Little Trout

ROCKPORT, TEXAS

FEBRUARY 11, 2025

We hope this works out well but the OFM is not certain he understands all the changes Blogger is calling for. Please have patience while this old fisherman gets the knots out of the effort and learns the new system they are shoving down my throat with a rusty pitch fork

Onward to a bit of a blog effort. We hit up the Rockport boat basin this morning and had a minute of lucky success.

But that was all for today.

We chose to head back to Goose Island to check out some details on campers in use over there. All the campers look good in the sales yard but in use they are not quite that good.

We met a couple from lower eastern Michigan who were traveling in a regular van they had assembled and it was well done. They let the OFM check it out in detail. Then we got busy talking traveling and that got interesting. We talked for about two hours. The OFM gave them several more places to check out along the way back home. We hope they miss any bad weather on the trip back north.

By the time the OFM got back into Rockport he decided to go to the Beach park for a nice picture. We got a few pictures but nothing came out very well. So we chose to show this one anyway.

And then when the OFM started to write the blog Blogger seems to have taken control of everything so we will need to learn a new system we guess. Wish the teams luck with the learning,

Some back Improvement

 ROCKPORT, TEXAS

FEBRUARY 10, 2025

Well we got out and did some walking sometimes with a bit of rain falling on us. But we did manage to get in about 2+ miles in some sessions of no or near no rain so it was a good effort. The cold and wind were pretty miserable so we hid inside when they were active. Then in the late afternoon we did a bit of grocery shopping at Walmart where we found out Valentines Day is near. That is a very important day to the OFM. It is the day he was drafted into the Army in 1969 to go learn how to be a professional killer for the USA.

Today his back behaved very well and only late in the evening did it start to ache some. Thank you ibuprofen. We appreciate your help.

Good Night.

Back Trouble

ROCKPORT, TEXAS

 FEBRUARY 9, 2025

Sorry folks but the OFM has a bad lower back muscle pulled and miserable. He is eating Ibuprofen like it was chocolate candy and moaning and groaning. None of the team members can recall any sort of injury from falls, slips or any other oops. So he is heading for rest time on his bed. Good Night.

Nothing Exciting or Bad Today

 ROCKPORT, TEXAS

FEBRUARY 8, 2025

We got a good start this morning on the walking. Before the day was over we had taken nice walks at four local places good for walking. Yep the OFM got in a good bit of healthy exercise and plain old nice outdoor gentle fun.  Only one picture was taken and it turned out to be fuzzy due to OFM shakiness. No great special experiences or bad experiences happened. It was a plain old day of gentle joyousness that felt good all through the OFM body. So we leave you tonight with a big wish for you a wonderful tomorrow.  Good Night.

In Spite Of Himself

ROCKPORT, TEXAS

FEBRUARY 7, 2025

The day started well and went well especially since there were no special plans. Here are a few things the OFM noted during the day.

The porpoise critters are back in the bay complex again and giving the visitors lots of WOW check that out exclamations. But they are way too quick for an OFM to get a picture of them. But they sure do entertain the tourists from places away from the coast.

The weather was nice enough that the OFM put in a few hours fishing with just on small nibble on a lure is all.  We also did not see any other fish caught any place in the area. However this made it great walking weather. We got in a lot of walking over the course of the day and it was really enjoyable each time. We are guessing well over three miles total. It was a very nice cool day.

As night started to arrive we made a run down to the Beach Park and tried to set up for some good sunset pictures. We got one to keep.

Supper tonight was an excellent bowl of chicken noodle stoup and root beer. It had been thawed in the refrigerator for a couple of days. We were surprised to see celery pieces and several small chunks of vegetables in the stoup. The OFM  must have been cleaning out the fridge. Anyway it was excellent eating. Sometimes he does good in spite of himself. 

Have a great night.

Pretty Flowers and Planning

ROCKPORT, TEXAS

 FEBRUARY 6, 2025

Our first adventure of the day was walking the perimeter of the large roundish end of the peninsula we call The Beach Park. We drove into the park and down to the far end and got Sierra situated to wait for our return. Not necessarily in order here are several features of the round knot at the end of the mail road.  We got the walk started with a walk out and back on the wooden pier. The water was looking good but low and no baitfish seemed to be in the area.  Then back on down the big parking area to the boat channel jetty.

