Little Fish

Adventure Location: Mustang Island, Texas

The dunes are exploding into blooms all over the place.  It is quite a sight to see, so run on down to the beach and enjoy the spectacular show going on.

The days are bright and warm but not hot.  The Winter Texans are really enjoying not having to fight the ice and snow that has already hit up north. For most everyone else but the OFM, the fish are biting like crazy.  This picture was taken at the Fish Pass Jetty on Mustang Island.  You should have heard all the happy to be warm talking going on among these fisherfolk.  Even that fellow’s dog was getting a kick out of the warm weather.

As the OFM was watching the water rushing ashore and returning seaward, a never before seen by him event took place.  Suddenly the water exploded in rain drops hitting the water.  Then he realized it was little fish exploding the water all over the place. In this next picture a red circle is around one fish the camera caught.  All those little splashes are fish frolicking around in the water.  This event went on for a long time with no sign of stopping.  The OFM finally gave up and headed back to the beach.

Speaking of beach, it was a great day of gentle waves. There were a few groups of folks on this part of the beach just out walking in the warm sun.  Some were doing a little beach combing. Others were doing feather leg watching. Still others were doing whatever feels good at the moment. It was really nice.

More pictures will need to be edited yet before the tale of what the Teams saw at the beach can be told. It was a fabulous day for trying to have tooooo much fun. TheOFM.

 

Sea Trials

Adventure Location: Copano Bay, Texas

It was time to give the Tribe 11.5 some serious sea trials.  The Yakking Team headed over to the Copano Bay Public Boat Launch.  With the wind from the land it would give us cover if the wind got too much for the Moder (the OFM).

The launch point is very good. We launched to the side of the concrete ramp so we could stay out of the way of the power boats.  The Tribe handled well again and we go under way without any excitement of the unplanned variety.

This would be out into some very open waters with the ability to duck back close to the wind protected shore if needed. The OFM likes to take small steps to adventure until he is very confident in him and his equipment. After we were well clear of the ramp, we turned and looked at where we launched the Tribe.

The OFM once years ago in his bullet proof and invincible youth did not look back at where he came from as he was leaving the launch.  It proved to be a bad mistake that has not been made since. It is important in a boat to be able to identify where you need to head back to from out on the water.

This launch is very close to where the new bridge is being built. We had wondered how they got all that concrete out to the bridge site for pouring the columns. Here is the answer. They take concrete trucks out on a barge from the construction dock. This is the barge heading back to the construction dock for a refill.

We chose to head for the construction dock just because. Along the way we passed several piers that stuck out into the bay from private homes. This particular one had a few friendly folks on it fishing.  We exchange waves and howdy with them as the Tribe slid quietly past the pier.

Next on the route was a bulkhead that is left from some development in the past. It is not a good place to land from a yak and the sign does not welcome you anyway.  It would be a very difficult task to climb up the bulkhead from a rocking yak.  It is doubtful that the OFM could do it at all.

Next along the route was the construction dock.  We chose to stay away from it as there was a lot of activity.  Being as how we are the smallest boat out there, getting run over would hardly be noticed by the rest of the equipment.

By now the Moder was ready to head back. We got turned around and looked for the launch point.  Later it found that we were only a half mile away from the launch point.  Being very low to the water in a yak does have its own special troubles. But we spotted the launch point so we could cut across the open water for more testing of the Tribe.

The launch point is in the red circle.

As it turned out the Tribe is very capable in the open water also.  Yes the wind was more of a factor but the Tribe handled it without an undo problem.  The cross ways waves had to be paid attention to but turned out to be a non-factor in the headway we made.

It was a safe journey and fun also.  Kayaking Copano Bay is another good way of trying to have tooooo much fun. TheOFM.

Bobbing Pole

Adventure Location: Rockport, Texas

The OFM is really bad about second guessing his decisions.  This morning he was worried that he had moved this far south sooner than needed. He calls it “learning from his mistakes”. I call it flaky.  Anyway he spent over an hour checking the weather back toward the north.  As you know by now he regards 55F as a minimum temperature for reasonable humans for the night.  From the looks of the weather to the north we did the right move. He would not be happy stranded inside the Castle with the miserable cold temps in the forties.  Basically he is a wimp about cold.

