A Quiet End to 2013

Tuesday, 31 December
Gulf Waters RV Resort — Port Aransas, Texas
Temps: LO 42F (5.5C) / Hi 47F (8C)

So many of you out there are doing year end reviews, which I’m enjoying reading.  I admire you.  Every time I get started, I get bogged down with trying to pick out the highlights of our year on the road — don’t even get me started on doing the same for our vacation off-road.  So I’ll just have to be satisfied with a wrap up of our 13 days since arriving at Gulf Waters on 19 December.

        This female great tailed grackle stopped by our site today to say Happy New Year!

I mentioned in the previous post that we haven’t been doing much.  The culprit partly being the weather.  Most days have been downright gloomy with grey skies, and measurable rain on four of the days — not counting the ones that were drizzly on and off.  We had one day of full sunshine with cold temps; and several days when the sun teased us by peeking through the clouds.  The temperatures ranged between 47-71F
(8-16C) for our highs and 41-61 (5-16C) for our lows — and that’s without the wind chill from the almost constant wind.  The higher end of those temps were few and far between!

The weather doesn’t stop feathered friends, like this GBH, from coming by to visit us.
sorry about the dirty window :-(

Could we have bundled up and gone out to explore the area despite the weather?  Or gone into Corpus Christi to visit some of the indoor attractions?  Yes … on both counts.  But we have so much catching up to do from our vacation that we decided to just sit still and do that for now.  The weather is bound to change, and when it does, we will be sure to take advantage of it.

For a minute I thought this pelican was going to overshoot the pond and land on our roof!

Besides, we will have plenty of time to see what the area has to offer.  We managed to **EXTEND** our stay in Port Aransas/Corpus Christi through the end of April.  We’ll have to make a few interim moves, but we really don’t mind as they will give us a chance to get the wheels rolling briefly for what is going to be our longest stay to date in one area.

These two brown pelicans were in the same spot the next morning;
I wonder if they have to pay a fee to camp overnight like the rest of us!

Our first move will be a very short one — to another site for six more weeks here at the resort when our initial month is up.  That will bring us to the end of February.  Then we’ll move to NAS Corpus Christi for the month of March — unless something opens up here at Gulf Waters … the problem thus far is Spring Break week.  Regardless of where we end up for March, we’ll be back to Gulf Waters RV Resort for April.

On one of the colder evenings, Mui used a Turkish recipe to make a yummy red lentil soup.
Thanks to our Blendtech, the soup had a nice creamy consistency.

Leaving our future plans behind and returning to the here and now.  Whenever the sun deigned to grace us, we took advantage of it to go for walks on the beach.  In our travels, we’ve found some beaches to be more walkable than others.  The beach that fronts the campground here is level, wide, and well-packed without being hard on the feet.

The beach runs 6.3-miles (10 km) along the length of Mustang Island.  On a nice day, that would be a great walk.  For now, though, we’re making do with shorter walks.  Most of the time, I resist the temptation to stop and take photos in order to get the most exercise value from these outings.  On a couple of occasions, however, the temptation proved too much for my trigger [shutter] finger!

“Hmmm, fresh sushi,” says the ring-billed gull, as it …

… picks up the fish to carry it off before one of his friends steals it away.

Sanderling

Willet

The great blue heron keeps an eye on the fisherman … hoping for a free meal perhaps.

Not everything on the beach was pleasant, however.  Two days ago, we came across a dolphin carcass on shore.  So sad.  I took pictures with the intention of sending them to the Texas Marine Mammal Stranding Network (TMMSN) when we returned to the campground.  As it turns out, we saw a couple standing guard over the dead dolphin on the way back from our walk.  When I asked, they said they had already reported it and were waiting for a removal team from Corpus Christi to arrive.  An article I later read on the topic of these strandings said studies are underway to understand why dead dolphins are washing ashore in recent years; red tide and the BP oil spill have apparently been exonerated.

So sad; even in death, the dolphin looks like it’s smiling.

Don’t want to end on a sad note, so I kept a few of my sunset photos for the end of this post.  We’ve not made it to the beach for sunrise yet.  Frankly, I am waiting for warmer temperatures before I venture out in the wee hours of the morning.  But we have glimpses of colorful sunsets from our site, so we do get to enjoy them without venturing far.

From behind our site …

… from the front of our site.

