HALFWAY BENCH

12/31/18

Lots OF Fun

Adventure Location: Rockport, TX
Adventure Date: 12/31/2018
Click a picture to enlarge it.

Slightly cool this morning. Warm by noon. Three speckled trout caught in the afternoon. Friends came by to visit tonight. Lots of having tooooo much fun today so blog is very short tonight.

12/30/18

Testing Complete

Adventure Location: Rockport, TX
Adventure Date: 12/30/2018
Click a picture to enlarge it.

The morning sun did not show up and the wind chill was wet and cold. The OFM took the Photo Team out for some picture taking. It was hard for him to quit shaking long enough to take a picture but we did take a few. The cold wind got to the Photo Teams and we went back to the Castle to warm up.

We were out and about doing little things today but the chilled wet air was not comfortable. After lunch the OFM messed with the computer for a good time. Then we noticed the winds had calmed. When he stepped outside to check the weather, he announced it was time to go try out the new reel.

All he needed was a light windbreaker. By late afternoon most of the wind was gone and the temperature was into the mid-fifties. That is a nicely workable temperature.

The reel testing went good or bad depending on your view point. The reel worked very well and seemed to be a good buy. The OFM’s fingers did not work so well. A baitcaster reel needs more hand action than a spinning reel. The OFM hand, especially his fingers, do not have near the dexterity required by the baitcaster. So after wiping the reel clean and repackaging it, we went back to Walmart to return it. As usual Walmart took it back with no complaint at all. So that test came out well even thought it proved the OFM has no business with baitcaster reels anymore.

The weather forecast for the next few days looks lovely so we have big plans for trips to try to have tooooo much fun at the beaches.

12/29/18

Another OOPS

Adventure Location: Rockport, TX
Adventure Date: 12/29/2018
Click a picture to enlarge it.

Somebody bumped the outdoor thermostat too low today. It barely stayed above 54 most of the day. The next two days are supposed to have miserable low temperatures in the 40s. We might have trouble putting up with those blizzard conditions. But the Castle is an Arctic Fox so we should survive for the 65 degree temperatures of Monday.

There was a tap on the window and it was the campground owner here to visit for a good while. He is always an entertaining fellow to jaw with for a while. We defined many world troubles and will be sending it all to Congress for action. Congress and Action does not sound exactly right these days. Oh Well.

The sad news is that the fishing rod and Sierra had an argument. Sierra won and the OFM had to do surgery on the fishing rod with his Dremel type tool. The tip of the fishing rod was removed and now we have a 6 foot 7 inch rod instead of a 7 foot rod. It still works good enough for the OFM Fishing Team.



The rod is noticeably stiffer when casting now. The newest hard lures are heavier than the plastics we have been casting so that might not be bad.

Then to celebrate just still breathing the OFM went down to Walmart and purchased a new reel. He wants to try his luck on the coast with a baitcaster style of reel. The reel and line came out to a bit less that $50 drive out. Merry Christmas I guess for him.



Now all we need is some warm weather to get out to the water and play. Something about being around the saltwater always leads to trying to have tooooo much fun.

12/28/18

OOPS We Forgot

Adventure Location: Rockport, TX
Adventure Date: 12/28/2018
Click a picture to enlarge it.

The refrigerator door was finally opened this morning and there they were. The pork chops that were supposed to be cooked last night were patiently waiting for the proper attention. Guess what the OFM Teams did right after breakfast. Pork chop stoup of course. And it came out as a big WOW for good. 

The chops were cubed before cooking in the pot so they put forth lots of flavor. A slight change from the usual recipe was substituting Italian Salad dressing for the usual olive oil. Seems to have been a good move.



Anyway it came out very good. There is three meals of pork chop stoup waiting in the freezer now. All they need is a good warm up and a serious chowing down.

The Teams got in some beach time in the gray cold wind. The sun would break out for a few minutes every now and then as you can see in this picture of the beach.



We spent time fishing, walking and talking to a lot of out of town tourists with “interesting” questions. Today they were all nice folks but seem to have had very little time near saltwater in the past. But it was a very pleasant time over all. Beaches seem to be a good place for trying to have tooooo much fun.

12/27/18

Back Ache Prevention

Adventure Location: Rockport, TX
Adventure Date: 12/27/2018
Click a picture to enlarge it.