At least he is not too lazy when things need to be done. The laundry was done this morning and then the stove/oven was cleaned. The rest of the kitchen was wiped down and is ready for cooking some fresh fish if he ever catches any to cook.

The evening adventure was down at the harbor pier.  The Teams stopped in to see what was going on and found “Pop”. He is the Chinese gentleman that we have fished with several times. Pop had had four large trout hit his lure without getting a good hook set.  The fifth one he managed to land but it was smaller than the others he said.  Here is his keeper trout in the ice chest.

About a third of the way out the pier and in the water was a red pole attached to something. It was just bobbing up and down out there. We all wondered what it had on the other end.

The sun was very bright this evening and in hopes of a great sunset picture the camera and the OFM stood out on the pier in the cold waiting for the fantastic sunset that was coming.  Well it didn’t and all they got was cold.

However, visiting with Pop is always a good way of trying to have tooooo much fun. TheOFM.

 

To Do List

Adventure Location: Rockport, Texas

As of this moment the plan is to be here through January.  Short trips nearby may be taken as the weather allows.  Another of the winter Texans arrived today.  They are coming in early this year.  The out of state license plates in the parking lots is a lot earlier this year. Usually the influx is starting after Thanksgiving and gets really going immediately after Christmas.

The day was devoted to grocery shopping, working down the TO DO list (four of eight items were completed), changing my fishing gear back to saltwater and vacuuming the inside of the Castle. There was not a lot done toward the goal of trying to have tooooo much fun. TheOFM.

The Stare

Adventure Location: Rockport, Texas

The temperature was cold this morning but the OFM was not willing to go outside to see how cold.  He lay around on his lazy backside sipping hot green tea until things warmed up outside.

It was nice being back in Rockport.  The winter time here is very pleasant most of the time. Not much happened in the way of adventures, wow that is an understatement.  The most exciting thing was getting “The Stare” from a shore bird this evening.  That silly bird was heavily focused on the OFM and his casting down at the harbor.

Today was actually a much needed day of recovery for his fat body.  Most of the aches and pains from too much activity at Amistad have eased off. Of all things he announced to the Castle that tomorrow is cleaning day. Every now and then the OFM grabs a shovel and hoe and does some house cleaning. He usually tries to time it so no pruning is required to get the stuff through the Castle’s door on the way to the dumpster.

The plan for the cold weather months is to chase adventures down here for the most part.  But with a break in the cold weather, the Teams are not hesitant to scram out of town for some other adventures within a couple of hundred miles.

When weather is right, there are several great places in Texas to spend a few days trying to have tooooo much fun. TheOFM.

Cold Rain

Adventure Location: Lake Amistad, Texas

The temp this morning was 58 headed down to 49. That is too cold for the OFM.  After some discussion with BBob, the OFM went to the Castle to do some more serious thinking.  However the mantra kept coming up in his head.  “You have wheels.” The OFM finally decided about 1030 to roll south to get out of the cold that is below 55 F. 

It doesn’t take him long to get ready to roll when cold is involved. The solar panel was laid down. The kayak loaded on the Truck and tied down. SightSeer was loaded in the back of the Truck and secured. Then the interior of the Castle was put into travel mode.

Over to BB to say good bye and away we went about 1115.  The first hour plus was easy rolling.  Then we hit the rain.  It RAINED out there on highway 90, 173 and I-37.  The Teams slowed down in the rain. For three hours we fought the rain and strong gusting winds.  This was not one of the nice trips.  The temperature kept on dropping until the Teams were south of San Antonio.  The Truck outdoor temp gage dropped one more degree a few minutes after this picture was taken. Notice the rain on the windshield.

We arrived back in Rockport a little after 1800 and got set up for the night. It is 63 at 2000 hours tonight when the OFM left the Whataburger.  The electric heaters are working very well. This should be a very comfortable night for sleeping.

Back on highway 90 an eating establishment was noticed.  Maybe BB has been holding out on his fans. He could be a rich restaurateur.  

