Adventure Location: Rockport, TX
Adventure Date: 11/30/2018
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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.
Adventure Location: Rockport, TX
Adventure Date: 11/28/2018
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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.
Adventure Location: Rockport, TX
Adventure Date: 11/27/2018
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Al over at The Bayfield Bunch caused this blog entry tonight. We had the two pictures from our outing today but the OFM was drawing a blank for ideas for the blog. Then Al posted some wonderful pictures of winter snow scenes tonight and talked about “changes” up there in Canada.
BAM. This blog idea popped into the OFM’s head and away we go. A winter weather blog is a great idea.
The winter weather here in Rockport Texas has the OFM bundled up in light nylon pants and a long sleeve Tee shirt as we head on down to the shrimp boat channel for some wade fishing. Sierra was feeling frisky and got us to the park in quick time. Parking was easy and the OFM hopped out to get the fishing gear ready.
He paused to view the usual winter sky at the Texas mid-coast. The temperature was a brisk 71F and a slight breeze made it slightly chilly but the OFM was tough enough to stand up to the breeze.
Then we turned to the water and looked. The rubber boots seemed like a good idea in our winter temps right now. So we paused while the OFM shed his walking shoes and put on the rubber boots. As we turned toward the fishing area this is the WINTER scene we had to put up with.
We waded out into the shrimp boat channel and fished the OFM’s little heart out to no avail. All we got out of it was a day of usual winter weather with peace and quiet. As we left the area later we thought it over and decided it was a pretty good WINTER day of trying to have tooooo much fun.
Adventure Location: Rockport, TX
Adventure Date: 11/26/2018
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It was a cool but windy morning so the fishing was not fun and definitely non-productive. In a very short while the OFM made a good decision to stop the fishing and get on with the chores at hand. Friday is the day of departure so the Teams made a visit to the next RV Park. After a bit of roaming around a site was chosen for our location on Friday morning. The OFM thinks he will like being right across the street from the laundry and swimming pool for the month of December. We are hoping that we will get all the interferences over with by the end of December and start for Del Rio before the first of 2019.
In the meantime some more Christmas shopping was accomplished. A little bit more fishing was attempted and that was not a great idea.
Then some much needed walking was down down at the Rockport Beach. We do not know how far the OFM went but we know his knees were telling him to stop when we got back to Sierra. So he wisely did.
However the OFM did go back to a couple of places of flowers to get pictures so we could have a little color in the blog tonight. These little red flowers were flopping in the wind with great vigor and making getting their picture quite a chore.
Then over by the hurricane wrecked structure were some yellow flowers showing the world that they were tough and hurricane proof. We saw a Monarch butterfly loading up for the next leg of its long migration. It only took 85 million tries to get this next picture through the chain link fence and blizzard winds. We did it though.
Tomorrow is going to be another getting things done so the chores will quit getting in the way of trying to have tooooo much fun.
Adventure Location: Rockport, TX
Adventure Date: 11/25/2018
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The Teams are back with more stupid and silly adventures, but they are fun (usually). Let us resume with a great subject ....FOOD. Since a reader a few months ago wanted recipes for the stoup etc. we will be publishing the recipe we made up on this soup. Yep it is soup not stoup. The ingredients have to be the cheapest that Walmart sells. No high priced ingredients in the OFM foods.
Hear is the list of ingredients.
3 sprinkles of garlic powder
black pepper to your taste
2 skinless chicken breasts
3 stalks of celery
5 long skinny green onions
1 large bell pepper
1 can of diced potatoes
1 dollop of Wylers chicken flavor powder
First the OFM got the 3 quart pot ready by adding a 1/2 cup of water and a dollop of olive oil. The OFM has found that the dollop of olive oil really makes the chicken more juicy and flavorful. The pot is started to heating for moderate heat cooking.
The chicken is cut into small chunks to suit your preference. The chicken is added to the pot with the scant water and basically steamed until done. Spices are added while the chicken is cooking. We use garlic powder and cracked black pepper.
