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April 1 - 6, 2008
Tuesday, April 1. Happy 41st Anniversary to the Walkers! This afternoon is the start of our 9 1/2 day workweek - Yuck! We've been dreading it as I'm sure Lucy and Myron felt the same when they had to cover for us. Oh well, it will fly by quickly and before we know it, we will be moving on down the road again. We are looking forward to traveling again. Wednesday, April 2. The big news today was 3 more thefts during the night; some beer from a cooler, a lawn chair, and a plant sitting in front of a motorhome. Ever since the weekend before Easter (spring break), there have been coolers and beer stolen. The temps have been close to 80 and the humidity is on the rise. I find it to be very comfortable but we've had the AC on to help keep the humidity down in the house. Thursday, April 3. Today's highlight was a conversation with my brother Rick, whom I haven't talked to in about 6 years. He is in an alcohol treatment program in Madison and I sure hope and pray that this is what will change his life. I realize he has had a rough go of it and hope that this will help him turn things around. This morning I had my annual physical. It's that time of year again. For the 1st time ever I have had a higher than normal blood pressure reading, so hope that is not going to cause problems for me. It was a long, boring day in the office. Saturday, April 5. Last night, I fixed a nice baked chicken dinner with sweet potato, cranberry, and mixed vegetables. The plan was to cook on the grill but it was raining lightly - not enough to keep from cooking outdoors but the temp dropped to about 60 degrees. It felt nice to warm up the house. This morning, I'm sitting in the office looking out the picture window at a beautiful, sunny, calm day and the humidity is very low. The fishing boats have changed from oyster boats to shrimp boats, stretching their nets behind them and pulling them up, hopefully with lots of shrimp. There are about 8 of them in view and they are pretty close to the shoreline. I can see flocks of seagulls clustered around the boats, looking for an easy meal. Guess it's time to buy shrimp again. It's been a busy morning in the office and I've got to run to the bank to make a deposit. After today, we only have to do this for 5 more days - I think we can do it. Sunday, April 6. It was another really slow day in the office, I think I've taken 3 calls all day, 1 reservation, 1 rent, and 1 checkin. I decided to help Mike with the pool this morning (it's been covered for 2 days because of cooler temps and high winds)and then we raked some leaves up this afternoon. Yes, the leaves from the live oak trees shed in the spring when the new growth appears, not in the fall as they do up north. Since the yard guy, Ray, hasn't shown up for work in over a week, the leaves are piling up and the grass needs mowing. We will do what we can but weren't hired for that. We will be glad when it's over - 4 more days to go. |
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April 7 - 13
Tuesday, April 8. Happy Birthday, Sharon B! Yesterday was another uneventful day. I helped Mike with the pool for a while this morning and it's looking pretty good. Now that most of the leaves have fallen from the live oak trees, the little seed strings are now falling. Add that to all of the yellow pollen in the air and it gets pretty dirty. It was looking so good, that we decided to go for a swim this afternoon when we got off work. It felt very nice and refreshing. After dinner, I took Frisco for a walk and was quite surprised to see that the winds had picked up again (we are quite sheltered toward the back of the park). I think I saw the biggest waves bouncing off the shore and any solid objects than I have seen since I got here. It was kind of like walking in a wet cloud as I could feel the spray and a thick gray cloud was overhead. The last 3-4 days, I have been watching a poor old sickly seagull. I don't believe it has flown during this time because whenever I see it, it is walking or lying down - looking sadly out at the sky. It doesn't appear to be injured, just old and tired and kind of ratty looking. Poor thing. This evening, Mike took our old battery to Walmart to have it checked and it was bad, so he bought a new deep cell marine type and RV battery to replace it. He got the battery compartment all cleaned up and the new one installed. Guess what, it worked! The old Bravo started right up. We have a couple more things to get fixed, it needs a good washing and waxing, and then we can head out once again. We're both more than ready. Thursday, April 10. It's our last day of work for this long, long, week - tomorrow will definitely be an R & R day. Last night, we were invited to Jim and Diane's for a very nice lasagna dinner, accompanied with garlic