Hard to believe we are finally headed north after staying 11 days longer than planned in the Rio Grande Valley of Texas just to get everything back in working order after the big freeze. Alas, that day finally came when we fired up the Cummins and made our way north.
A long 190 mile drive later we pulled into the Angler's RV Retreat in Rockport, TX. We are not sure how long we will stay in Rockport because the main reason we booked it was so Sharon could fly out to North Carolina and help our daughter. What does our daughter need help with? The answer is becoming a mommy for the first time. Yep, our daughter is going to have her first baby.
Sharon plans to stay with Katie and our soon to be third grandchild for as long as Katie needs her which will possibly be two or three months. So we have booked two months here in Rockport for now and will plan accordingly as events unfold.
In the meantime we are enjoying our stay in Rockport Texas for now. We are less than a mile to Rockport Beach for our beach strolls and not far from Corpus Christi, Port Aransas and Aransas National Wildlife Refuge for places to visit. While Sharon is gone I am sure I can idle away the time fishing the many hotspots nearby.
One of the first places we visited here was the Big Tree located near Goose Island State Park. It is one of the largest live oak specimens in the United States and the second largest live oak in Texas after being replaced as the Texas State Champion Virginia Live Oak by another larger live oak discovered in 2003 in Brazoria County.
The Big Tree has a circumference of over 35 feet and is estimated to be between 1000 and 2000 years old! For sure this old oak has seen a lot of history and endured a lot of Hurricanes with the most recent one being Hurricane Harvey which left this part of the coast in Texas nearly demolished. Harvey, a category 4 hurricane hit the town of Rockport on August 25, 2017. The town even today still shows signs of the devastation left behind.
Happily the Big Tree emerged relatively unscathed by Harvey, a testament to its strength and ability to thrive in this environment. One of the neat things about visiting this historical giant is that it is also a great place to find the Whooping Crane, an endangered species. It is the the tallest North American bird named for its whooping sound and lucky for us, migrates to Texas to overwinter.While they will be returning north very soon we have had the pleasure of seeing them every time we have visited the Big Tree so far this spring. We haven’t been able to get any great photos from afar but have certainly enjoyed watching them in our binoculars.
Soon we hope to be sharing pictures of the newest member of our family!
NOTE: We are currently at Angler’s Retreat in Rockport Texas until at least mid May…
Congratulations on the forthcoming addition to the family !!!
ReplyDeleteLooks like a cold windy day to be out bird watching in shorts :)
Awesome old oak tree. altho we do have older and bigger trees in CA, none of our oaks come close in size.
Yes, it was a bit chilly. Trees here along the coast are stunted due to the prevailing sea breeze exactly like some areas along the western coastline.
DeleteCongratulations on the upcoming addition to your family.
ReplyDeleteQuite an interesting Oak Tree. Nothing like that in out area.
Be Safe and Enjoy your fishing.
It's about time.
Thanks!
DeleteGlad everything went well on your first outing since the rig issues. Good to see the Big Tree is doing well. Enjoy the fishing.
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