Income Tax Is Over

 

Adventure Location: Rockport, Texas

Today Date: 3-27-2023

Another very busy day for the OFM body. But first the most important news.

We did get to the tax preparation place and the taxes are all complete. During the explanation of the forms we found out the OFM Teams did not make enough money in 2022 to have to file an income tax return. That was good to hear. This completes the item list that we returned to Rockport to get competently taken care of . Now we are free to roam until July. Where should we go and when should we go?

Next on the maintenance list was the water heater anode rod. We got the heater drained and fairly well flushed without much trouble.

The arrow points to the threaded coupling that accepts the anode rod that protects the steel tank.

 The tank was put into service in summer of 2005 so we are getting good service from it. As Tess said it can be a bit difficult to get the new anode rod started into the threaded coupling. However we only took three tries before we got it installed and drip free.

This next picture shows the old rod in its excessively worn out status.

It had been in service over 18 months due to OFM knuckleheadedness. One year is considered a decent service time. The anode rod is what protects the steel tank on suburban RV water heaters from rusting out from the inside. Please replace yours as require and save the expensive major headache of having to replace the heater totally.

And just for fun check out this coating of pollen that gathered today on the hood of Sierra. Can you imagine a coating like that in your lungs?

The OFM has been having allergy trouble for a few days already and the worst is yet to get here.

The OFM is worn out just thinking about all the stuff today so we are going to rest and get ready for a big day of tooooo much fun.

1.5 Miles Today

 

Adventure Location: Rockport, Texas

Today Date: 3-26-2023

The OFM feet and legs woke up feeling pretty decent this morning. After piddling around an hour or so to be sure the legs could get it going, we headed to the Rockport Municipal Park to try our luck with walking for the first time in a long time. We chose the long outer loop and the 1.5 mile distance. Our speed would be allowed to be as slow as necessary to get the entire distance accomplished.

For the first few hundred meters we were being extremely careful and everything was flowing smoothly. So we went into free flow mode and sped up and slowed down as whatever seemed best for the moment.

Spring is in full get with it and the allegory pollen is in full swing also. We were moving on along pretty well for a bit and then we rounded a corner to see before us our first view of the lake in a long time. We just had to stop and enjoy it for a minute. The foggy atmosphere has made the gray overall scene.

Scattered along the path are thistle plants in beautiful purple bloom. We were able to get a fair picture of this one for everyone to enjoy.

The rest of the walk was very pleasant and gave the OFM hope that we can get back into the walking exercise mode starting tomorrow.

The rest of the day until near sunset was spent visiting folks or pretending to fish. It had to be pretending since no fish were biting for any folks we saw.

But when we went to the Little Bay boat ramp to try for a sunset picture we got a surprise of finding a blue crab claw. It is a small claw but was laying on the boat ramp like a seagull might have dropped it.

And not too long after the claw adventure it was sunset time and we shot several photos of the sunset. We think this one that also captured the bird in flight makes a nice scene.

Everyone enjoy tomorrow and join us in trying to have tooooo much fun.

More Bright Flowers

 

Adventure Location: Rockport, Texas

Today Date: 3-25-2023

Walmart had more colorful flowers on display this morning. So we got a picture of a couple of them to cheer up our day this morning.

This yellow one was dramatically bright and immediately caught the OFM's attention.

A few steps away was this light crème colored flower showing off its natural beauty to everyone that would look. We thought it was very nice. 

Coupled with the flowers of a couple of days ago, these made the flower show even more spectacular.

In the afternoon we made it down to the Rockport Beach Park area to check on the water conditions and fish catching progress.

The first section of the beach was fairly crowded and the water was nice and clear. Plenty of folks were out there making whoopy having a blast. The rest of the beach on into the park was even more crowded and this is about 1600 when the picture was taken.

To the right of the beach picture is the rock pier that we went out on to check the water and fish availability. The water condition is doing very well. Additionally the water was clearing to a beautiful green that fish love to live in. One of the fellows on the end of the pier caught a small fish and threw it back into the bay.

When we made it out to the end of the pier we had a couple of nibbles but more importantly schools of small food fishes were coming through the area and the terns and pelicans were able to catch enough of them to keep on feeding for a good while. Food fishes and nice clear green water indicate that the migration of the fish that the OFM wants to be catching may be into the local area the near future.

Tomorrow afternoon should have the crowds lessened by all the folks heading back to San Antonio after lunch. San Antonio is about a two to three hour drive from Rockport depending on which side of SA you live on.

The OFM is having a hard time deciding whether to do art or go fishing or how to do both for trying to have tooooo much fun.

Evening Paddle

 

Adventure Location: Rockport, Texas

Today Date: 3-24-2023

The day today was way to HOT in the afternoon. The OFM got a bit overheated while meandering around gathering info for a blog or several. Here was the Castle temp this afternoon around 1700.