Now for a nice warm shower, a warm bed and a good night’s sleep. It will be interesting to see what is going on down here to help with the chore of trying to have tooooo much fun. TheOFM.

Panel Up

Adventure Location: Lake Amistad, Texas

The OFM noticed that the batts were down to 50% of the usable capacity this morning. The mornings have been very gray until after noon. With the low sun angle and only a half day at best, the batts were not getting a full input each day. It took four days of digression to get to this point but it was time to take action.

The OFM grabbed the tilt bars for tilting the solar panels.  As usual he had an OOOPS in progress.  Two of the attachment bolts had been used on the front gravel guard mounts and not replaced.  So the OFM climbed onto the very wet roof to raise one panel. The dew set this morning had left everything wet like a light rain had hit.

During the acrobatics for getting low on the roof without sitting in the water to screw the brackets in place and attach the tilted panel, the OFM somehow managed to rack his right hip severely.  The panel went up easily and helped a lot on the electrical production in the afternoon.

However the OFM needed a mega dose of ibuprofen and some horizontal time to regain some mobility.  He is doing adequately this evening but his time doing flips and jumps is woefully limited for now.

Later this afternoon two motorhomes came rolling into the campground. It is Jim and Gayle and their friend Debbie. Debbie has a wonderful pup named Elliot.  That pup is a friendly ear scratching sponge. Jim and Gayle have a blog that is fun to read. http://littleadventures-jg.blogspot.com/  They are world class bicyclists and SightSeer got to meet some very upper class bicycles.

That wonderful human Billy Bob got busy and caught two fish today. The OFM managed to not catch any thing again.  BB even got a picture of the second one.  Sadie Mae, his pup, never lies and confirmed the first catch which the OFM did not see.  So even though there is picture evidence on only one fat bass, we will give him credit for two fish today. BB was suffering also from some physical distress.  We make a heck of a gimped up pair at times.

With a little luck the two gimps will be heading to Rough Canyon on the Devils River to attempt to lower the lake level a few feet by catching too many fish again. The visit will at the least be another great time of trying to have tooooo much fun. TheOFM.

The Waiting Game

Adventure Location: Lake Amistad, Texas

There was much anxiety about the Truck this morning. The Teams could only hope the dealer’s shop would do what they said they would. So the OFM spent a lot of time walking around the area. Since his fishing rod and bike riding helmet were in the Truck at the dealers, it left him his rubber personnel carriers for playing.

He headed across the lake bottom in hopes of finding something interesting. A couple of miles later he was back empty handed and with an empty camera.  A least it was good exercise.

Then he took to wandering the campground. At one point he wandered all the way out to highway 277 and the entrance road to the campground. With the gray day, it is not an inspiring view but it is very good for bike riding.

At least along the roadside were lots of small flowers of all sorts of colors. This species of succulent was putting out nice red fruit that is a beautiful red.

Finally about 1406 the call came in that the Truck was ready and my ride into town was on his way.  A few minutes Fry arrived and got the OFM back to the shop.  The service writer, Johnny Joe, took care of me well and gave me very intelligent answers to my questions. $650 later the Truck was hauling the Teams back to the Castle.

It feels really good to have wheels again.  Here is a picture of the new alternator in all its grand glory.

BB and the OFM went into town for a celebration supper. It was pretty good as was expected. Then the Truck took us for some meandering so the OFM could get a warm fuzzy feeling that the Truck was really repaired.  Everything seems to be just right again.

 EDIT 2/25/2013 From this experience the GMC dealer’s shop cannot be recommended.  It is know know they lied to me very well. The price was over twice what it should have been. They told me only rebuilt alternators were available. New ones are readily available. On 2-26-2013 the alternator is having to be replaced already.  BAD BAD Dealer .

Now for a good night’s sleep and another exciting day of trying to have tooooo much fun. TheOFM.

Criminal Activity

Adventure Location: Lake Amistad, Texas

There is a well-known blogger that made a brag in a comment on another blog about using generators in the no generator area of a National Park.