While the chicken is cooking the vegetables are cut into pieces to fit your size preference. The canned potatoes are rinsed twice to remove all the excess salt before adding to the pot.
After the chicken is cooked add the vegetables and chicken powder. Then add water to cover the ingredients. Put the burner to a medium flame and bring to a boil. Stir now and then. When the boil is attained, reduce the heat to a barely simmer for 8 minutes to cook the vegetables but still leave a little crunch in the vegetables. If you like soft mushy vegetables leave simmering for about 5 more minutes. Here is the result.
It is wonderful and the OFM went through two large bowls of it in just over an instant. There is two more bowls full in the freezer waiting for the OFM to decide when he wants to eat them.
It has been fun but not tooooo much fun taking off some time to rest. The latest update on our moving is we are due to move 1.6 miles on Friday Nov.30 to The Quiet One RV Park here in Rockport. Then we will be working hard at Christmas shopping for Grandkids, wrapping the presents, getting them shipped to Alabama and planning our next move. We do know the early 2019 travels will include some Bibe time as well as Lake Amistad time. Both of which are fantastic places for the teams to try to have tooooo much fun.
Adventure Location: Rockport, TX
Adventure Date: 11/21/2018
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The Teams are taking a few days off. We will be back on Sunday evening with more blog excitement. Our goal is concentrating on having tooooo much fun.
Adventure Location: Rockport, TX
Adventure Date: 11/20/2018
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The sun came out and the Teams went down to a spot on the bay to do some fishing. The OFM was ready to feel a fish on the line. Right away we were getting hits on the gold spoon. Then we suddenly did it right and it was fish on. The fight lasted about three minutes and the fish was turbo charged.
Upon landing it measured 22 inches long and back it went into the water. A couple of casts later it was fish on again. This one was obviously bigger and it took about five minutes to land it. The fish measured at 25 inches. It was unhooked and went back into the water to rampage some more.
The OFM did not have the camera along to take a picture. We found one on the internet that shows the type of fish but this one is a bit smaller than our first one.
Down here they are called skipjack. Back up the coast we called them Ladyfish. They are a very active fighter and easy to catch on any flashy lure if they are in the area. Usually they are in an area in large quantity so when you find them the action is violent and fast. They can make it a great day of trying to have tooooo much fun.
Adventure Location: Corpus Christi, TX
Adventure Date: 11/19/2018
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Between the cold damp weather and not feeling perfect we managed to accomplish a little something today. We re-researched historical average temperatures from two different sources about the Arizona desert southwest and the Texas mid coast. The result of the studies showed that Corpus Christi Texas area had slightly warmer temperatures for December and January. We also do not have to make a 2500 mile extra driving loop to the Quartzite area and that adds up to some $$.
Right now we can get a full hookup campsite close to fishing, restaurants, beach fun etc. for $250-$275 plus electric per month. What the Teams calls the winter season is when the temps are under 50F at night. That is historically the first three weeks of January and by early February we are wading and fishing in the surf in shorts and tee shirts. All this boils down to we are staying here in the Corpus Christi Texas area until things warm up to shorts weather in late January.
We find it much easier to have tooooo much fun when the OFM is wearing shorts in the sun.
Adventure Location: Rockport, TX
Adventure Date: 11/18/2018
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It was a nice morning but the afternoon was a wet one getting colder during the day. We had enough rain that the Castle is sitting in a rice paddy again. With the OFM’s legs acting up again today it was a treacherous skirmish to make it to Sierra with dry feet.
A run around town to a couple of stores and the normal in town fishing locations was fun. No fish were being caught but these pelicans at the cleaning station were still hoping somebody would end up needing to clean some fish.
Back at the Castle listening to the rain fall was the afternoon and evening. The OFM busied himself with checking areas for our next location vs the weather normally in the area. What he wants is somewhere here in Texas that the nights get down to about 62 as a minimum. He will not find it but he keeps on wanting it. It could be interesting to see where he finally takes us.