Out and back on the jetty on the nice dirt trail to the end with nothing exciting coming into view. 

Next was to cross the large parking lot to another large area bordering the saltwater pool on the east. We gathered a nice bit of trash in this aera and donated it to a garbage can. This line of walk headed on north along a channel to where the channel joins a bay where folks do a lot of water skiing and jet ski riding. When we turned west we found this nice batch of yellow flowers to enjoy.

When we hit the west edge of the area we turned south heading back to Sierra on the exiting road. A lot of folks spend time at the shade canopies in this area fishing from shore and enjoying themselves. When we got to Sierra we grabbed the fishing rod and hit up the wooden pier to not get a bite for the thirty minutes we spent there.

The rest of the day we spent visiting folks we know and talking about plans for the next couple of months. And suddenly it was time to head home for the night.  Good Night.

Caught One

 ROCKPORT, TEXAS

FEBRUARY 5, 2025

The fog this morning was very thick and really got in the way of driving safely. But we made it safely thanks to our careful driver. We went over to the Beach Park so we could walk safely and it was the correct choice because visibility was very minimal. Check out this rest area background.

We stood on the edge of the beach and could not see the birds in the water about thirty feet away. WOW.

But we got in a  nice two mile walk around inside the Park so we could stay off the places vehicles might get to us close to the roadways. It worked out really well.

Getting towards lunch time the fog suddenly thinned a lot and some sun came to the party. It was very welcome. So the OFM headed over to the harbor area to try our luck catching fish.  

SURPRISE we actually caught a speckled trout that measured bare legal. However it was so skinny we quickly got it back into the water to get some meat on its body.  During the twenty minute fishing  effort we got several more light strikes from small trout. So in about a month there should be some decent fishing around here,

The sun finally came out and the day turned beautiful for playing at the beach.  The OFM headed over to Goose Island SP to visit his new friend David and tell more wild tales of RVing. The after lunch part of the day was very nice and warm. Have fun friends.

DAY AROUND TOWN

 ROCKPORT, TEXAS

FEBRUARY 4, 2025

The day was busy and rewarding. The first nice event was we got in a great walk of about two miles at the Memorial Park. The weather when in the sun was very hot but the breezy shaded parts were very nice. So we chose as much shaded parts as we could find.

When we finished the walk a touch of rest in the shade and a few drinks from the water fountain sure did feel good.

We headed to the Beach Park to check water conditions for fishing but the water is still a bit cool for the fish to move inland yet so we messed around the park for a bit and this wild sky formation made its home around us for a good while.

Then we headed home for a rest moment to get over the heat from the sun.

After some nice cooling down and a snack we headed over to Goose Island SP just to mess around. We ended up meeting a very nice fellow, Dave we think. He had two wonderful dogs that we got to meet and play with a bit. Dave had lots of questions about full time rving that we tried to answer. We gave him a lead on several blogs that cover questions he needed answering.

And a TV dinner for supper put us into a sleepy mood for a long night of snoring. Good night everyone.

LOTS OF FOG

ROCKPORT, TEXAS

FEBRUARY 3, 2025

It was a slow day without excitement anywhere. Down at the Beach Park we got to meet a few folks from Canada who are roaming the USA for fun this year. They spoke pretty good English so we were able to communicate pretty well with the help of hand waving.  So far they have been having a great time meeting new folks in a new culture and enjoying it.

Other than that excitement for a couple of hours it was a very mild day. The OFM managed to get in brisk walking for a bit over two miles for the first time in several weeks. His joints seemed to be working fine again and that is really good news.

And the postal package service finally got both of our packages to the campground this afternoon. So we got all caught up on mail things today also. However no pictures were taken that came out well enough to enjoy through the fog fuzz. The OFM is trying to decide what is next for when our rent runs out in a bit over two weeks. The weather looks like it might be ok for rolling but we do not have any place pulling on us and it is pretty nice thoughts that happened about just staying here and being a beach bum in the sun for another month.  The OFM says he needs to sleep on it and we think that is a good idea. Sleep well friends.