“Well, we can't camp for a week without using a generator... no RV can.”

Well he is flat wrong.  He may not be able to but there are plenty of us that do not need a generator to function. The Castle has been running on the solar panels for over two years now without need for a generator or shore power.  Yes we have used shore power when it is paid for in the rent but we did not need it. The only things in the Castle that have to have shore power to run are the microwave and the AC. The microwave could run off the batts easily if the OFM would spend the cash for a larger inverter, but he does not see it as a requirement because the Castle has a stove.

AC is the only thing the OFM has not been able to figure a way to reasonably provide by solar power from his RV. The weight of the batts would be horrible.

Meanwhile the news on the Truck is that the alternator is worn out after only 208000 miles. The bad news is that the Truck has a heavy duty towing package which includes an alternator that is not stocked locally.  The dealer is getting one shipped in for install tomorrow. The plan is to have the Truck back in good condition before closing tomorrow.

The overcast conditions today made for some very dreary pictures of a walk taken this morning.  The pictures were all deleted because the area is not as bad as it appeared and the OFM likes truthful information on his blog.  A nice bike ride was made and the OFM has tired legs after all the walking and biking today.

Tomorrow will be interesting as we attempt to try to have tooooo much fun. TheOFM.

 

Inverter Online Again

Adventure Location: Campground 277 North, Lake Amistad, Texas

More of a day of events than adventures is the OFM’s description.  The Truck has an 0800 appointment at the local GMC dealer to have $ome repairs made.  The service writer estimated a bill in the range of $500. If that does the trick, the Teams will be contented.

The main inverter wiring is back in service. It was left not active when the new batts were installed. The batts are doing rather well so the inverter circuit was also modified and re-installed. 

Now the Castle can use the whole 400 watts of 120 volt MSW power. The laptop charger is giving it a work out frequently. An extension cord hangs down from the overhead cabinet housing the inverter for out 120 volt power needs. Like the small fan cooling the OFM right now.

Late this afternoon BillyBob took his vehicle down to the unflooded bridge to fish. The OFM rode SightSeer down a bit later to do some fishing.

We were very successful at doing a good bit of fishing.  We both wished that we had done somewhat better at catching.  Between us we had a total of zero bites.

Before the Teams left the bridge area we got this next picture of the hills to our southeast.  This is a designated hunting area for the National Park.  When the lake is near the “normal” level, the hunt area is boat access only.  At this time you can just walk across the lake bottom to the hunt area.

As dusk slowly crept upon us, BB and the OFM had a major visit sitting out in the very nice dry evening air. We both agree that this is a very pleasant place to be dry camping.

When the Truck gets its repairs done the Teams will be better able to get out trying to have tooooo much fun. TheOFM.

Truck OOOPS

Adventure Location: Campground 277 North, Lake Amistad, Texas

It was during ride to go see another campground when BB and the OFM stopped here to see what was new.  Suddenly we knew that we were going to change locations.  This is quieter and has fishing, biking, walking and water for playing in yaks.

The campsites are generally decent and it is definitely dry camping.

BB and the OFM went back to San Pedro to do a pack up and couple up.  The OFM left first because he had to go to Governor’s Landing to get water. That was an interesting event since the campground is on a narrow ridge.  We found that the Teams could easily navigate the camp road that was designed for tenting type camping.  After the water was on loaded we headed out for the new location. The new location is about two miles farther out than San Pedro.

The old road 277 went down into and across a canyon that is now normally lake. However the lake is so low that the road bed and the two old bridges are exposed.  They make great yak launch spots and fishing areas. This picture is from the end of the road bed from 277 north looking over to the place across the lake where 277 emerges from the lake.

Now looking back across the bridge and up the hill to the campground you can see the area for launching the yaks.  The bridge just has to be a good crappie fishing area.

However trouble has struck. When the Truck left the Whataburger tonight the message window on the dash mentioned that the batteries were not charging. OH MY what now??????  So tomorrow will be a day of adventure at the GMC repair shop. Sitting around a repair shop waiting for pocket book rape to occur is not the way for trying to have tooooo much fun. TheOFM.
ALERT ALERT
The day just got to be OK. Here is Grandson Gavins latest effort at being a cutey. Not bad for a youngster related to the OFM.