And so … we’ve eaten our New Year’s Eve tapas and have drunk a toast or two to a great 2013 and a happy, healthy, and travel filled 2014.  Don’t think we’ll make it to midnight to see the ball fall in Times Square, but other places around the world have already rung in the new year … that’s good enough for us.

Happy 2014 and Happy Trails to all.

Wasn’t Going to Say Anything, but …

Saturday, 28 December
Gulf Waters RV Resort — Port Aransas, Texas
Temps: LO 52F (11C) / Hi 56F (13C)

As slow as our days here have been, can’t believe it’s already been over a week since we arrived in Port Aransas.  It’s been cold and cloudy most of the time, with the sunshine gracing us briefly and infrequently.  Aside from a drive into Corpus Christi to run some errands, we’ve not done much more than a few long walks on the beach.  That’s OK; the weather will eventually start cooperating and that will be our cue to go out and enjoy the area.  In the meantime I am using this time to process photos from our “vacation from the road.”  I’ve already managed to get a few blog posts up for Greenland.

Speaking of which … not wishing to be pushy, I wasn’t going to say anything about the vacation posts I am writing on my other blog — Two to Travel.  But then Judy (of Travels with Emma fame) left a comment in which she said, and I quote: “… Have you thought of mentioning this blog again on your other one?  I would hate to have folks miss this journey.”

So here is the mention she suggested I make.  If you’d like to check out the wonders that beheld our eyes and read the stories that go with them, click here for last night’s post.  If all goes as planned, I’ll have another one up late tonight.  Posts will appear sequentially in the archives for anyone who decides they want to follow along.  (I’ll eventually back date all of the posts so that they fall into the correct timeline.)

Heading into the Ice Belt in Disko Bay.
(Yes, that’s Mui with his video camera.)

Come along and keep us company as we relive our vacation in words and images.

X-Stitch: Big Cats

Friday 27, December

In the summer of 2004, Mui and I went on a photo safari in Botswana, Africa.

After spending time with this lioness and her cubs, Mui’s love affair with big cats was sealed.
(Our african safari predates the blog; click here for a post with links to my write up and photos.)

Hoping that we would see the big cats while on safari, I started stitching a gift for Mui before we even left on our trip.  I managed to finish it in time for his January birthday the following year.

As is the case with all of my other cross-stitch work, Big Cats is in storage at the moment … awaiting the time when we will get off the road, and buy a stix & brix home where it can once again decorate our walls.

P.S. Yes, we did see the big cats of Africa while in Botswana … lions, leopards, and cheetahs … and it was a thrill indeed to encounter them in close proximity in the wild.

Season’s Greetings

Tuesday, 24 December
Gulf Waters RV Resort — Port Aransas, Texas

The card says it all … here's to continued safe travels on the road for one and all!

[photo taken in THE Ilulissat ICEFJORD, a UNESCO WORLD HERITAGE SITE IN Greenland]

Welcome to Gulf Waters RV Resort

Sunday, 22 December
Gulf Waters RV Resort — Port Aransas, Texas
Temps: Lo 60F (15.5C) / Hi 73F (23C)

I used our travel day from Houston to Port Aransas to catch up on the four-day trip that brought us from Florida to Texas.  That was three days ago.  Three days that passed in the blink of an eye.  I’d better get cracking and complete our sojourn here before we find ourselves packing to move on.

We were up early for the 207-mile (331 km) drive to Port Aransas on Thursday, the 19th.  By 7:15a, we were negotiating the frontage road directions the Garmin was spewing out to get us on TX288 South.  Having consulted with the Z’s about our routing, we then picked up TX35 South for the remainder of our trip.  This turned out to be a comfortable and scenic drive even if we didn’t catch any glimpses of whoopers in flight.

I had to put a couple of waypoints into our planned route so that Streets & Trips
would keep us on TX288 / TX35 for the 207-mile (331 km) trip south to Port Aransas.
[Yellow marker #2 is the only truck stop along this segment of the highway.]

We thought we’d need to pull over somewhere for lunch en route, but the three hours or so it took us to get to the ferry landing in Aransas Pass went by so quickly that we didn’t find it necessary to do so.