ONE PICTURE

 ROCKPORT, TEXAS

FEBRUARY 2, 2025

Today was a day of did not happens. Basically everything did not work out such as an Amazon shipment  promised today did not show up and is now scheduled for next Thursday. But the OFM had a good lunch burger, did a lot of no catch fishing and got to spend an hour this evening trying to get a good sunset picture. Here is what we got for that effort.

And for supper he had a great bowl of homemade chicken noodle stoup and it was a major YUM YUM.

Everyone kick back and relax. Tomorrow is a fresh start for all the Teams.

Three Beaches For Playing

 ROCKPORT, TEXAS

FEBRUARY, 1, 2025 

How about a brief tour of three different areas to give you more choices of what to play with. First we have the area with the best morning sunshine to enjoy. 

This is a main fish catching area with the wooden fishing pier on the right and the Allegro Jetty on the left and a big parking lot with restrooms etc behind us. It is a good fish catching area most of the time.

On around a paved circle from the spot above we come to a long sloped out into the ski basin beach with good fishing and cabanas with trash cans and picnic tables where you can set up for the day. Nearby are portable toilets for our pleasure. This is an especially good bird watching and photographing area.

And now we go on around the big circle and join the main road inside the Beach Park where the view from the road is the main playing area with restrooms, tables, cabanas and trails through the small dunes to the sand beach like most all other decent beaches. OFM forgot to get a beach pic. But take our word for it the beach is a mile long with shallow slopping beach bottom so very small kids to tall adults can find some depth of water to have great fun in.

The entrance fee for motor vehicles is $10 an entry or $40 for the year starting on January 1. We easily use up $40 of fun in the first week. This is not a place out in the middle of nowhere. It is about in the middle of the tourist services part of town with Walmart and several decent eateries close by.  It definitely is designed for all ages of folks to have something to make them glad they came by to visit. At least the OFM thinks it is like that.

Have fun outdoors folks.

ANOTHER BUSY DAY

 ROCKPORT, TEXAS

JANUARY 31, 2025

WOW what a busy day it was. Beautiful weather and a big surprise a few hundred pounds in size. But now the first things first. We got in several walks of about a half mile each during the day and also got to have three great visits with new friends from the RVing world. We are really fortunate to meet all these new folks from all over North America.

Down in the Beach Park this morning the winds were a bit busy blowing the team around. Here is a picture of the clouds in the sky while we were getting beat-up on the walking trail.

More wild clouds down at the wooden fishing pier. 

On part of one walk the concrete barrier wall is inviting to walk on top of it along the boat channel leading to the open bay. So the OFM was lolly gagging along it when a porpoise surfaced right next to us and splashed us with water and caused the OFM to nearly jump out of his skin. We still think the porpoise did it on purpose. Here is a picture where we were at for this excitement.

That was definitely a heart rate increasing event!

We had another very nice sunset again tonight. It sure puts a great end to another wonderful day. 

Good night.

Very Busy Day

 ROCKPORT, TEXAS

JANUARY 30, 2925

The pace of things was fast and ferocious for the whole day until dark tonight.

Early this morning our supper meal was on my mind. We have food prepared and frozen as well as things to prepare. So the OFM chose homemade chicken noodle stoup for supper tonight. What caught us by surprise was the quantity of already prepared and frozen meals in the freezer. Twelve meals ready to thaw and eat were awaiting our choice for tonight. The OFM thought we had about four or five. The OFM needs to be careful about the meal planning in the future so we do not end up wasting food.

We headed out to the Municipal Park walking path in late morning when the outside weather was getting pleasant at 73F. As we strode along in beautiful weather we were thinking about if we want to change over our RV style to van life style. It has several nice features to it and we have been putting a lot of thought into deciding about moving away from the Castle. It was a November 2006 model and we have been living full time in it since July of 2007 and it has about 100,000 miles on it according to our records. We can see the wear and repairs and maintenance evidence in the unit.

As the OFM wandered along he looked up from the trail and saw this ahead.

We have been watching this pair of rving vans overnighting here and there in town. From the legal and free night spots that they have been choosing it has been obvious they know what they are doing, So when we got close the OFM deviated over to their parking spot and was able to get a huge amount of reasonable information from them about that style of legally camping,

It turns out it is a daughter and dad team. He is about 84 and has a huge long time of rving. They were very helpful and knowledgeable. He has lots of years of going out on the road for a few months often. They turned out to be a wonderful source of excellent information for the OFM.