The last two days have been a frenzy of activity. This morning the OFM woke up to the thought that we should try out the five new lures he gave himself for Christmas. So we did. The morning weather was dingy and it had rained a bit over night.



However by 1100 it was bright sun with gentle winds but no fish. The OFM stayed at the fishing almost all day and failed to grab a picture of the beautiful warm sunny weather. But he did wear out some water molecules with all the lure retrieving he did.

He was so tired out by 1600 that when he laid down to stretch his lower back, KAPOW he was asleep. The campground owner woke him a little later returning the pie knife from the Christmas day gathering. Her and her husband are really great owners/managers of this campground. Give The Quiet One RV Park a call if you need a spot. they have some nice spots available.

Back hurts from fishing? Yep the aged old lower back of the OFM gets difficult from all the casting that lure fishing requires IF the rod is too long. As it works out a 7 foot rod is too long for the OFM but perfect for the fishing. But it does cause pain if he uses a 7 foot rod for more than a couple of hours. This is the end of the third time experimenting and the pain was too much. So the grinding wheel came out and the top 5 inches of rod went away. Now it is a little stiffer and should handle the 3/4 ounce class lures better. There is a good chance the OFM will need to purchase a 6‘-6“ rod for the 1/4 ounce lure class. Well it is Christmas time so toys need to be purchased,right.

Could it be possible that the OFM actually likes fishing as a way of trying to have tooooo much fun.

12/25/18

Great Day

Adventure Location: Rockport, TX
Adventure Date: 12/25/2018
Click a picture to enlarge it.

The OFM roared out of bed early this morning. We soon headed for the Rockport Beach and sunrise. For some silly reason he thought the sunrise this morning would be special and lead up to a wonderful day of having tooooo much fun.



He was right.

12/24/18

Catch Us If You Can

Adventure Location: Rockport, TX
Adventure Date: 12/24/2018
Click a picture to enlarge it.

Good Grief it was a busy day. Between catching speckled trout, visiting with lots of friends, getting in  important mail and responding to it, cooking stoup, helping a little on getting ready for Feast Day tomorrow and a few hundred other things the OFM managed to get a bit worn out.

At least some great looking stoup is perking on the stove for when this blog entry is finished. This picture was taken as the sun was waning at the Rockport Harbor. The OFM had quit catching Trout a couple of hours before because old friends were dropping by. They knew where he would most likely be. By the time all the jaw flapping was over the sun was settling into a great evening show. Here take a look for yourself.



Keeping tonight’s blog short because the OFM has to eat and open a Christmas present from Alabama is needed. So on with the stoup. He forgot to get the chicken ready so it is vegetarian stoup. Ingredients are a can of Brown Sugar Hickory Baked beans, a can of whole kernel yellow corn, green onions, shredded extra sharp cheddar cheese, shredded carrots, fresh cracked black pepper and water to suit. 



The stoup is still cooling but the broth is wonderfully flavored.  It would have had a few more ingredients but we ran out of pot room.

We hope everyone has a very Merry Christmas and a wonderful  New Year of trying to have tooooo much fun, but you can’t catch The OFM Teams.

12/23/18

Winter Weather

Adventure Location: Rockport, TX
Adventure Date: 12/23/2018
Click a picture to enlarge it.

Another fantastic sunny day in Rockport was our lot today. Low 70‘s and very bright skies. Some folks and their buddies went fishing.



The OFM went taking pictures of the bright skies for all to enjoy.



The biggest trouble is the low low low tides these days. Of course the low tides have a great value. they provide a wonderful and really needed flushing to this area that has normal tides of 6-9 inches. We are hoping that the multiple low tide events will beat back some of the bad algae growths that happen on occasion. From this picture it looks like we had about 30 inches of tide change today.



The next couple of days should be wonderful also. The OFM Teams are planning on getting out in this “winter” weather as much as possible while looking for tooooo much fun. 

12/22/18

Great Day

Adventure Location: Rockport, TX
Adventure Date: 12/22/2018
Click a picture to enlarge it.

It was an eventful day but we will stick with the nice parts of the day. The Teams got out and meandered in style for part of the day. The day was 72 and bright sun with a gentle to strong breeze. Just wonderful all around. A mid afternoon meander down to the Rockport Beach showed us that lots of folks were enjoying the great winter day.