 

Sleeping With Friends

Adventure Location: Lake Amistad, Texas

When the Teams left Rockport it was on a split second decision that we would not let anything get in the way of leaving RIGHT NOW. When we arrived at San Pedro it was with a less than full water tank. The hope is that it had at least a half tank of water.  Normally if you need to dump or take on water you go to Diablo East at the public dump station. The trouble is that the potable water there has been “being repaired” for over two months now. It still was not turned on for the campers to get drinking water.

Now we had a possible trouble situation if the Castle ran out of water. That would mean no shower and a stinky situation. So far in two nights it has been ok.  The tank levels gage on RVs is notoriously inaccurate but shows 1/3 of a 40 gallon tank left for use. That would make us getting right down to the wire by the last night.

Today was hunt for an alternate source of public potable water close by.  Governor’s Landing campground has water but the faucets do not have threads for hooking a hose to for filling the Castle’s tank.  Or at least that is what the OFM had been told by a ranger. It was check it out for ourselves day today.

One thing that the Team has been remiss about is getting a water thief to help in situations like this.

No store in Del Rio has a water thief we found out today. That was not good news.  We would have to fill the tank one gallon at a time with a one gallon jug we do have on hand. So it was off to Governor’s Landing to check out the real situation.  Here is what most of the faucets look like. There are no threads on the outlet.

At least at this one the view is very nice.

 You would have to slip the water thief over the spout and hook up a water hose for the best results.

YEA there was a faucet nearby with threads.  A walk around this very small campground found another faucet with threads, so the water trouble is solved.

It was hot today so the day was spent not getting too active. At BBs suggestion we went into town tonight to have supper.  It was very good and BB loaded his tummy down so heavy he had to take a rest to just get back to the Truck.

But the excitement was just beginning.  As we turned on the road to the remote campground where our rigs were hiding, we notice the flashing lights down the road where some sort of police activity was happening.  Then we saw a Sherriff’s car turn on the gravel road leading into the campground. 

We turned in and took our time to stay out of the way of flying bullets. As we were about halfway down the gravel road the Sherriff’s car came rapidly out of the campground and right on past us. We went on in to our rigs and paid careful attention to what, if anything, was going on around us.

Back on Spur 454 we could see vehicles with search lights going back and forth searching for something. BB and I agreed that tonight would not be a good night to come banging on the others rig as a joke. As it grew darker we each headed in to begin a restful night of rest. The probability is that it was a speeder that tried to run from the police down dead end road.

Tonight the OFM is sleeping with a few friends named Federal, Smith and Wesson. It will help assure a good night’s sleep for tomorrow’s effort at trying to have tooooo much fun. TheOFM

 

Across The Lake Bottom

Adventure Location: Lake Amistad Bottom, Texas

If the OFM would do a good bit more bike riding he probably would have to carry a lot less weight as in body fat. Today he decided to get SightSeer (SS) out and do some riding.  Near the campground is Spur 454.  It used to go somewhere that is under the lake now.

The lake has dropped so far that a long stretch of old 454 us above the water. This was an excellent short ride on SS that worked out to be only 8.5 miles. It was interesting to be riding most of the way over the old lake bottom.

We stopped just after crossing the barricade to take this picture of the road in front of us.  We had no idea about what was over the hill, so this became a nice adventure. Most of what you see in this picture is part of the Lake Amistad lake bottom.

After crossing the first hill this gully of water was at the bottom of the next valley.  We scared up hunnerts of ducks and other birds.  The sun was looking nice so the OFM just had to take a picture.

Up and over a couple of more small hills the Team rolled. Then what turned out to be the last hill came up in front of us.  The old road cut through the rock and gave us a neat scene looking over to the main highway and railroad bridge.

Around and down we rolled to a neat surprise. There was an old ranching building area. Here you can see the foundation and perimeter of a house of some sort.

To the right are the remnants of an old cistern we think.