Now we jump ahead towards sundown.  We wanted to try for a great sunset for a change so we went back down to the beach park early to get in some more walking exercise. This time we chose on the beach to see what junk is washing ashore.

The tide was way out and lots of the beach was huge.  Lots of the regular stuff was on the beach from the waves bringing it ashore.  We say one trinket lying in the sand all by itself and we got a picture of this 1 inch across item.  What is it?

Other than that trinket the beach was just the usual grass and some oyster shells.

Soon it started to get into sunset mode and we quickly headed to a spot at the harbor that we hoped would make a good sunset location. After we got there we had doubts about the spot but it was tooooooooo late to go any place else so here it it for your enjoyment.

After that effort was over we headed home to attack that chicken noodle soup with a vengeance. And then it was time to prepare the blog for tonight.

We hope everyone enjoys the stories tonight and we get some more for tomorrow. Goodnight.

LOTS MORE FOG

ROCKPORT, TEXAS

JANUARY 29, 2025

We got things going in a fog for most of the day. Virtually all day there were significant patches of fog interfering with blog efforts. The OFM is hard headed and kept on going. Frequently driving was a challenge due to the fog density in town. But we saw no wrecks due to fog.

When we got to the entrance of the Beach Park where the American flag is proudly flown, here is what we could see from about thirty feet away in Sierra.

We meandered the whole park this morning looking for photo opportunities but even the long main wooden pier was heavily socked in.

We did not see or hear of a fish being caught of any size.

Back over by the Saltwater Pool we grabbed this picture of a lady meandering the perimeter for fun. 

Activity around town was not very high due to the dampness and visibility being troubling.  Tomorrow promises to be a better day for pictures, but we will just relax and let it happen. A couple of long naps after especially good meals also sounds very inviting. Where is the Tex-Mex menu?

FOG

ROCKPORT, TEXAS

JANUARY 28, 2025

Fog was the trouble maker today. Driving required great care for most of the day. Here is a picture we got at the beach park boat ramp area.

The fog lasted pretty well all day in this density or worse. Not everyone slowed their travel speed down decently. The OFM Teams definitely took lots of evasive effort while on the road or in parking lots.

It was a very subdued day outside but inside we did get some cleaning done for a change.

The temps out side were in the mid to high fifties and the fog very wet. We hope every one had a great day and it gets better tomorrow.

 

Get The Story Right The First Time

 ROCKPORT TEXAS

JANUARY 27, 2025

The OFM thought he had the correct story earlier today when he was spreading stories about our water supply failure situation. Well late in the day we finally got the correct story. So if you are one of the folks that got a different story, this is the real story and not wild fables other folks were spreading in the area.

The campground had lost all water in the afternoon. The OFM asked around and got himself suckered into a wild figment of another persons concept of reality.

Late this evening while walking towards a plumbing truck working near the entry gate to the campground, the campground manager stopped me to let me know about what had been found and repaired. Upon personal inspection and doing some plumber talk between the OFM (plumber while paying his way through college) the plumber got the real story and it was simple.

The campground first valve coming from the city main had split yesterday effectively cutting all waterflow away from the campground.  This photo you are about to see is where the plumber moved the new valve to above the likely high water line of a hurricane flood. The old valve had been in the line buried in the salt laden slop mud for dozens of years.

With the newer metallurgy of the valve in the air instead of in the salt mud the OFM figures on at least fifteen years of service. That means that the OFM with 9.9 years left of life according to cohort charts he looks at will not get to see the replacement valve in 2035.

That was the big event in the area for today. Have a great evening.

PLAIN OLD DAY

 ROCKPORT, TEXAS

JANUARY 26, 2025

Today was just a nice day front to back. The OFM met, at different times, three very nice retired ladies new to the area and was able to give them information that helped their tour of the area. One of them is an RVer and got a tour of the Goose Island Fishing Pier and some fish getting caught.  Speckled trout and black drum were the stars of the show. Other than that it was a very relaxing day but incredibly foggy.

