That's me sitting with James & Gypsy from SSUMC West who are also here at Lagoons. There were 2 other couples with us at the table & so we are getting acquainted.

We sang in choir this morning at the non-denominational church service. Think there were 16 of us in choir & we sang "Lamb of Glory". It was a good message and meaningful worship service.

Today has been the coldest since we left home and we sure hope they are right that it will be warmer tomorrow! Know we shouldn't complain when we look at all the snow pictures from Radawna & Ken Cole in Amarillo.

Sunday, January 31, 2010

This was taken Saturday evening at a dinner at the activities center. People were in line to get their food. It was very casual and we had a good time visiting.

This was a huge, beautiful live oak tree in the park--must be very old!

We drove on from the park to Port Lavaca and did a bit of drive around there to see the town and beach area. Found a seafood place for a late lunch and had grilled shrimp salad--yummy! We were about 50 miles east of Rockport and came back just a little after 3 p.m.

Norma, our housekeeper, called while we were eating to tell us that her nephew-in-law had driven her to our house and both house & cats were fine. She had left them extra dry food on Wed evening but this is the first she was able to go back to feed them. I'm sure they were glad to see her!

This is a view of one of the beach area camping areas. Looked like they were all fishing. There were also some really nice picnic areas so we might go back with a picnic when it warms up. It was about 50 while we were there which is too cool to sit out and eat for us.

Our next stop was at Goose Island State Park. The nice lady gate keeper told us about the Blue Bonnet Pass for all TX state parks for those over 65--once in awhile there are some perks for being so old!

We made a swing thru all the campgrounds. Some really beautiful secluded sites with water & electric. This was one of the sites occupied only by these 3 deer. Very healthy looking deer. There also was a campground with sites close together and then a couple which were on the beach which also had water & electric.

We stopped along St Charles Bay amidst the fishing piers. Sure could smell the fish even tho the only ones fishing were some sea gulls. We also saw two white pelicans but didn't have a place to pull off to get their picture. Maybe another day.

Saturday January 30, 2010

It was cold--38 degrees--when we got up so Bob found a SyFi movie made the year son Mark was born, female star was Natalie Woods, & we had our coffee & cereal while we watched. Ah, the joy of retirement!

Decided we should do a short day trip and so headed across the big bay to the east of Rockport, Campano Bay. This is a view from the bridge.

January 29,2010

Lazy Day!!

It rained all night and if you have ever slept in any kind of RV, you know that it is truly noisy when rain is hitting your roof! So we slept late, sat in our jammies and drank coffee and didn't stick our noses out the door until afternoon. But our friends Don & Dorothy came over to visit and we had a good time with them.

We spent quite a bit of time catching up with e-mails and managed to get back on Facebook so caught up with the news there, too. Lots of snow pictures & friends saying it is too bad we missed the storm--gee, we thought we were lucky! The weather channel said I-40 was closed from the OK border to the NM border still at noon today so we just are glad we weren't planning to travel across the panhandle!

Our big event of the day was going to the campground office and making a reservation for the winter of 2011! We really like this site & the location in the campground & had learned that if you are here on Feb 1 you can have first dibs on reserving it for the future. So Janda, we are like you & Lyle and planning our trips in advance.

God is good all the time!

This was the first pic I meant to post. It's when we first arrived at Lagoons RV Resort. Our site is about fifty feet long. plenty of room for the Winnebago Outlook, PT Cruiser, table and chairs along the side, a big live oak behind the motor home, and a nice patio with picnic table in the rear. We barbequed steaks Tues. night and I'm grilling hamburgers for this evening.

I spent about an hour enjoying a variety of songs. There were five guitars, including a steel guitar, two fiddles, a mandolin, a banjo, a zither, and even a washtub bass. What fun!

Twice a week musicians throughout the park gather for a string jam session. Apparently, this one was an additional impromptu gathering that I happened on as I was strolling around yesterday afternoon.

This is looking toward the street from behind our big tree. The campers are really close together but everyone stays on the street to ride bikes or walk. We are only about a block to the activities center and make several trips there each day.

Thanks Matt for taking time to figure out what we needed to do to post the photos!

Bob is going to add some from yesterday when he went to listen to a group "jamming"--we are hoping they will do it again!

It's 70 degrees but with some wind. But then after looking at the snow pictures from Amarillo today, I'm not complaining! We have been out running to Aransas Pass to do some banking etc and are finding our way around. Bob's woodcarving show is there on Feb 6 & 7. I even went out today by myself, only about a mile away, but I thought I did well to not get lost in the campground :-). Our picnic table is right behind me & the fence is the back of the site. Narrow spaces but quite deep.

This is looking toward the back of our site which goes back to the fence. Our picnic table is to the left of the tree.O

Bob & Sandi's Travels

Surprises today! I set the smoke alarm off twice! Must be pretty sensitive! At least toasting my English muffin a second time--it didn't burn either--set it off and then cooking a bell pepper & some onion for wraps for lunch did it again! Gets you awake for sure. Good thing Bob is tall & can reach it.

