Port Aransas, TX

This year I made 2 resolutions.  I told myself I would do a better job at keeping my blog up to date this year.  I guess that didn’t happen!!  The other was my typical one to eat better and exercise more.  (more on this below)

As mentioned in my last blog, I went to South Texas because it is supposed to be warm.  Well, we had a few nice days during my stay in Port Aransas, but we also had an ice storm.  Below is a picture of the grass on the sand dunes and a picture of my water spigot.  (I disconnected my water hose so I wouldn’t have to mess with a frozen hose).

One of my goals while in Port Aransas was to get a good picture of a Roseate Spoonbill in flight.  While biking in one birding location, I looked over to another birding site and what did I see -- a huge flock of Spoonbills.  The picture below is taken with the lens at it’s max zoom.  It’s a bit hard to tell, but those are Spoonbills.  The second picture was taken from The Birding Center where the pink Spoonbills liked to hide just out of sight from the people on the boardwalk.  Look at the bill and you can see why they are called Spoonbill.

While in Port Aransas, I did a good bit of bicycling.  One of my favorite trips was riding into town.  My campground was about 4 miles out of town, so I would ride about 5 miles on the beach and then ride around town visiting birding locations.   Below is a view from my bike at the Port Aransas Nature Preserve.

I would often stop for a break beside the channel between Port Aransas and Aransas Pass.

It was a great place to watch people, ships and quite often dolphins.  I never realized that there were so many types of ducks.  Many times at The Birding Center there would be 100’s of ducks.   The one below is a Northern Shoveler.

I’ve written about this before, but I enjoy watching the Reddish Egret do their little dance while they catch food.

The picture below was taken at The Birding Center.  I guess there are more than birds at the center.  The Alligator was about 8 feet long and as you can see not far from the boardwalk.  We were 3 – 4 feet above him. 

I can’t forget my beach shot.  After all, I am staying at a campground that is on the beach – just a short walk to the boardwalk which crosses the dunes and I’m at the beach.  Most days I would walk 3 – 7 miles on the beach. 

When I was in Georgia, I started back on Weight Watchers after I found out I could travel and go to different locations.  I have now been to meetings in 5 different locations and I’m still doing well.  I don’t go out to eat often as I do much better when I cook and know exactly what is in my food – even though I don’t cook well!!  I did meet Chuck and Carla (fellow Lazy Daze owners) for lunch one day in Corpus Christi, but I planned for that meal and did fine that week. 

I left Port Aransas on Feb. 15 and am currently in Mission, TX.  It’s definitely warmer.  As a matter of fact, today was too hot for me.  I think it got to 93, but today is supposed to be the hottest day this week.  We have had many days in the 80’s, but with lots of wind.  Once again my plans are to walk, bike, look at birds and other nature. 

Left GA and now in Port Aransas, TX

Yes, I got out of GA before the big snow earlier this month. As much of the country, the North GA mountains has been colder and had much more snow than normal.  

12.5 degrees at 8:27 in the morning of Dec. 28.   That’s too cold for me!!

I left GA on January 4 and headed to South Texas where I was hoping for warm weather.  My plans are to stay in Port Aransas, TX for a month and then go to Mission, Tx for a month.  Before getting to Port Aransas, I stopped in Beaumont, TX for a few days and went to Big Thicket National Preserve. 

In Port Aransas, I had hoped to get back into an exercise routine.  So for the most part I’ve been walking the beach, riding my bike and bird watching. 

In the picture above, it appears the heron is watching the birds also.  I really don’t know too much about birds, but I do enjoy watching them and am slowly learning to identify more.

I’m still not sure where I will be going after I leave Mission, TX.  My niece is getting married in July, so I want to be in Wisconsin the first part of July.  I was thinking of going back to Arizona and then Utah, but I am now thinking I might head back east some and tour Alabama, Tennessee and Kentucky.  With gas prices so high, this could keep my cost down a bit.  I know I don’t want to be in the south during the summer, unless I am high up in the mountains.  I’ll eventually figure this out.

Today I have a busy day planned - I’m going to ride my bike on the beach towards the channel between Port Aransas and Aransas Pass (and probably see some dolphins).  Then I’ll probably ride to and thru the Nature Preserve, then back.  Hopefully I’ll still have time to walk a few miles on the beach.  Have I mentioned how much I’m enjoying retirement!!!!

Snow in Georgia

I had my first ever white Christmas!!!  I’ve been in Georgia for 47 out of 50 years and we have never had a white Christmas.  The news says it hasn’t happened in more than 130 years!! 

It didn’t start snowing until after 9:00 am, so I went to my mom’s house early for breakfast on Christmas day.  We noticed it was starting to sleet and snow, so I left shortly after that.  By the time I got to Dillard the streets were already snowy and icy.  But I made it back to the campground just in time.  I saw one minor accident where someone slid into a street sign. 

The pictures below are from Dec. 25.  The first picture was taken from my car on the road just before the campground. 