It appears the cold is pretty well over and warming began today. The forecast is for pretty nice warm weather for a couple of weeks at least. Now the OFM needs to figure out what he needs to get busy on for our future  Have a great evening..

Another Laid Back Day

 ROCKPORT, TEXAS

JANUARY 25, 2025

It was a wonderful laid back day all day. We went and visited a few old friends. Tim that lives full time on a houseboat in the harbor had some good stories to tell and we got in some good giggles at his place. We visited a few other locations around the area and looked at other places for potential living locations. All in all it was just a great kicking back time the whole day. We sure hope ya'll all had some good visiting's and funny stories. Good night. 

Wonderful Day

 ROCKPORT, TEXAS

JANUARY 24, 2025

We awoke to a beautiful sunshine filled day to go play in, so we did. Even thought the OFM was not feeling well for such joint activity, he headed down to the Beach Park for some good walking with short loops back near Sierra so it things went bad we could get back to Sierra easily. As it worked out his leg and hip joints limbered up and we made about a mile looking at the gorgeous water scenery littered with water birds of all sorts.

This got us over to another area where we put in about a half mile of walking just admiring the water and shore line. And then since the shoreline was so nice we headed to the Memorial Park inland to check out the situation over there.

It turned out to also be a great day and place for walking. However the OFM proved he needs a brain replacement because he left the camera in Sierra and did not get any more pics and the area was beautiful today.

Back home we hopped to and did the laundry without any error we think. We did a bit of housework while the laundry washing and had a few moments of Root Beer time to enjoy.

And all this was done before lunch.  So we hopped on over to lunch burger location (Whataburger) for a relaxed lunch. Since the OFM was doing so well we slid on over to a campground from a few years ago and visited with old friends and new friends. And it was a wonderful visit.

So when it was all said and done we had a WONDERFUL DAY. 

Hearing Help Request

 ROCKPORT, TEXAS

JANUARY 23, 2025

We finished off changing our sleeping arrangement for colder weather like we recently endured locally. Now we will add a rated sleeping bag to our sleeping gear. We feel that it will be a nice comfort for the occasional time we might need it when boondocking. So far that frequency has been about every third year since we got the Castle.

Then virtually all the rest of the day was spent putting together an attempt at filling out and filing an application for help with hearing loss due to service in Viet Nam in 69-70.

Texas has a group that helps American veterans file for possible financial assistance to repair or fix in some way damages the vet got during service for the country. They have agreed that the OFM has a reasonable case to file for assistance. It took up most of today because they are fairly thorough with the getting the information for the request in good order for success. The OFM request was put into the mail today. This means we will likely stay in the area for a few weeks while the mail and the VA does their job. 

Other than this effort we mostly just piddled around relaxing more than usual on an overly cool day. Have fun friends, we will be doing our best at it.

JUST LOOKING AROUND THE AREA

 ROCKPORT, TEXAS

JANUARY 22, 2025

Not a lot went on and not many folks were out messing around either. So we joined the folks goofing off and did not even trip a camera shutter all the day. The weather was decent and the bird watching was so what. The Chicken tacos were very good. Sleep well every one.

ICE COATING

ROCKPORT, TEXAS

JANUARY  21, 2025

We got a coating of ice last night to make things a bit slippery all over town for morning driving. The town leaders had done a pretty good job of blocking many of the slippery roads so the OFM and Sierra was able to safely move around town safely. Being extra careful on the driving probably saved us several truck body dents. Even the fishing jetty at the Harbor had a coat of ice on it. Notice the white layer of ice on the rocks.

Sierra's windshield and body had a solid layer of ice on it. We took our time de-icing Sierra before running around town having fun so we  would not get Sierra all banged up.

Next for tonight is a picture of the last floral arrangement the OFM has been working on. We consider this as finished for now as we have realized this painting needs a bit of technique the OFM does not know how to do yet. So it will sit in the storage box until I learn the new technique of what the OFM calls fading. He hopes to learn the proper name when he starts to study the technique.

Good Night Everyone.

COLD NORTH WIND

 ROCKPORT, TEXAS

JANUARY 19. 2025

It took a good bit of time to get the camera working again but we did it and after lunch we finally got to start planning tonight's effort at having a blog magically appear. But here it is.