Speaking of the ferry … this was the Phaeton’s first cruise and it turned out to be a piece of cake.  The Aransas Pass/Port Aransas ferry is free and runs 24/7 year round; weather permitting, of course.  By opting to use it to cross over to Mustang Island, we shaved 47 miles (75 km) off our route.  The guys and gals loading the ferry know what they are doing.  When TX361 dead-ended at the ferry landing in Aransas Pass, we were waved into an open lane to await loading instructions.  Our wait time was about 15 minutes, and it took less than that to load our ferry when the time came.  Directed to straddle the left two lanes on the ferry, we were packed like sardines with cars, motorcycles, and an 18-wheel dumper truck around us.  Unable to open the door wide enough to squeeze out and take photos, I had to be satisfied with some shots and a few video clips out the Phaeton’s windshield.

Top Left: TX361 dead-ends at the ferry landing in Aransas Pass.
top right:  Our ride has arrived!
Bottom left: We’re on …
bottom center: … and so is the toad!
Bottom Right: welcome to Port Aransas.

When we were on the Constellation for our TransAtlantic crossing earlier this month, Captain Tasos mentioned that sighting dolphins riding the bow wave was considered good luck.  He was right.  The dolphins that accompanied the ferry across the Corpus Christi Channel guaranteed our safe passage.  Alas no photos of them, but for those interested in “moving pictures” of our ferry adventure, here’s a short 48-second video to entertain you.

The Phaeton’s first ferry ride!

Two tips regarding disembarking the ferry if you’re heading south on TX361 once you arrive in Port Aransas.  Make sure you take the first right onto Cut-Off Road; and when you get to the next right turn, which will put you on S Alister Street/8th Street/Hwy 361, take over the center lane to make what is otherwise a tight turn — especially if you are a big rig.

We pulled up to Gulf Waters RV Resort around 12:30p.  And fell in love with the place immediately.  Blue skies, palms swaying in the breeze, wide sites, nicely maintained grounds, ponds that attract birds and turtles, and a very walkable wide beach on the shores of the Gulf of Mexico just steps away from our site.  What’s not to like?  At $730/month, the rate comes out to a little over $24/day.  We’ve paid more than that in state parks, so we’re good.  Of course, electricity is extra, but we don’t expect that to make a dramatic difference to the final tally.  Thanks go to MZ and TZ for doing the recon last year and suggesting this place to us!

We reserved Site 756, one of the premium owner lots, last April.
[map courtesy of the resort website]

This ownership RV resort is a popular place.  According to the campground staff, this is low season.  Yet, almost every site is booked.  Sure you can find a week here and there, but if you want to stay long term, nothing is available … we know because we’ve already asked about extending for another month or two.  No can do was the answer.  Good thing we made our month-long reservation back in April!

Site 756 has a separate toad parking area and plenty of living space; to the right of the
storage shed is a tall hedge (not pictured) that separates us from the neighboring site.

The hook-up side of the coach is landscaped with gravel and grass.

The living area has a concrete table and benches for al fresco dining.

Even with the concrete bench at the front of the site, there’s plenty of
room for our own chairs when we set them out.

Looking across the pond at the Phaeton and its neighbors.

We’re going to use our own chairs to sit outside, but we know a very nice couple who
will be using the blue ones in another site when they come down to Gulf Waters in April ;-)

Our view!
Note the little ducky in the bottom right corner that welcomed us to site 756 …

… turns out it’s a permanently anchored decoy!

So, the duck that welcomed us to our site might not have been real, but fear not.  We’re visited regularly by egrets, herons, gulls, grackles, killdeer, and even turtles that come to the pond daily.  The birds are obviously used to people; they fly off only if a dog comes running to chase them off.  Most of the dogs we’ve seen are well mannered, however, so I anticipate being well-entertained when I get to sit outside.

This pair of kildeer must have a nest nearby as they are often seen together near our site.

This great blue heron is intent on fishing, completely disregarding any distractions nearby.

Speaking of sitting outside, we haven’t done much of that yet.  Not because it’s been cold — it’s really been quite nice with sunny to partly cloudy and comfy temps (so far).  And it’s not the wind that’s kept us inside, either — though a little less breeze wouldn’t go amiss.  Rather, the cold I’ve been nursing since 7 December has been diagnosed as bronchitis.  We ended up going to the urgent care clinic — at Mui’s insistence — when my cough returned ten fold on Friday.  A course of antibiotics and resting since then seems to be doing wonders.  If I behave for a few more days and follow the doctor’s orders, I should soon be in better shape to enjoy what the area has to offer.

