Martin Dies Jr State Park-Our Last Texas Stop

February 4-6, 2019

 On the road Monday by 9 am for our uneventful 2.5-hour ride on mainly 2 lane highways. Our destination Marin Dies Jr State Park. Our reservation was in the Walnut Ridge section but the Headquarters were across the street in the Hen House section. After driving through Walnut Ridge and figuring out what sites might work for us we headed over to the Headquarters to check on site 228’s availability. We did take a ride thru the 30amp Hen House campground, sites weren’t big enough for our 40’ 5^th wheel. So site 228 it was, level site with great (portable) satellite access and right on the water. The only drawback is the road noise over the lake.

After settling in we took a walk around the campground and helped find a camp host’s lost dog. A nice fire ended our day.

 Tuesday and Wednesday were spent chilling around the campground, getting walks in and trying to learn how to eat low carb.

Of course, I had to find a geocache or two.

 It’s been a nice relaxing stay, the temps have been great and aside from the road noise, our site was great. Will we be back here, not sure as there are some COE campgrounds nearby to check out.

Thursday we’re off to Poche’s RV Park in Breaux Bridge, time for Dave to figure out what is low carb in Cajun Country.

Until next time... 

Houston Family Time

February 1-3, 2019

On Friday morning we were on the move again. Our destination Spring Creek Park in Tomball TX. A circuitous route to avoid the TX toll roads and 193 miles later we arrived for our second stay here. Spring Creek Park is a city park with 8 FHU sites that can be reserved 3 months in advance. You cannot come in without a reservation, you have to call or email them. The Harris County Precinct runs the place, gates into the park are shut from 10pm to 7am. And for the price of free, you can’t beat it. They do have stay limits and the weekends usually include boy/cub scouts camping across the street. There are trails and disc golf on the grounds. For us, it’s convenient to visits with Dave’s uncle and aunt.  

site 4

After arriving and settling in we headed over to see Uncle Ray and Aunt Beth. Our last visit here was in November 2016 so we had lots of catching up.

Yes they do have a Christmas tree or two still up

Dinner that evening was at our all-time favorite Mexican Restaurant Don Ramons. Of course, I was too busy enjoying the good food to take any pictures. 

Saturday morning we headed into the Tomball Farmers, a small venue but mainly made up of food vendors. Scored some great stuff in prep for us trying the Keto Diet when we leave here. 

After getting home we took a walk around the park, found a geocache and got a lot of our steps in.

Afterward, we headed into town to see the family and head over to Old Town Spring where we spent the afternoon wandering around the shops. We stumbled upon a store that was liquidating its inventory, everything was 75% off. I scored a new purse that was $5 and Aunt Beth scored some great items if we still were in a house I know a few more things would have come home with me.

For those who have met us and know Dave, can you imagine being with two of him? Dave’s Uncle Ray has the same sense of humor so pity the poor store clerks and random strangers who had the experience of meeting them together. Aunt Beth and I just sat back and watched them in action, what a fun day it was.

Lots of "trash" talk going on with these two

Sunday we headed over to Uncle Ray’s house. We spent time talking traveling and showing them pictures of places we’ve been that may interest them in future explorations. By the time we were done, they were on information overload. Midafternoon we headed across the street to their friends' house where we enjoyed meeting their friends, shared a meal with them and watched the first half of the Super Bowl. At half time we bid Uncle Ray and Aunt Beth a tearful farewell and headed home, where we finished watching the commercials game.

In the morning we head to our last Texas State Park, Martin Dies Jr SP, for a few nights.

Until next time…

Off To Brazos Bend

January 29-January 31, 2019

Tuesday was cold and windy, no one came to sit out and watch us get ready, they just came over for quick goodbyes before and after we were hooked up. Sad to go but nice to be traveling again. A blustery windy 4 hour 195 mile drive found us pulling into one of our favorite Texas state parks. This is our 3^rd visit to Brazos Bend State Park and I know we’ll be back for more. We once again had site 115 and soon were set up and ready to explore.

We never took our bikes off the back rack while on the coast, they’d just rust way too much so we kept them covered for the last 3+ months. After setting up we got them off and took a 6+ mile bike ride on some of our favorite hiking/biking trails. Weather was cool so we only saw two gators but there are a lot more birds here this time of year.

Wednesday we decided to get some walking in, added a few new trails and ended up walking about 9 miles. 

Found 4 geocaches along the way, there’s still a bunch here in the park to find. 

We saw evidence of how high the water got after Hurricane Harvey came through. Probably the reason most of the roads and pads in the park have been recently paved. You can see the water level on trees.

We’ve really enjoyed our stay here and I know we’ll return again.

Thursday we got a short bike ride in before the rains came. The rest of the day was a down day, playing on the computer, reading and watching TV was the theme of the day. 

For those who like the Texas state parks, their reservation system has changed. You can now make site specific reservations. Also, if you have the TX State Park Pass, you now get unlimited ½ price 2^nd nights on every stay, a very nice surprise. The pass covers the daily admission charge also, for $70/year well worth it if you plan on staying a few times at their state parks.

Next stop Spring Creek Park in Tomball TX.

Until next time...

Goodbye 2018 On To 2019

December 21, 2018-January 28, 2019

Our time here at Gulf Waters in Port Aransas TX is winding down. Tomorrow we hit the road for points east to FL, along the west coast over to Ft Lauderdale, up to Orlando then on to points north. We will be in FL from late Feb to late March visiting family and friends. Afterwards we will start our trek north to VT where we’ll arrive late May and stay for a month.

But before that, I wanted to document what we’ve been up to since last I wrote.

We enjoyed our holidays with our Gulf Waters family. This may be our last holiday season here as we’ve found December and January are usually cold and rainy. We’re thinking February and March will be nicer, lots to think about before we come back next time.

Christmas Eve day was filled with fun as we had a busy day celebrating. We started with a  happy hour.

Followed by a golf cart parade.

Ending with a mean Santa gift exchange.

Christmas morning we enjoyed a beach sunrise.

Over the years we’ve made friends with many people because of our involvement with Grand Design RV, mostly on the Facebook groups and a few because of rallies we’ve attended. FB friends Robert and Josie came for a visit here at Gulf Waters, we enjoyed getting to know them and won’t be surprised if we see them again somewhere down the road.

One of the big draws here is the beach, one day we enjoyed an afternoon at the beach with a fire and friends. Our Canadian friends even got in a bit of beach shinny, otherwise known as beach hockey.

A big thank you to Elaine for introducing me to yoga. I've been doing it for a few months and have really enjoyed it. Hopefully soon she will have some videos out so I can continue enjoying the benefits of yoga. 

New Year’s Day sunrise also didn’t disappoint.

Of course, since we’re settled for a bit we’ve done some more work on the RV. The slide carpet was getting worn so we decided it was time to change it out. Glad we took it up as we found a water leak which was fairly recent. We replaced the carpet with self-sticking tiles and used vinyl baseboard molding to cover the transition area. Looks so much better than the carpet.

Some random beach pictures from Dave’s many fishing days.

Of course like most Dave stayed up to watch/photograph the Blood Wolf Moon of January 2019.

Dave's camera didn't come out as much as in years past but a few last  gatherings with good friends, some sad goodbyes and one last trip to HEB and we’re ready to roll. It is with heavy hearts that we leave, a special friend was just diagnosed with stomach cancer this last week. Stay strong, you've got this. If our site wasn’t rented we would have made some changes to the itinerary. We know they are in good hands and will beat this bump in the road. So tomorrow the jacks go up and we head out.

Next stop Brazos Bend State Park in Needville TX.