Big Black Drum

 

ADVENTURE LOCATION:

ROCKPORT, TEXAS

NOVEMBER 30, 2024

The morning started slowly and much piddling around went on. Then the OFM gave up on house work and went to the public park at Little Bay to fish or fool around. It turned out to be a wonderful day.

While there we got to help two kids learn about fishing and fishing gear. The OFM spent a couple of hours teaching fishing rod handling to a young girl and her older brother. Both of them were quick learners and soon were doing well.

We were fishing along the boat channel out into the bay and the children were quickly learning about rod handling. But they wanted to catch a fish. As you can see the boy got lucky on that issue. The girl was quickly learning some of the techniques of casting and doing really well at it, But her brother happened to put his shrimp in front of a black drum near the bulkhead and the fight was on.

We got lucky in that a very nice young man (21yo.) was nearby and came over to help when the fight began. The OFM was not able to do the needed quick responses needed to land the fish under slippery conditions. The nice young man stepped in helped the boy with the fight and land the black drum.

Then came all kinds of picture taking and hi fives etc. It was a wonderful time. Finally a good shot of size comparisons was made.

The young fisherman was really impressed with the catch especially since it was first big fish to catch. We think everyone went home smiling. Yes the fish went back into the water to fight again on another day.

For the OFM it was a wonderful day of helping two children learn the fun of the outdoors and fishing. Good Night.

YO HO HO MATEYS

 

ADVENTURE LOCATION:

ROCKPORT BEACH, TEXAS

NOVEMBER 29, 2024

It was a bit nasty and definitely cold for this area today. Not many folks were roaming around. The lack of precipitation led the OFM to do a bit of picture taking of a part of the Rockport Beach facilities near the far end of the facilities entrance. Along the the road we got a nice picture of the kids climbing structure shaped like a pirate ship. It gets a lot of use usually but not on this nasty day.

Across the street from the pirate ship is the boat launch and launch parking area. This fellow as getting ready to launch from the appearance of his equipment. It is a very good ramp and located well for the area water access.

Near the far end of the park is a pair of gazebo shaped buildings with other facilities for folks to have events. One of the buildings has an enclosed glass wall room with AC and Heat for renting for events. The other side has the restrooms for this end of the park and some maintenance rooms at ground level. The second level is a big covered patio type of deck.

This patio area can be rented to have private events up there. However the rest of the time it is open to fools like the OFM. He has spent many nice periods with his art things trying to sketch worth while scenes from up there.

On the backside of this part of the building is a ramp for wheelchairs to make it up to the two public areas.

The OFM uses the ramp for going up and down making laps to build his leg strength for his western escapades in stupidity. He found out last year jogging up it is no longer in his ability. But it is really worth while for his general aerobic health just walking up and down it.

On the way to the exit we noticed that the cloud cover we had most of the day was finally starting to break up and that is a big YIPPPEEE.

That is it for tonight but we think tomorrow may be a nice day again. Good Night.

New Full Timers Learning How

ADVENTURE LOCATION:

ROCKPORT, TEXAS

NOVEMBER 28, 2024

Good grief what a nice day this was. Lisa and Dave got to our meeting location for lunch and

we jumped right into full time Rving conversation. It was amazing all the information they were absorbing. Many questions filled the air and most were answered. We started about noon and quit around 5pm. They are a nice couple and seem to be candidates for a few years of full timing in their new motorhome.

The OFM went over with them to view the new motorhome they have purchased and the OFM thought they purchased an appropriate unit for their future travels. It seemed that they had a decent plan for when they quit work and start full timing worked up. In the mean time they plan to do some shorter trips to get used to the concepts needed, Good Luck to you Dave and Lisa. 

Cleaning The Inside

 

ADVENTURE LOCATION:

ROCKPORT, TEXAS

NOVEMBER 27, 2024

Today was household chores day. Yep even the OFM has to do laundry now and then. We are located near the campground laundry building which is very nice. So in went the laundry and money and we walked right back to the vacuum cleaner and got to work. It had been way to long since the last vacuuming and it took a bit longer than normal to get the job done.