Enough pictures and adventures happened that by the time we got into the blog production it was late in the day. But we did find a few nice interesting pictures to carry over to tomorrow.

Later in the afternoon we got on down to the beach to try out our "repairs" and found we needed to do some fine tuning. We never did find out why the camera went haywire but it did and now it works right again. ???????? Maybe.

The cold north wind was roaring for most of the day so we had no trouble getting a picture of the flag ripping wind working on the flag.

That flag is located just past the pay stations to drive into the beach area.  Walking in is free.

We just encountered another glitch and will publish this and get busy on the new  FUN.                    

Camera Failure

ROCKPORT, TEXAS

JANUARY 18, 2025

We spent most of the day checking out other campgrounds and their prices looking for a better place to be. Here is what we have learned. Nothing in the area is appreciably better.

Our camera has died and none of the pictures came out well or close to usable. Of course it is about ten years old had has had a lot of rough work to do not the least is a couple of salt water soakings. Time to shop  for its replacement. Canon quit making this model years ago to my regret. So there you have the exciting day we experienced in Rockport Texas.

Bland Day

ROCKPORT, TEXAS

JANUARY 17, 2025

We got off to a slow start in doing things this morning like checking other folks fishing. Nope nothing being caught. The OFM did get in about a mile of cold walking.  There were enough folks out to have a few conversations about the three days coming up with predictions for freezing temps in the mornings. The OFM will not be an early activity person those days. Other than that the OFM just laid around and messed with his computer. Ya'll have a nice night.

Too Many Pictures

 ROCKPORT, TEXAS

JANUARY 16, 2025

The OFM has more pictures to cull and get ready for publishing than we can do in an evening.  So tonight is a work night on getting pics ready to publish tomorrow night.  I hope it turns out to be worth the effort. 

A lot of the pics turned out to be not so good so we eliminated them. We also managed to get it down to four pics to show you nice folks. Here is the four we chose to show. Keep in mind this is the exact picture recorded except for cropping some excess from the pic for a better dramatic effect.

Mail Arrived

 ROCKPORT, TEXAS

JANUARY 15, 2025

It was a dreary day for sure and a loop through the beach Park showed that even the seagulls did not like it out there today. So we headed home to piddle around waiting for some mail we hoped would come in today. The light drizzle and 50F wind stopped any outdoor walking except inside Walmart with about a store and a half worth of folks filling it. OK back home to the warm Castle.

Shortly later we checked if the mail had come and it had. We got on over there, grabbed the package and made it home without tooooo much getting wet.

We were excited since it was supposed to have two new adult coloring books about National Parks. They were in the package. Close examination showed that the images will take a LOT more artist (colorist) work than what the OFM is used to doing. it is time to step up the coloring quality we guess. We did a careful guess and it seems that at our normal coloring speed we have about 3-4 years of work available now. At least we will have something fun to do for a long time now.

Every one have fun. I am going to play with my coloring stuff now. Good night.

Leaving Rockport Canceled

 ROCKPORT, TEXAS

DECEMBER 14, 2025

Today turned into a special day. The OFM got in touch with the Texas advocate that helps damaged veterans file claims for help due to injuries during service in the military. The OFM met with him this afternoon and discussed a few items of interest. The advocate said the claims have enough justification to file claims and see how it works out. So we started the claim process with the VA to find out if the OFM TEAMS should be getting compensation for hearing loss due to the events in Viet Nam he was required to participate in during combat.

We also had over an hour conversation about left overs from other undesirable events during during his service time. It looks like we will be here in Rockport for a good while while testing about the situation is completed. Hopefully all of it can be repaired or fixed is some way or another. We will see what things work out like.

Have a great night everyone.

Amazing Miracle

ROCKPORT, TEXAS

JANUARY 13, 2025

A miracle happened today. The OFM actually finished all the work on the Castle and it is ready to roll RIGHT NOW. We were wondering if this time would ever come again, but it is here. Of course the weather is acting up. Since the first idea we had about some changes to the Castle did not come close to working out, we scrapped the whole idea and went back to full boondocking mode of completion. And today to our surprise everything fell into place and was completed before lunch.

We now have January 21 as our last night in this campground, When we head out that day the goal is to wander our way to Falcon State Park in Texas down on the Rio Grande near Roma Texas by any route that suits our fancy at the moment as long as we get there by mid May.

