On Friday night, Barb & I went to the Ozark Jubilee! Well, that was plan B! Plan A was to take a wildlife cruise for our Valentine's celebration on Feb 14th. The weather forecast was not great so we opted for Plan B – go to a bluegrass/comedy concert by the Ozark Jubilee, straight from Branson! As it turned out, the weather on Feb 14th was great. The bluegrass concert sounded great but we should have stuck to Plan A!

This Sunday was threatening to rain most of the day so we headed to the local matinee and saw Valentine's Day. After all the media hype, our expectations were a little too high and the movie did not match up! Not bad but not as much comedy as we expected. When we left the show, the sky was blue and the temps were great so we drove to a small parking area overlooking the bay and watched the evening come upon us. I swear, there must have been 20+ Great Blue Heron's fly overhead on their way to their nightly roost on the islands that we kayaked around. 20+ birds - back home it is a treat to see 1!

It's been cool and wet so more inside stuff getting done – Barb's working on another sewing project and I'm still scanning old photos and updating the database. On Monday, Barb took another craft class to learn the art of 'Shirret Rug' making. Just another handy little something for her to do! Sitting inside during happy hour and happen to see a Northern Harrier land on our Internet Dish, just 40 feet from us! Nature is wonderful, even from inside the rig!

Hope all is well and until next time....

This report is pretty short! After sitting around in our shorts on Sunday, a front came through with wind and heavy rain on Sunday night and the temps dropped significantly. The cool weather has kept us off the water and we have not done too much. We went for lunch at The Moondog on the pier in Fulton to honor Pat & Carolyn's departure. I tried their crawfish pie and it was really good! Pat & Carolyn left on Wednesday for points west. We launched the boat again but after 30 minutes or so, we got too cold and returned without taking pictures or reaching our destination! The breeze coming off the gulf was just too cool to enjoy the ride.

But how about the Olympics! Go Canada! The opening ceremonies were absolutely the best we've seen! The events are spectacular – we're not impressed with the TV coverage and someone should hold the door for Brain Williams! Other than that – Yeah Canada! Eh!

So, more indoor stuff getting done – until next time, be well....

The Boat

We had an emergency run into Corpus Christi! Barb's sewing machine developed a problem and we had to rush it in to see the sewing machine doctor! Our drive (35 miles) into Corpus was uneventful and the view was different. I thought it was flat terrain in Saskatchewan – it has nothing over this area in south Texas! The highest point is the bridge going into the city! After getting the machine fixed, we took the scenic route back through the city harbor where we could see the USS Lexington moored for tours. We'll have to plan a day to properly tour the city and waterfront.

After watching a couple 'peddling' around in their kayaks in the bay at Rockport, we decide to look into these different boats. We checked out the Hobie dealer in Corpus then the one in Rocport to find one on sale! Yes, that's correct, we are now boat owners! The day we went over to pick up the kayak and get our elementary training how to unpack and inflate it, how to pack it back into the bag and some do's and don'ts, it was raining! We hope that's not an omen! Now we just have to wait for some decent weather to enjoy being out on the water.

Saturday and Sunday were beautiful days here. On Saturday, we took our maiden voyage and learning experience. Boy, were we stiff at the end of the day! My ass was soaked so I guess we didn't have enough air in the hull. Oh, and I didn't open the scupper ports so the water on the floor could drain out! Sunday we did better. We made adjustments to the peddles and our seats, pumped more air in and had a great time. The wildlife again did not disappoint. After a great ride, we had to celebrate with an ice cream while overlooking the water. We ended the day having happy hour with Pat & Carolyn, sitting in our shorts on the deck with refreshments!

We hope everyone had a Happy Valentine's Day and Family Day. Keep well and until next time...

Hello everyone. Again, the weather has not been very cooperative to encourage us to get out doors and enjoy the area and the many opportunities on the coast. Any locals we talk too can not remember a winter as cool and as wet as this one. My answer to them is we're not shoveling and it's not freezing!

Last Saturday was nice enough to bike down to the beach and walk out on the piers and channel spit. Lots of people were boating and fishing even though it has not been a typical winter for fishing either – no one is catching anything. We watched a pod of dolphins chase schools of fish up the channel. One came right up against the steel wall where we were standing – neat!

We rode right next to a flock of Black Skimmers. They are an interesting bird. We would love to see them skimming to catch their food! The park has an area cordoned off and posted to keep out, for the Skimmers nesting area.

We met a couple that just retired and are here for the first time too. After a brief conversation, they left us saying “you kids have fun on your vacation”! We laughed – it was funny to hear that! We continued biking through town in search of an ice cream parlor but the only one we know of was closed! It has very short hours of operation so I guess no one eats ice cream in the winter!

Hopefully the weather will improve and we'll have more to say next week. Until then, keep well.....

This has been a wet and cool week here so we have been inside for most of the week. Cabin fever is definitely setting in for everyone. The weather improved by Friday and the campground was empty, everyone went out to enjoy the day.

During the not so fine days, we have kept busy by populating a new database that Barb set up so we can manage and locate any particular picture. So far, we have inputted over 10,000 picture names with key words. It's been fun going back through our adventures and travels. Barb set up a sewing centre to she can continue to work on some of her long awaited projects – so you know the weather is going to improve now that we're ready for any more nasty weather!

The one day that we did venture out through the rain, we stopped at the side of a road to view more beautiful Roseate Spoonbills feeding in a pond on one side and further away – too far for pictures, were more whooping cranes. Of course, this weather just gives us another reason to go to the show – and why not, $4 each!


So, a short entry this week. Keep well and we'll be back later with more info.

Not a lot to report from here. Barb & Carolyn finished their beading project that they started the week before while Pat & I cleaned our trucks!

The four of us biked about 2 miles to the Connie Hagar Wildlife sanctuary in the heart of Rockport. It has a short boardwalk that has story boards explaining the flora in the ponds. The ponds are used by the migrating birds as well as sediment ponds for ground water run off before it reaches the bay. We continued another mile to the 'beach road' to view the many sea birds in the bay and on the piers. We traveled along the beach road and wound our way back to the campground – all in all, about a 7 mile ride – that's 11.2654Kms! Of course, we had to jump in the truck to go get some ice cream to refuel! Pat has a blog that you can read about their travels and adventures at http://obriensontheroad.blogspot.com.

Barb & Carolyn took off by themselves and wandered through a quilt show at the high school. Barb said it was a great display of beautiful quilting projects and has inspired her yet again (as if she needs more inspiration)!

Apparently, this area was in drought conditions for some time but now we're in for a few (4) days of rain showers – so if you need rain, just invite us to stay awhile! Until next time, keep well, where ever you are! I have included some art that Nate sent us – enjoy!