On a little trip

We are off on a little trip to Galveston and Houston. Since I forgot my cable to upload photos I will wait until we get back early next week to blog about our adventures. Hope everyone is having fun and enjoying life.
Happy trails..........................

Janie had a little goat..

Remember the Mary had a little lamb nursery rhyme? I changed it to reflect an interesting day.

Janie had two little goats that followed her home from her run today and everywhere that Janie went the goats were sure to follow.......

Well you get the idea.

I went out for my run and suddenly I hear this noise behind me only to find these two little goats coming up behind me. They passed me and then stopped and waited for me. A gal in a golf cart slowed down and told me should though it was cute that I was walking my goats. I had other cars slow down to see such a site. I turned around to go back towards the RV park and they still followed me, there are a couple farms along the way and I figured if they belonged at one they would head on home but no they followed me all the way to the park. I went in to see if the camp hosts had any idea where they might belong and she said no but it wasn’t unusual for animals to be roaming around. Well they started chewing on the tree on the office patio so I had John shoo them towards me and sure enough they started following me again. I went back the way I’d come from hoping I would figure out who they belonged too. I got to the first farm that I thought might be theirs and by then they were looking pretty tired and sure enough off down the lane to the farm they went. I was glad they had found home. This farm has horses and a sign that says beware of dog but I think they need a sign that says beware  of friendly goats! 

Happy Trails.....................

Rockport visit and Amazon Friends

The largest Live Oak in Texas they estimate it is over 1000 years old

John, Phil, Janie and Dawn

Last week I emailed some friends we met at Amazon that I thought were headed to Rockport. We wanted to check out this area for possible stays in the future and it is always fun to get together with friends so thought we’d combine the two. Phi and Dawn arrived in Rockport on Tuesday and called us this morning saying this would be a good day to visit so a quick breakfast and we were on the road. 

Pelicans on the gulf

Rockport has a lot more to do than Port O’Connor and is definitely a lot busier. That has pro and cons but I think we could like this area. One of the places they took us was Goose Island State Park. This is a beautiful park right on the gulf and they have camping spots right along the beach, they also have a campground loop in an area forested with live oaks with a lot of privacy. The only disadvantage of this campground are the low hanging trees, you would definitely have to pay attention as you drove through this park with your rig. Like most state parks there are limited stays and only electric and water hook ups. 

Fisherman at Goose Island State Park

We took a long walk out on the fishing pier at the park and it was beautiful. We also went for Mexican for lunch and checked out the park they are staying in. From what we can see there are a lot of choices for RVs here. We enjoyed the tour and the chance to reconnect with friends now that we’ve all recovered from the job.

Fishing Pier at Goose Island SP

Next week we are headed for a little vacation to Galveston and Houston, leaving the rig here under the watchful eye of our camp hosts, who have been great to us during our stay. We have had a little glitch in our travels, the truck is going to get a new transmission. We have been concerned about it for awhile and on our trip here it was registering some codes on the Banks monitor about the transmission slipping too much. It seemed to be ok unless we are towing. John checked into the Dodge dealer at Port Lavaca and after a check decided to do a new high performance transmission. It is going to be a bill but it looks like it is a very needed upgrade and since we want to go through mountain country on our travels back to Iowa this is a good time to get it done. I may get John to write about all this as it is way out of my area of understanding. We are hoping it will get built and get here as we return from our little vacation and then it will take a couple days to get it put in. We are suppose to leave here on February 2nd so it is cutting it close but we will just adjust as we need to. Just like life in a sticks and bricks home there are always things that have to be dealt with. 

The only photo John took today. :)

Hope you enjoy some photos from Rockport and

Pelicans is a row.

Happy Trails.................................

A Shiny Rig

John got he rig done yesterday and it looks so pretty! I’d like to say I helped but that would be lying so lets just say I supervised. Eveyln asked what we used to wash and wax the rig so I thought I’d show you. Here are the product John likes:

The waterless wash is Eco Touch Wash.

The wax is RejeX.

Thought I’d show you the ladder we use too. This was a great find on sale at a hardware store back in Iowa and we have used it many times.

The other question I got from Karen is where exactly are we. Well I mentioned it is off the beaten path and if you want to come here the only way here is Texas Highway 185. I thought I’d just show you on the map. This is not a place you would just happen upon. I’d say the only people here are the ones who want to be. It’s very quiet except for the boats sometimes and there aren’t many services but if you want some laid back quiet time in the winter it is a great place to land. 

