Monday, Monday and also Sunday.....

Forgot about yesterday. Went to Port A (Aransas) on the mini "ferry boats" and drove the beaches south of town. It's the only time we have been down here on a weekend and it was really quite busy. I guess it is still Christmas vacation for a lot of people. The day was supposed to be sunny til late in the afternoon but the clouds rolled in late morning. The huge breakwater was filled with families fishing and out walking on perhaps the last nice day for awhile.

We stopped at ARK, Animal Rehabilitation Keep. It is part of the University of Texas and is a compound for sea birds, mostly pelicans as far as we could see that have been covered in oil from out in the Gulf. Unfortunately being Sunday it was closed so couldn't find out any more about it.

Even though it is winter and so much of the ground plants and shrubs are dry and dead we can always find a little colour hidden in the brush.

Stopped for lunch along the dock in Aransas Pass at Redfish Willie's. Had a good recommendation but unfortunately when your coffee comes cold and you have to wait for 3/4 hour for a burger, the quality of the food doesn't really matter. It was a good burger but......our tolerance level for this kind of service is very low.

Two days in one....

This day feels so much like being at home. It is windy, dark and and rainy. Bob checked the weather this afternoon and it is actually warmer in Courtenay than here right now. WTF!!!. I did two loads of laundry, dishes, sweeping, bed making. I have watched two episodes of Breaking Bad, the final season, a little painting, and all the games of Candy Crush I have lives for, just to keep ahead of Sherry. It is a race to the finish in the Dreamworld Saga. She is supposed to be packing for Mexico but is finding time to play and paint too. Six days til we leave but whose counting. I'm hoping Bob will survive the next few days.

Trying line drawing and wash but I always seem to have too much paint on for the image I'm trying to create. As mi hermana says, practice, practice....fun to have her to bounce painting and drawing attempts off of.

Sisters. Just can't get faces and hands right so I'm leaving them out for now.

View from our RV steps after a rain fall and the evening sunset reflecting in the puddles.

Please let there be sun again. Arizona seems like a dream. Blue sky, brilliant sunsets and sunrises and warm temperatures. We're on our way.

 

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Academy Sports

This is a huge sports clothing/equipment store that is primarily in Texas and parts of the south east. Bob is still on the hunt for shorts and as usual I am the ultimate successful shopper. I have been looking for light weight pack-able clothing for my trip to Italy in May. Capris and Tshirts, wickable and easy to hand wash and dry..good deals in a store that only opened a week ago combined with after Christmas "maybe" deals..

It is good to be out with the sun shining intermittently. We are home by noon, more ham buns for lunch and then I'm on to the soup pot. Bob is doing "Ford" repairs and RV duties and we have a hearty pea, bean and ham soup for dinner.

Padre Island for the day tomorrow...sunshine and beautiful beaches.

 

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iPad Problems

Woke up this morning and I couldn't seem to get any connections on my iPad. Freak out time. I'm always concerned about getting hacked....it is my greatest fear..to lose all my 'stuff '.....pictures, blog...emails and maybe even my identity and banking info....you can see where my priorities lay? Lie? ....one of those words that doesn't look right on the page.
We're eating our ham for lunch again then going out to get away from the 'house' ....Bob's on the hunt for more shorts and I'm sitting in the truck contacting ATT and from there Apple care to fix my 'problem'. Turns out Bob has a similar problem though it's hard to tell because he doesn't do IM or FaceTime but he is having trouble accessing his apps and Google. ATT contacts AppleCare on my behalf connecting me seamlessly. The Apple rep goes through it all with me and it turns out my problem is that my iPad is in the wrong time zone..who knew?? End result is I am back connected with my IM veeps. A very important success story. It even corrected Bobs issues. We are back connected with everyone and everything.
The rain has finally moved on and even though it is still cloudy you can see hints of blue sky and even a peachy sunset. Today we are talking of going down to Brownsville and South Padre Island from here. It is only about 150 miles south and we feel we would be sorry to not go the 'last' Texas mile. Bob is slowly feeling better regarding his neck and shoulders and feels he will be OK for the extra miles. He still has a long road to go before home.

