Thursday, February 21, 2008

It's a foggy morning...

Good morning all. I'm still babying this thing along. Grrrrr!!! Haven't yet received my new mother board from Paul so I can fix this. I've even had my two USB ports go out on me for several days. So I lost my external mouse and my WiFi booster. But they're back again this morning so I can at least navigate around at a bit faster speed.

I'm not going to post any new pics till I'm fixed since I'll probably loose them all when I replace the board. Now that really makes me mad!!@#$%@! ;)

Sunday we wanted to go back to the Island again. So we headed out and was merrily driving along....till we got about 1 mile from the ferry landing. Whoe!! Traffic!!! The line was backed up for a mile to get on the ferry to cross. We turned around and decided to make it another day.
We did a little driving tour of Aransas Pass and saw a sunken fishing boat. Other than being along the water the town is just like any other town.
I'm still very fond of the quaintnes of Rockport and their multi-colored buildings and houses.

Monday we drove down to Corpus Cristi to see the Texas Aquarium. LOVED IT!!! I'll post more about it later when I can safely post pics.

The rest of the week has been rather uneventful. Just regular stuff like laundry and groceries etc etc.
I did go to the quilt store yesterday. I want to make a wall hanging in remembrance of our trip down here so I bought some fabrics that I think will tell my story. Now to just get the design out of my head and into the fabric. May take awhile. :)
Bye for now all.
Humidity: 100% in very foggy 68 degree Rockport.

Friday, February 15, 2008

I'm still hanging on here.....

Gosh....it's been almost a week since my last post. Sorry about that. After we went to the Refuge the next few days were very very uneventful so I really didn't have anything to tell you. We just stayed around the camper and I stayed off my leg. I had one day that almost had me wanting to just give up and go home so I could get to my Dr.
But the next day the knee felt a little better and I could walk better so..... we're still here. Yeah!!

I do want to tell you about the day we drove down to Aransas Pass and took the ferry over to the island again. That ferry is a blast! heehee
We had been told that was the best place to go see lots of dolphins.....and yep ..... we did. Found a parking place along the channel and sat and watched the barges and boats come and go and saw several dolphins. Of course they were all over by the other side! None of them were on our side so they were really too far away to get any pictures.
An old gentleman came along and started talking to us. Such a small world we live in. He's from Lawrence.!! And his wife's sister's husband has relatives from P-burg. He couldn't remember their names tho. hahaha
Anyway....he told us about a better place to go to see even more dolphins. It's called the City Park. Basically a road that runs along the channel with parking spots and grass and benches and a walk-out pier.
The old man was right. They were all over in that channel. I took lots of pics.... and had to delete a whole bunch because I missed the shot. haha Here are just a few of the ones I did get.

The second pic was in a little cove that people park their boats and there were at least three of the dolphins that swam in there and stayed a bit. They were probably only about 30 yards away from shore. What a blast!!
Do you see the birds on the rocks? I didn't even know they were there until I saw the pic. heehee I was so engrossed with the dolphins.
We stayed there the rest of the afternoon and watched a lot of boats come in. Then there was this BIG ship that came in called the Texas Treasure. It's a gambling ship. Can you believe it? People actually pay lots of money to go out in the ocean on that ship so they can stay below and *gamble*!! Criminy!!
See the tug boat? It was there to shove the ship closer to shore to connect to the pier. Very very interesting watching it inch it's way to shore.
On another subject......
I hope I can limp along with this puter for the next several days. I've never really thought it was quite right ever since I got it. And two days ago it locked up and I had a terrible time with it.
Well to make a long story shorter....I did manage to finally get to talk to Paul and he is sending me down a new mother board and will walk me through installing it. So until then I'll be babying this thing along.
So if I don't post it will probably be because I can't.
Grrrrrrrr!!!!!!
from cloudy and slightly cool Rockport.
Have a great day!!

Saturday, February 9, 2008

Our day Friday....

We drove up to Aransas Wildlife Refuge for the day. It's pretty good size and it's where the majority of the Whopping cranes winter. There is soooo much information about the Whoopers but I'll try to condense just a bit here for you.
Whooping cranes stand nearly 5 feet tall and their wing span measures about 7 1/2 feet across. They are unique to North America and became almost extinct due to their food source turning to farmland) and hunters mistaking them for other birds. In 1941 there were only 16 whoopers left that wintered in South Texas. The Aransas National Wildlife Refuge was created in 1937 to protect them. Over the years there has been a steady rise in numbers to over 450 in North America today. Aransas NWR hosts the largest flock of wintering whooping cranes in North America with over 280 birds last year.
Well there you go.... the details in a condensed version. I was really excited to go see some of them.
When we first drove in there was a visitors center with several displays set up with all the animals and birds that live there. Very interesting.
Then we went back to the pickup and coming right up the road by us was this armadillo. He wasn't nervous about us at all. In fact Don was able to walk right up to him.

We drove along a few viewing spots then decided to stop for lunch. I had packed some cheese, fruit and crackers so we stopped in a designated picnic area right by the water and under lots of oaks. As we sat there eating we both noticed several other people looking and pointing to something. We walked around our truck and saw a javelina right by another table of people.
I took several pics.....