We grabbed pictures from the road so as to not intrude in the folks enjoyment of the beautiful weather. This first couple were sitting in the warm sand with a bit of a wrap against the slight chill of the breeze. It must have been nice since they were still there 30 minutes later when the Teams came back past them.




Another good shot came when two palm trees framed a couple and their puppy out on the pier near the end. They also stayed awhile enjoying the sunshine.



At another location these folks and a puppy were setting up for a bit of a longer stay it looked like. A lot of new folks arrived in town in the last few days from the snow country and are taking great advantage of the sunshine. We think these were in the truck with the Kansas plates. We welcome all the friendly folks we can get down here.



A couple of weeks ago the OFM wrote of the walk to the end of a breakwater that ended up giving him a sprained ankle. Well the wave action today would have wetted him down pretty well if he had gone back out there. These splashes were likely only about five feet high but fun to watch anyway.



Then to really top off a first class day the OFM slopped together a salad of first class culinary art for supper.



Two kinds of chicken, pickles, small tomatoes, lettuce, shredded carrots, toadstool pieces and creamy poppyseed dressing made a wonderful experience at the supper table.

For those with National Park plans the shut down has started causing difficulties at our first planned parks of Amistad, Big Bend and the Guadalupes. So check the internet sites of the places you might plan on going so you will be ready for the difficulties the shutdown will cause. The one under Obama caught us not properly prepared a few years ago and now the Teams used that as a very good lesson learned for our future travels.

As you can see it was a wonderful day of trying to have tooooo much fun.

12/21/18

A Difference Clarified

Adventure Location: Rockport, TX
Adventure Date: 12/21/2018
Click a picture to enlarge it.

Grocery shopping and laundry were both finished before 1000 this morning even though the OFM is feeling yucky. He even took two naps today. As mentioned yesterday the Teams have purchased the month of January at this location.

 A local reader spoke to me and congratulated the OFM about staying another month. He was unable to understand the difference in paying for a month and staying for a month. We are staying until the weather is right to travel west or the end of January whichever comes first.

For the giggles of it, the OFM looked back to last year and found that he was so sick last January/ February that we did not get to roll until late February. We are hoping to be west of San Antonio before the first of February this year. Right now there are predictions of freezing temps out there. Here in Rockport we are expecting temps in the low 40s for a day or two. We choose warmer.

So for now we are just messing around waiting for the fried turkey dinner on Tuesday. That ought to be a pretty good way of trying to have tooooo much fun.

12/20/18

Final Delights

Adventure Location: Mustang Island SP, TX
Adventure Date: 12/20/2018
Click a picture to enlarge it.

The final delights from the trip to Mustang Island State Park are ready to show. After the jetty meandering and the dune meandering we headed down along the beach between the water line and the start of the dunes. It produced some small in size items we did not expect.

The first surprise was a yellow flower blooming right out there near the water line. We figured that a flower that determined needed some appreciation for its efforts.



The next small joy we came upon was this small wind sculpture with dried vegetation on it. It looked  like a large dune but in reality was only about six inches high.



My o my it was our lucky day. Just laying out there in the open was a fishing spoon. It had some rotting line tied on it but no hook. No matter the OFM gathered it in and cut the rotted line off the spoon. Then it was rinsed in the shore water. This is good enough to paint and use was the thought. So we laid it back on the sand to photograph it as was. When we get it cleaned up it will get a starring spot in this blog, especially if it catches a fish.



The pickings were slim on this day but we found one more wind sculpture. It is much more complex of a wind sculpture than most of them. It was about four inches tall with lots of small details of wind etching. The OFM thought it was a cutie so a picture was taken.



And that was all the “finds” we had for this day. We hope more days will follow. Today we requested to extend our stay at this campground into January. We feel that there is still too much to do in the time we had left. There is a lot of trying to have tooooo much fun left down on the beaches that we need to use up while it is not HOT.

12/19/18

Fish Pass Jetties

Adventure Location: Mustang Island SP, TX
Adventure Date: 12/19/2018
Click a picture to enlarge it.

Today the OFM awoke after 11(ELEVEN) straight hours of dead to the world sleep. Can you believe it? We can’t but it happened. WOW. On top of that the day was beautiful blue skies and lower seventies for temps. Can’t be better.