It took a bit for the OFM to get his overheat under control but at least we can be prepared for it instead of getting caught unawares like today.

The OFM got it into his head he wanted to do some bottom fishing for black drum. So we fixed up a rod to have a bottom fishing set up. Our bait was to be some FishBites brand of bait since that was what we have available in our stock of fishing stuff. It usually works pretty good but today was a big nothing.

From where we parked this was the view south towards the Allegro Channel coming in from the big bay.

The looking back north toward Little Bay view is this one here.

For a couple of hours of fishing we managed to not lose any baits or get any bites at all. Even the birds that normally are skimming the water or dive bombing bait fish were not active. The only thing happening was the OFM getting overheated.

We finally gave up had headed back to the Castle to sweat in peace since the OFM was tooooooo cheap to run the AC this soon in the year.

Any way after supper we headed back to the Beach Park to try for some sunset pictures. We got this one we named Evening Paddle. We hope you enjoy it.

And tomorrow the OFM will be a lot more careful about the heat as he try's to have tooooo much fun.

YAHOOOOO

 

Adventure Location: Rockport, Texas

Today Date: 3-23-2023

YAHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! The income tax mess is at the preparer's location and supposed to be finalized by Monday at 1700 hours. It will be wonderful to get that headache out of the way so the OFM Teams can get back to normal for us living again.

It was another day of tee shirt and shorts weather today. The weather was not chilly but just a hint of chill if you stood in a shadow. The strong winds probably caused a bit of wind chill in the late afternoon but we could handle that just fine. Tee shirt and shorts beats coats and long johns every time.

A big surprise came in the mail today. A post card from a reader in Oregon arrived. Thank you Mick and we do plan on keeping on blogging. But do not be surprised if a day of rest from blogging happens now and then in the future. Some days the OFM is just plain old tired from his ancientness and needs a rest. And yes it is getting very close to AC time here on the Texas coast, but that means it is close to fish catching time also.

We have about fifty pics in storage that need to be process and/or culled for blog use. The weather was nice and bright today for much of the day. This was taken at the boat ramp area fish cleaning table on Little Bay here in Rockport. With days like this you can bet the crowds are coming soon.

Speaking of fishing, the OFM Fishing Team has been testing the waters for fishing daily so we will not miss a good day. We tried a new slightly heavier lure like the ones we have been having great luck with the last couple of years. The lure is just a little heavier than the Team's rod is designed to cast. Well the slightly heavier lure flexed the rod tip just enough to cause the OFM to lose about fifty percent of his casting control. Not a good thing for sure. So maybe those lure weight ratings printed on the fishing rods are real numbers that need to be paid attention to when matching a rod to a lure for casting. At least we now know.

We did get to see our first pair of porpoises swimming along the shoreline like they were hunting schools of food fishes. The direction of their swimming stayed on a straight line for a long way before they disappeared from sight. That usually means they did not detect any proper size fish for their lunch. When they swim along making erratic forays along the shore line it means food fish are roaming the area the the OFM Fishing Teams need to get busy with catching those food fishies, too.

Everyone rest up for a big weekend of warm weather and trying to have tooooo much fun.

Darrell Goza

 

Adventure Location: Rockport, Texas

Today Date: 3-22-2023

It is well after 2150 already and the blog has not been started yet so it will be written tomorrow when a less busy day is expected.

But we did have a wonderful time at lunch today with Darrell Goza who we met years ago. His nice blog is http://gozatravels.blogspot.com/ and we recommend reading it for good fun and information.

Everyone please enjoy your evening and have excessive fun tomorrow.

Good Night.

Sea Gull Love

 

Adventure Location: Rockport, Texas

Today Date: 3-21-2023

We arrived at Craigs Auto shop about ten minutes early and the shop was in full tilt. That is usual for this honest shop. They are not the cheapest in town but in 16 years of dealing with Craig and listening to others in the area, Craig has always been straight with his customers. No up selling or other garbage. Mistakes get fixed properly when they happen and that is not very often. It is always a nice experience dealing with him even when an ooops happens. His shop is very highly recommended by many of us.

After Sierra was completed we headed down to the Rockport Beach and purchased our non resident beach pass for forty dollars and headed on in to play. So did the rain. During our play time in the park this time it rained gently for about ten minutes and did not rain for about ten minutes and repeated several times.

Our favorite wood fishing pier welcomed us with wide open hand rails.

Once on the pier we tried to fish a bit but the rain was a sufficient deterrent to sticking around for long. We will be back. On the way off the pier we grabbed a bleak and gray picture of the Rockport Beach. It is one mile long and man made to have the right slope and bottom for younger kids to play on when in the small waves.