The plan worked out well and the laundry was ready for the dryer when the vacuuming was finished. So the dryer was put to work and the OFM finished the little nitty gritty chores while waiting for the dryer to finish. Then lickity split the clothing was folded and put away in the cabinets and closet. And that part of the cleaning was finished. Now we can relax for a bit before the next cleaning effort.

Tomorrow should be a fun day since we are going to meet with a new RVer to help them get started with enjoying their new motorhome. Sleep well every one.

Crooked Trees

 

ADVENTURE LOCATION:

ROCKPORT, TEXAS

NOVEMBER 26, 2024

After a bit of thinking about it we decided to show off the Rockport city park and some of its great features in tonight's blog entry. The OFM is not up to walking three miles yet but we messed around in the park for a couple of miles in the early day. Some of his leg and hip joints are a being grouchy but we will work it out of them.

This is where we and most folks normally start the walking trail right by one of the rest rooms and drinking fountain. There is another set of facilities at roughly the halfway point of the 1.5 mile loop inside the park. Here is the start of the trail.

Just a few feet along the trail is a large kids play area with all sorts of stuff for kidding around with lots of gleeful noise.

The OFM finds all the highly twisted and mangled and tortured tree limbs and trunks interesting to see. This is a hurricane comes inland area around here fairly too frequently but it does leave a lot of decorative oak trees to view. The leaves growing and falling off can cause the tree to look a lot different depending on the leaf patterns and colors.

Twisted oak goes here

The whole trail is 1.5 miles around the outside loop and paved with asphalt. Several cut across trails also let you choose to make the walking distance be whatever you choose. We really enjoy it there for walking.

Naturally if you get in some good walking your appetite will appreciate good food later.

Tonight we had flour tortillas with BBQ sauce drizzled on them. Then several pieces of thin sliced chicken meat laid on them. And finally chopped romaine lettuce, carrots and red cabbage added. Roll the tortilla and really enjoy with good root beer. Yummy yummy great for my tummy.

After a nice day like today we are looking forward to a great nights sleep. Nite nite.

Fishing Time Finally

 

ADVENTURE LOCATION:

ROCKPORT, TEXAS

NOVEMBER 25, 2024

Well we got a good start this morning on the fishing locations check out. We picked up SFD (Super Fisherman Don) and headed for breakfast. Breakfast was good but a bit spicy for the OFM.

From there we hit up the fishing locations here in town to check them out.

The first location at the end of Market St. was a bust and we soon moved on.

The next location was the pier near the end of the road inside the Rockport Beach Park. When we parked at the pier a fellow was just leaving with a nice eating size trout.

SFD went and talked with him for a minute to see how things were out on the pier fishing wise. Then we both moved on out onto the pier.

Along the way the OFM noticed that the beach erosion was getting worse near the pier. The wooden arch in the next picture used to be a stairway over the sand dunes to get to the beach. As you can see now the dunes are gone and the waves wash well on inland farther than they did in the near history of the area.

On along the pier SFD and the OFM worked the water looking for fish to catch. When we reached the end of the pier the fishing was not really great but two speckled trout were caught. One was too short to be legal. The other was legal and here is a picture of SFD holding the trout that went home with him.

Shortly later the heat was building so we went on home to do other fun things.

The OFM started on cleaning the Castle from the trip down here but there is plenty to do yet.

So we will be inside cleaning or napping in the heat of the day and outside playing in the cooler part of the day. Yep this is a good place for kicking back as the saying goes.

Super Fisherman Don

 

ADVENTURE LOCATION:

ROCKPORT, TEXAS

NOVEMBER 24, 2024

In the excitement of getting things arranged with my friend Super Fisherman Don (SFD) for tomorrow, the OFM forgot to take any pictures today. But tomorrow the camera will get a workout. SFD and the OFM plan to check out the fishing places available to shore/ pier etc. fishing folks in this area.