Now for a really neat part. On Google Earth the cistern can be seen. We copied the link so you can see where we were “under the lake”.

http://goo.gl/maps/McBhi

That round structure is the cistern.  This is neat to the OFM.

Past here about two hundred meters was the end of the road. The road goes into the lake and you can see the white shadow of the road continuing on into the lake.

From here we headed back to the Castle. What was not so nice was the very strong wind directly into our face.  It made the OFM very glad he had modified the SS so that he had very low gearing just for this sort of circumstances. Of course it seemed all uphill going back.

Make no mistake; riding across a lake bottom is a very good way of trying to have tooooo much fun. TheOFM.

Cotton Rolls

Adventure Location: Across Texas to San Pedro Campground, Texas

The OFM woke up at an unreasonable time of 0545. After breakfast he decided to go see the sun come up. The Truck got us to the Rockport Beach in plenty of time. In fact way too early. The OFM did a bit of walking around and even out on the wooden pier. The problem was the mosquitoes were out in force and the salt damp air was miserable. He did take one pretty neat shot from out on the pier back toward the shore.

Back at the Castle a lot of research was put into finding a better place to wait for our flight to Alabama in November. Finally a decision was made and the Castle was readied for travel. The bill at the campground was settled and away we went.

Along the way were lots of fields of freshly harvested cotton.  It was rolled up like hay is rolled up. TheOFM does not remember seeing it done this way before.

After a lot of rolling time we pulled into a place to spend the night. Some grouchy old man and his dog were there waving at us.

It was Billy Bob and Sadie.  That is a nice surprise. Now we get to share this campground on Mud Puddle Amistad. This San Pedro campground has been covered in several old blog entries so nothing more will be said about it now.

After set up of the Castle, BB and the OFM headed into town to have supper and gossip.  On the way back to camp they stopped at the Blackbrush Point boat ramp to check out the lake level or is that lack of level. Here is BB on one of the ramps looking at the left over lake. That is brush growing through the cracks of the ramp.

As darkness was enveloping us, the Truck took us back to the campground to settle in for the night.

There is still some left over stuff from the Rockport era to put into the blog as soon as there is an opportunity. Of course the Teams are now looking to the desert for opportunities to try to have tooooo much fun. TheOFM.

 

Headed To Cuba

Adventure Location: City of Aransas Pass Channel, Texas

The wind was strong but the Yakking Team was determined. The Truck got us to Light House Lakes Park in good shape.  The local palm trees were not having very much fun in the wind.

But the OFM Yakking Team knew they could handle the wind.  So the preparations went right on along. Flats boots were installed on the OFM’s feet.  That is so any mud we encounter will not be able to get the shoes off his feet. His boots are all black but built like this one.

The Yak was dragged down to the water. The seat was installed.  Drinking water placed onboard.  Even the paddle was remembered. At the last moment the OFM finally remembered his PFD. And then he suddenly remembered to install his eyeglasses holders to keep his glasses on his head when he falls in (again). Now we are ready to get going. 

Well the launch was not eventful thank goodness.  The 20+ wind was a bit of a trouble with the bow of the Yak.  The balance of the Yak was not just right and the bow was slightly lifted out of the water.  This made the yak wind sensitive.  Being the careful type of wimp, the OFM paddled back and forth near the bank in the shallow water for some time. It seems he needed to practice with this new boat to get a feel for how it handles.

After a good bit of practice he decided we would try out in the deeper water and see how the Yak handles the little 18” waves the wind was making for us to play in.  The Yak was doing fine heading into the wind and waves. Then the OFM noticed that the bank was going past us at a bit more than a hunnert miles an hour as we headed down the channel to the Gulf of Mexico. WHOA THERE. What is going on?????

So the OFM turned the Yak around and started paddling back to where we launched. By watching the shoreline he could tell we were now only going out to sea at 97 mph backwards.  Then it finally caused a thought to hit him in the head.  The tide is rushing out faster than the Yak can go. YIKES.

Actually the OFM knows his way around boats so this was not a major trouble.  We performed what is called a “ferry” across current until we were back in the shallow water where the current was negligible. Of course we were a ¼ mile downstream from the launch point. The paddle back was not difficult since the wind was at our back.