Back to the continuation of the Mustang Island Adventure.

After leaving the jetty the Teams headed back to the Whataburger to find it nearly empty. A great burger was eaten and we were off to the State Park and Fish Pass Jetties area. In the past the jetties area has been the best spot for beach combing due to the currents offshore. The last year has not been as good for beach combing in this area. We are guessing that Hurricane Harvey changed the bottom contours and now we have to find the next location for great beach combing.

However the Fish Pass location is still an excellent fishing section of Texas. You can fish out on the rocks or wade the surf. There are fish to be caught year round here.



We wobbled our way out onto the jetty to fish. The OFM was extra careful on the slimy rocks and did not fall. After just a little fishing he decided that out on the rocks was not where he wanted to be. So we wobbled our way back to the sand. The sand hurts a lot less than the sharp granite rocks when you fall.

Look carefully at the jetty in the picture above and you can pick out a few folks catching fish out there. As we were messing around on the beach between the jetties, a fellow from the south jetty came along with a 25“ speckled trout he had caught. He had been over there about a half hour but had to leave and head for an appointment or he would have stayed for more fish catching. That was a very fat fish too.



The day was so pretty  the OFM spent a lot of time just wandering the dunes looking for special things to report upon. That will happen tomorrow night. We also did a lot of looking at the wave patterns to try to determine what the bottom change had been and where the best place for surf fishing would be.




The day was so pretty that the Teams even went back into the dunes a nice distance just meanderthalling around. We did not find anything special. We did notice that a lot of debris and stuff that used to be back in the dunes was no longer in evidence. We guess the hurricane flooding washed it to some where else. Tomorrow night we will report on the little bit of things we found of interest.

Perhaps we need to try our luck down on Padre Island National Seashore for more beachcombing treasures. At least it is a good place for trying to have tooooo much fun.

12/18/18

Talk About Hardheaded

Adventure Location: Rockport, TX
Adventure Date: 12/18/2018
Click a picture to enlarge it.

It was a deliciously wonderful nights sleep. He awoke to cloudy skies and occasional sprinkles. No we were not detained and away we went to show the fish who is the boss. They are of course. BUT the OFM did manage to catch SIX speckled trout before we quit to chase other adventures. All six were sent back into the sea to tell the rest of the fish how nice the OFM Fishing Teams treated them.

Yesterday the OFM decided we needed to romp and stomp on Mustang Island again, so away we went. The traffic was light and the ferry was waiting for us. Soon we were in Port Aransas to grab lunch at the Whataburger. OOOPS They were full. OK Then let’s go to the jetty and adventure around. Some beach driving and we were there. Since everyone was at the Whataburger we got a great parking spot right next to the rocks.

When we got out of Sierra we noticed the sound of washing water on our side of the jetty. A closer look showed this erosion along the land side of the jetty.
             

The channel wave action was sending water through the jetty rocks and creating canyons on the island side.  This does not look like a good happening. We hopped up onto the paved walkway and looked around. As we looked inland we could see a bunch of hurricane debris still on the jetty way on down there. It might be some of the remains of the University of Texas research pier that used to be there. We chose to leave that for another time another adventure.



We turned toward the seaward end of the jetty and started wobbling our way out that way. The OFM made it to where the pavement ended and the rock hopping began and we turned around. We did find a few places the OFM will be able to wobble to that we can use for fishing, so the effort was very worth while.



On the way back to Sierra we talked with the couple on the lower right in the picture above. If we recall the story correctly, he had brain cancer and was treated at M.D. Anderson in Houston, Texas. He lifted his hat off to show his head. He was baldish on most of it under his cap with lots of stitch marks and scars. For treatment the docs had taken the top of his skull off to reach the trouble. When it was time to close the “hole in his head” (his words) they used a titanium plate and grafted skin across it. The OFM was amazed and speechless. 

The fellows wife said that now he is even more hardheaded than before. We all laughed over that one. The visit and walk back to their vehicle lasted a good 20 minutes and was a barrel of fun. By the way she was 82 and he was 84. They are winter Texans from Missouri.

And that was the great start of a wonderful day of trying to have tooooo much fun. More tomorrow.

