Camp Hulen Jan 31

Hi everybody.Are ya'll getting ready for the massive storm and cooold weather on the way? Here is a sunny picture of the Lighthouse on the former Camp Hulen property here in town. It is called Beachside now and is in private hands--the whole 6000 acres. We googled it before we biked over to it.It is on the bay nearby and 1600 acres has paved streets , water hydrants and sewer hookups, lighting all ready for a housing developement that never came to be yet. We biked on the paved roads for miles and miles and it was great.There are canals at the back of some of the lots for your boat tieups and a few marshy areas for wildlife. Its amazing but no one lives here--what a shame! This is a quaint house in town that has a lighthouse attached to it and a small widow's peak. We should inquire to see if its an original lighthouse or not. Its quite a ways back from the shore of town.There's a huge Baptist Enampment facility here with all the buildings painted a different pastel color. Very colorful from the water's edge.

This building is Hotel Blessing on Hwy 35 a bit north of us in the town of Blessing.It is over 100 years old and still has rooms to rent.A party of 20 or so from the park went there last week for lunch. It was all home made cooking set up like a smorgasboard and family dining. Fried chicken ,mashed potatoes, sliders and chicken ,german sausage ,peppered steak,etc , dessert and rolls and your drink incl.Salads and veggies and all you can eat. $8.50 ea.It was so busy-there were people waiting to sit down or she would have given a tour of the building.

Sheephead caught today by one of the guys from the park . It was 74 deg. here but lots of clouds.There's a super fish fry potluck at the park this Sun so that should be interesting for sure.Hope everyone has a great evening and stay warm Ron and Dee

Matagorda Jan 26

Hi everybody, Today we took a drive to Matagorda which is about an hours drive east of us. On the way we did a side trip to Collegeport and found this great looking estate home. The town is very small and on the other side of our bay but has a great view of the water.

This is the bridge coming back into the town of Matagorda after you have left the beach area of Matagorda Bay.The intercoastal waterway runs under it which is why it is so high-to accomodate the taller boats.

Just some of the many birds and waterfowl in the marshy area leading to beach .It is on both sides of the road .Last year we saw a few roseate spoonbills here but no luck this year. There is quite a bit more wetlands than last year also because of all the rain in the last couple of months.It looks a bit like a maze of small creeks running eveywhere through here.

This is part of the pier leading out into the Gulf of Mexico. The tide was on its way out and we found many interesting shells at the waters edge. I said I really didn't need anymore as we still have some at home from last year but you really can't help picking up the good ones. Also found some driftwood for my sister that i know she will like.
Our good friend Ed and his wife Lynn were wondering what Mexican train was(its definately not what you thought Ed !).Its a game of dominoes that has a wee train with it. When you cannot play after picking a tile you have to put your train up and your opponent then gets to play on your tiles if hes able to .Sometimes he can get rid of a lot of tiles that way while your still drawing for the right numbered tile.So thats what we do on rainy days although Ron likes your idea much better.Well bye for now happy shoveling Dee and Ron

marina Jan 25

Well hi everybody. It turned out to be a beautiful day- sunny and breezy and 62 deg. You would never know it just poured yesterday from the time we woke up until we went to bed. There would be a few breaks in the downpour and then start up again.We played Mexican train with me the big winner !The weather just kind of blew off to the east this morning.Ron took this pic of this shrimp trawler this afternoon on a walk next door. It is up for repairs at the marina beside us. There is also one being sandblasted this week to be readied for fishing soon. This is just some of the sail boats that are anchored in the park's marina.As you can see it was a gorgeous day with blue skies.That's our park in the background. Hope y'all have a great night and stay warm. bye for now Dee and Ron

Palacios Jan 23

Hi everybody, here we are at Palacios on a walking tour. This is the Hill Building which was purchased in 1986 for a museum and is one of the few surviving historic buildings in Palacios. It is now the City by the Sea Museum and is just awesome.The front face is the original way it was built as a mercantile store but with some renovations when bought as museum.

This is the pavilion that was built and has music and dancing every evening in the summer except for Sundays.It extends 800 feet out into the bay.Even in winter it was put to good use for roller skating parties and club dances when first built.! Of course someone is always fishing from its docks which are wheelchair friendly.

