Back to Texas…

Wow, our two weeks stay in North Carolina visiting our daughter and her family flew by! We really had fun with playing with Allie, our 2.5-year-old granddaughter who has acquired a huge vocabulary, is fun, exuberant and always on the go. We also enjoyed snuggles with Emmy our newest granddaughter who is beautiful. Katie and Brooks have made a great life in North Carolina, and it was great sharing it with them. Although it was sad to say our goodbyes, we knew it was time for us to leave.

We had to catch our flight back to Texas. Fortunately, we didn't have any problems with our flights, and we arrived on time, retrieved our car which was still in good shape and ready to roll. We drove back over to College Station but on our way, we stopped by to visit Lone Pint Brewery in Magnolia Texas. It’s a pleasant outdoor venue and serves some nice craft beer so we think it is worth a visit if you're in the area.

We made it back home without any ordeals and were glad to see our RV in great shape. It’s always a bit concerning to leave our RV home for long stretches of time. We stayed in College Station for 5 more days before hitting the road.

With Sharon having been gone 3 months, we revisited many of the spots that we love in our former hometown including a nice walk around the campus of Texas A&M University. With one last weekend, we also visited friends to say our goodbyes and to have one last weekend of fun with them. Monday rolled around and it was time to pack up the RV and start our trek westward.

The pictures in today’s blog are from my visit to the Texas Renaissance Festival while Sharon was still in North Carolina. I always enjoy people watching at this particular festival in Plantersville, Texas.

Our future plans are to winter in Mesa Arizona again this year. Before heading there our next stop is at Canyon Lake in Texas. While there we will visit our son and his family one more time in San Antonio before leaving Texas. After that we want to revisit some backroads and stay at some of our favorite places we have stayed at before.

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Back in College Station, Texas for a while…

After my two night stay in Shiner Texas I was ready for my second RV travel day without Sharon, and hopefully my last time without her. In the morning I readied the RV for travel and then pulled the RV up in my huge site to attach the CRV to the back. Once attached, I checked all the lights and since all was well, off I went.

The drive was about 120 miles and took a bit over 2.5 hours. I opted for a slightly longer route through Giddings Texas rather than through Brenham Texas since the roads are better and easier for one to handle. Shortly before noon I was pulling into my next RV park, a place we have stayed many times before, in College Station, Texas.

My being back in our old home town had me reminiscing that this is where we began our journey on the Road of Retirement. I also realized that we are now in our eleventh year and I never did a 10 year review or summary of any kind. Therefore I resolved to work on a future blog with a review of our costs hoping the budget info may be useful to some readers.

In the meantime I have been taking in some walks at some of our favorite spots in the Brazos Valley. I hiked at Lick Creek Park, the Brazos Arboretum and all around the sprawling Texas A&M University campus. Spring is still in force here as it has been raining frequently but all too soon summer will arrive with temperature reaching into the 90’s and 100’s. I hope we are out of here before we see 100+.

Next week I will fly out to North Carolina to finally see my new granddaughter whom Sharon has been helping to care for. I will fly out on the 2nd of June and stay about a week, then Sharon and I will fly back together to Texas. I am really looking forward to getting to know our little Allie Rose in North Carolina.

Finally I wanted to add a note to my email subscribers. Google is discontinuing service to feed burner which is what my blog was using for mail subscriptions. I have now deleted that service and begun using a newer service called follow.it which was really easy to switch over to. Hopefully this will be a seamless process for those of you receiving this blog by mail. Feel free to comment if you are a mail subscriber and receive this blog so I will know it is actually working! I appreciate you and hope to see you on down the road!

NOTE:  While Sharon is in North Carolina I am now currently at in College Station, Texas until  June 15th…

More Birding and Future Planning…

With my time here wrapping up soon I was able to get out a few more times to see the last of the bird migrating through the greater Rockport area. Focusing on the spots that seem to produce the most birds I often crossed over to Port Aransas on the free ferry. It may be free but depending on what time of the day the wait can be very long, especially on the weekends which I avoid.