Here’s the beach we walked on Friday morning before I received doctor’s orders to rest
for a few days; it stretches for miles and we look forward to getting back out there soon.

Looking back towards the resort from the boardwalk;
you can see how close the Phaeton is to the beach access point.

Now that we know that extending our time in Port Aransas is not possible, we’ll need to start thinking of some plans for the next little while.  But first we’ll enjoy the Season and have fun exploring the area.

No poinsettias for Christmas, but we have hibiscus to add color to the Season.

Keeping fingers crossed that the cold front heading our way won’t necessitate digging out our Arctic gear from the basement ;-)

Heading South in Texas

Thursday, 19 December
Somewhere on TX-35 South

After four nights in Pensacola, we’re on the final leg of a five-day trip that will end in Port Aransas today.

We didn’t do much more than chores and errands while in Pensacola.  Using a run to Joe Patti’s to stock up on fresh fish and shrimp as an excuse, we did squeeze in lunch at McGuire’s Irish Pub into our schedule — yummy Senate bean soup and naked fish & chips as good as always.  We had hoped to share that lunch with Chuck and Anneke (of Goldenshoe RV Trip fame), but since both Anneke and I were nursing colds, we postponed the meet-up until the next time our paths cross.

We left Pensacola bright and early on Sunday, 15 December.  The lack of traffic made for an easy day of driving.  We were unfortunately witness to two sad events en route.  The first was a pick-up truck in flames along I-10W; at least the driver and passengers were standing safely outside the vehicle — something for which to be grateful.  The other was a man on the “wrong” side of the railing on the Horace Wilkinson Bridge in Baton Rouge.  The eastbound lanes of the bridge were locked down with traffic backed up for a couple of miles while the police were attempting to talk the man down (no pun intended).  I searched the web the next day hoping for news that they were successful, but the only item I found seemed to indicate that the man did in fact jump.  One has to wonder what would drive someone to take such a drastic step during the holiday season.

The first three days of our trip covered 548 miles (877 km) from Pensacola, FL to Houston, TX.

We drove 329 miles (526 km) on Sunday to overnight at the Frog City RV Park in Duson, Louisiana.  Tucked in behind a Super 8, and with easy access to I-10, this Passport America campground welcomed us not only with warm chocolate chip cookies, but a special Christmas treat as well!

Welcome treats from the Frog City RV Park!

We found Frog City to be quiet, clean, and well maintained with decently spaced pull-through FHU sites ($20.17 Passport America rate).  In fact, we would consider basing ourselves here to explore the Lafayette area when our travels take us back to Louisiana.

Phaeton settled into Site 14 between Green Frog Lane and Mystery Frog Lane.

After a good night’s rest, we were up Monday at 5:30a for what we hoped would be an early start to our next stop — Beaumont, TX.  After all, the reason we had driven all those miles the day before was to hopefully carve out some time on this day to stop by and say an unannounced hello to Judy (of Travels With Emma fame) at Anahuac NWR.  One look at the 35F (1.6C) on the thermometer had us delaying our departure until the temperature rose to a more comfortable 50F (10C).  Unfortunately, that didn’t happen until 10:00a, thus changing our plans for the remainder of this travel day.  (Sorry, Judy; we’ll catch you another time.)

The 128-mile (205 km) drive on I-10W was another easy one.  The only stop we made, other than to top off our diesel, was at the Orange Visitor Center just over the LA/TX stateline.  After picking up a selection of brochures and maps, we extended our rest break with a walk on the short boardwalk that leads out to the Blue Elbow Swamp.

Glimpse of the swamp and the end of the raised boardwalk at the Orange Visitor Center.

Our mid-day timing was less-than optimum for sighting any wildlife.  Nonetheless, we enjoyed the short walk in the sunshine, taking the time to read the informative panels along the way before returning to the coach for lunch.

Informative panels like these provide interesting information as one walks the swamp boardwalk.
[click for more legible versions if interested]

It was after 2:00p when we rolled into the Gulf Coast RV Resort in Beaumont, TX.  Could we have pushed onto Houston, our destination for the next two nights?  Absolutely.  However, we had a service appointment at Beaumont Freightliner the next morning.  Hence the overnight here.  Our reservation netted us a pull-through end site in the front row where we joined the rest of the transients for a one-night stay.  The $36 rate (with a 10% Good Sam discount), included breakfast in the club house served between 7-9:30a.

