Del Rio, Texas

Where to start? I have a lot of catching up to do since I last posted. I must say that the weather finally warmed up some on Padre Island and I was able to enjoy a few really nice days of sun and sorta warm weather! Cooper and I walked and walked and walked! I found that each day presented something different, especially at the beach. It all depended on weather conditions and the tide. One day I found so many shells along the beach, a lot of them were fairly large ones. I filled my pockets with them. Then I ran out of pockets and had to hand carry them. I don't quite know 'why'....whatever will I do with all those shells? But they were just laying there, when they usually aren't, so I picked them up like I was finding great treasure! The next day there was nothing. The tide water had completely washed the beach clean!

I miss Padre Island in that it forced me to just 'be'. To live quite simply and to learn to enjoy it. To live with less, to be able to enjoy what the day has to offer and not be bogged down with computer, TV, phone, which I can allow to take up much more of my time than it should. I think maybe the soft lapping of the water against the shoreline has something to do with the tranquility aspect. It's meditative and soothing to your soul.

But, alas - everything must come to an end and so we left for Del Rio, Texas on Monday the 25th. We're staying at an RV Park about 8 miles west of Del Rio across the highway from Lake Amastad, which is Spanish for friendship.  Mom and dad have stayed here in the past and liked it so wanted to return - and I can see why! These folks have got to be the friendliest bunch of people I have ever met - seriously! You can't walk 10 feet outside  your door before someone says hi to you or asks you to join in on some upcoming function or to tell you about all the great happenings around town!

The park is a family owned business that was started about 48 years ago and is now run by the grand kids, who have followed the super helpful, friendly attitude instilled by their grandparents. There is a rec hall where they have line dancing, exercise classes, pot luck dinners, bingo, Bible Study, Women's coffees. They have a big screen TV (upcoming Superbowl party), exercise equipment, a commercial kitchen. Outside is a 'park' with play equipment, a fire pit, grills...

There are trees and birds and owls. (and ticks) Full hook-ups, cable TV, free WI-Fi. All this for $230/mo plus the cost of your electric. No wonder there are so many "Winter Texans" (what Texans call snowbirds).

So far I've participated in a hot dog roast by the campfire, exercise class, Bingo (I won twice and came away with five bucks), and a Mexican Pot luck dinner (I've never seen so many Mexican dishes!)....and I've only been here four days! Cooper and I have taken some nice walks but not like the ones at Padre Island. Win some, lose some....

We've signed up for some upcoming tours. The tour to Laughlin AFB was full so we're on the wait list for that one. We were disappointed so I hope a few people cancel or they decide to add another tour. We signed up for the tour of the prison - they even feed you prison food! We signed up for the Border Crossing & US Customs Tour, where I guess they tell you what their job duties are. There is a winery and a museum we want to go to. Lots to do - I have gone from one extreme to the other!!

In the front office they have shelves full of books. I exchanged the books I read on Padre Island for some new ones. I picked up a copy of Steven King's "The Stand", the complete and uncut edition with over 1100 pages. I figured what better time is there to read a book of that magnitude? Unfortunately, I don't seem to have the time I did a week ago - but I'm sure I'll plow through it non-the-less!

The weather here so far has been near perfect. Cool nights that dip into the low 40's - daytime temps that are sunny and mid to high 60's. Great for walking or washing the motor home or grilling or just reading in your lawn chair!

Aaahhhh...what a life!

Cold Front on PINS

What a difference a day makes - especially when you're dry camping! A cold front blew in from the north on Monday night and Tuesday hovered around 40 degrees outside and inside! Since I'm at the end of my allowed 14 day stay at PINS (Padre Island National Seashore) before I have to move out of the park for two days, I'm low on gas to run the generator and propane to run the stove/water heater/furnace. The holding tanks are full however! 

I stayed inside yesterday and bundled up until 4pm, when I couldn't stand it any longer and cranked on the generator. It was touch and go for awhile as she doesn't like the cold weather any more than I do but I finally got it going and left it running until 8pm. Then I went to bed to get warm. Up until 4pm, Cooper and I took a few 3 mile walks just to warm up. After the first mile I started to thaw out a bit and then by mile 2 it wasn't too bad! The hardest part is just opening the motor home door against the north wind!