bread, a salad, wine, and lemon meringue pie - DELICIOUS!! They are great folks and we hope that we meet up with them again in the future. After work tonight, I cleaned up the front windows on the motor home and then Jim and Diane joined us for a *bleep*tail. Before we knew it, it was 8:00 and we hadn't had any dinner yet. Thanks to Diane, we had leftover lasagna. Ben called tonight and we had a nice, long conversation. Friday, April 11. Day 1 of R and R - what a pleasant one it has been. Rolling out of bed without the alarm started it off right. It wasn't too late as we were both up by 8 but that felt soooo good. While sitting here reading the news this morning, I glanced at Freddy (the red beta fish) and realized he has been with us for almost a year now (June 10). Amazing! And he still looks good and seems to like his environment here on the dinette. Frisco and I had a nice walk this morning. When I got back, I swept off our pad, a daily occurrence with all of the leaves and crud falling from the live oak trees. Lucky I did that, as I found a $10 bill lying on the ground. Made my day. Right now, I just got up from a nice 1 1/2 hour nap. That too felt really nice. Tonight, we went to dinner at Bellino's Italian Restaurant with Alan and Sharon. The food was very good but a little on the pricey side for pasta. Saturday, April 12. It was another nice day. A cold front came through during the night and cooled things down nicely. We spent the day just hanging out around home, being lazy. We did manage to do some shopping to pick up things we needed for the motorhome. Mike plans to tune up the generator before we head out and we still have some rust spots to take care of. We bought Frisco a new bed, as he has taken to sleeping on the floor instead of our bed. He seemed to like it but doesn't quite realize it is for him yet. Alan and Sharon stopped by to chat for a while. They will be leaving in the morning. After they left, we cooked yummy rib eye steaks on the grill and had a salad on the side. It was delicious, probably not the best for us health-wise. Sunday, April 13. This morning the internet was down, so I got showered and ready for the day fairly early and set off to do the grocery shopping. It was a good time to be at the store. The last time I shopped was right after the Mexico vacation, so we were out of a lot of stuff. The plan is to get a few chores done today. Mike tuned up the generator but discovered that he had the wrong air filter. Other than that, he got that project done. I worked on sanding and painting over the rust spots on the storage compartments (darned Pacifica ocean air). I got one side finished and the other side isn't too bad except for the panels under the slide out compartment and the front/back of the rear tires. It was a nice afternoon to hang out at the pool when we finished our projects but then we both ended up taking naps. I grilled chicken, onion, and sweet corn for dinner. The Holland grill and my seasoning choices came through once again, it was delicious. |
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April 14 - 20
Monday, April 14. Today was kind of an 'out of sorts' day for me know, feeling kind of slow, tired, and sluggish most of the day. We took Frisco for a nice walk this morning, stopping to chat at the end of the pier for a while. We then drove to the local RV parts store to get a replacement for the incorrect air filter that Mike bought the other day when tuning up the generator. One place didn't have what we needed but another did. We then stopped at the Moondog for lunch and sat outdoors overlooking the harbor. A very nice, relaxing time. When we got back to the park, Mike felt like taking a nap but I headed for the pool where I gabbed with Lisa and another couple for a while. The water felt nice, although it has been impossible for Mike and Myron to keep all of the little particles flying from the oak trees out of it. What a mess, everyone is hoping it ends soon. We decided to go to happy hour tonight, but it only lasted an hour, as Gary and Ellie are leaving tomorrow. Since we had just had a big lunch at 2:00, we opted not to go. Tuesday, April 15. Today starts the countdown, as we have only 10 more days to work through the end of the month and they are irregular; 3 on, 2 off, 3 on, 4 off, 4 on and we are done. I think we can make it. Wednesday, April 16. 9 Days. Not much going on today, it was slooow in the office and Mike spent his day picking up junk falling from the trees. Now we have another real windy day so there will be lots more accumulated. Thursday, April 17. 