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]
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, 
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.
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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.
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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 ;-)
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!
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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.
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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
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 
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.
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 ;-)
Had we not pulled in headfirst to the back-in waterfront site we snagged when we arrived at Oak Grove Park yesterday, we likely would have missed the brilliant red sunrise belt that trimmed the horizon at dawn this morning.
Definitely worth the hassle of connecting the hook-ups on the wrong side of the coach!
Our day was otherwise uneventful. We came to Pensacola to do some chores and provision the coach after being away from our “condo on wheels” for 3½ months. The story of those months away is yet to be told. In the meantime, it’s time to begin the story of another year of fulltiming.
When we put the Phaeton in storage on 24 August, we knew that the rest of our first year of fulltiming would be spent away from the motorhome. At the time, the map of our travels to date looked like this …
Our Phaeton Journeys … at the point when we called a temporary halt to our
days on the road, we had traveled 4,710 miles (7,536 km) in our home on wheels.
When we disembarked Celebrity Constellation following the TransAtlantic cruise that returned us to the US on 9 December, we wiped the miles-driven-slate clean to begin our second year on the road. An easy drive brought us from Fort Lauderdale to Orlando. We picked up the Phaeton from storage, stayed overnight at the Orlando Winter Garden RV Resort, and turned our wheels north and then west on 10 December.
As a side note, I should mention that we were very happy to find that no uninvited guests — I speak of the 4-legged critters known as mice — had visited the Phaeton during her incarceration at the storage facility. As well, the solar panels had done a great job of keeping all the batteries charged up and the coach purred to life as soon as Mui switched the ignition on. The toad’s battery didn’t fare as well, I’m afraid. Mui had installed a solar panel to charge the CR-V’s battery, but somehow the connection got loose. In short, the car was dead as a doornail. Still, it wasn’t a huge problem as the storage facility had the means to give us a jump and the short drive to the campground in Orlando was sufficient to bring the battery back to full charge.
The only problem we had with the coach was a minor one — the doorsteps refused to extend. Mui was all set to check that out in Pensacola, but a miracle happened at the end of our first full day on the road — I opened the door when we arrived at the campground and the steps extended of their own volition. Ours is not to question why, but to accept when such gremlins work themselves out ;-)
OK … back to the story of these past few days.
Whereas our first year of fulltiming started in Virginia, our second year starts in Florida.
We split the 444-mile (710 km) drive from Orlando to Pensacola into two days, driving a little more than half the way on Tuesday. We stayed at the Beaver Lake Campground in Quincy, Florida that night. As we had stayed at this campground when we made the trek from Jacksonville to Pensacola in January of this year, we knew not to expect much. In fact, this Passport America campground is little more than a big grass field with pull-through FHU sites ($20/night with the PA discount). This time we were in site 4, which was identical to the site we had stayed in the first time around. The campground served as a convenient overnight stop and we got a good night’s rest with no traffic noise despite our close proximity to I-10.
In her infinite wisdom, The campground manager bunched together the five rigs that are here.
No big deal; it’s for one night only and our neighbors are as quiet as church mice.
Wednesday morning we were up at 5:30a with plans to be on the road by 8:00a — wanted to give the 39F (4C) temperature to which we woke up a chance to warm up before we had to go outside to break camp! We would have met that timelime if not for a stubborn jack that refused to retract. No matter, going through the troubleshooting steps, we re-programmed the “home” position for that leg and were on the road after a mere 30-minute delay.
We drove the remaining 176 miles (282 km) to Pensacola in good time, arriving at the Oak Grove Park at NAS (Naval Air Station) Pensacola in time for lunch. And who should welcome us but the Navy’s elite Blue Angels. I had heard that they were grounded due to the sequestration, so seeing them whizzing about was a delightful surprise. Alas, no photos as we were in the midst of setting up, but here’s a link to a blog post from September 2012 when we were lucky enough to catch another practice session. One of these years we’ll time it right to see an actual show!
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Site 50 has plenty of space separating it from 49 (left) and 51 (right).
We’re in site 50, which is described as a “waterfront” site. Since we pulled in headfirst, we do have a glimpse of Pensacola Bay through the trees and brush that separate the campground from the beach, but the water is several hundred yards away. No matter, the beach access is just steps away, and we’ve already walked out that way a couple of times.
Glimpse of Pensacola Bay through the Phaeton’s windshield.
The waterfront FHU sites are $27/night. At first we debated paying the $4 surcharge over the daily rate for the standard FHU sites, but after this morning’s beautiful sunrise, we’re agreed that we made the right decision.
Left: The beach access is just steps away from the sugar white sands and the bay.
Right: Can you see the Phaeton in site 50 in the top photo? If not, I’ve included a
close up of her to prove that she is indeed hidden back there amongst the trees.
Ah yes … this is the beach we remember from September 2012. It was hot then and Mui
delighted in swimming in the bay. With the temp much colder now, he has no plans for a dip.
White sand … tall trees … puffy clouds … blue skies … sunshine …
and a campground nestled behind the treeline.
Once we were settled into our site, we ran over to Walmart for a few essentials, then returned to the coach to tackle the chores awaiting us after being away from home for such a long time. Today was similarly taken up with chores. Mui drove to our Pensacola-based mail service to pick up 3½-month’s worth of mail and the boxes of Arctic gear we shipped back from Iceland in early October. Next he finished provisioning the Phaeton with a much-anticipated trip to the commissary. I got a head start on the laundry and the household bookkeeping. When Mui returned to the Phaeton, we took a break for a short walk on the beach. It felt good to be out there in the sunshine even if we did have to bundle up.
My first shorebird photograph as we begin year two of fulltiming is of a willet
on the beach at Oak Grove Park. Hopefully many more will follow!
We’ll be in Pensacola a few more days before we continue west to Texas, where we plan to spend the winter. Not sure if we’ll be doing much of anything fun during our remaining time here. I’m nursing a cold and Mui’s battling a sinus infection, so it’s probably best we take it easy before we embark on our week-long drive on Sunday.
We're back home!