Leona Turnbull continues to be the best migrating bird location. Not only have I seen warblers migrating through but also all waterfowl still trickling their way northward. I have even seen a couple of birds I have never seen before such as the Cape May Warbler, the Blackpoll Warbler and the Black-billed Cuckoo. I was even lucky enough to capture a few photos of two of them.

So before just ending with some photos of the birds I have seen I thought I’d update everyone on our plans as they are starting to develop. Looks like I will move over to College Station, Texas (our former hometown) for a month while Sharon finishes up her nanny/grandmothering stint. I will be staying three nights in Shiner Texas before arriving there though so I can revisit my favorite Texas brewery in Shiner.

In June I will be flying out to North Carolina for a week to meet my newest granddaughter and afterward I will bring Sharon back to where she belongs, with me. Then we will begin a westward trek to New Mexico. I plan on stopping in Waco, Tex as a few nights before exploring parts of Texas we haven’t ventured through such as the towns and area around Meridian, Dublin, Comanche and Colorado City. 

So our tentative plans are to move over to Roswell, NM and then up to Albuquerque. Our biggest challenge in order to finalize this part of our journey will be securing a reservation for the upcoming July 4th holiday… Ahhh, but that is our life on the Road of Retirement….

Left Key Largo and a Tropical Depression is Altering our Plans…

Wow! We got caught up in all the election results and forgot about blogging. That and there is a tropical depression out in the gulf we have been monitoring as well. When our time was up in Key Largo we drove 81 miles over to Midway Campground in the Everglades National Park near Ochopee, FL.  We planned to spend more time there but with the depression brewing up we decided to only stay two nights.

That did give us time to check out one of our favorite bike trails in Shark Valley. We used our National Parks Senior pass for entry and rode our bikes about 12 miles on the trail. My first impression was we have never seen as much water in the everglades in all our visits until this year. There was water everywhere as we noticed immediately as the water had risen so much as to cover the road in places.

As a result we saw way less wildlife as the critters chose plenty of places to hang out rather than in the deeper waters near the visitor center. We were still able to see some alligators and a few birds while on our the bike ride. At one point I was looking out over the swamp when I suddenly saw a water snake right in front of me. If I hadn’t seen him when I did I would have surely run the poor snake over.

The highlight was seeing a hawk making a kill on the trail beside us. We aren’t exactly sure what it was but my guess was a mouse from the distress calls it was making. We took a few photos zooming in on its talons but still couldn't tell what it captured.

The next day we hiked a few of the boardwalks in the area and spotted a few more gators some of which were quite large.  After our two nights we drove on up to the WP Franklin Locks campground, a COE park. We love this park and this time scored a great waterfront site. Again our plan was to stay longer but it was now becoming apparent that the tropical storm going through Central America was going to come our direction for sure.

Knowing we would be making a mad dash out of the storm path we decided to stock up on groceries and made a long loop drive to include a Trader Joe’s to pick up some favorite items there as well. I also snuck in a quick visit to Bonita Beach (one of our favorite beaches in the USA) just for memories sake. We had originally planned to winter there but alas, Covid changed our minds. I’m glad we made the quick stop.

We are now sitting in Inglis, Florida still watching the depression and altering our plans as we get more info on its track.

Our Stay in NC is Coming to a Close…

We discovered yet another great Disc Golf Venue at the Buckhorn Disc Golf Course. This course is adjacent to a lake used for cooling a Nuclear Power Plant nearby. Sharon and I played this one afternoon and as I have mentioned before North Carolina has some great scenic courses. With views of the lake from the heavily wooded Pine Forest one cannot help but enjoy this stroll through the woods.

As our last weekend arose for visiting with Katie and Brooks we made plans for a grand last meal. This evening’s menu was going to be Smoked Beef Brisket, Texas Chapel Hill sausage and Texas styled pinto beans. Brooks and Benny woke up early to get the brisket started after letting it sit overnight with a nice rub on it. Letting a rub sit overnight really intensifies the flavor and offers the opportunity to achieve a better “crust” on the outside of the brisket.