12/17/18

Ass Whooped By Fun

Adventure Location: Rockport, TX
Adventure Date: 12/17/2018


Blog entry will happen tomorrow. Here is the story. Too late back to the Castle. Tooo much beach time. Toooo many pictures to edit. Tooooo tired to hold out for a late night of writing. Really beautiful  day. And almost tooooo much fun.  ZZZZZZZZZZZ

12/16/18

New Friends

Adventure Location: Rockport, TX
Adventure Date: 12/16/2018
Click a picture to enlarge it.

Another beautiful day gave the Teams a chance to check out a kayak launch on the other side of Port Bay. To get to it you take the road to Sinton from Loop 35 in Rockport. When you cross Port Bay and go about 3/4 mile take the road to the right. It is now a paved road almost to the launch point. The ride is a perfectly straight line and we guess a mile and a half.



After a few minutes the pavement ends and a short gravel entrance is right in front of you. It goes into the parking lot signed Swan Lake. The parking is very good but the area is mosquito haven. Make sure you have your Rockport Perfume (mosquito spray) with you.



The route to the designated launch site is straight ahead to the water. From the parking to the water is far enough a yakker should have his yak cart along to carry the yak. The water on normal tide is at the post on the left. But with winter tides it is a long muddy march to the water and most yak carts will not work in the mud.



There are not restroom facilities at this location and anywhere nearby.

On the way back out to the highway we met up with some new friends. They were ready to visit for a good while but we had to head back to the Castle. 




It was a nice gentle outing and a very outstanding day for trying to have tooooo much fun.

12/15/18

Wrong Place

Adventure Location: Rockport, TX
Adventure Date: 12/15/2018
Click a picture to enlarge it.

The day was bright sun with a bit of shiver thrown in to help the OFM get some exercise. Fishing was fun and not fish productive but did cause a couple of pictures to happen. A continuing congestion trouble is causing some misery but overall the OFM is ready to do some adventuring again.

Down at a pier we toured today was the evidence that someone did not pay attention to the rock under the water when they tossed their cast net. These rocks are normally barely covered in water but the ultra low tides today uncovered the evidence of carelessness.



From the looks of it , that net had to be close to just out of the store. Once those barnacles and oyster shells grab a  net the show is over.

Along the way on the Rockport Beach we found this pretty feather. It is about 5-6 inches long and just plain old attracted the camera for pictures. This picture has been cropped to get the extraneous stuff out of the view. We feel it made a rather nice photograph.



So the Teams have been slacking off a lot and visiting with folks lately.  Sometimes visiting with folks can be a good way of trying to have tooooo much fun.

12/13/18

Tight Fit

Adventure Location: Rockport, TX
Adventure Date: 12/13/2018
Click a picture to enlarge it.

What a winter day it was! The morning was warm and the sun was bright. After the OFM got moving and ready it was off to fishing time. The temperature was acceptable for sun tanning and fishing. See Sierra’s temperature report.




Not bad for winter time. Only one fish was caught at the fishing hole but the pelicans seemed to have finished eating and were resting watching the OFM fishing.



A nice older fellow stopped by and we talked for a long time. He was 82 and had decided to make Rockport his home for the rest of his life. So his RV travel days were over. He was planning on taking up saltwater fishing so we did a lot of fishing talking. It was delightful.

The sun was bright enough that the OFM got a bit of sun burn on his body. The tee shirt he was wearing was plenty of clothing and he sweated through it in a couple of places. Love this kind of winter weather.

Later we were over in Aransas Pass messing around. As we headed down the main street to a roundabout the traffic halted. Some more wind turbine propeller blades were being brought in from the unloading docks near Port Aransas. We got to see the action from close up. The trucks had to use EVERY inch of roadway to make the turn around the roundabout. It was some very good driving going on. The regular traffic was halted to make room for the trucks. The “show” was well worth the wait.



It made for a great day of trying to have tooooo much fun.

12/12/18

OOPS

Adventure Location: Rockport, TX
Adventure Date: 12/12/2018
Click a picture to enlarge it.

The OFM awoke with a surprise exclamation “WOW I can breathe!” That was a wonderful development. There is still congestion and mucus but in a whole lot less quantity. He will live.

The day was nice and the OFM went around searching for adventure GENTLY. But the skies were blue, the wind gentle and the temps very comfortable. Check out this temperature that Sierra was reporting in the upper left.