Today, rather than spend another cold day bundled up inside the motor home, I opted to spend it at the laundromat again. I brought the computer and all my little devices to plug in and charge up while I'm here and I can easily spend 5-6 hours in air warmed by many large dryers! So far I haven't been kicked out from loitering! A fellow customer even saw Cooper sitting in the driver's seat of the car and brought me a Milk bone to give him. Someone else asked me if that was my morning snack!

Tomorrow we have to leave the park for a few days so I've made a 10:30 appt to meet mom and dad at the dump station where they're camped and we'll made a decision on weather to camp out close by and hit round two at PINS or rather to call it a day and head toward warmer climate.

Anyone know where that might be? Seems we're not alone with our cold front - much of the U.S. seems to be in far worse shape than here and for that I count my blessings that I am where I am!! But I must say, Arizona has been calling to me of late and I'm trying not to be impatient and just hitting the road with the thought that I might be able to make it there by tomorrow!

PINS really has been a nice place to stay and my days have fallen into a simple kind of rhythm. Without easy access to electronic devices I've had to come up with other ways to pass the time. When I have electricity it's way too easy to spend most of my day hooked up to the computer, the cell phone or the TV and then wonder why I don't get anything productive done or even have the time to do the relaxing things I enjoy, such as reading or knitting (or gardening when I'm at home) It's nice to step away from all that now and then and I hope to incorporate "no electronic device days" into my life once I return home!

I leave you with a few scenes from the past week:

Our afternoon walk on the Gulf

Cooper at play!

Gulls outside my MH window

My fresh caught Black Drum Fish dinner

Sunset fishing at Laguna Madre

Cooper

Knitting when it's cold in the MH!

Cooper's way of passing time on a cold day!

Simplicity & Serenity

 Driving away from Corpus Christi out to Padre Island National Seashore is a lot of nothing, which is exactly what the National Park Service had in mind when they opened it for tourism in 1962 and it's remained largely an undeveloped wilderness since then,  which leads you to think you've stepped back into time.

There are approximately six beach areas within the park: North Beach,  Closed Beach, which includes Malaquite Beach, campground (where mom and dad are staying) & Malaquite Visitor's Center, South Beach, Little Shell Beach and Big Shell Beach. You can stay at North Beach and South Beach free of charge and you can drive South Beach for 5 miles before you even need 4-wheel drive. After that you can drive an additional 50+ miles before reaching Mansfield Channel, (at MP 60) which separates North Padre from South Padre Island.

Closed Beach, aptly named because it's closed off to vehicles allowing for tranquil walks along the beach is where Cooper and I spend our afternoons - but more about that later.

After being on the island for a few hours I settled on a place to stay which is Bird Island Basin on the western side of the Island. It's located on the shores of Laguna Madre, which offers fantastic opportunities for windsurfing, fishing, kayaking, sailing, and bird watching. I've since learned about sail fishing, where you can drop 15-20 shrimp-baited lines into the water. Dan, the guy who moved in next to me yesterday, does a lot of sail fishing for Red and Black Drum Fish. He mentioned that many people like to fish for the Red because they fight more but that the Black Drum taste better. Since I'd never heard of Drum Fish, he promised me the next one he catches!

Bird Island was a good place for me to stay since I can conceivably stay there for up to 56 days a year for $30.00. The only "amenities" are two chemical toilets and two trash bins! Other than that, I don't have use of my cell phone, computer, TV or hook-ups (elec, water, sewer) unless I drive 10-15 miles toward Corpus Christi (cell & computer) It's a very simple life on the Island, which has been good for me, despite my early misgivings and anxiety about being so "disconnected"!

Since I seem to be such a routine person, here's pretty much my daily routine:
 

• 5:30 alarm goes off, usually prompting me out of bed by 5:45. (I'm also a "morning" person!)
• 6-7am - a nice hot cup of strong black coffee and usually a muffin or two.

• 7-8am- Cooper and I head out the door for a nice 6 mile walk along the road. First we head out of camp to the east, watching the sun rise as we walk to the marina.

After a walk around the marina we walk up to the main road (Park Rd 22) and across to what used to be ranching land back in the 1800's

  

They still have the old Novillo Line Camp and bunkhouse there.

To the east are the dunes and then Closed Beach, which I hoped I could reach on my first walk down that mile stretch, but there were too many stickers which get caught in Cooper's paws and you're not supposed to walk on the dunes anyway (something about preservation!) so back down the road, across the Park Rd and 1.5 miles back to camp.