We went to a stretching class this morning called "Qigong" & it was just what I needed for my shoulders & neck! We are both feeling it in some other places, too. All standing up but reminded me of yoga as it concentrates on breathing as you do the movements. They have the class on Wed & Fri a.m. for an hr and I want to go again on Fri--that's another surprise that I enjoyed it and could actually do it!

Went to HEB for groceries after Bob made some phone calls. Didn't need a lot but thought if it starts raining like it is predicted that we would rather do it today. And driving back in the campground to our site, who did we see but James & Gypsy Harrington talking with Don & Dorothy Travis!! Don said if he'd known we were going to be here, too, he would have notifed the police :-). We didn't know the Travis' were here & what a nice surprise that was!

Then just as we finished eating our lunch there was a knock on the door and it was Don & Dorothy & we had a nice visit. Unfortunately they are leaving on Mon headed to Austin to see their grandchildren and we said they could go see ours, too. In fact we pointed out their photos hung on the frig so in case they saw them out on the street they would know they were ours--ha. Great to have surprise visitors at lunch time.

Seems as tho it was a surprise to our grown children that we could do something like start a blog--fun to surprise those middle-aged folks now & again! Even old folks like us can learn new things.

And Carolyn is reminding me in her e-mail this morning that we said we were going to relax and be laid back on this trip so guess I will go and read for a bit. Bob is off listening to a bunch of guys "jamming" with fiddles, banjo, zither, etc down the road a bit. It may be so peaceful by myself that I can work in a bit of a nap! Yawn.

Bob & Sandi's Travels

The day started out great! New e-mail photos of our great grandson Will in MN. He is 6 month's old now with the biggest big blue eyes & huge toothless smile! And we had an e-mail from Austin of our 19 mo old granddaughter, Piper, sent last night of her chinning herself on the ladder to the slide with an amazing smile. What a way to start the day!

Today was an explore day. Both in the campground and in Rockport & Aransas Pass on foot & by car. We took several long walks around the campground, meeting another couple from the colonies in Amarillo as well as talking with lots of dog-walkers. The TV weather said it was 69 today but there was wind & we didn't feel like it was warm enough to sit out altho we did get the chairs out & awning down. However, many were in shorts & sandals! We found the important things near-by like HEB, Walmart, the visitor's center and the Civic Center where Bob will be in a woodcarving show. Found the laundry rooms (2) & the library here at the activities center. The day went all too quickly!

Thanks Gayle for the great journal of your cruise to South America--we really enjoyed reading it. And Janda & Lyle we wondered if you saw the news about the slides & trapped tourists at Machu Piccu? We saw pictures of them taking the elderly & women out by helicopter after 3 days. How long do you think it will take for them to get it repaired? I am so behind in answering e-mails but did get 3 birthday cards mailed today :-) so I should get some good points! And Michael, once you are retired, this is just travel; not vacation! And we are always too busy to sleep late--too many fun things to do.

We did buy a card reader for the laptop today & hopefully will be able to try it out this week. Looks like Amarillo is going to have a stormy day on Thur & Fri we are expected to get rain, cool & wind so that may be the day we stay in and work on it. We'll see.

Drop us a note & let us know what is happening at home! Or where ever you are!

Bob & Sandi's Travels

Great Day!

We didn't have so far to go and felt more confidant with pulling the car, so we ate our cereal while we watched GMA and figured we might as well wait until rush traffic would be over in San Antonio. We left Fredericksburg on Highway 87 again and drove to Comfort. We found a gas station at the intersection just before we got on I-10 (we're not diesal Larry) where we could get in & out and it even had a McDonald's where Bob could get coffee. We got on I-10 and Bob asked, "how many miles are we on this?" and Bobbie answered immediately, "45 miles"--we had a really good laugh that she was listening in!

Before we left the driver had programmed Bobbie GPS to take us thru San Antonio because it looked like fewer miles than taking 410 around SA. But as we approached and got into that traffic it was pretty daunting to try to change lanes with our long "train" and we just muted Bobbie and proceeded on the loop. Very simple and easy to drive and onto I-37 headed to Corpus. We saw a picnic area which had a half circle drive that must have been at least a mile long and we had peanut butter sandwiches, carrots & apples at our table. Very peaceful and there were other motor homes parked there with us.

We turned off before we got to Corpus & headed cross a very flat rural area. We saw lots of palm trees beginning about 35 miles out of Corpus. We got here to Lagoons RV resort about 3 p.m. and after we checked they came with us and helped get the tow dolly off once Bob had driven the Cruiser off. Then they take the dolly to storeage so it is safe & not in the way. We have a really nice spot with a big tree. The neighbors on each side as well as several others came over to introduce themselves & meet us and we found everyone very welcoming.