Little did we know that there was a Phaeton convention at the campground!
(not really, but that’s what it felt like with two other Phaetonites in the sites to our left.) 

After we were settled, Mui hopped in the car to go find the Freightliner shop.  Should have guessed things weren’t going to go the way we had planned when he returned to say all was good, but that there were only two RVs in the parking lot.  (More on that later.)  Anyway, as it was already 4:30p by then, we headed out for an early dinner at Pappadeux Seafood Kitchen nearby.  I neglected to take my camera, so no photos of the calamari and grilled flounder we shared; or the chocolate cake we doggie-bagged to eat at home later.  Suffice it to say that the food was good — if a bit overpriced for the area.

Tuesday morning we were up at 5:30a.  Again the temperature was 35F (1.6C).  Since we had an 8:00a appointment with Freightliner, however, we didn’t have the luxury of waiting for the day to warm up this time.  At 7:00a, we walked over to the club house to avail ourselves of the self-serve breakfast, which included biscuits and gravy as well as make-your-own waffles.  By 7:30a, we were parked at the Freightliner facility just a few miles down the road from the campground.

The Phaeton waiting for the Freightliner service bays to open for business.

Mui went to the service counter and had the ticket written up for our annual maintenance work.  8:00a came and went with no sign of anyone coming to take the Phaeton into a service bay.  Normally, that wouldn’t bother us as we know that truck centers often run on a different schedule.  This time, though, Mui was antsy to get going as we had business to take care of in Houston, and he didn’t know how long that would take.  So, when 9:00a also came and went with no sign of any movement, he made the decision to cancel the service and move on.  Technically, we have until February-March 2014 to get our annual service done, so we’ll try again after the first of the year — this time at an RV service center.

(Once we’re settled in one place for a while, we will question Gaffney about Beaumont Freightliner’s membership in the Oasis Network.  This network is, in their words, “tailored to the motorhome customer.”  From what we saw, that’s not the case in Beaumont.)

The short 87-mile (139 km) drive to Houston was uneventful.  With helpful hints from the Z’s, our Texas-based friends and fellow-Phaetonites, we navigated easily through the non-rush hour traffic to a campground MBZ had suggested.  Located just off the South Freeway, and 11 miles (18 km) from the Galleria area where most of our business was centered, Advanced RV Resort turned out to be the perfect place for a two-night stay.  The gated facility was well-maintained, with none of the clutter that usually marks campgrounds that have a large resident population.  Our pull-through FHU site came to $45/night with the Good Sam discount.  Yes, a little pricey, but worth it for the convenience and comfort factor.

The Phaeton in site 810 at Advanced RV Resort.

We made short work of settling into our site.  By 12:30p, we were on our way to the Turkish Consulate to drop off the paperwork for a power of attorney and a few other documents that we needed to have verified.  We went there hoping that if we dropped off the paperwork on Tuesday that we could pick up the documents the next day.  Surprise, surprise!  They asked us to wait and we had everything we had come for in our hands within the hour.

The rest of our business in Houston went just as smoothly, and by 4:00p we were back at the campground for a quiet evening at home.

Unlike the beautiful blue skies that had welcomed us to Houston the previous day, Wednesday dawned foggy and overcast.  Neither lasted long, but for a while we could barely see the Houston skyline (seen in the photo above) through the haze.  Undeterred, we headed back into the city around 9:30a for a Costco shopping run before meeting the Z’s for lunch.

My online friendship with MBZ started what seems like ages ago when we exchanged information about past trips.  We had an opportunity to meet the Z’s in person for the first time in 2010 when we happened to be in Fort Lauderdale, Florida to embark on Caribbean cruises leaving within a day of each other.  Having hit it off so well then, we were really looking forward to getting together with them again … if only for a few hours.

At their suggestion, we met up at Danton’s for a delicious seafood lunch that included raw oysters and campechanas (both of which are pictured above).  Alas, we were having such a grand time that I completely spaced out having the waiter take a picture of us.  Oh well, next time.  And there will be a next time … hopefully sooner rather than later.

And thus we concluded our brief stay in Houston.  We were on the road south by 7:15a this morning.  But, that part of the story will have to wait until another time.  We’re about to take the Phaeton for its FIRST ferry ride.  I had better pay attention to make sure that Mui pays attention to the ferry loaders’ directions ;-)