In the meantime supper time rolled into town and the rain was pouring down so the OFM went into cooking mode. Simple cooking of course. A can of “chili” went into the pot. Actually just the contents went into the pot. The can went into the garbage. Then a can of sliced carrots. Then a can of baked beans with hickory flavoring. A half cup of water to make it all easier to stir. Over a medium flame until it boils because you fail to pay enough attention. Cut the flame way down and stir to mix the burned parts with the rest of it. The burned parts give it the special charred flavor. Put the lid on and let it cool to edible temperature.
And now you have a pot of supper ready to eat. And it was good. Feel free to give the concoction a name. We just called it food.
Yesterday’s blog entry requesting help was successful. Thanks to every one that responded. It will make things much easier when we are trying to have tooooo much fun in the cold weather.
The OFM has been planning and gathering information about remote boondocking for a few months. His usual boondocking for the last 20 years has accidentally been within a hour of a town with supplies etc. Now we are looking at a new phase of remote not close to supplies and in colder weather above freezing for time frames of a week or so. In the daytime we use direct fired heating like the Mr. Buddy or others like that.
The OFM is a deep south man who likes to sleep no colder than 60 F. Three nights at 25F in Big Bend NP a couple of years ago convinced the OFM a different approach to colder weather boondocking is needed.
Lots of boondockers sleep with no heat at night relying on blankets etc to stay warm. That works as long as you do not have to make 2-3+ old man trips to the necessity room at night. The OFM does not like to get up in 45F or lower temps and try to get the Castle warmed up while shiverrrrrrrrring horribly.
The concept of using the onboard furnace in the Castle for comfort heating while sleeping has run into a lot of very “interesting” opinions. Most of the “experienced” and “knowledgeable” folks that comment on the internet or on videos claim that the furnace will run your batteries down before morning and ruin them. We have run into that statement dozens of times. Never have those folks bothered to tell why the furnace will run your battery down. They never even say how big the furnace is or how much battery capacity they are talking about. But they are the experts. Sure they are!
That is nonsense. The Castle has two 100AH SLA batteries also known as AGM batteries. They have a listed capacity of 100AH each of which 60% is usable on a regular cycling basis. We have a serious solar panel system that seldom lets the batteries go below 95% of full. The Castle has a 25,000 BTU per hour furnace that draws a maximum of 4 amps when running according to the specification label. When we were living in Washington state, the furnace ran about 5 minutes on and 20 minutes off with the temps outside about 25 F. So the heater ran about 20% of the time up there.
Now we go to the 40 F temps we expect for a low but use the same percent of running time .2 or 20%. 4 amps per hour times .2 = .8 amp hour per cycle.
One cycle is 25 minutes. 9 hours of sleep, go to bed and get up time is 540 minutes.
540 minutes/25 minutes= 22 cycles at .8 A/H each.
22cycles times .8 A/H=17.6 A/H used for heating while sleeping COMFORTABLY at 25F outside.
Now let us see 17.6 AH used. 100AH available. Sounds like we could run about 4 nights easily like that without running the batts down for the furnace. Then we can factor in the solar panel input with an average on an over cast day of 12 amps/hour and in 2 hours the batts are back at full charge! On a full mid day sun we get about 18 amps/hour from the panels.
Now what we are trying to figure out is what are we missing that the “experts” know but do not tell.
For those that want to bring up usage during the day, on a cloudy day the panels keep our batts at 12.8 volts or higher. That is what our 9 years of our panel setup has been performing like. That way at bed time we always have at least a 95% full battery set.
If some readers have some constructive comments or information on this electrical usage we would like to hear it. Other things we may not have thought of will be welcome also. We want this new effort to be one of trying to have TOOOOO MUCH FUN. not freezing in the dark.
Adventure Location: Aransas Pass, TX
Adventure Date: 11/14/18
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Today was a wonderful cool bright sunny day with little in the way of breezes. A successful shopping trip occupied the part of the day not spent unsuccessfully fishing.
Meanwhile going back to finish the last blogs adventure we are showing pictures of what is called the shrimp boat channel. The channel runs from the City of Aransas Pass down through the jetties at Port Aransas and into the Gulf of Mexico.
