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 8^th 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!! 

Happy Thanksgiving From the Gulf Coast of TX

October 28-November 3, 2018

Up and out at 8am on a Sunday morning, great way to get around San Antonio with little traffic. 174 miles, almost 4 hours, and we were pulling into Gulf Waters Beachfront RV Resort in Port Aransas TX where we own site 623. We surprised our friends J with our early arrival. A quick visit with our neighbors, got things a little settled and we were off. First stop to say hi to our friend Pat and Rena who now own a home about 2 miles down the road. Then it’s off the Peggy Ann for some fresh shrimp, $100 later we were stocked with shrimp and bait for Dave. Shrimp prices this year are $8/pd for jumbos and $5/pd for the large/medium mix, we certainly have missed the local fresh shrimp. Back home and we pay a visit to the beach, then it’s time to get really settled and relax, we’re here until 2/1.

It took us 51 nights and 2752 miles to get here the long way from Iowa. We had a blast traveling with our friends Curt and Glenda, exploring new places, attending the TX Grand Design Rally with our friends Jim and Ginnie. Dave sampled 50+ beers and we stayed at some great places. Now to unwind, enjoy the holidays and get ready for our eastward trek. As usual when we’re in one place for a while I won’t be blogging as much, so don’t be surprised if you don’t hear from us regularly.

The first couple of weeks we had beautiful weather, Dave got lots of fishing in and I enjoyed beach walks and just being back in a familiar area where we don’t need a GPS to find everything. The last couple of weeks have been rainy and much cooler, sure hope that changes soon.

With the cold rainy weather keeping us inside we’ve tackled a few projects. One project I’ve been considering for a while, but never mentioned to Dave till now, is changing out the valences. Our valences are made of fabric stapled to a small wooden frame, with all the staples it was impossible to take the fabric off and wash them. Trying to find curtains and valences to fit RV windows was impossible for me. Since I so don’t know how to sew trying to make new ones out of fabric was out. We now have new wooden valences that can be easily dusted. So thankful to have such a handy husband. 

Most of the hummingbirds have migrated south for the season, we recently got an alert from a friend here in the park that there were some stragglers in the park so out went the feeders again. 

With Thanksgiving week upon us my brother, sister-in-law and niece are in town. We enjoyed a great visit with them. Next time we see them they should be living here in Port Aransas permanently. This coming April they are putting their home in Colorado Springs on the market and moving down here. They have been waiting for my niece to graduate from high school which happens in May. It’ll be nice to have them down here full time, we’ll get to see more of them when we are here next.

Today is Thanksgiving, a time to reflect on all we are thankful for. We have been blessed to live this nomadic lifestyle, we’re having the time of our lives. We’re thankful for our family, our friends both from before we hit the road and those we’ve made since. We will celebrate the holiday with good friends. To you all we wish you a safe holiday season.

Happy Thanksgiving!!!!

Until next time…