A Trip to the Beach

The days are all running together and we're just anxious to leave.  We spend most every afternoon at the pool because it's so hot (90s every day).  Most days we are the only two in the pool, which makes no sense to us, but we like it! 

Saturday we headed to the beach with Butch.  Someone had told us that there was a restaurant with an outside patio where you could take your dog and get a burger on Indianola beach.  We found the beach, and we found the restaurant, unfortunately there were lots of dogs running around with no leashes on so we wouldn't let Butch out of the truck.

We headed back up to the other end to let Butch run on the sand.  He's not smart enough to know that he can't drink the salt water without getting sick, so we had to keep him back from the water. There were several people camping and fishing on the beach but not near as many as we expected.

This was a statue on the beach from the early 1800s.  The plaque was so worn that I couldn't read it.  This appears to be the only thing that previous hurricanes hadn't destroyed. 

We found a patch of blooming cacti near the beach.  Not sure why, since it hasn't rained in months down here, but they are beautiful.

Since it was too windy to sit out, we headed back to the park to get in the pool and the A/C. 

Easter Sunday was yet another beautiful day.  We drove through Riverside Park to see what was going on.  We're not sure whether it's a Texas tradition, or a Hispanic one, but the park was full of picnickers all loaded up with these huge BBQ smokers that look to be big enough to run a small restaurant.  There were no picnic tables to be found, and every spot near a shade tree was covered with chairs, blankets, coolers, and kids.  What a great way to spend the holiday.

We were having Easter dinner with Mike and Pam.  They had to work all weekend, but were going to provide the main dish, and we provided the dessert.  All winter long the park had ice cream on Sunday nights, and we've come to miss it, so for the past 3 Sunday nights, we've had our own.  Last night was strawberry ice cream with fresh strawberries, and whipped cream.  Dinner was a hobo dinner which was delicious.  We're already worked out next Sunday night's dessert - Mike and Pam are going to get chocolate brownies, ice cream, hot fudge, and whipped cream.  We can't wait!  It's the little things at the end of a very long season that keep us going.  We're leaving here in 16 days, and will be home in less than a month.

One final note (or question) - if you fall off your bicycle (while trying to get on it), and yell damn it, but no one can see or hear you - did you really fall off??  (I say no, but my scraped knees, elbows, shins, and pride all say yes!)

No Room At The Inn

Scenes from our final meals with Pam and Dennis:

Lunch at the Colony Creek Country Club restaurant.  Pam and I both ordered the Monte Cristo.  Neither one of us had ever had one, but it sounded interesting.  It was basically  a club sandwich, deep-fried in a light breading, then dusted with powdered sugar, served with strawberry preserves to spread over it.  It was wonderful!  Not at all healthy, but hey - nothing else we've been eating has been healthy either.

Dinner at Dairy Treet.  Just like the old ice cream stands when we were kids.  You walk up and order your food; 15 minutes later it's ready.  We all stood at Dennis' tailgate to enjoy.  Mark had a burger to determine if the burger from lunch was better than the burger at dinner - he decided the golf course had the best burger.  Pam, Dennis, and I had the Chicken Basket.  It came with 4 or 5 large chicken strips, fries, and a bowl of gravy.  Delicious!  To top it off, we all had ice cream for dessert!

I'm happy to report that even though we ate out lots during the month Pam and Dennis were here - I was able to not gain any weight.  They shame us into walking a lot more then we usually do. 

Friday we had to work, and Pam and Dennis headed off to Kemah, TX.  It was sad to see them go, but we'll see them next month in Nashville.  Butch was moping all day Friday because Pam wasn't next door.

He kept walking over to the empty lot searching for Pam. 

It was a long weekend working.  Since the RV park is full, no one is coming in, and the only people calling are looking for long-term spots because they are working in the area.  It's real easy to say, "No spots available."  Unfortunately, it makes for an excruciating long day.  Sunday night couldn't get here fast enough for us.

It's bad enough that we must set an alarm clock for work on the weekends (start at 9:00am on Saturdays and Sundays), but it was worse today because the carpet cleaners were coming between 8 and 8:30am.  The carpets now look brand new!

Since the floors were wet, we headed to the golf course and left Butch to inhale the lemon smell that the carpet guy put on.  12 hours later, and I still can't get that smell out of my nose!  We had planned on waiting until after lunch to golf, but the 40mph winds predicted for this afternoon had us getting there by 10:00am.  We didn't do great, but it was nice being out there - it had been two weeks since we had golfed, and over a month since going to Riverside Golf Course. 

It Must Have Been A No Fly Zone!

There was going to be the 100th anniversary of Naval aviation celebration at the Naval Air Station in Corpus Christi last weekend featuring an airshow with the Blue Angels.  We were very excited about this, and lined up someone to walk Butch a few times while we were gone all day on Saturday.  The gates opened at 8:00am, with the air show officially starting at 10:00am.

We left the park with Pam and Dennis at 7:00am (again, we don't like to set alarms while being retired) and headed off the Corpus.  We arrived right around 9:45, and started the half hour walk to get to where we would be viewing the show.  Our first warning that things weren't going to go off well started at 10:00 when the announcer stated that the show would start in another half hour. 

This is what we came to see. 

My favorite jet!  Lots of noise, and numerous flybys.