The gulls have signaled that it is mating season again and are coupling up all over the place. This sign announces it to the world.

From the water conditions we saw today and the amount of grass in the water we have guessed we are within two weeks of fishing beginning to become decent for catching many varieties of fishes that inhabit this area in the warmer months. We are ready for them. Sometimes fishing is a pretty good way of trying to have tooooo much fun.

New Day/Mail Room

 

Adventure Location: Rockport, Texas

Today Date: 3-20-2023

Terry is the lady in charge of operating the Quiet One RV Park here in Rockport Texas. She took charge a short while ago and has been causing lots of nice improvements to the place. Here is a quick look at just the day/mail room improvements she has caused to happen.

First we have a view of the day room from near the back wall. This was a serious junk room a few weeks ago when she arrived. Now look at this delightful place to enjoy.

Now we will get a look at the new wall decorations she installed to cheer this room up a lot.

Those decorations really makes it a nice place to gather and visit and talk. The OFM gives her an A++ for her efforts. This could once again be a repeating location for the OFM Teams to relax from getting worn out trying to have tooooo much fun.

Medical Bills Paid Today

 

Adventure Location: Rockport, Texas

Today Date: 3-19-2023

Let us start the day with a productive effort. It had been the first week of January since we had received mail. We had it delivered to Rockport and got it yesterday afternoon. So this morning we got started on the medical bills due. Sorting through the junk mail and the real mail was a chore. Then sorting the real mail into bills needing paying and “others” took a while. Eventually it got all done and we sped them off to the post office and mailed them late morning. That was a nice feeling to get done. Now the rest of the important mail is income tax oriented and we plan a good start on that mess tomorrow.

A trip to Walmart brought us a surprise in this COLD weather. They had received their loads of new flowers for spring planting. Like each year for several the OFM went nuts gathering all the pretty pictures of flowers to go into his reference files for art. And there was a lot of plants to photograph. But it was fun even in the cold outside. Here are two samples of the blooms all over the place.

After the Whataburger lunch the OFM succumbed to a thirty minute nap that was really wonderful. We have learned in the last few months that the OLD man usually needs an afternoon nap on really busy like today days. But we have also learned to make it a timed event with alarm clock or he will sleep way to long and mess up his night sleeping and really get his sleeping schedule messed up. Just one of the miseries of aging.

After a bit of examining the remaining paper work on the income tax the OFM decided to just get a morning start on it in the morning rather than start on it so late in the day and have to stop for the night. So tomorrow is dedicated to prepping income tax papers for getting the income tax done soon.

We got acquainted with several new folks in the campground this afternoon and had a very nice visit with them. The new lady running the campground has done lots of work on the place including redoing the meeting room. The OFM noticed that she had done a very nice redecorating of it. We took pictures of it and plan good coverage of it very soon in the blog. It is cute. In the meantime the OFM is getting drowsy and making a lot of typing errors to correct so we age bidding you good night to rest up for another day of trying to have tooooo much fun tomorrow.

SHRIMP

 

Adventure Location: Rockport, Texas

Today Date: 3-18-2023

A mess of a day and a great day depending on which time of the day it was.

Today was the campground owners day to introduce themselves to the residents and supply a great lunch buffet for everyone. The OFM stuffed himself with 492.73 pounds of delicious fried shrimp.

The owners proved to be very nice folks and their plans for the campground were exactly in line with what the OFM was hoping they were planning. This was the highlight of the day. Shortly after the OFM went back to the Castle to sleep off some shrimp gorging, a stupid migraine struck with a vengeance.

Then shortly after all the above fun, the last two months of overdue bills finally caught up with the Teams. Tomorrow is bill paying day it looks like. Hmmm did the bills cause the migraine?????

By the way the OFM computer has quit letting him send or receive emails. That is not a good thing and may require the OFM to get help. We shall see.

Later in the evening the OFM Photography Team headed to the marina to try for something in the way of a picture for tonight's blog. The lighting was very overcast so the pictures are not really sharp but here we go.

This boat is a shrimping boat for use in the bay areas. The nets are dragged on the bottom and scoop up whatever gets in the way. Then the net is brought into the boat and the good stuff is separated from the junk and put on ice until the day is over.

These next two boats are open water shrimping boats that work by dragging the nets on the bottom of the much deeper offshore water of the Gulf of Mexico. When the nets are brought up they will have more junk in them as well as shrimp and fish etc. Again the nets are emptied on the boat deck and the shrimp and fish is placed on ice and the nets put back into the water to capture more food. These boats normally will be out in the Gulf of Mexico for 2 to 5 days before they head in to sell their load of critters to the wholesalers.