The very choppy water was being caused by the strong wind blowing one direction and the strong current running almost exactly opposite of the wind. That makes for nasty boating.

When we made the launch point again it was time to quit this silly show.  After everything was loaded back in to the Truck, we watched some folks in larger yaks cross the channel back to the park.  They basically had to ferry across to the shallow water as they went out to sea and paddle back toward their launch point also. In reality there was no real danger if you knew what you were doing. The good news is that the Yak proved to be capable of handling much nastier water than the OFM is comfortable paddling in.

Paddling in nicer water is a good way of trying to have tooooo much fun. TheOFM.

AGM Batt Report

Adventure Location: Rockport, Texas

The new batts are doing very well.  The previous batts had a rating of 220 amp hours at 12 volt.  They performed extremely well in my opinion. It was easy to get five days of use from a single charge on them.  In the nearly two years they were in service, they never got down to half of the usable charge gone.  The panels did enough even in the rain and clouds to keep the Castle well supplied with power.

The new batts are rated at 200 amp hours at 12 volt.  So we are looking at a 10 percent drop in initial capacity.  It seemed a good trade for the lack of acid drips and putting the batts inside the Castle.  The days are shorter now and the lights get used for a bit in the mornings and a lot longer at night than the other batts were seeing lately.

The AGM batts were very low at 12.2+/- when they were installed.  The gray weather was not giving them a chance to get to full charge the first two days. The voltage was running down to the 12.3 level each night before the panels got started charging in the morning.

Since then we had a couple of full sun days and the panels got the batts up to full charge.  This morning was typical of the last days. The voltage was 12.61 volts when I got out of bed this morning and last night was a late night of lighting use.  It appears that the new batts will be way more than adequate for boondocking even with some gray days thrown in the mess.

Now we will have to wait about two years to see how the durability is with these batts.  It is certain that having good batts and charging ability will make it easier to try to have tooooo much fun. TheOFM.

 

6 Mile

Adventure Location: 6 Mile, Texas

There is a community in Texas named Six Mile.  A Historical Marker resides in the community explaining how it came to be. The important thing about this area is at the end of Park Rd. is a small park for accessing some rather good fishing.  It is also the normal access point for Garcitas Bayou, the place where La Salle tried to start a colony in ancient times.

Here is the Google map link to show you where in the world this place is.

http://goo.gl/maps/IkEDA 

It is a little north of Port Lavaca, Texas.

The drive to the park is through standard low elevation Texas coastal countryside. The park is not fancy at all and has one major drawback, no restrooms of any sort.  The entrance to this free park is signed with this nice sign.

Just past the sign is a very large parking lot and boat launch area. It looks like it could hold fifty cars and a dozen boat trailers.  Both power boats and good boats like yaks can launch easily.  The bay is a shallow bay.

The pier at the park is a very well done pier. Yep there is even fish to be caught from the pier.

To the right out of the picture of the parking lot is a nice long beach area.  It is excellent wade fishing even on past the beach.  While the OFM was there, a shore fisherman caught a nice large flounder.  It went home with the fellow for supper that night.

If you come here, bring all your needs with you. However Port Lavaca is only fifteen minutes away with all the stores you could need for normal supplies, including a full SuperWalmart.

From this location you can also access several other good places for sightseeing and fishing.  Just head south of Port Lavaca to encounter many other places to try to have tooooo much fun. TheOFM.

Nearly Recovered

Adventure Location: Rockport, Texas

The OFM’s back was doing quite well today.  Some more ibuprofen and careful stretching did wonders.  By tomorrow everything should be back to reasonable for an OLD fat man.

The closest thing to an adventure or excitement was the new header picture that was taken this morning from the fishing pier.  It is a very nice shot that lasted for only about thirty seconds.   The camera barely got going in time to take the picture. But it all came out well.

The fishing report is the usual: nothing to report.  Since the OFM is vertical and breathing, maybe he will do something tomorrow towards the goal of trying to have tooooo much fun. TheOFM.