After Bob got the water, electricity & tv hooked up (while I got the bathroom & kitchen "unpacked") we walked to the activity center. When we went in the choir was practicing--they have a non-denominational service on Sundays--and so we joined them! One of the gals knew Gypsy & James Kemmer from the east campus & walked us to their RV and we had a good visit with them. We really think we are going to enjoy it here! So many things to do here at the campground and as well as in the area that it looks like the month will go quickly!

Bob & Sandi's Travels

We woke up before the alarm and were ready to go before 7 a.m. However, once we got in the RV we decided it was pretty dark and didn't feel very confident about pulling on to I-27 before it was at least a bit light. So we poked around for 20 minutes. Laughed about how silly our 2 cats are when we leave. The older cat, Mollie, loves yogurt so I had shared a bit with her hoping that would make her happy. Not so! Maggie, our stray who adopted us a few years ago, was sitting in the doorway between the kitchen & living room and Mollie walked over and swatted her in the face--Maggie didn't move a hair. I thought it was like Mollie was letting Maggie know that she would be in charge as soon as we left!

The sky was a beautiful pink as we headed to Canyon! And hardly any traffic. We go 27 to where it turns into 87 on the southside of Lubbock and take 87 all the way to Fredericksburg. Mostly 4 lane but some just 2 lanes but with frequent passing pull-outs. Quiet road particularly on Sunday.

Boy, that little tow dolly works like a charm! Just follows right along. It does require wide turns and the only real distress was in finding somewhere to fill up with gas. Finally stopped in Big Spring at the WalMart and with some planning Bob was able to get pulled in and back out on to the highway. We ended eating crackers, hummus plus cheese for Bob & an orange sitting in WalMart's parking lot. Just easier than trying to find someplace we could get in and back out of without problems.

We found a nice worship service on the radio--certainly not like listening to Stan or Angela & the choir but still "church". We also found a station with old hymns that we could sing along with to our heart's content. We are missing the big all church dinner tonight but filled out our commitment cards before we left and turned them in at the office.

We got to Fredericksburg about 4:30 despite all our rest stops. We love coming here, stayed here in Nov on our way to Austin and have stayed at the Oak Park Campground numerous times. Feels like "home"! Not unpacking much for tonight since we will pull out in the morning, take the loop around San Antonio, then to Corpus and east from there to Rockport. Our "Bobbie GPS" had to be muted a couple of times today--she got very insistant that we needed to leave 87 and turn off on 71 to Austin (our frequent route) and later tried to get us off on some country road just before Fredericksburg! She seems to have a mind of her own. It certainly couldn't be due to programming could it? We tire quickly of her "recalculating"! I am hoping that tomorrow she will be a good navigator around SA & Corpus so I can enjoy the scenery but plan to be back-up with a highlighted map! You know--old people trust paper maps!

Enough for tonight--want to watch the game!

Bob & Sandi's Travels

Just an up-date before we head out to sleep at the curb in our Winnebago. Bob got the car on the dolly trailer without any problem and we drove around for 11 miles getting the hang of pulling the car. Parked at the curb and thought we'd turn up the thermostat before going in and discovered we had no battery power at all and we had a bit of panic. Simple solution--when it was plugged in out in the driveway Bob had switched off the batteries as he was suppose to but now we had forgotten to switch them back on! So all is well.

Had a good visit with Gayle & enjoyed the symphony but are tired and ready for bed.
More later.

Bob & Sandi's Travels

Hi Guys!
Larry Barton suggested we start a blog with our travels and it sounded like a good idea! Thanks, Larry.

We leave in the morning in our Winnebago pulling the PT Cruiser on the dolly trailer we borrowed from Bob & Dee Thomas. This is our first attempt at pulling a car and don't know exactly how it is going to go. We pulled a camper behind our pickup for about 10 years so hopefully it won't be too different. Guess this will be a few feet longer though.

Bob has the dolly trailer attached to the RV now and backed up to the garage. He is putting some water in the tank so we can flush, etc, tomorrow. And then it will be time to drive the Cruiser on to the dolly with me out assisting. He has only done this once with Bob Thomas' supervision so hope it will go OK and be able to hitch it up correctly. He decided he wanted to do this today in the daylight and then drive it around a bit to see how it takes corners. Once it is connected--well, even now with the dolly trailer connected to the RV--it is too long to leave in the drive as the garage door can't close.

That was our next dilemma! Where to park this over night. Worried about vandalism or someone driving the Cruiser off so asked Larry's advice which was very good. Then Brenda Wilson called and she said "well, sleep in it in front of your house tonight." And guess what? That's the plan! Since the furnace runs on propane we don't need to be plugged in to stay warm and can use the light briefly from the generator. We will come back in the house to eat our breakfast, feed the cat and do the other "leaving on a trip" tasks.

We are picking Gayle up at the airport as she is getting home from an almost month long cruise around South America. We will stop at Cracker Barrel to eat and visit about her trip before taking her to her house. We are really looking forward to hearing about the cruise, it just looked like a dream trip! Then head downtown to the symphony. Busy day!