There is lots of public access along the channel with the most well known being the Light House Lakes public park. These pictures tonight we taken in that park as part of that days meandering. This is what the sandy shores along the channel look like. You can fish, play in the water or generally just goof off big time here. In warm weather and on holidays it does get rather crowded.
The shore had lots of catfish decaying on it. But occasionally there was some sort of other fish around the area. This particular one was dried out and stiff as steel. We do not know what it was. Length was about 8 inches and height about 3 with a thickness of 1 1/2 inches. Any reader that recognizes it please let us know what it was.
There was a pretty good swarm of these kind of butterflies. We caught this one resting for a couple of minutes before taking off for lands unknown.
The recent cold front and rain had the prickly pear cactus in fine shape. Amongst the cactus were lots of yellow flowers in bloom.
They seemed to be trying to make up for lost time with the quantity of them all over the area.
An we were lucky enough to see a Gulf Shrimp boat making its way out to the Gulf of Mexico. Bay shrimpers are a lot smaller boat. This one eased on by as if it was not in a hurry to get to work. That piling with the sign on it is a navigation aid that marks the edge of the channel. About three feet to the left of that green marker the water is only about three feet deep.
After this day was over the OFM slept so hard that he was certain that the Teams had done a great job of trying to have tooooo much fun.
Adventure Location: Aransas Pass, TX
Adventure Date: 11/14/18
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It was a busy morning trying to decide what the Teams will do soon. Finally it was lunch time and Aransas Pass called us to the Whataburger with a special request to bring the camera and get some shots of the beautiful blue day we were experiencing. So the OFM grabbed the gear and away we went.
After the big burger and a senior Drink for $3.85 drive out, the Teams made a b-line for the highway to Port Aransas. That highway hops across a few islands in the bay to get to Port Aransas. All along both sides of the road are places for public access. Do not be fooled. The “roads” off the highway are really vehicle trails with plenty surprises waiting for you.
There are no real roads, just worn spots through the brush that you whip your vehicle onto and hope for the best. Quickly you learn to spot the ones with “special events” like this one.
That hump will cause you all sorts of trouble if you hit it a bit too fast coming or going. It is only one of many along the several miles of highway.
Once you survive the entry into the area this is what the super highway near the water looks like.
Paying attention to the road is critical. In the previous truck our 4 wheel drive was nice to have when we were in this paradise. Sierra is a rear wheel only truck so we are a LOT more careful. We also have street tread tires so they will roll OVER the sand instead of powerful mud grip tires like this vehicle had to help you dig holes to the core of the earth.
Today if you did it all correct you were rewarded with beautiful sparkling water and bright sun for your view.
Now all you have to do is carefully make your way back to the highway over a few of the carefully unmarked roads. We really like to visit in this area when the tides do not have it covered in a few inches of saltwater. We managed to shoot about forty pictures for the next blog or two while working very hard at having tooooo much fun.
Adventure Location: Rockport, TX
Adventure Date: 11/13/18
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The shopping today was for a pair of knee high rubber boots in case it rains some again before we leave Anglers RV Retreat. We want to be able to wade in and out from our only door without getting the OFM’s feet soaked again. It is too cold now for running around in wet socks and shoes.
That boot finding turned out to be difficult as there has been a run on rubber boots. It was the third store and second Walmart we tried before we found some size 10. That is a half size bigger than the OFM’s foot but we want these boots to slip on and off really easily in case we have to put them on or take them off in the rain. Now Sierra gets to carry a pair of black rubber boots in the back floorboard just for decoration we hope.
The other time waster today was reworking the gate picture with colored pencils to cover the water color painting. Colored pencil is a slow process and since this is just a preliminary sketch the OFM did not take the painting to full density. He decided that we had the worst parts defined and we could fix them in the real painting later. Here is the finished sketch of RED GATE.
By the way the Red Gate view that inspired the painting is to the east on Highway 277 South at Lake Amistad just before you get to the 277 South Recreation Area.