In the above picture, you can see a few folks huddled around a fire.  They are 2 rows behind my site!  I knew one of the guys and during one of my walks went over and warmed up a bit.

The next 3 pictures were taken on Dec. 26.  It never got above freezing! We ended up with 5 – 6 inches of snow.

I realized I forgot to post a picture of a great campground in Gainesville, GA.  River Forks Park is a Hall County park and campground near Gainesville.  I went there because it’s only about 12 minutes to Camping World and I had an appointment the next morning.  The park is on Lake Lanier which is the lake where some friends and I would rent a houseboat for a few days each summer. 

It is now Dec. 27 and 18 degrees.  It is not supposed to get above freezing today, but hopefully once the sun comes out I’ll get out of the campground and go to my mom’s house.  Others made it out yesterday, but nobody else is on my row at the campground, so the road is still very snowy and icy.  My sister and family are due in today if they make it through all the bad weather. 

Georgia

I haven’t blogged much while in Georgia.  I have visited friends, family and doctors (not socially!).  During my first week in GA, I stayed at Ft. Yargo State Park in Winder, GA.  This is a nice park and this year I got a spot on the lake.

Below is a visitor to my campsite.

After Ft. Yargo, I went to Dillard, GA for a month.  After Dillard, I had thought I was going to go to the Florida panhandle – probably St George or St Joe State park.  But in watching the weather it was going to be cold there (and almost everywhere in the US), so I went further South.  I went back to Sanibel Island.  I camped for a week and stayed in an ocean front Condo for a week.  This was the first time I have slept in something not on wheels in almost a year. 

While there it was a bit chilly, but it was still nice.  The day after the real cold weather the beach was interesting.  Lots of shells and live sea creatures.  So many that I saw on the news that some marine biologist were looking into it, but as an initial cause they were thinking it was just the cold and rough water.  Lots of good shells (many still had the creature inside), starfish, hermit crabs and even squids.

Ding Darling Wildlife sanctuary is one of my favorite places on the island. Below are a few pictures from my visits this year.

I didn’t realize that wood storks have a leathery head.

I also went back to the Corkscrew Swamp refuge.  I saw a Night Heron do the strangest thing.  It looked like he was trying to stand on his head. He would stay that way for several minutes, then straighten up for a while and then do it again.  Below are 2 different shots of this behavior.

When I saw this, I was glad I was on the boardwalk!

One day, a lot of urchins had washed ashore.  I would say thousands.

I also say a Skimmer for the first time.  When I first saw it, I thought it was a gull that looked like a toucan.

I’m currently back in Dillard, GA watching it snow!  On my next blog, I’ll post some pictures of the snow and my RV. 

Driving back from the Pacific Northwest

I went through my pictures several weeks ago and picked out the pictures below.  But I just realized that I never put them on my blog.  I turned 50 a couple of weeks ago and I think my mind is going!!

A few final pictures from the Oregon Coast -

 

Before leaving, I went to one of the areas in Oregon known for it’s waterfalls.  I went to the area around the Umpqua river.    While visiting, I stayed at 2 campgrounds.  One was Hi-Way Haven RV park.  This park was supposed to be just a quick stop over for me, but I ended up staying here for several days.  The interesting thing about this park is that it was originally a drive-in theater.  They still have the screen and show movies sometimes on the weekend.  You can see the screen in the picture below between my RV (on left) and another Lazy Daze on the right side of the road.

After that I went to Susan Creek Campground, where I missed some fellow Lazy Dazers by about a week. 

Lots of waterfalls in the area, below are pictures of the falls and trails -

 

Above is a picture of the trail to Susan Creek falls.  The waterfall was nice, but the scenery along trail with the small creek running along side was beautiful.

At the beginning of Falls Creek Falls trail, you go through these moss covered rocks.  Neat place!

Above is Toketee Falls. 

After leaving Oregon, I stopped in Twin Falls for a few days.  I visited Crater of the Moon National Monument one day.  Lots of lava and interesting Lava shapes.

The way the lava twisted in some places was interesting. This place is known for it’s lava sculptures and caves.

  Both of the cave pictures have people in them so you can get a perspective of the size.  In the first one, there is a person on the left side of the picture.  In the second one, you can see a person on the staircase leading down into the tunnel. 

While in Twin Falls, I visited Shoshone Falls.  But this is a waterfall that should be visited earlier in the year.  When I visited, it was almost dry.  In addition to the picture I took of the falls, I took a picture of a sign that shows what it looks like in the spring.

Snake River Canyon -

 

Coming back from Oregon, I made a side trip to Shipshewana, IN.  I visited here last year and enjoyed it.  While looking around at the Shipshewana flea market/farmers market I made a discovery.  Last October I posted a picture of something that I had found at a state park in Kentucky and I asked if anyone knew what it was.  Well they were selling them at the farmers market.  It was a Hedge Apple.  They sell them as natural insect repellants.  Below is the picture I posted last year.