While the brisket was smoking its way to “perfectdom” under a constant 225-240 degree fire we decided to go off and play some disc golf. This time we played at the Apex Disc Golf Course, a really nice little course. Unfortunately the back nine is under construction for renovations in the park so we played the front nine twice but still had a great time. Benny, the Corgi, really enjoys these golf outings a lot.

Once back at the house we all watched a bit of football as our Fighting Texas Aggies had their season opener. Though there were high expectations I saw in their first game it might be a long season unless they can get going a bit faster. As the games were playing the brisket was cooking and after many hours it finally reached an internal temperature over 200 degrees Fahrenheit. After letting sit a bit, I sliced it up and dinner was served.

What a great way to end our last weekend here in Raleigh NC… with family and with a great meal!

With our departure date coming up this weekend we have finally made last minute plans to head south. Our next stop will be in Dillon SC for a couple of nights and then over to Colleton State Park for a few more nights. Next we will move to the Brunswick Georgia area for a couple more nights before spending five nights at Gamble Rogers State Park south of Flagler Beach. We plan to spend a little time in Florida visiting Sharon’s cousin John and his wife Penny before heading on over to South Padre Island in Texas for the winter months…

NOTE: We are currently in Raleigh, NC and plan to leave on October 2nd moving on over to Dillon SC next…

Skyline Drive in Shenandoah NP and Final Days in the Shenandoah Valley…

One afternoon we decided to make a long loop drive of about 150 miles so we could drive the length of the Skyline Drive in the Shenandoah National Park. We drove from where we were staying over to Front Royal VA and entered the National Park from the north entrance. Days like this we sure appreciate having our senior National Parks pass!

The weather was partly cloudy with intermittent showers. The drive was a wonderful, slow meander through the lush and green vegetation in the mountains of the park. Driving the length of the road we often stopped at the scenic pull outs to take in the serenity of such a majestic park.

Lots of butterflies were out and a few critters such as rabbits, squirrels and deer. While taking in all the scenery we took some time to talk about what our future plans might be once we leave our friend’s place. Our first thoughts revolved around where to go this winter.

With Bonita Springs Florida having been our original destination this winter Covid-19 has changed our thoughts about going there since we mostly stay for all the social events with our snowbird friends.. Likewise another winter favorite is in Mesa Arizona where there are endless activities and live music played daily. Most if not all of these will most likely not be available this winter.

So why pay $1100 to $1300 dollars per month when we won’t be able to enjoy what these two locations usually offer? Therefore, we decided to winter this season in Texas at Port Isabel on South Padre Island. Pricey by Texas standards but for under $700 per month we figured it would be a good place to wait out Covid this winter and not incur the additional cost of amenities we wouldn’t be able to use. Sharon totally loves the beach and we will have easy access at the park we chose. Decision made.

With that decided it was time to start thinking about heading south. We still have a reservation at John Pennecamp State Park in the Florida Keys in late October so our thoughts are to start heading that way and still have time to spend a month or so near our daughter in Raleigh NC. Time to start packing, well, maybe one last stop at Woodstock Brewery….

NOTE: We have left the Shenandoah Valley in Virginia until and are back on the road south as we are heading toward Raleigh, NC…

Our Month Is Nearing an End and Early Summer Plans

Our trip to Texas this year brought with it a lot of “to-dos” which kept us super busy. Number one on the list was to have the windshield replaced with carpet replacement  a close second. Another biggie was to repair the steps (they won't retract all the way without assistance) and I am still waiting for parts to finish that chore.  I do believe before we leave we will have managed to get these big three  chores done.

Other things which kept us quite busy were filing our taxes and having several of my medical appointments over at the VA Hospital in Temple Texas. We also renewed Sharon;s Driver’s license and I made a trip to settle an issue with the Social Security office. Sharon also had her mother of the bride dress altered and we both had our teeth cleaned. Whew!