Back in the marina area you will find shops like Mom's scattered around the perimeter of the marina basin. You can buy several types of sea critters there for eating or use as bait. Moms is an especially congenial family operation here in Rockport.

And the evening came to a close with a dim picture from the sculpture garden of the whooping cranes statue. It is a pretty nice piece of art and makes a good picture in better lighting but this was what we had to work with today.

The shrimp lunch certainly was a great way of trying to have tooooo much fun. YUM YUM YUM

A Favorite Walking Trail From The Past

 

Adventure Location: Del Rio, Texas

Today Date: 3-17-2023

The leg and foot have continued to heal briskly. More walking was accomplished today. And the walking today brought back memories of a walking place at Amistad near Del Rio Texas. This set of pictures were taken a couple of years ago before the OFM got the wobbles he has now but we think you might enjoy the scenery.

Our starting location is 277 South Access point and the lake was about 45 feet low at the time. Here is a picture from out away from the cliffs to see the area of all the walking fun.

We usually started about here and headed up onto the cliffs for a nice amble around the area above the lake.

For the first few feet it was gentle scrambling up the large and small rocks and was lots of fun as long as you dodge any natural critters that might be messing around in the boulders.

After the first bit of scrambling upward you get a moments breather then hit the steeper section to gain more altitude.

Then you get to the highway around the cliff that leads you to all sorts of beautiful scenery to photograph.

The OFM did this trail several times until he turned 73 a few years ago and his balance became less than needed to be scrambling like this safely. For the 13 years it lasted it was great for trying to have tooooo much fun.

Saltwater Fishing School

 

Adventure Location: Rockport, Texas

Adventure Date: 3-16-2023

First the medical report. Both of the OFM legs made fantastic recovery progress today. Right leg is around 80% today. Left foot is about 98% now. We were extremely surprised at the recovery amount. But we intend to be extra careful for a couple of more days, because the OFM is a WIMP.

We found bluebonnets growing down at the Marina today and a glad sight it was. They are very nice flowers in our opinion.

This very nice young man is the son of a long time friend and the OFM had a very wonderful day today giving him a crash course in both shore and kayak saltwater fishing in this area.

SUPERFISHERMAN

He was a quick study because he already was a great fisherman for fresh water but now with saltwater training he is known down here as Superfisherman to the OFM Teams.

We never have seen such an astute fisherman at learning saltwater style before, especially from a kayak on a day with 20 mph winds to fight. We are looking forward to more visits with Superfisherman.

As the OFM meandered the campground this evening we stumbled across this location near the laundry to get this sunset picture. The sun is not bright due to all the dirt and dust in the air from today's strong winds. But it is what we really are fighting to do outdoor things right now.

Spring break winds down this weekend and we will be happy to have it over but it really has not been bad this year. So now we are going to attempt a night of good sleep while the winds rock the Castle so we can sleep like a baby hoping for a great day of tooooo much fun tomorrow.

Healing Day Again

 

Adventure Location: Rockport, Texas

Adventure Date: 3-15-2023

With a bum right lower leg and a bum inside of the left foot we declared today a healing day and acted accordingly. The best news is the left foot made a large but not complete recovery. The right leg definitely improved but still has a ways to go yet. Notice that this means both legs made good progress in healing. Yipeeee.

To start the day we hit up the marina parking lot and was able to get a nice morning sunrise picture.

As we were leaving that area we passed near the morning beach parking area that in years past had 2-3 vehicles in it this early. Not any more. It is a very good representation of the crowding this area is having.

With all the wind and people congestion we choose to head for Rockport Memorial Park and the nice paved walking trails we have been using in the past. With bum legs the OFM chose a close to the restroom parking spot among the very few vehicles here. Then we got a drink of water and chose to take the short path around the ball fields and basket ball court. 

We wanted to gently exercise the bum body parts and not do any more damage to them from going to fast or far. We do not know the time or distance but our legs thanked us for the nice gentle workout for the rest of the day.

As we returned to our campsite we realized we had not displayed the new campsite. So here it is. That is a lot different than the last few back along the Rio Grande River.

We found out today that the new owners are wanting to make this a full time live here type of campground, so we expect we will not be here more than the month currently planned to get things done like Income Tax filing.

Since we are set up decently and we had about two months of powder desert sand living recently, the OFM decided it was time to vacuum the Castle and he was RIGHT for a change.

With less that 120 square feet of vacuum-able floor area, it is not a major job to accomplish And we finished in good time. Yep that is the shop vacuum left over from the last house the OFM used to own. It pulls too much current at 120volt for our solar system to handle it. So we have to be plugged in to use it. Straw brooms do not do a great job with powdered sand compared to a vacuum cleaner.

And now it is time for the OFM to get busy preparing for trying to have tooooo much fun tomorrow.