The Blue Angels were scheduled to fly at 3:00pm, so we had quite a while to wait.  Unfortunately, the winds and clouds interfered with about 80% of the show.  The hours drug on with mostly intermissions, apologies, and the ever unpopular phrase, "due to the wind and the low cloud ceiling conditions, these planes/jets will be unable to fly." 

Fortunately Pam and Dennis had this mat in their truck so we had something to sit on while waiting. Mark just couldn't lay on the ground so he bought a folding chair for $25. It was probably worth it since he kept falling asleep whiel sitting and waiting.  The weather was really fabulous, 85, sunny some clouds, and lots of wind.

A few biplanes, an Soviet Mig, F4U Corsairs, a couple of Coast Guard planes, and one F16 or F18 (can't remember which) hit the airspace.  Most everything was grounded.  After waiting six hours, we got the announcement that the Blue Angels would not be flying. 

After the long walk back to the truck, we headed up to Fulton to have dinner at Charlotte Plummers.  As we expected, Pam and Dennis loved the stuffed flounder dinner.  We all had the same thing, and waddled out about an hour later.  Butch was very happy to see us when we got back around 7:30pm.  A very long, disappointing day - not sure I'll ever suggest we go to another airshow.

Yesterday the four of us packed up the kayaks and headed over to Saxet Lake.  The weather was perfect, with only 10-20mph winds. 

Pam and Dennis wanted Mark to try out the hard-shelled kayak for the day.  It has a much better seat than the inflatables and would be easier on his back.

Pam was the first one through the small opening into the lake. 

Last week Gordon gave us a couple bags of frozen Red Drum fish fillets so tonight we decided to have them for dinner.  Dennis grilled half of them, and pan-fried the other half. 

Dinner was wonderful - fish, a hamburger (Mark), salad, pasta salad, and Waldorf salad

After cleaning up the dishes, the four of us played Joker with Pam and Mike.  With it we served our dessert - fudge cake.  I'm embarrassed to say, the six of us ate the whole thing! 

Even though we're all stuffed, we've already mapped out tomorrow's meals since they will be our last ones together for a while - Pam and Dennis are moving on sometime Friday morning.

AHHHHHH Choo!

This week we've been suffering from some kind of illness, but aren't really sure what we have -- allergies or cold.  I believe he has the allergy problems while I have a cold.  I don't have the sore throat that he had but I keep sneezing.  Regardless, we've been sniffling and coughing, and NOT sleeping.  Last night was the worst, but what made it even more aggravating was that our precious little 15.6 lb. black dog was scratching NON-STOP!


I've been giving Butch children's Benydryl on and off for several months, but last night he just couldn't sleep.  He kept jumping off the bed, running around the trailer looking for relief.  I finally found a prednisone tablet and got that in him around 1:30am.  That allowed him (us) to sleep for a couple of hours.  Then some guy in the park decided to ride his Harley up and down the street inside the park.  (This is why we are looking for a new destination that is not full of workers.  Winter people just don't do this stuff.)

At 8:00 this morning I called one of the local vets to see if I could get Butch in for a visit before we had to be at work at 11:00.  Luckily they could see him if we got him there before 8:45a - not a problem. 

                                            Things you just don't see in a vet's office at home.

Butch got a shot which is supposed to provide 6-8 weeks of relief, and we got to lighten the load in our wallets, but it will be worth it if he just quits scratching.  The vet told me that I was under-medicating him with the Benydryl, and that we might want to try Claritin or Zyrtec also.  Now the whole family is taking drugs to get better.

Tonight Erik and Tania provided dinner for all the workampers since Gene and Linda are headed back to Pennsylvania on Saturday morning.  We had a wide assortment of food from Texas Roadhouse, Buffalo Wild Wings, and Olive Garden.  As usual, it was all delicious. 

Mark in his Workamper Dinner/golf attire!

Moving Into April

We have spent four winters in Texas over the last six years but this is the first time we stayed past the end of March. Most Winter Texans start leaving the southern part of the state in March and are mostly headed for home by April 1. Now we know what goes on after we all leave;NOTHING! We are still workamping at the RV park but we now work three days a week to get in enough hours to offset the site rental and electric usage. The hours are shorter but the days are getting longer. Our friends have mostly left for northern destinations and the park is nearly full of workers. One of things we won't miss at all is making popcorn. The park has a happy hour everyday from three to five with soda and popcorn during the winter season. The workampers make popcorn until no one else wants any. Standing next to the popper every time you work really removes any desire to eat anything salted and buttered.

 The popcorn popper at the clubhouse

Pam and Dennis are still here and will be for another couple of weeks. We have been taking them to some of the new places to eat we have found. The latest was at the Hotel Blessing. This is a historic hotel about an hour from the park. It is family style and on Sundays the special is turkey and dressing with all the trimmings. They also have ham, chicken,and roast beef. Everything is served from the pots it is cooked in. There is seating for forty four and you can stay as long as you like and eat all you want. We Did! (Hopefully all the kayaking and walking is keeping the pounds off!)

In front of the Hotel Blessing

Pam, Mark and Dennis waiting for free food at Sam's

The pool is our new home every afternoon now that it is warm every day. If we play golf we go to sit in the hot tub and ease the aches from all those swings. If we are off work we hang out there to talk with the folks who live in the park and also to get a good tan started before we get home. We will really miss floating in the water everyday once we get home.

 Diane enjoying the pool!