The OFM even got down to the harbor and did some successful fishing. While he was there a friend stopped by and we lied to each other with great vigor about our adventures in living. During all that story telling the OFM caught three 14 inch speckled trout. So it was a good visit all around..

The big excitement was when the Teams was driving along the shoreline road and notice red pylons in the road blocking a lane. We go up close and took this picture of the exciting event that had taken place.



The electric company was just arriving when we moved on down the road.  That would have been one heck of an adventure to have that hit the road right in front of you.

We think the OFM did a pretty good job of trying to have tooooo much fun for a change.

12/11/18

M. A. C.

Adventure Location: Rockport, TX
Adventure Date: 12/11/2018
Click a picture to enlarge it.

The top of the disease hole is in sight now but the slope is even more slippery than the lower section. The OFM is being really careful to not cause a relapse. He did get out and about a bit today.

The bulkhead at the harbor got a little fishing done by the OFM Fishing Team but we had no chance at all since Master Angler Clyde (MAC) was there catching all the fish. We first met MAC in December 2007.  It is a wonder there are any fish left in the Gulf the way he catches fish.



Some folks think there is not much required to own and maintain an RV park. The owner here at Quiet One is a nice fellow that stays right on top of the maintenance. Today he fixed two water leaks. We grabbed this picture while he was changing out a failed valve at the RV supply point. Yes it was chilly outside with the normal mild wet wind blowing through.



That just about wore out the OFM. Making twenty casts and taking two pictures was a full days work in his condition. It is pitiful when he is too sickly to put much effort into trying to have tooooo much fun.

12/10/18

Public Service Annoucement

Adventure Location: Rockport, TX
Adventure Date: 12/10/2018
Click a picture to enlarge it.

The OFM thinks he is now on his way out of the deep dark despicable hole of the cold virus. Another couple of days of clawing up the slippery slimy sides of the virus hole should have the Grand Leader of the OFM Teams back in shape for adventures of a good kind for a change.

            Public Service Notice

It is time for the late winter Texans to make their plans to come down for the rest of the winter to escape the ice and snow.If you do not have a reserved site already it can be frustrating to find one hidden in the multitude of small camp grounds in the Corpus Christi to Rockport area. The good news is that The Quiet One RV Park has several available due to cancellations from all sorts of reasons like medical emergency or family situation changes etc. Check this place out at their web site by clicking the campground name below. Most of the remaining sites can handle the huge rigs that many folks travel in these days.

The Quiet One RV Park 

We are enjoying being here very much in spite of the illness. Soon we will be out trying to have tooooo much fun.

12/7/18

CFS and Recovery

Adventure Location: Rockport, TX
Adventure Date: 12/7/2018
Click a picture to enlarge it.

It has been a nice recovery day. Morning had a late start but it was a nice day. A bit of fishing and teaching some winter Texans from Canada how to rig fishing poles and fish in the inshore waters. Somebody along the way had them rigging like for surf fishing. It is a wrong way to catch fish in three feet deep water in the bays. They caught on quickly and soon had a few trout hit the pier floor. The OFM even caught one. All the fish were the usual 1/4inch short. At least they proved the OFM knew what he was talking about.

About 1230 the temperature dropped from 71 to about 65 and the light sprinkle of rain started. So the OFM left the pier and headed out for lunch. Everything was still being done in slow motion. The afternoon passed visiting with old friends.

Then supper tonight was Chicken Fried Steak Mexican style. It was really good and the OFM ate all of it and busted his belt. A hint over $10 drive out. And now he is ready for the horizontal position on the bed. Is it possible that eating a great Chicken Fried Steak meal could be classified as trying to have tooooo much fun?

12/5/18

YAHOOOOOOOOOOO

Adventure Location: Rockport, TX
Adventure Date: 12/5/2018
Click a picture to enlarge it.

The paper, scissors, tape and the OFM were flying around inside the Castle. Snip here. Tape there. Trim a bit. Man o Man the present wrapping was in full swing. Sweat was slinging and brow was dripping as the work was intense. By1300 hours the wrapping was done.

No rest for the weary you know. The Christmas cards hit the table with the pen and stamps. The slow speed of the ink flow from the ball point pen was the slowest item in the work crew. Soon the cards were all ready to mail.

A thirty second rest break and then it was all loaded into Sierra and Sierra groaned from the load. But it was down to the shipping place to get it all on the road to north Alabama. Mission accomplished and it was time to clear the mess from the Castle.