Between those two items and working on making a decision what we will do on November 30 made for a pretty good day of keeping warm and trying to have tooooo much fun.
Adventure Location: Rockport, TX
Adventure Date: 11/12/18
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It was some really wonderful chicken stoup for supper after a cold wet nasty wind day. Things got a lot better after the first bite. YUMMITY YUM YUM.
Then when we sat down to start composing this blog entry, the OFM brought a mug of Hot Chocolate with him to warm his innerds.
The day had several different things happen. Probably the most important is the OFM got busy filing important papers that had been lying around for a couple of weeks. The 784 pound file box was man handled down from an upper cabinet. We managed to get him to do something that has been needed for a lifetime it seems.
He went through that box and eliminated about 486 pounds of un-needed paperwork. Heck we even had to borrow the owners wheel barrow to haul it all to the dumpster. We hope the dumpster truck can lift the bin tomorrow.
The new lightweight file box was lifted up into the cabinet this time with only two arms and one leg. That is real progress. Now when we need one of those papers we know it is in the box probably filed in the wrong folder. But that will be easier to find than the ones filed under a pot in the back of the kitchen cabinets. Besides we can loosen the equalizing hitch a notch with all that weight taken out of the front cabinet in the Castle.
The art studies got a bump forward today thanks to the miserable outside conditions. We decided to try using watercolor pencils for the preliminary sketch to the next painting. That made for some interesting efforts since we had always used Prismacolor Colored Pencils in the past.
The water color pencils are softer and handled much differently. They are the Caran D’Ache Supracolor Soft Watercolor Pencils. Say all that real fast twice if you can. Anyway it was an interesting experiment. We stopped before the background was started to consider what we were seeing. Here is what we were up to at this point.
After letting it sit for a few hours while the OFM tried to understand what he had experienced, he decided to try adding water to the picture and see what new experience we were in for.
Well that was exciting. Now all we need to know is what to do with all this new knowledge. For now we have decided the best thing is just relax and enjoy this style of trying to have tooooo much fun.
Adventure Location: Rockport Beach Park, TX
Adventure Date: 11/11/18
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And the magic computer brings us back from the past to today and the cold, wet, windy, nasty day. We got out with the camera to find anything that might be interesting.
The first thing we found was that the nesting area for the migrating birds at the Rockport Beach Park is being prepared for the arrival of all the squawkers. Hundreds of them arrive and pair up to produce the next generation of feather legs. It lasts for a few months and that part of the beach area temporarily closes to regular humans.
These sea gulls appeared to be getting all bathed and prettied up for the courting effort. They were taking turns in the freshwater pool bathing and flapping wings scattering water everywhere.
And then there was the egret? at the rock jetty trying to find some food in this miserable weather. It was moving back and forth along the lee side of the jetty searching for a minnow or three. We watched for about five minutes and the bird never took a strike at any bait fish. The cold front must have sent the bait fish to Cuba to play at the beach.
The Teams have spent some time working on our preliminary plan for escaping Rockport by December 1. However we did not come up with a plan acceptable to all the team members yet. The trouble is that there is more places than there is time. Prioritizing is a difficulty for this bunch of travelers. In the mean time we are trying to have tooooo much fun in the cold drizzling rain and wind.
Adventure Location: Elephant Butte, NM.
Adventure Date: 10/17/07
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About 11 years ago before the OFM existed letters with pictures were written to family members about what we were seeing. Tonight we have three pictures from one of those adventures. Notice the location and date of the adventure at the top of the page.
The OFM Teams were exploring the Rio Grande River up in New Mexico. On this day we checked out the area around the dam that formed Elephant Butte Lake. It is a large lake and was not full during this visit. It turned out to be a great adventure.
First we drove around the area below the dam and found a very nice boondocking camping area along the Rio Grande River. We have never made it back to camp there because there are LOTS of free boondocking sites in the area that we did use.
The road goes along and up to the top of the dam. From that view point we looked north upstream across the lake. Notice the VERY desert terrain around the area once you get a few feet from the lake/river.