 
View Port O'Connor, TX 77982 in a larger map

Happy Trails.................

A Nice Leisurely Bike Ride

It is always harder to write when there isn’t much going on. We had a couple cooler days but it is starting to warm up again. John has been waxing the rig. I helped with the washing but I’m just watching him do the waxing. The rig is starting to look pretty shinny! It may rain tomorrow so we need to get it finished today, that may mean I’ll have to start helping instead of watching. Bummer. 

Before this little cold snap John and I went on a long leisurely bike ride around town. When we got to the pier the tide was out so we walked out on the sand to the waters edge. Thought I’d share a few of those photos.

I also took some photos of my favorite houses along the way. I love how people use really bright colors for their houses, you just don’t find that back in Iowa and it seems perfectly fitting here.

We also found these goats and donkey’s in someones back yard. The zoning is a lot looser here than where we are from. I’ve never seen goats with horns like these.

Happy Trails...........................

Getting back to it

Do any of you make New years resolutions? I try not to but January is always a good time to reflect and get back to the road you want to travel. This is the time of year many start their New Years diets and exercise programs. Well, I try not to think of it as a resolution but instead think of it as getting back to living the way I want to and know I should. That includes watching what I eat and working out. So  resolution? Maybe...probably...oh well, I’m still not going to think of that way (that’s my story and I’m sticking to it).

So last week once we got settled I mapped out my weight workouts and an interval training program using a heart rate monitor.  Three days of weights and 3 days of interval and a day off. I can double up on weights and intervals if we have something going on. I made it all 6 days last week, I’ve had my day off and today I need to get out there and do intervals again. Its really windy so it should be a challenging run.

So what is John doing? He’s begun some pilates workout and gets most of his exercise washing and waxing the rig. I’ve been helping with the washing part but I let him do the waxing. It is always a big job but the rig looks so pretty when its done.

Life here is Port O’Connor is pretty quiet. There are about 16 rigs parked here but only 5 that have people in them. We thought there wold be a few more people on the weekend but that didn’t happen. The whole town is the same way, lots of houses with no one home. It is definitely the off season here. 

I thought I’d share with you some of my favorite properties with RVs on them. There are quite a few lots that are for RVs rather than houses. When you think about it makes sense. This is an area that has hurricanes. At least then you could get here and drive your house out of danger.

This lot has two RV’s on it, I love the thatched roof patio and if you look closely you’ll see an outdoor shower behind the small metal enclosure.

This one you can tell is someone’s fishing cabin. Many RV lots like this have a cover over them protecting them from the sun, great idea. 

There are others I will try to get photos of next time we are out on our bikes. I think I’ll let the wind die down a little before we do that.

Happy Trails.....................

Off the Beaten Path

Photo from the pier in Port O'Connor

I think the title is a good description of Port O’Connor, where we will be for the month of January. We arrived Monday and the weather was a little cool with a brisk wind but Tuesday was warmer and today is just about perfect. I choose this place because I was looking for somewhere that was a little quieter but nice and I found this spot on rvparkreviews.com. It was given very good reviews and looked like it fit the bill for what we wanted. Speaking of bills, the price was right too: $250 + electric for the month. 

Port O’Connor is really a little fishing village and this time of year there isn’t much fishing, though it is duck season and that has brought some hunters to the area. The town is an interesting mix of houses that have seen better days and very high end homes particularly on the shore line. There is a post office but no delivery so we will be getting our mail general delivery. One large gas station/ convenience store, a couple restaurants and a few bar/bait shops. That is really about it. It has a very laid back feel and we can bike or walk just about anywhere we want to go.

The pool and hot tub

The Port O’Connor RV park is very clean and well kept. They have a great wi-fi, a small pool and spa and a small laundromat. They have a connection for satellite TV but that is awful and we found we could get stations from the Houston, Victoria, and Austin area on the antenna with a much better picture. Cell service is marginal; a Verizon extended network 1X with a couple of bars. I called my son last night and it kept dropping me so I went to email instead.

The office and laundry room and a rally room.

Already we have found ourselves relaxing and enjoying it. It may not be a place I would want to stay all winter but I think a month will be great. We do have a couple of excursions planned too. John has a college friend near Houston so I think we will head there for a weekend. We will probably drive to Rockport and Port Aransas too just to check it out. I know a lot of RVers choose that location for the winter.

A heron enjoying a marshy area on the gulf shore.

I’m so relaxed I can’t think of a single thing more to write. Ahhhhhh....

Happy Trails........................