8 days to perma-vacation (again) and it was a busy one most of the day. Mike covered for me in the office while I went to my follow up doctor visit to get results from the various blood tests that I had taken. All results are good and I am considered to be of "normal" health. A very nice prognosis as I am quickly approaching that 60th birthday milestone. It is certainly cause for celebrating. The best thing about today was happy hour, as Myron and Dave provided fresh fish for all. They cooked for close to 2 hours and we got plenty of yummy redfish and 2 varieties of batter, both excellent. We won't be needing much for dinner tonight. The company at happy hour is always good too. Tonight I sat next to Helen from Toronto. She and her husband have spent the last 5 months traveling Mexico in their motor home. Sounds like they had wonderful experiences and I hope that I have a chance to hear more of her stories. Friday, April 18. Rumbling thunder and raindrops on the roof woke me up this morning. What a change in weather, as we haven't seen any rain for a long, long time. The air feels good and cool and the birds all sound quite happy this morning. The unfortunate thing about it is the coating of pollen on everything again. Today is a day off and I'm not sure how we will spend it although I hope to get a few things done on the motor home. Yesterday when I came home to refill our happy hour *bleep*tails, I forgot to bring my key, so had to use the 'in case of emergency' hidden key. I found the compartment to be quite dirty with salt and dust and the keys were somewhat corroded - cleaning it became a priority today and that led to cleaning and painting the rest of the storage bins. I felt a great sense of accomplishment, but sure did feel tired. Saturday, April 19. I sure don't know why, but it has felt like a Sunday to me all day today. As I started typing this journal entry, I typed in Sunday -- strange! We did some cleaning this morning. Mike washed windows and I took care of some vacuuming and dusting inside. When I took Frisco for a walk early this afternoon, he traipsed through a mud puddle, getting black gunk up to his belly. Needless to say, he had to have a bath before he could go back into the house. We went with Jim and Diane, some friends from the park, to the Port Aransas Sandfest this afternoon. It took nearly an hour to get across the ferry between Aransas Pass and Port Aransas, then we parked at Sharky's Bar and took a free bus to the beach. The place was buzzing - more people than I have ever seen at this beach before, an estimated 100,000 were expected over the weekend. It has been practically deserted every other time we have been here. The sand sculptures were incredible, with about 20 of them done by professionals, a few done by children, and many by amateurs. I couldn't believe the detail. A few didn't make it, as a sand sculpted tombstone and a pile of sand remained where a beauty once stood. The sculptures, vendor booths, food, and entertainment stretched for a half-mile along the beach. There were people everywhere - flying kites, swimming, sunbathing, eating, shopping, etc. Check out the pictures in the photo album. It was a great afternoon and we stopped at Moby Dick's in Port Aransas for a bite to eat. Fortunately, we arrived just before the multitudes, so got a nice table with no waiting, just before it got crowded. The wait at the ferry was close to an hour on the return trip. Most days it is a 15 minute to 1/2 hour wait. Sunday, April 20. 7 Days to Go. It was an unusually busy day in the park for a Sunday as we had several people arriving for a club gathering. It helped the day go fast. When I got up this morning, I realized that I had left the freezer door open since yesterday around 1:00. Nearly everything was thawed, so guess what. Cleaning time. Mike relieved me in the office for a while and I came home to finish the defrosting process. Thanks to Diane's suggestion to use her 'quicker cleaner upper' method (the hair dryer), it went quickly. This evening, Mike and I both proceeded to cook up all of the meat that had thawed yesterday. I used the ground chuck and bison meat to make spaghetti sauce, made some cranberry sauce, and Mike cooked the chicken up on the grill. Not bad, we had a delicious meal tonight and we now have easy meals for the rest of the week. |
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April 21 - 27, 2008
