seat base and putting another one, $800 savings, no parts left over was a bonus. Now to find our sweet spots again for driving.

We’ve played the tourist and met up with workamping friends, Bob and Jeanne, from our Durango days. We met up at King Ranch. Before the tour, we watched the short movie about the history of King Ranch and how far reaching they now are. You can read a brief history on King Ranch here but the film gives a greater view of the vast reaches the King Ranch has developed over the years. 

Texas Longhorn
We took the 1 ½ hour bus tour which afforded us with a small glimpse into what makes up King Ranch, from views of where they first found water on the property to a drive-by of the home the family still uses to this day. Richard King was a self-made man who by all accounts always thought of his employees' welfare, there are employees there that are 8th generation employees. From providing homes to making sure there was a dairy, a doctor on site (when it was once a remote place) to a school, fields to the commissary (at one time) for the employees, King Ranch was a place to work and live at for life.
Santa Gertrudis cattle, a breed developed at King Ranch

A long lunch catching up, then a stop at the King Ranch Store didn’t leave time for a stop at the museum, didn’t think we could get thru in 15 minutes. Great to see Jeanne and Bob, hope we can see them one more time before we head out of here.




Our next tourist stop was the Texas State Aquarium in Corpus Christ. We’ve never been there so on a cold TX winter day we decided to pay it a visit. Guess what, they’ve got fish!!!! And otters, dolphins and a wide variety of sea life from the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean. They offer educational programs and behind the scene exclusive tours. We enjoyed spending a few hours perusing the well-done displays. 






One of the best things about full time and blogging has been all the friendships we’ve made over the last 5+ years. We have found how easy friends can be made in the blogging community and how easy the first meet up can be, most of us are out there for the same kind of reason. We were in Page AZ in 4/2016, on our way to Alaska. I saw that Jodee, Bill, and Tessa from the blog On The Road Abode were in the same park, we tried to meet up but Jodee got sick and they had to leave early for family reasons. Recently I saw they could be coming through the area and reached out, Jodee suggested meeting up for brews and I countered with a fish fry at our place. Fish fry it was. So a meetup 2+ years in the making finally happened, another night of laughter with friends who we look forward to seeing again. 
New friends Jodee, Bill & Tessa!!!
Dave continues to sample beers, on our trip south he sampled 50+ new beers since we've been here he's still getting some sampling in. Our local HEB has a wide variety of local craft beer along with the variety packs there are the singles he picks up to try. Good thing he doesn't go to the grocery store every time.

A recent sample from his recent beer run
It’s beginning to look like Christmas around here, our decorations are up, lots of Christmas movies on TV.
We enjoyed the Port Aransas golf cart and boat parade. 


They couldn't decide which parade they wanted to be in




Sites around the park are decorated.




We will be spending Christmas celebrating with our Gulf Waters family and missing those we’re not with. May your holiday season be safe and happy!!

Until next time...

We wish you all a very Merry Christmas!! 


21 comments:

  1. Beer sampling, it is a thankless job but someone has to do it! Looks like you guys are having a great time with new and old friends alike!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Looks like you are having a great time at your home meeting new friends and having fun with the old ones. I remembered the Golf Cart Christmas parade when we were there in Dec 2014!
    We wish you and Dave a wonderful Christmas season in the Gulf.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. We are enjoying it but I'm just starting to feel the itch to get to the wheels rolling. Merry Christmas to you and Steve.

      Delete
  3. Nice to meet new friends. Looks like you're having a great time in TX. Hope you have a great Christmas. Glad I could help Dave with his beer analyses.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It's been fun so far but just starting to feel the itch to get rolling again. You've created a monster with Dave and trying the stouts.

      Delete
  4. Can't tell you how glad we are that you were paying attention to our route!! It was great to spend the evening in your beautiful home with wonderful eats and lots of laughs. We will have to visit the King Ranch next time. Love all the Christmas lights on the boats and in your pretty park.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. We thoroughly enjoyed your visit, look forward to doing it again. King Ranch is worth a visit if you're ever in the area.

      Delete
  5. Happy Holidays! Hope to meet up sometime next year!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Merry Christmas to y'all too. Glad we figured out a meet up, see you in GA.

      Delete
  6. You two did a great job getting festive in the Gulf.
    Dave really caught beautiful colors and photos!
    Thanks for another great read!
    Merry Christmas to you both!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks so much for the kind words. Merry Christmas to all of you!!

      Delete
  7. Meeting up with blogging friends is always a fun time and can lead to great friendships. Wishing you a wonderful Christmas and very happy New Year!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes it does!! On FB yesterday the memory was of our morning at the Scottsdale Farmers Market, miss you guys. Enjoy your holidays with the family.

      Delete
  8. Sure looks like a great place to be for the holidays. 50 beers - wow! Jodee and Bill do get around. Great that you got to see them. Lots of companies used to care about and be loyal to their employees and vice versa. So sad that's now mostly a thing of the past.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Was fun to finally meet Jodee, Bill and Tessa, hopefully we'll get to meet you and David this winter. We know all to well the affects of a company changing their loyalties, Dave worked at IBM for 35 years and saw it go from a great company who cared to one who was only concerned about the bottom line, Thomas Watson would be so disappointed.

      Delete
  9. It is good to have a handy dandy person around to fix things. Give that boy another beer!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. He is a handy guy to have around as our neighbors can attest to, they bribe him with beer to help them.

      Delete
  10. Merry Christmas. We always enjoy the creative ways RVers decorate for Christmas.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Nice to be back! Love the turtles, flamingos and the great lights on the boats!

    ReplyDelete

Thanks for stopping by;We'd love to hear from you.