Krazy Kite

 

Adventure Location: Rockport, Texas

Today Date: 3-31-2023

It was help my friends get on the road back to Michigan day. The Teams got there on time and there was not much left to be done but it still took an hour. After all the good byes they got rolling in good spirits. They plan to be back next November.

The Castle has had a cracked fender for a few years from when a tire blew out at 60 mph and tore the Castle's fender. We had not fixed it since it was riding in place just fine with a couple of cracks. This last loop along the Rio Grande, which was great fun and CHEAP, led to the further cracking of the plastic fender. So today the OFM remembered to stop at a hardware store and get some stainless steel screws and fender washers to control the crack. Our plan was to get the pieces held in place and caulked before the cracks went completely through the pieces of the fender.

Here is a picture of the fender after the washer and screw installations. The fender fit back in place very well and the screws tightened up nicely.

After that work we got our preferred caulk out and did a relatively nice job of caulking the cracks.

This is the caulk we have found does an excellent job of caulking our RV rigs.

It does need to be painted after it cures but that is good since we can then match paint colors to the area. We use acrylic paint very successfully.

The OFM had to take a nap this afternoon so we did not get in a lot of afternoon messing around but we did get a short walking trip down to the beach park. We have gathered more information on the trail we took today for a full review in the new future. However tonight we had a nice walk and saw some pretty wild cloud formations. These really caught our attention and we took several shots of them. The one chosen for tonight was rather dramatic now but standing out there at the waters edge taking the pictures was a special experience.

And last for tonight there was also a kite flier at the beach working out with his kite. This beach is a major kite flying area and at times there must be nearly a hundred kites of all sorts in the air. Today it was only this one but it was several hundred yards from the OFM so the camera was used at about 30X and then the picture cropped to fit the blog format. It was a pretty neat kite to see in flight.

We never did figure out exactly what the kite was representing but the 20-30 mph wind had it dancing in the sky.

That was the highlights of the day and the weekend may be even more busy from the looks of all the specialty rigs in town. We will see how many ways we can find for trying to have tooooo much fun this weekend.

New Shoe Liner Adjustments

 

Adventure Location: Rockport, Texas

Today Date: 3-30-2023

We got off to a slow start this morning while choosing our new much needed shoe liners. There were several new choices for liners depending on your need. We finally chose one and took it home to be cut to fit the OFM shoe size. In they went and away we went to get on with today.

When we went to the Municipal Park to walk we ended up changing the shoestring tightness a couple of times during the walk. One of the times we pulled the new liner out and verified that we had the liner cut right.

We did. But when we put it in and tied the shoestring it did not feel right. So we redid it and found that the OFM was putting it into the shoe slightly crooked and that was not good. When we finally got it right they are wonderful. The others were definitely worn out. The rest of the walk was much better than the first part of the walk.

Tomorrow we are due to be at Don and Patsy's place to be available to help if they need it as they get gone back to Michigan for until next November. A family emergency is causing them to leave a month early.

A nice bit of the afternoon was spent with the OFM trying his hand at watercolor colored pencil art. It is definitely a new world for the OFM Teams. Hopefully the OFM will gain a bit of skill with it soon.

Tomorrow we hope to finish off the last coloring book picture and have it ready for publishing in the near future.

In the mean time we hope everyone has tooooo much fun with their own fun opportunities.

Allergy Help Worked

 

Adventure Location: Rockport, Texas

Today Date: 3-29-2023

Grocery shopping was the second thing on the agenda this morning. The first thing was to get half a Loratadine antihistamine tablet into the OFM so he can breathe. The good news is it helped a lot. The rest of the story is it took four hours to do much but since then it is doing well. During the time we waited for breathing to be better we did some expensive grocery shopping so we can eat at home better.

Thanks to the shopping trip we had some really good Stoop for supper. The main ingredients were chopped up chicken breast and the Knorr package in the picture. The OFM added some chopped green onions and a couple of spoons of powdered potatoes to thicken the stoop.

It cooked easily and blended the ingredients into a rather tasty mix.

In the bowl it was more like a moderately thick soup. However we think that some flavored with your preference of sauce tortillas would make for some really good dipping also. Naturally your choice of meat could be substituted for more variety.

We tried a morning walk in the chilly strong wind at the Beach Park. 63F and 20-30 mph wet winds was not a decent combination.

After a late lunch the OFM was starting to feel better so we went over to the Rockport Municipal Park to try a walk there. The weather was great. Out near the ball fields the wind was still a factor but the sun was out, warm and welcome. The OFM got in a mile and a half of good speed walking. He realized that his liners in his shoes were worn out and needing replacing. So Walmart here we come again. It was really nice to be able to walk well again.

The fire thorn (we think ) bushes were blooming brightly and the sunshine was making them glow beautifully.

The coastal live oak trees grow in all sorts of gnarly shapes and last through all sorts of twisting and bending by high winds. They can be pretty dramatic to see at times.

While talking at the maintenance guy at the main rest room we found out about a new trail expansion they are working on now. Part of the new trail is a remnant of an old cattle trail left over from old times ranching. The OFM has walked some parts of the new route in his meandering. It goes over to a swampy area that should make an interesting new walking area.

Here is a picture of one of the tentative entries into the new trail area. Our guess is that the soonest this will finish will be three years away.

We will enjoy that new trail greatly when it comes to being.

OK it is time to get busy resting and figuring out what we will be doing for tooooo much fun tomorrow. He He He.

Miserable Wind Today

 

Adventure Location: Rockport, Texas

Today Date: 3-28-2023

Good grief it is getting dark late these days. We cannot stop shooting pictures until it is dark as we attempt more sunset pictures. And the next thing the OFM notices is that it is bedtime.

Any way it has been a not feeling well day for the OFM. We have hope it is pollen allergies and we will live through it all pretty soon.

A trip to Walmart to check allergy prevention dope found us in the parking lot in the midst of a new shipment of pretty flowers. Naturally the OFM had to take a few pictures. We culled it down to two pictures for tonight and got rid of around 13,649 other shots.

The big trouble today was the severe winds in the area. Winds were supposedly hitting about 30 mph and it was blowing things around like old folks in parking lots. It is a good thing the OFM is about137 pounds overweight so he just waddles a little bit when going across the parking areas. However the wind did cut out our attempt at aerobic walking today no matter where we tried. Part of the lack of walking could have been some of the feeling not right from the allergies. We will find out tomorrow if the allergy dope does any good.

We started a new painting with new techniques from scratch this afternoon and it is proving to be a serious challenge for the OFM Art Team. Tomorrow may be very entertaining or frustrating. We shall find out.

Hopefully the OFM will be doing much better tomorrow and we will have a great day of trying to have tooooo much fun.

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