Boxes were broken down. Scraps of wrapping paper were gathered and bagged. Sweat puddles were cleaned up. And soon we had what seemed like another 347 square feet of room in the Castle. The trip to the dumpster required 59 round trips with Sierra to haul it all away (it seemed like that much anyway).

And finally it was time to relax, calm down and feel the stress evaporate away. Wow that is a good feeling. We are definitely ready for some peace and calm.

PEACEFUL


Now we can gently work on trying to have tooooo much fun again.

12/4/18

Feeding Frenzy

Adventure Location: Rockport, TX
Adventure Date: 12/4/2018
Click a picture to enlarge it.

The blog is taking a hind spot to the holidays preparations so it was not until late afternoon/early evening that the OFM went for a short walk along Rockport Beach.  The Monarch butterflies were out in force storing up more energy for their long migration flight ahead.



All of the yellow flowered bushes along the beach had lots of monarchs tanking up with energy. The OFM wanted to gather some of that energy for himself but he was not built right to get nectar from the flowers.

But he was built right to cook a boneless pork chop marinated in Italian Dressing to absolute perfection. We are now ready for a great nights sleep to be rested for tomorrows efforts at trying to have tooooo much fun wrapping presents. 

12/3/18

Not As Planned

Adventure Location: Rockport, TX
Adventure Date: 1/13/2018
Click a picture to enlarge it.

Busy is the word that comes to mind to describe today. The guarantee of the start of the Christmas packages was just hot air it turned out.  However it was a very productive day. ALL the Christmas shopping is finished. Several other little troubles were pounded into the dirt and are no longer a trouble.

Tomorrow, after helping a friend transport his car and bringing him home, we plan to attack the present wrapping. AND if we finish in time they will all be taken to the shipping store and shipped. Then we will be all finished with presents. Christmas cards are next but those are quick and easy.

Part of the OFM’s limited brain ability is being used to try to decide when to leave Rockport and where to head next. Since we have covered all of the nearer territory, much of it will be repeat visits. After 11+ years and over 250,000 miles in that time we have seen a few things. The stated objective for 2019, except for the Grandkid time in the summer in Alabama is to move a good bit more often.

And that is how a busy productive day went instead of trying to have tooooo much fun. But it certainly cleared the future for lots more trying to have toooo much fun.

12/2/18

Ho Hum

Adventure Location: Rockport, TX
Adventure Date: 12/02/2018


Mundane is the word that comes to mind to describe today. The recovering ankle did well with the limited use running around. We put new fishing line on a reel and went out to test it for performance. It preformed well but the fish left the lures alone. 

A bit of grocery shopping netted some good food to be prepared.  The new smaller plastic bags at Walmart should have brought down the price per bag for purchases. However we still spent about $12 a bag which is about the same per bag cost in the recent past with the larger bags. Did prices go up that much?

Tomorrow is the guaranteed start of the Christmas wrapping marathon in preparation for shipping to Alabama.

This time of the year is when Rockport starts being nice. We had 83F and bright sunshine all day. North Alabama is a little less warm and bright. Makes the OFM glad to be here at the coast of Texas even if the hum didity is thick.

It looks like the next few days will be chores days instead of adventures days but you never know what that fool OFM might come up with for trying to have tooooo much fun.

12/1/18

Flat Ground?

Adventure Location: Rockport, TX
Adventure Date: 12/01/2018
Click a picture to enlarge it.

The joints in the body were explaining that it was going to be a day of rest. The OFM was insisting on at least a walk. The body agreed to a SHORT walk on FLAT ground. And away we went.

Sierra got us to the dirt area on the far end of the Rockport Beach Park where Allegro Channel comes into the neighborhood. Sierra parked next to the channel bulkhead. The OFM thought it would be a nice walk out to the end of the channel breakwater. So we had our easy meander all lined out.  

The dirt area makes a good place for those of us that are not agile any more. This next picture is looking back toward town along the channel. The folks at the car were fishing. The younger fellow was baiting hooks and other fishing activities. the older fellow was doing what he could while confined to the wheelchair he was sitting in. The Teams has seen many physically encumbered folks enjoying this area for some time outside for a change. It is a great facility.