Today the OFM toured a lot of fishing places but did not try them out. However we did meet a few folks frothing the water with their fishing efforts. Nothing seemed to be biting today.

The OFM also spent a good bit of the day cleaning or straightening out or getting rid of stuff. Several pieces of gear left the Castle never to need storage space in the Castle again. We are lightening our load and gaining storage space at the same time.

For those folks that have not been in this area of the country in a long time, be aware that LOTS of roadwork is being done with daily new temporary routings interfering with daily travels. In other words there is several places the travel routing can easily be misunderstood and get you in a mess. Be especially careful if you are towing any kind of trailer. That is it for tonight. Please be careful and safe having fun.

Touring The Area

 

ADVENTURE LOCATION:

ROCKPORT, TEXAS

NOVEMBER 23, 2024

Here are a few high spots in the area we got to photograph while doing chores in the area. Naturally we get to see the campsite we are in. It is right across the road from the laundry and convenient to the campground gate and the office where mail is distributed. We got lucky on this site.

Next tonight is the man made Rockport Tx one mile long special beach. It is maintained to have a gentle slope to allow supervised young children fun wading way out in the ocean and only be in two feet of water and have “ocean” waves crashing in on the beach. It is a very popular beach for younger kids to have a blast.

There is very light activity today but most of the year on Friday thru Sunday noon it is a crowded mass of kids and parents.

Nearby is our favorite fishing area because it is usually not really busy and the OFM usually can catch eating size speckled trout, croaker, flounder and a few other species fun to catch but not necessarily fun to eat like stingrays.

And what was best this day was lunch at the Vallarta Mexican restaurant n. We stopped in and overdosed on chicken tacos, yummy beans and lightly spiced fried rice done Tex-Mex style.

Then we went next door to Tackle Town to get our Texas Fishing license and drool on the lures and fishing gear before we go catch enough fish to lower the Gulf of Mexico two feet soon. No we do not keep most of the fish because the Castle only has room for about three meals worth in its freezer so most go back into the Gulf.

I wonder what is planned for tomorrow? Good thought and good night.

Planning The Fun

 

ADVENTURE LOCATION:

ROCKPORT, TEXAS

NOVEMBER 22 2024

We got the Castle put into her spot and all set up for fun and games to begin. But forgot photos during all the other things during the busy day. A friend invited the OFM over and then we walked to a gathering of campers for snacks. An incredible amount of fish lure using was discussed. Wine making was another important item of serious discussion and on and on it went for a couple of fun filled hours. Yep serious RV stuff here.

At our campground a big Thanksgiving meal day is planned and likely a bit of food will show up there for some consumption. Over all it was a great day for visiting and meeting folks of all sorts.

Tomorrow we take a break on the things from the last two days and pursue getting set up with a fishing license etc for fishing and get busy with touring the fishing locations in hopes of finding a foolish fish lurking.

The other news is it appears that the Castles two batteries are in their last death throes after 6 years of great service and will need to be replaced. When we are not plugged into 120 volt service, the batteries store the solar power that gets converted into the correct voltage for the components of the Castle as needed. So Walmart will be getting more of our money soon. And before any one tries to sell me on lithium batteries, I am well aware of their abilities and short failings. The best value as far as we are concerned is the AGM Deep Discharge Rv/boat battery and that is what we use in the Castle with great success.

For now we are planning to hit the Rio Grande river area around Rio Grande City the first of next year to enjoy the cool weather boondocking out in that area again. Will that prediction pan out? We do not know but we plan to find out.

In the meantime have a great time getting ready for Christmas. Good Night.

Lots Of Driving

 

ADVENTURE LOCATION:

TEXAS

NOVEMBER 21 2024

It was a long day but we did roll over 430 miles and three gas tank fillups today, all the way down to Rockport, Texas. That was too much for one day for the OFM. Our first night here this trip is going to be spent in the Walmart parking lot. They have a section of the parking lot set aside for folks arriving late needing a spot for the night and going to a regular camp spot the next day.

 We bet that those folks spend a lot of money in the store on those nights.

There is the new spare tire for the Castle in case we need it some day.