He was very used to people and sure seemed to know where food was. There was another group there that had a dog and the pig wanted to go right for the dog. The owner had to keep shooing him away.
Then we drove down to the viewing tower. I (very slowly) managed to walk up to the top. Thankfully it was a ramp and not stairs. From there we could see a long way and finally I spotted three white spots. As they started walking I could tell they were big whoopers (by the size of them). It was so far away that I didn't even try for a pic. They must have been at least 1/2 to 3/4 mile away.
Back to the pickup and we drove thru the rest of the refuge looking for alligators.
No luck. Bummer!! But we did at least see a baby gator while we were at the visitors center. A lady that worked there brought it out to show us. He was about 10 - 12 inches long.
My goal for the day was to see Wooping Cranes and alligators....so I guess we did both. Even tho not exactly what I had planned for.

We came back and decided to stop for a quick bite and decided to go to the boat docking area. We found a ramshackle place called MoonDog and went in to order. It was a bar with an outside seating area and an enclosed patio area that could be opened in nice weather and then the inside bar area. We wanted to sit outside....but quickly changed our minds because it was too cold. We did sit in the enclosed patio. I had crab cakes and they were delicious!! A tad bit more expensive than hamburgers. But at least now I can say that we've dined at most of the seafood places. :)

After eating (when we came out to our truck) Don noticed one of the tires was a bit low. So this morning we found a place to go and they fixed it.
Now time for lunch and we're off to buy more groceries.
Have a great weekend all
from much much warmer and not so windy Rockport.

Thursday, February 7, 2008

Another Bird story. heehee

Good morning everyone. Yesterday Don wanted to get a haircut so I checked out a couple of stores close to the barber shop. Lots of candles, lotions, knick-knacks, wall things etc. The last store I went in had a real nice display of Jim Shore figurines. OMGosh they are sooooo nice. I finally decided on 'just one'. This is what I bought. I may go back for more! :)

Then we went to the bay wall again and not many fishing. It was pretty windy and the tide was out. But we took some bread and started throwing out the window for the gulls. I would throw and they would swoop in to grab the bread before it fell to the ground.
Then I took a piece and just held it up .... swoop & bam... took it right out of my fingers.
What a riot!! Should have heard the squeals. Me and the birds. hahaha
I asked Don to go out and stand in front of the truck so I could get pics. It took several to get the ones I wanted but you can see the action.





When we started home I saw some of the fishing boats coming in so we drove down to the docks. We found where they pull up to unload their catch of the day. These looked like oyster fishermen and they had big burlap bags filled. They would unload the heavy bags onto a pallet and would apparently get paid per bag. We sat and watched at least 6 boats. As one would leave another would back in to unload. Fasinating!
Oh....and then we found an authentic Mexican resteraunt. Yumm!!





Tuesday, February 5, 2008

Feb 5, 2008

Good morning from cloudy, windy, chilly again Rockport. But that's ok. We have had nice warm weather for several days and it really isn't cold like it had beeen. We have to stay home today anyway and wait for a guy to come and fix our water heater. The gas went out on it but at least we still have the electic heater coil. So we aren't completely without hot water. We called some guy and he'll come to the site to fix it so we don't have to pull out and take it somewhere. That's good!!

Yesterday I did get to a Dr and he give me a brace. Also suggested a walker. I had to go to Aransas to get the brace and I did look at the walkers but after putting on the brace it felt so much better and controlled that I just got a cane for now. I told Doc that I had Don as my walker. haha
So at least for now I feel like I can get around and be able to still go and do a bit. When I get home I'll go to my Dr and have the exrays and/or MRI to find out what exactly is going on in there.

Last night we went next door to our neighbors for hamburgers. They are from Ok .... North of Tulsa and really nice people. He plays guitar several different days at different jams in the area and I guess she stays busy reading and visiting with people.
I think I may do a little sewing today.
Have a good one all.
(((HUGS)))

Saturday, February 2, 2008

Saturday 2/2/08

Wow It's Feb already. Slowly time is moving right along.
First I have to tell you that I've hurt my knee really bad again so I'm going to see if I can get a Dr down here to give me a brace to help me till I can get home and go to my own Dr. It has really put a damper on my getting around. Yesterday was NOT a good day....but today is much better. I'm wrapping it and being very careful how I stand and step. So that's the reason I didn't post yesterday.

Soooo this afternoon we decided to drive over the bridge and go see the Goose Island State park. We've been told by several people that if you camp in the State Parks you don't have to have a fishing license to fish off the bank.
Now if you wade out or fish from a boat....then you buy a license. LOL
After driving through the park ($5.00 please) (Yep Jim, it's Texas. hahaha) We both agree we like where we are the best. Plus it's cheaper.

We also wanted to go to the *Big Tree*. This is the road and the Oaks that we drove through on our way.


And here is the tree. I had to sit in the truck but Don walked up close to it.
The info says it a 2000-year old tree measuring over 38 feet in circumference.

Have a Great weekend all.
SUPER BOWL tomorrow!!!