Monday, April 21. Happy 50th, Penny! Tuesday, April 22. Not much going on today in the office, it is the end of this shift. After today, we are down to 4 to go. We bought a fold-up bicycle today from Carmen, as she didn't get enough use out of it. I'm looking forward to taking a bike ride now and then. We've decided to looks for another for Mike. It's pretty cool how it folds up small and will fit in the car trunk comfortably. We went to Happy Hour tonight and came home and cooked a port tenderloin. Very tasty! Wednesday, April 23. Mike had his follow-up Doctor appointment this morning and found out that he is pretty healthy. He does have to prepare for a colonoscopy tomorrow - not a fun thing, as most of you know, but a necessary procedure. Diane and I spent the afternoon together, going to a few shops in Rockport and Port Aransas, having some good BBQ brisket for lunch, and then visiting the South Texas Botanical Gardens in Corpus Christi. On the bridge at Aransas Pass, Diane spotted several Roseated Spoonbills in the marsh below the bridge. I turned the car around and went back there to see if we could get a closer look. We did get a glimpse of one just as it was moving out of our view. Too bad. Neither of us had seen one the whole time we have been here and that is one bird that most people want to see in the area. Check this link for pictures and info. Click Here The gardens aren't real big but have some nice selections of flowers and shrubs. The rose garden was very nice and they have a good size Plumeria (Hawaiian Lei) section but, unfortunately, it will be a few more weeks until they bloom. I really would like to see that. It was an enjoyable afternoon. Thursday, April 24. We were up an headed for Corpus Christi at 6 am this morning. The procedure went well and the news was good. It took him a while to wake up, but we were back home by 11:00, both of us ready for naps. HEB took another $150 of my money this afternoon - I just can't believe how much the groceries cost these days. The unfortunate thing is that this will only last about a week and a half. We went to happy hour for a while this afternoon, as Mike was feeling much better. Two more couples will be leaving in the next day or so and we wanted to hang out again. It will be real quiet around here for our next and last shift. Friday, April 25. Happy Birthday, Ali! This morning was dental hygienist appointments. When we finished, we stopped by to pick Frisco up and headed to the beach at Port Aransas. It was a beautiful day and after walking the beach for a while, we sat on the jetty and watched people fishing, just enjoying being near the water. After happy hour this evening, several of us went to Pops for dinner, one of the favored hangouts of the park. Had a nice time and the food was good. Saturday, April 26. Happy Birthday, Walks! We got a good thunderstorm and some rain for a few hours this morning. When we took our walk the puddles were huge, so we opted just for a walk through the park. This evening we had tequila, sangrita, and Corona's while playing a few games of Farkel, the pre-birthday celebration. Funny, but it got harder to focus by the 3rd game and we did manage to get our dinner cooked on the grill. We had fun! Check out the before and after pictures. Sunday, April 27. Happy Birthday to Me! Thanks to all of you that have sent me cards, gifts, and greetings! I can't believe I am 60 years old, but it feels good. I woke up with a sore throat and am hoping that doesn't turn into something nasty. It is the start of our last work shift and we are definitely hoping that it flies by quickly. The afternoon brought some heavy rain and before long there are lakes everywhere. I watched out the office window at the birds just having a wonderful time, they finally get a bath in clean water. Mike took me out to Los Comales for dinner tonight and Jim and Diane joined us. We had a great time and the food was delicious, as usual. |
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April 28 - 30, 2008
Tuesday, April 29. 2 days to go - yeah hah!! In between working, we have been busy getting the motor home ready for a change of place. The wheel covers came off and got cleaned up yesterday. Today it is being washed and waxed - so far it is looking pretty good. I'm impressed as to how it is holding up for us, in spite of the fact that they are not built for day to day living, but more for vacation purposes. In my opinion, Winnebago makes a pretty good product. The last 2 days have been gorgeous, after the rains on Saturday and Sunday. The grass has turned bright green and the sky is a clear, clear blue. Humidity is down, but we hear that it will be creeping back up again soon. Today, I saw 3 Ruby-throated Hummingbirds; one on my walk this morning and 2 just flitting around the park. When I sat at the desk in the office this morning, I felt a strange sensation on the back of the calf of my leg. I looked down and let out a scream - it was a *bleep*roach about 1.5 inches long - a truly ugly creature. Wednesday, April 30. This is it, the last day here at Watersedge and it was a slow day. We had only 3 transactions all day long, that is until right after work, when we were at happy hour - wouldn�??t you know. 3 RVs pulled in �?? one right after the other. Once we got them settled in, we proceeded to get happy and celebrate. It was a good time. Anyway, for the most part it's been good. We got a little impatient this last month but we carried out the plan and stuck with the commitment. |