That is it for tonight. After all that driving the OFM is planning on some heavy duty sleeping tonight.

Brakes Repaired

 

ADVENTURE LOCATION:

I-20 in NORTHERN, ALABAMA

NOVEMBER 20, 2024

It was a long day but we did roll over 300 miles after the Castle brakes were fixed by a mobile repairman. The brake on the wheel that got shredded had a broken wire the repair person fixed. Tonight we are in a free highway department camping area for overnight folks where I-20 comes into Texas from the east.

Here is a nice picture of this one. It is fuzzy and shaky since the OFM was standing in a brisk cold breeze to take it.

We will be rolling in the morning for our next stop on the way to Rockport Texas for a month. Have fun.

Finally Got Rolled

 

ADVENTURE LOCATION:

DECATUR, ALABAMA

POINT MALLARD CAMPGROUND

NOVEMBER 19, 2024

We got rolling right on time this morning. At a nearby parking lot we did a final systems check and all systems were go. And we went.

To our surprise everything was doing well. The OFM had to do a bit of recalling towing techniques after the year and a half of not towing. By the time we got to the highway he had most of it remembered.

Everything went very well all the way to Mississippi. Then well into that state we were rolling nicely when a driver pulled near our driver side, double honked his horn and pointed at the Castle. That is pretty much the standard “something is broke” highway signal.

The OFM eased us onto the shoulder got stopped and went to look around. Yep big trouble. So we eased along the shoulder to a large parking lot . This is what we found,

After getting that changed the rest of the trip went well to the Mississippi rest area we are spending the free night at. Tomorrow we plan to get back into Texas.

The traveling feels really good. Have a good night all.

No Brakes Excitement

 

ADVENTURE LOCATION:

DECATUR, ALABAMA

POINT MALLARD CAMPGROUND

NOVEMBER 18, 2024

We were excited to get rolling very early this morning. The rig was carefully checked over and it was ready so we slid carefully from the campsite heading to the exit. First time moving in over a year was exciting. We rounded the curve and made the right turn toward the exit. A the OFM approached the exit we touched the brakes lightly AND NOTHING HAPPENED with the trailer brakes. More vigorous pushes yielded little brake action. So we steered left to go back into the park and went to our site we were supposed to go to for today. After getting parked we just settled for a bit to think about what had just happened. After the calm down period the OFM did a careful diagnosis of the situation. To cut the story shorter he eventually found a badly squirrel chewed piece of braking wire and repaired it. WOW good brakes again. But now it was too late to head on out and make it to our next goal before dark. So we stayed the day and will try to roll again in the morning.

Here is our current site and it is a pull through.

The weather was outstanding today as you can see in this next picture of late morning

We occupied ourselves with more good byes and checking the rig for more surprises. There weren't any more thank goodness.

Not planned was this test tonight of the solar panels recharge ability with area lighting for the power. The solar package the OFM designed years ago is producing 13.06 volts when the picture was taken.

Now that is decent performance in our opinion.

The best part of today was getting to say our goodbyes to a lot more folks and all the friendly conversations.

We start with warm feelings on our journey again tomorrow.

The goal for tomorrow is the I-20 west bound rest area just west of the exit to Morton Ms. From I-20. Free camping for the night there.

Every one have a nice evening and good luck to you all.

Really Happening Finally!

 

ADVENTURE LOCATION:

DECATUR, ALABAMA

POINT MALLARD CAMPGROUND

NOVEMBER 17, 2024

Twas a cold morning and the OFM did not feel like we would have much success in getting ready to travel. But It was the day to get going so we did. It has been well over a year since the last time we prepped the Castle for travel and the teams definitely took a few “overs” for things we forgot or did wrong. However, even though it took three times as long than we thought we are within an hour of being ready to roll. Everything is working out. Here is a pic taken well after dark when we quit for supper. Dark here is about 4:45 these days.