On our bike ride today we came across this dolphin swimming along the shore. There is a mile and a half boardwalk that extends all along the bay and is great for walking or biking.I'm sure its very busy all summer long on a warm evening.

Some common golden-eyed ducks .I think Ron and I are really going to enjoy this town as theirs lots to see and do here.Temp today was 63deg until the rain blew in but we had a great day anyway. Well bye for now , see ya later alligator - Dee and Ron

Goose Island St Park Jan 20

Hi everybody, well here we are at Goose Is. St Park and its really something different. This pier is at the end of the island and extends 1600 feet out into the aransas bay. People of course are fishing it using shrimp for bait. All along the beach area are motor homes etc. parked right on the water's edge. We are up in the woodsy area surrounded by live oaks with the birds constantly singing.We would recommend this park to anyone camping and its one of the #1 parks in Texas. Yesterday we spent the afternoon at the Aransas National Wildlife Refuge and spotted this alligator sunning itself. It was one of 4 that we saw .Ron spotted a ruby-headed kinglet, small like a wren but with red head.

These were 3 whooping cranes we came across this morning driving along the coast just out of the park. They are quite rare and are the attraction down here in the marshy area.There are only 573 in captivity. They are five feet in height ,the tallest bird in North America and have a wing span of seven feet.Can fly 35-45 mph.

This is The Big Tree in Lamar, just outside the park.It is over 1,000 yrs old and 35 feet in circumference.It is 44feet high with a crown spread of 89 feetIts branches have to be braced up to prevent damage. we are moving on tomorrow to Palacios and will have internet there hopefully. will be there for a month. Take care all -

campsite in Park ,bye Ron and Dee

Bass tournament

Howdy from Choke canyon.The above photo is just one example of the bass boats coming in this weekend for prefishing. The tournament starts next Friday.There are some great looking boats arriving and the park is now full of them. This is a buck that was standing by the road on our way out of the park the other day.Today it rained all day so we played Mexican train this afternoon and Ron came out the big winner. It did get up to 60 deg.I talked to the Park Host from Michigan today. Her and her husband will be here for three months .They just arrived on Tuesday. It seems an alligator over 12 feet long was caught sometime after they left last year . It was relocated SOMEWHERE else but was really big news in the area when found.The hosts also feed the birds while here and do woodworking repairs in the shelters and such.Tuesday morning we head to Goose Island State Park on the gulf coast just a bit northeast. of Corpus Christi. Lots to see and do there but back to library for internet.. Bye for now ,hope you have a great weekend. Dee and Ron

surprise company

Hi everybody, here's great picture of surprise company Ray and Marge with our good friend Gale. We sure had a terrific visit with them although very short. If it would have been just a bit warmer instead of 40 deg outside, we may have enjoyed the Texas sun. green jay--aren't they beautiful!

vermillion flycatcher--small like a wren. We went for a long walk today and spotted this bird along with many cardinals and green jays, ducks and egrets,hawks and armadillos.

Wonder how old this narly tree might be--its hollow and many branches have been trimmed off.

Up on top of hill by the swimming area .

Have not spotted any yet but who knows!These signs are everywhere. bye for now . Big warm -up on the way by weekend--about time.have a great day ! Dee and Ron

Jan 12

Hi everybody, We had a great visit with Gale this week and a surprise visit fron Ray and Marge Bills. They are back at Parkview and with Gale's help managed to surprise us. Had a terrific lunch and then they had to head back up north before it got to dark.Too many deer on the road by then.It was great to see all our friends !Its still very cold here and the highest this afternoon was 41deg.Ron did unhook water hose last night just in case of freezing but it didn"t get down quite that far.
Happy Birthday to Scott on the 14th.We may not have internet service then but we'll be thinking of you!
Take care Ron and Dee

cold weather Jan 10

Hi everybody, well its gotten quite cold here this week and down to 50 deg this aft. .We had a terrrible storm blow in over the weekend at 2.pm in the morning and lasted until about 4:30.Continuous lightning with lots of heavy rain , wind and thunder.whew.Sunday was a beautiful sunny day.Ron and i were on a bike ride and spotted all these turkey vultures at roost in the trees. There were tons of them.This morning we got this pic of the cardinals. There were seven males and three females at one point on the ground eating insects. vultures