As we practiced meandering to get back in practice we crossed paths with this wild sky to admire.

A few miles later we spotted these oystering boats working the oyster beds out in the bay. They run around in circles scraping the bottom with special baskets to bring the oyster shells up to the boat to be sorted (culled) and proper size oysters are harvested and brought in to the docks to be sold for eating. The OFM used to do this by wading out on the reefs in Galveston Bay with a garden rake.  It was a lot of work and the OFM never did like eating them. But some members of his family really liked them.

We plan on some serious rest tonight. Everyone have tooooo much fun.

SURPRISE ARRIVAL

 ROCKPORT, TEXAS

JANUARY 12, 2025

We got a nice surprise this morning when the battery box we were waiting on due in on next Wednesday showed up in the mail room about noon. Now we should be able to get the battery replacement project completed tomorrow. YIPPPEE.

Next on the agenda is to try to get the rest of the Castle organized for a short romp along the RIO GRANDE RIVER of about three months. We do not have any really fixed plans but to enjoy the freedom of rolling.

The really big news today is that New Mexico finally put their new high prices for State Park camping into practice. Check them before you go since they went up quite substantially.

And that is about it for tonight, Sleep Well.

Wild Color Beach and a Pile of Pelicans

 ROCKPORT TEXAS

JANUARY 11, 2025

We got of to a cool start this morning and headed to the Beach Park to scare up some wild morning excitement. The first pictures were the morning sun on the water and the color change we got shooting a few original pictures. We did not do anything to cause the color special effects so we have no idea how this effect happened.

Then a few minutes later we scared up a photo of a large bunch of pelicans just pelicaning around on the island in the middle of the ski basin. Looks like a very happy bunch doesn't it.

Before the day was finished we got to talking to Jeff about his camping van and ended up talking for a couple of hours. Jeff was a very entertaining man to talk traveling and RViing with. Jeff is based in Wisconsin and is making a big loop out west to see what more there is to see and experience. He quickly got out his yellow writing tablet and made lots of notes about places to check out. As it worked out we had some common great experiences in a few western states which made great story telling. Jeff take it easy and be safe. And yes you did get my feet to itching even more.

Goodnight every one and sleep well.

Back Is Mending Well

ROCKPORT, TEXAS

JANUARY 10, 2025

Not much excitement today. The OFM back had about a 85% recovery over night so it seems he will be ready for more battery play when the carrier gets here in the next few days. Then we can wrap this event up and be ready to roll maybe.

We seemed to be having a problem heating the Castle during this cold spell even though we were only seeing cold temps in the 40F range for the coldest. In the years before this rig handled 11F without any trouble at all. So we went to searching for an air leak. We found one about 3/8" wide and 20 inches long in a window seam. Repairing that made a huge difference in less than ten minutes. The electric heater had to be cut way back to keep us from being cooked inside. We are running it on the 500 watt setting and it is cycling on the thermostat. Yahoo for us.

A trip out to the Beach park after repair celebration was over netted us three picture so we could have something to talk about.

The American flag and the Navigation district flag on the same flag pole were having a flapping contest to see which one could flap the most in the stiff wind. We called it a tie but feel free to make your on choice.

The nice fish cleaning facilities were not being used today from the looks of them. The fish cleaning tables were dry. Usually there is residue from the cleaning activities if anyone is fishing around here. But today it looked like complete non use was the story. After all it was a day of a high speed very cold wet wind,

On the way out of the park a new to this area van dweller was spotted just outside the entry to the Beach Park.  Later in the afternoon the van was still in the same spot. The Navigation district does not allow overnight camping in the harbor parking lot so the van will be gone by 2300 to somewhere else in town.

For supper tonight we had some very good pork chop stoup and hot tea.

Well that is all the excitement for today. Every one please be safe and have fun.

Back Is Recovering

 ROCKPORT, TEXAS

DECEMBER 9, 2025

We awoke to a cold drizzling rain. We are going to bed tonight to the same drizzling rain. It has done that mess all day and it was not nice. We toured the area looking for a nice picture. What we have is a good shot representing the whole day. It is a photo of the pretty day over at the Saltwater Swimming Pool in the Beach Park. Ain't that some great color and yes it is a color picture.  We saw exactly two other vehicles in the park.