Those are not flames in the background but rather wobbly hand held images of lighting here in the campground,

We think we are within an hour of prep to be ready to roll in the morning. Our goal tomorrow is the Interstate 20 westbound rest area just west of the exit to Morton Mississippi. This is slightly less than 300 miles from our spot in the current campground. The rest Area is about 300 miles from the Texas border and the Texas welcome center on I-20 just inside Texas. That is another stop we have used many times in the past. These free rest stops really knock the cost of travel down. The best the OFM can recall the rest stops tend to be about 300 miles apart which fits us very well.

Our main goal for now is Quiet One campground in Rockport Texas for a month. After that we plan to roam westward in the free spirited deserts of the west. Everyone have nice travel dreams tonight. The OFM is having trouble accepting this is really happening after the year and a half lay off in Alabama. Good Night.

Illness Today

 

ADVENTURE LOCATION:

DECATUR, ALABAMA

POINT MALLARD CAMPGROUND

NOVEMBER 16, 2024

The morning began with the OFM feeling not so good and that continued until late today. Intestinal distress was the problem and it shut the OFM down pretty much all day. We even canceled going to see the grandson in a play. Tonight the OFM body is calmed down so we expect tomorrow to be much better. We plan to roll Monday morning toward our reserved spot in Rockport Tex. Sleep well and eat properly.

Helping New RVers

 

ADVENTURE LOCATION:

DECATUR, ALABAMA

POINT MALLARD CAMPGROUND

NOVEMBER 15, 2024

It was a very calm day for the OFM Teams. A nice walk did not happen due to the chilly temps outside. So we did some organizing for our near future travels. Moving time is quickly moving in on us.

We did get busy on tire pressure of the Castle. The tires are supposed to be run at 50 psi but were all down to about 30 psi from the long layoff from pressure maintenance of the last year and a half.

Some online reading about locations of possible interest to us got the blood flowing about rolling again. This old man needs to do some wandering again.

Our next door neighbors here at Pt. Mallard have been getting info about places to travel from the OFM. He in turn has been setting them up to learn how to mine the internet for travel opportunities. That should be a fun project to get rolling for them. The lady said she liked uncrowded beaches like on the Alabama beaches. The OFM introduced her and her husband to PADRE ISLAND TEXAS and that got there attention. They will soon know lots more options for their travels. It is great fun helping folks that want help.

That is about the whole story of today, Have fun and sleep well.

Travel Time

 

ADVENTURE LOCATION:

DECATUR, ALABAMA

POINT MALLARD CAMPGROUND

NOVEMBER 14, 2024

We now have reservations in Rockport Texas starting 11-22 at Quiet One RV Park. It is a place we have stayed at many times before. Our departure date here is 11-17. It should be an easy trip with good highways.

The walk this morning was cut short due to the wet trails from the overnight rains. We did not want to negotiate the wet trails and chance a fall.

That is all for tonight. Have a fine evening.

TURTLES AND FEATHERS

 

ADVENTURE LOCATION:

DECATUR, ALABAMA

POINT MALLARD CAMPGROUND

NOVEMBER 13, 2024

A much different walk happened this morning. We got out on time and made the trash run to the dumpsters in cool weather but still very nice. When we got to the trail along the creek we followed it for a while to a log full of turtles sunning themselves.

Check out all the turtles on the log but all around that log about twenty feet out from the log must have been fifty more turtles slowly circling the log. As you can imagine it was quite a turtle convention going on. That was a new event to the OFM.

Right after the turtles we ran into a nice local fellow and we spent about forty minutes standing around discussing life and living here all his 60+ years so far. It was a wonderful morning visiting with him until he had to head back home. Now we know a good bit more about this swamp around here.

On down the trail a bit we found where some trail walkers have started putting lost bird feathers under vines wrapping the tree trunk. This is new this year we think because we had not seen it being done before in the 13 years we have been walking this trail.

And finally tonight the OFM got this picture of the recently cleared trail going into the south end of the campground. It looks a lot better and walks a lot better without the five inches of leaves on top of the gravel trail.

We have no plans about tomorrow yet so we might have a blank screen for tomorrow. YA THINK SO?