As this trip will probably not be made again we are still feeling the need to keep moving in new directions. Even though it has rained quite a bit in the last two days it dries up very quickly as we can see in the few puddles left that reflect the sunset out our back door.

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Rain, Rain Go Away

Boxing Day or as it's called in the US, the 'Day after Christmas', everything is open, no statutory holiday here. For an excuse to get out for some fresh air Bob dropped me off at the library so I could print out forms needed for our medical benefits. He went grocery shopping and I spent the afternoon updating, printing and downloading the final Season of Breaking Bad. Now I can watch it on my PC. It takes up too much of my cel data plan to watch it on my mini.

It's a little disappointing that the weather is not normal for this time of year here. We will wait it out til all the Christmas vacationers, all 90 some million of them, have returned home before we hit the highway.

Really hoping some drier days are ahead. Tomorrow's rainy day plan is a batch of ham and pea soup. That should bring warmer weather. This is too much like home right now, pout, pout!!

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Christmas Day

A pretty quiet day for us. We have a ham slated for the Christmas pot so are not required to start dinner very early. Bob made a marinade yesterday and it and the ham are just sitting waiting for the roaster. I am practising doing one line drawings. You are not supposed to lift your pen from the paper...it has been my afternoon project and theme for my new little 10 page Sennelier accordion sketchbooks. Another Dick Blick Art Supply store order. I really have stocked up on supplies of sketch books, watercolour cards, pens and Tombow dual brushes. I don't think I will 'need' anything for the next year. What I may 'want' is another story.

We have had all our telephone calls and FaceTime visits with all members of the family. As much as it is a sad time for me missing everyone I am very thankful that they are all happy and together. That is my best Christmas present.

The day has been overcast and showery. We kept the door open til about 3:00 but now we are inside and Christmas day is almost over for us. Fortunately or unfortunately this kind of weather will probably be the deciding factor for us to move on. It's not a lot different from home some days. Granted it's warmer, but rain and cloud are the same everywhere and for the gypsies, I think the open road is calling and we are ready to feel the warm dry desert air of Arizona.

We're thinking maybe a month in Tucson to visit the February gem show, have good TV coverage to enjoy the Olympics and then move on to the Colorado River before turning north and home.

 

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Christmas Eve

A lovely Christmas Eve day. The weather is beautiful, wish you were here; an old Jummy Buffet line....or is it the weather is here, wish you were beautiful, lol...all is good in our world today as HSBC has come through and restored our Benefits Package. Merry Christmas to us.

Couldn't get motivated to do much painting today but thinking of all my favourite people I doodled my stick families as they are today. Everyone is excited and happy to be together and that makes me happy despite my little bit of sadness at not being with them.

Merry Christmas and much love to all our family and friends, from Bob and Karen, this years Winter Texans at Christmas.

 

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Images of almost Christmas

We had an early dinner so we could go out to see the sun setting over the Gulf and assorted bays around Rockport. It was a bonus of colours before darkness fell and the Christmas lights came on. Here are some images of our home for Christmas this year.

 

There are so many neat areas in this town. There are docks everywhere, park benches, museums, aquariums, art galleries, bronze statues and it's all free. You do have to pay for a fishing licence but you can fish anywhere. Off the docks, off the shore...anywhere there is water.

The day was cool and crisp, more of a Christmassy day than the warmth and humidity of the past few days. There are not many private homes decorated for Christmas, I think because of a lot of absentee residents. We enjoyed our drive around town....a small celebration of the unique southern season on the Texas Coastal Bend.

On a good note HSBC has decided to grant us an exception for our 2014 benefits. Unfortunately it took a few days of calls and emails and a little heartache. I'm sure everyone involved in this process, especially us, will now be able to enjoy their Christmas a little more. Sometimes gifts come from strange sources. We are thankful for this one.

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