Now we swing around 180 degrees to look bay ward along the channel onto the breakwater lining the channel. That is the goal today for a gentle meander. And it was a gentle meander, but not flat, except for a few minutes of entertainment on the way back in.



Now we have reached the start of the breakwater. First you cross a short wooden bridge from the mainland and do a very careful BIG step down to the rocks and dirt. With that maneuver executed bloodlessly we started out on the uneven footing. The footing required a slow pace so it worked out great for looking around while negotiating the bit of a path out to the end.



We meandered carefully on the ankle twisting surface and watched all the birds birding around. There was even a mangrove bush growing in an impossible place. They grow in the oddest places around here. From near the midway point we caught this pelican waiting for some fish to show up for its breakfast.



We continued on around the bend and noticed the rock sand mix we remembered being out here had been replaces with ankle twisting softball size rock. It was probable a change brought about by Hurricane Harvey.



We have to give the OFM credit for being extra careful but he still twisted his left ankle TWICE. So we turned back before going all the way to the bitter end.

Now for the exciting part. The OFM chose a route back to the sand/rock path that took us close to the bulkhead on the channel. Nope he did not fall in. It was better than that. A dolphin came up next to the bulkhead and swam alongside of us for about 200 feet. It rolled up frequently and definitely was watching the Teams meander along. This distance we are talking about was in the order of 10-12 feet away and barely below the OFM’s feet. We talked with it and had a good visit.

The dolphin moved on to go get some breakfast and we moved on very carefully on the sore ankle. Sierra had chosen a wonderful spot to park so the slow gimpy walk did not take too long. The OFM was definitely happy at the thought of riding instead of walking. All in All it was a wonderful effort at trying to have tooooo much fun.

11/30/18

New Nicer Nest

Adventure Location: Rockport, TX
Adventure Date: 11/30/2018
Click a picture to enlarge it.

It was not early when the OFM started getting the Castle ready to roll. In fact it was hot enough to sweat some. The whole rig was finally ready and the OFM took off to say some goodbyes.  

Sierra was showing warm outside temperatures as we rolled from the Rice Paddy Campground.



The long 1.6 mile trip took around ten minutes. We rolled in about an hour earlier than we had expected. The back in was easy. The crushed granite pad was very level so set up was a snap. The pad is long enough that Sierra and the Castle fit in end to end very nicely. The pad is wide enough to drive Sierra along side the Castle and open doors without any bother of interference. WOW this is a real improvement over the last campsite.




The laundry/mail building is right across the paved campground road. Then the swimming pool and shower house is right behind the laundry building. We are certainly convenient to chores areas.

A wonderful nice feature we found out about tonight is the night time area lighting. No more stumbling in the dark trying to get back in the Castle. 



The wifi has proven to be excellent.  It is moderately quick but most of all has not been freezing or dropping us like the last location. The price for the gravel sites is $275 a month. The Quiet One RV Park is the name if you are looking for a site near the Rockport Beach Park and Tourist Area so you can also be trying to have tooooo much fun.

11/28/18

Remote Boondocking Food

Adventure Location: Rockport, TX
Adventure Date: 11/28/2018
Click a picture to enlarge it.

Let us talk boondocking food. The OFM Teams have done a few months of boondocking during our 11 years on the road. However we always happened to do boondocking within a half hour of a store to restock our food. For example Oliver Lee State Park in New Mexico is about 25 minutes from up on the mountain in the park to the Walmart in town.

In this year 2019 we are hoping to do a couple of more remote locations that would need better preparation than four days of get by food. We went to the SUPER EXPERTS to get great advice.

Susan and Bud are a fantastic couple who are in their 80s and have been going into the high mountains of Colorado and New Mexico boondocking for weeks on end every year for quite a while. In response to an email from TheOFM Susan replied with some really good information on food to carry into the remote areas. They had a 26 foot Arctic Fox that they traveled in.
Here is the help from Susan.




There you have it. Experienced and Knowledge all in one easy to read spot.
You can search the Internet and find out most all that you need to know about heating, water, sewage and all other things but the OFM had not found a really good way of having a healthy diet for longer term stays. 

Susan and Bud are off the road now and the rig has been sold. They live near Galveston Texas where they have their long time home. We thank them for the great information they have provided. We are sure it will contribute noticeably to our efforts at trying to have tooooo much fun in remote areas.