A few other minor issues were resolved and now we are both good to go for our upcoming summer travels. Where are we going this year? Well we are currently planning a northward trek from Texas through New Mexico and Colorado to Wyoming and South Dakota. We are still looking at our plans for next winter so depending on what we decide we will head either east or west from there. I say east because we still haven't completely ruled out taking the RV to North Carolina in October for Katie’s wedding. We still have time to figure all that out.

In addition to chores and trip planning we were still able to squeeze in some fun here in our old home town. We took many walks at various locations in the community such as Lick Creek Park and Texas A&M University’s campus. Another fun event was we attended the Texas A&M University Spring Football game to live a moment in the hype of their new coach. We played some disc golf and visited several of our favorite pubs and restaurants. We were invited to a couple of crawfish boils while here and really enjoyed them both.

A former co-worker named Keith had the first one and we always love attending it as many of my former coworkers are usually in attendance. Thanks Keith! The other was at our friend Glenn's home. Glenn lost a leg in a freak accident but he still holds a large annual crawfish boil at his house. This year he shared some excitement as he and his wife just purchased an RV! Fun!

The boil was another chance to see many old friends while also enjoying an awesome band Glenn hired for the party. We really appreciated the invite to his and his wife Luthena’s home. Oh, and did I mention Luthena makes the absolute best rum cake!!! What a treat!

We hope to squeeze in a bit more fun before we leave but the month is quickly coming to an end!

NOTE: We leave today for Lockhart State Park to get our Texas BBQ fix…

Getting Hitch Itch and Making Spring Plans…

It's hard to believe that our three months stay is about to be over here at Imperial Bonita Estates, but it's true! The time has passed fairly quickly and with only a few weeks left I am definitely starting to get the itch to hit the road. It’s not that we haven’t been having fun with all of our activities. We have done a little hiking, played a little disc golf and reconnected with RV friends from the past. It is just that it is about time to go!

We sure have gotten a lot done while we've been here though. We were able to install new slide toppers on our slide outs and they were definitely needed as they had begun to tear. We also bought new shades to replace out old and stained day/night shades and I installed all of them in our motorhome. They really do make the inside of our RV look real nice. All we need to complete our interior re-do is to replace what little bit of carpet we have left. We have also done a lot of other odds and ends and small chores to get the motorhome ready for the next season. So where we going to go next?

To start with I'm having the plan a lot more now than I used to in the past because it seems that there are so many more people are on the road now as compared to several years ago. So I have made our reservations from here all the way to Texas! Our first one is a stop outside of Tampa Florida for about three nights. at Little Manatee State Park. From there we'll hug the coastline and we'll stay at a little park at Keaton Beach FL for 3 nights. Then it's on to Mexico Beach, our last Florida stop, where we will stay at a park called Rustic Sands RV Park. We really love the Mexico Beach area so we're going to spend four nights there.

After Rustic Sands we scored our next two nights in Gulf Islands National Seashore at Davis Bayou Campground and we are looking forward to staying at this new location. Then we will leave Mississippi and enter Louisiana where we will be at Bayou Segnette State Park just south of New Orleans. We will stay here for three nights so we can get our New Orleans fix and get us ready for the Cajun hospitality. From Bayou Segnette we move east to our next stop which will be a longer stay of 15 days at Betty's RV Park one of our favorite little places in the world. At Betty’s we should get our fill of Cajun cuisine and Cajun music before we head into Texas.

In Texas will spend one month at are former hometown in College Station where we can check out our rent house and reconnect with old friends. Here we can visit some of our favorite bars and restaurants (at least the ones that are still open) before moving west over to Lockhart State Park to get our fill of fabulous Texas BBQ. Our last planned stop for this leg of our travels will be for a two-week stay at Potters Creek Park, a Corps of Engineer park near Canyon Lake. Here we will spend some quality time with our grandchildren. Then we will have to make our late spring and summer plans and who knows where we will end up as we haven't got any plans yet! Stay tuned to find out where we head this summer On the Road of Retirement…

NOTE: We are in our winter home until March 1st in Bonita Springs Florida at Imperial Bonita Estates RV park and Coop.