 
Good night and sweet dreams.

Sore Back For Sure

ROCKPORT TEXAS

JANUARY 8, 2025

We decide today was the day to tangle with the battery situation. So we started unpacking the bedroom and stacking stuff all over the place to allow the OFM to be able to work in the area under the bed where the batteries have lived for the last 15 years. It is a very cramped area to say the least.

One of the batteries has already been removed when this picture was taken. The next two shots were from the same spot but just turning around to show all the stuff stacked around to make room to get to the battery area.

One battery had ben removed already before the OFM remembered to take pictures. This area had to be squatted in to fit down into it to get to all the wiring. those 45 plus pound batts left the OFM with quite a sore back tonight. Ibuprofen is my best buddy tonight.

The new battery box will arrive in two days and we can start on the outside work that has to be done. We are feeling like moving the batteries to the tongue of the trailer will be better at this stage of our Rving life.

Now we have to be very careful to route the wiring carefully so we do not cause a short circuit fire to happen. We checked around and found that Walmart would take the old batteries for disposal at no charge even though we did not purchase the new batts from them. That is really nice. We also found out loading them into a shopping cart was a serious effort the OFM does not want to do ever again.

And that is about it for today. The OFM  is heading for a bowl of Ibuprofen for supper so hopefully he will be able to sleep comfortably tonight.

Changed Battery Plans

 ROCKPORT, TEXAS

JANUARY 7, 2025

Nothing went as originally planned but things went well but cold. We went to the beach park early this morning and it was totally empty. We opened a window on Sierra and the wet cold was way too much for the OFM to be running around outside. So we headed to Walmart to buy fresh vegetables to use for stir frying some thin strips of pork chops tomorrow. We haven't had a decent stir fry in weeks. That will get fixed soon. The small bell peppers looked especially tasty this morning. We shall see what tomorrow says on that subject.

The new house battery for the Castle arrived four days early this morning. The OFM found out that 47 pounds weighs a lot more these days than it did five years ago the last time we had to change out the house batts in the Castle. This is a group 27 size battery.

This is the battery still in its shipping box sitting just inside the Castle door. As it turns out we have decided to go back to having the house battery on the trailer tongue behind the LPG tanks like most travel trailers do it. The best we can recall we moved the batteries inside the trailer about ten to twelve years ago. There was a bunch of battery stealing happening to boondockers out in the deserts at that time that had tongue mounted batteries. So we have to do a little un-remodeling to the Castle to allow the relocation to happen. Then we will safely be able to use cheaper vented style batteries. Lithium seems to be the big target now days.

In the mean time the cold weather and the north winds blowing a lot of water out of the bays has made the fishing not very desirable for any fishing effort on our part.

Stay warm and relax for a few days is our big plan.

COLD DAY

 ROCKPORT, TEXAS

JANUARY 6, 2025

Twas a cold day to be outside for having fun with the wet cold strong winds we are having for a couple of days. We did go to the Beach Park to check out the weather and chose no thanks to that mess.

We piddled around with nothing much for a good while back at the Castle. Suddenly the OFM got the idea that maybe the Rockport Municipal Park might have enough trees to block the wind. So ZOOM off we went. When we got there it looked very pretty with the nice blue sky and nearly no folks out there.

So we hopped to and got a walk started towards the back of the park and the ponds.  Very quickly we realized that the wind was still a major player in the misery game and was winning the competition to get through the trees and brush. We pushed on to get into the ponds area in hopes of a good picture for today, Well here is the best we got.

Well where it was clear and pretty it was damp and cold. Back in the trees and brush where it was less windy it was less of a nasty feeling. So we grabbed a couple of pond pics and headed for the truck.

Back at the Castle we spent some more time figuring out where to go next and when to go. So now we still have no good idea of what to do until this serious cold spell is over. Historically this area has its coldest day of the year on January 19 and warming gets busy happening after that.

And that was as exciting as it got.

Tomorrow we plan to make contact with the Texas office that helps Texans file for compensations for things that happened while in the military like the OFM getting sprayed often with agent orange and many other nasty things.

We will see how that goes.

Have fun and sleep well. Good night.