From the point we were standing on the edge of a small cliff, you could look right down on top of the dam. It was a bit treacherous with all the loose little balls called rocks but the OFM was young and foolish then. This is looking right down on the dam top with the river flow right to left. It was fun.
Then the OFM turned and waddled a few feet over and took this picture of the downstream Rio Grande River. The campground that we found is on the left side where the trees begin and stretches a good ways down the riverside. This campground is less than 10 miles to the T or C/ Elephant Butte Walmart. In other words very convenient to supplies. If we recall correctly they do have water and restrooms at the campground.
This area is on our travel list to return to for more exploring. There is lots of things to do and see in the area so it is a really prime place for trying to have tooooo much fun.
Adventure Location: Rockport, TX.
Adventure Date: 11/09/18
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It was a cold start to the day when the OFM woke up. He is not a cold weather type of guy. Out came the electric heater and in a few minutes the world got to looking and feeling a lot better. The Teams preferred inside temp is about 70F.
Soon the dreary rain started and not soon after we were once again camped in a rice paddy.
So the OFM piddled a little here and there. Then he went to work cleaning the Castle. Washing desert dust off lots of the cabinets and appliances was the first effort. Then the shop vac came out and removed more dirt from the floor and upholstered parts of the Castle. The tools were put back in storage.
He sat down at the dining room table next to the big window and noticed the MUD in the sliding window channel. Good Grief! A damp sponge wiped the channel sort of. The mud took several times of wiping and rinsing the sponge. The more he cleaned the more that showed up to be cleaned. About 78 hours later (20 minutes) it was all clean. It was amazing how much desert dust the same color as the window frame could accumulate. But it is all gone now.
And that was about it for a day of trying to have tooooo much fun on a COLD and raining day.
Adventure Location: Rockport, TX.
Adventure Date: 11/08/18
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The OFM says he is so old he does not do anything anymore. And he does not start on that until after noon.
It was a Christmas present shopping morning and it was a little bit successful. Then the mail came in with another bit of art supplies and the OFM was excited again. It was a bad knees day so he did not even attempt dancing a jig. Thank goodness.
The day stayed full but not over running. A bit of beach time to think about how things are going was taken this evening. The weather is supposed to be a lot colder by morning along with frequent rains. So we captured this nice picture of the beach this evening for memories of the hot weather we have been having.
Yep some fishing with a gold spoon, Johnson Silver Minnow model, for anything that would bite but the spoon was too big for the mosquitoes to get it into their mouth. But the water was nice to look into and watch the little bait fish swim around.
Next the Teams went to visit a friend going through a personally tough time and not having a good mental time of it. But we think we have him on the right track now and headed into personal recovery. He will be alright in the future but for now it is one day at a time.
Then the OFM got busy on a painting that has been getting a bit of work now and then as he got around to it. It did not work out just right. The main object is a blackbrush limb with thorns he photographed last September at Lake Amistad. The background is way to busy in our opinion and needs to be less intrusive. But it certainly was fun making the painting.
We think that was a fairly full day of trying to have tooooo much fun.
Adventure Location: Rockport, TX.
Adventure Date: 11/07/18
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The OFM says he is so forgetful now that when he gets up in the morning he meets a new fellow in the mirror every day.
We guess the elections went well since only one dead candidate was elected.
It was a Christmas present shopping morning and it was a little bit successful. However there is a lot left to accomplish in the next four weeks.
This afternoon was two fishing sessions around Rockport Beach. The first session brought in three more half inch to short speckled trout. They all went back swimming. Then near sunset we had another short session and one half inch short speckled trout was landed. It went back to swimming also.
We would like to have exciting news but it was a nothing special day except the OFM is still upright and breathing regular while waiting to find his having tooooo much fun moment.
Adventure Location: Rockport, TX.
Adventure Date: 11/05/18
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The OFM behaved and went Christmas shopping first today. This is very hard work for him. But we went through the toys section looking for 2 year old size toys and stumbled across an excellent present for the Grand daughter. Her parents will likely put out a contract on the OFM’s head for doing it, but that is a chance he is willing to take.