On Sat we went for a birding walk over to the boat launch area with our friends Linda and Bill from Washington state.They are camp hosts at a park there and know their birds really well.. Here are some egrets and a white ibis that were dining on the leftover fish remains from the fisherman's catfish catch.They had actually seen a bobcat the day before while driving just inside the park.It is supposed to be another cool night but not down to freezing thank goodness. Our friend Gale arrived this afternoon for a couple of days . We will have a great visit i'm sure. Haven't seen her since last year at this time back in Parkview on the Frio.bye for now Dee and Ron.

nature hike Jan 7

Hi everybody. On our nature hike today ( by bicycle) we spotted these black- bellied whistling ducks over on the other side of 75 mile lake on top of the dike. They are the brownish birds with reddish pink bills and they do whistle in flight.Now according to a park ranger there are indeed some alligators in this lake and a good size too.They are also lots of them in the Choke canyon reservoir.Sooo the kayaks are a no no !

Blue heron

flock of wild turkeys

A tom and hen. These guys are out and about most every day along with the deer.A new neighbour Linda and i walked down the waters edge a bit this afternoon and spotted some pelicans and an egret but that was about it.It was 76 and sunny here by noon . We think we might follow our neighbour with the satallite dish west to Big Bend-he also brought over some homemade coffee cake for dessert last night.sounds like a good deal to us. well bye for now -hope y'all had a great day. Dee and Ron

warm and sunny Jan 5

Hi, well its gotten warm and sunny and Ron and I finally broke down and put our shorts on . It got up to 75deg. and is supposed to be just as warm today. Our new neighbours Ron and Jane have let us use their satelite dish for our computer so it surely is handy in the park. They are from Ohio and are on their way to Big Bend SP to be camp hosts for the winter.Many thanks to them from us. We came across this curve-billed thrasher on our walk yesterday. There are green jays and cardinals everywhere you look .It is so quiet here all you can hear are the birds singing.I have to look through our bird book to find the names of any birds we spot.

This is some of the overgrown brush area thats on the walking trails. no wonder there is such a variety of wildlife.There were a couple of armadillos walking in front of trailer yesterday and this morning 7 huge turkeys that would have made an excellent dinner at Thanksgiving!Deer are everywhere also.

An great egret out on the shore of lake.Not too many people here as yet but we still couldn't get a site on the lake side because they were reserved. Oh and there are alligator signs up for the shores of lake.Guess we should of brought the CANOE.I intend to ask the ranger if in fact they have ever seen any.

Talked to my sis Karen last night and she said back home the Thames river is flooding with the ice jams and overflowing its banks back home .January thaw has begun.It sure was good to hear from her. bye for nowDee and Ron

Dixieland R V Park Jan 3

Hi everybody. Has everyone recovered from New Years Eve?We sure did.On Jan 1st we arrived here in Dixieland R V Park in Carmine Texas.Not many people here as of yet but when there's an antique show anywhere in the area this place is hopping.Antiques seem to be the drawing card around here and Round Top. Lots of antiquing stores there too.Its been a cool and overcast day of 55deg.but no rain. None here since last September as you can tell by the dead grass!There were about 10 cardinals that I happened to notice in the trees here today .There are also
bluejays and bluebirds around too.I thought i saw a greenjay but it was gone before i could get a good look.All heading for Roma (s Texas) i guess.The tire picture is when Ron filled in two slow leaks that we've had since Tenn. Good to travel now.The couple have only owned this park for a couple of years now and are working really hard to bring it up to its full potential.So far so good!We went for a tour to Giddings today and found gas for $1.79. gal.What a bargain --the line up was never ending as most prices are $2.99 and over $3.00 someplaces.Tomorrow we head for Choke Canyon State Park and will be using the internet services of the Three Rivers Library. We used them last year and it worked out great.Hopefully at park we will be able to kayak.Oh and I'm sure there will be pics of those pesky Javelinas too!
Its hard to believe we left home and all that snow 1 week ago today. Time flies when you're having fun eh! bye for now ,Ill get back to my knitting(no tv here) and Ron is reading his book. Take care Dee and Ron