That effort wore the OFM out so he stopped at the harbor to rest by fishing. The 1 inch too short (14“) speckled trout were hungry and in great supply. The OFM carries seven different lures. Today he tried six of them with no luck at all. The last lure is a mullet colored and shaped swim bait. Those trout went nuts over it. The fun must have lasted for over an hour. Eventually the school of fish moved on out of the area. Then it was lunch time and back to planning time.
The net result of all the planning was to set a departure time for the Teams. A short e-mail was composed to tell the campground owner our planned rolling time. We try to give the owners as much time as we can to rent the spot we are vacating. Our rolling date is Nov.30, 2018. That should be plenty of time to get all things in order before we head west again where the places for having tooooo much fun are in huge quantity.
Adventure Location: Rockport, TX.
Adventure Date: 11/04/18
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The fishing has been wonderful. The catching has been NONE. But the OFM has been having plenty of fishing time as he considers his travel options.
He hit the wooden pier in Rockport Beach Park a couple of times today. The first time was in decent weather about an hour after the sun came up. It was a good thing he saw the sun then because it was the last of the sun for the rest of the day.
We got our usual spot at the foot of the pier and got ready for fishing while keeping a careful eye on the dark cloud back behind us.
The pier looked very inviting so out we went. This is the view we had as we went out on the pier.
Back behind us the front was headed toward us and the skies were getting very dark. After a few minutes out on the pier another fisherman exclaimed “ Look at that cloud front!” Everyone looked up and we all packed it in and headed for out vehicles. ZOOM ZOOM. You could smell the fresh rain a few hundred yards from us.
The Teams got settled in Sierra and waited a minute or two to choose what to do next. We were astounded to have the rain split around us and head on south. We did not get a drop of rain at the pier but the temperature dropped about 12 degrees in 30 seconds. The OFM Fishing Team waited a few minutes more and them headed back out onto the pier. No fish were caught.
We gave up and hit up the stores for Christmas shopping and other nonsense. The rest of the day was filled with chores and decision making.
Late in the evening after the sun was below the horizon this next picture was taken of the sky and the wooden pier. It has been a day of interesting skies and shopping to go with the fishing.
Now this evening as the OFM reminisces, he decided he had a nice restful day and a pretty good chunk of trying to have tooooo much fun.
Adventure Location: Rockport, TX.
Adventure Date: 11/02/18
Click the picture to enlarge it.
Making up his mind is very hard work for the OFM. He is trying to figure out what to do starting in December 2018. November is Christmas present shopping month and December is present shipping month. But what is next after the present shipping. There are so many opportunities that it overloads his pea brain.
To help him, he ordered some stuff at 1209am yesterday morning and it arrived today at 1400 this afternoon. WOW that is called SERVICE. What did we get?
Planning aids for 2019 travels is what. The OFM was trying to dance a jig but it was not pretty. The up to date books should help us and him to make some decent decisions for a change.
Now all we need to do is plot out all the great places for trying to have tooooo much fun.
Adventure Location: Rockport, TX.
Adventure Date: 11/01/18
Click the picture to enlarge it.
The OFM was sitting around being his usual worthless self thinking about fishing. He has been using fishing spoons since we got here with good success. All but one of the fish were caught on a gold spoon. The other fish was caught on a silver spoon. That makes the gold spoon a clear winner in the catching contest.
Since that is working well, we might as well experiment some more. So we took the silver spoon and painted one side white and the other side chartreuse. After letting it dry all afternoon, this evening it was given a try at the harbor.
Well we were surprised when the spoon caught a nice speckled trout. The cool weather had the trout very frisky. It took a couple of minutes to land the fish and then get it unhooked and returned to the water to grow up. So the OFM can proudly proclaim that he knows how to paint a fishing spoon to attract fish.
We call it luck but painting the spoon and trying it apparently, for him, was a great way of trying to have tooooo much fun.