Then we putter around until afternoon....I read, knit, pure laziness until about

• 2-3pm - I drive the car about 2 miles or so to North Beach & Closed Beach where I arm myself with bright yellow trash bags that the visitor center provides, and while Cooper runs and plays in the surf I pick up trash along the beach and there is a LOT of it. I'd say 95% of it is plastic, which is obvious, I suppose, because plastic floats. It leads me to wonder what sinks to the bottom of the gulf and also vow never to buy another plastic bottle of water again! Predominant southeast winds drive the currents in the Gulf of Mexico to this location in the northwest corner. Anything that is tossed in or falls in usually ends up on these beaches. In 2005, approximately 1,000 volunteers from the general public removed almost 153 tons of trash from the National Seashore's beaches. That's a lot of trash. They rely on volunteer help and periodic "clean up" days to keep the beaches clean. 
• 5pm - scrounge for something to eat for dinner. Quiet evening sitting outside with a glass of wine and watching the sun set -  then one more walk around camp, maybe talking to a fellow camper or two, and back in to knit for a few hours before reading myself to sleep around 9:30ish
• and then get up and do it all over again the next day!

Yesterday, along with mom and dad, we drove into Corpus Christi to the H.E.B market to buy groceries. After frequenting Walmart's the H.E.B (whatever that stands for) was a pleasant surprise. I even picked up a sushi fix and something from the olive bar! Then we drove to the Laundromat to do our laundry and I checked email on my computer but obviously didn't spend enough time at it so I came back here today to work on updating my blog and make a few phone calls! I've left Cooper in the car however, so I really must give him some attention and let him do some more running on the beach so adios for today.

As the sun sets on your day, remember to keep on living the life you love.....

Sherri

 

Texas

We left Ozark on Monday, traveled roughly 350 miles or so and spent the night in Denison, Tx at the Walmart. It was the first time I actually spent the night at a Walmart without ever stepping foot in the door. I noticed a sign the following morning while walking Cooper that said trucks were not allowed to park overnight in the parking lot. I looked around and about 5 trucks were parked around us so I guess they don't enforse the rule, which is great, because "no trucks" probably means "no motorhome" as well.

We left this morning around 8am and headed south toward Dallas. We only had a little over 60 miles to go to our destination of Lavon Lake in Wylie Texas so it was an easy day, except I got separated from mom and dad at a stoplight in Allen, Tx and had no idea where I was going. Luckily I had my GPS, which has gotten me out of a few sticky situations. I finally realized I wasn't going to catch mom and dad, they must have turned somewhere that I was unaware of, and I didn't know where I was or where I was going. I was able to punch in the town of Wylie on the GPS and then, once I got there, the name of the RV park, and it took me right there! (sometimes that works out great - other times not so much so....to trust or not to trust your GPS - that is the question) I always seem surprised when it actually gets me where I need to be!

It was pouring down rain when I got to the park and I still had to dump my holding tanks, fill with fresh water, unhook the car and hook up the motor home. I was soaked in the end- good time to take a nice warm shower! Felt great - I'm thankful for the small pleasures of life!

A little later we drove to a neighboring town of Rockwall to see some friends of my parents. They were so nice and friendly. One of them was in the process of moving out of her long time home into an active adult community and the other friends, who were from a different part of Texas, were helping her prepare for a large estate / garage sale this weekend. With all they had going on, and as tired as they must have been, they were still so hospitable, which is so the Texas way!

On the way back to the RV park we spied a Costco! You'd shake your head at how excited we were to go into a Costco - $100 later for me - $200 later for dad -aahh, yeh....that's Costco for you! Dad was so impressed with my little Garmin Nuvi's talent for finding ways out of sticky situations and even talking to you through it (annoyingly at times, ie: re-calculating, re-calculating...) that he came out of Costco with his very own Nuvi!

Now... let's see if it can get us to Padre Island tomorrow!!

Ozark Outings With Cooper

While staying at Ozark RV Park I developed the routine of taking a daily jog or walk with Cooper. We found a nice walking path and trail where I could let Cooper off leash so he had the luxury of running to his heart's content and I could also walk or jog in a more relaxed manner while listening to my I-Pod!

We caught the trail about 1/2 mile from the RV Park. The first part of it is a nice dirt trail that winds it's way through the trees. It follows the Finley River and I hardly ever see anyone there, which is nice. Summer may be a different story but every day that I was there it was cold or windy - no wonder I chose to jog most of the time - it was the only way to get warm!

The second part of the trail is a concrete path that also winds it's way along the river. It's called the Finley River Greenway Project, completed in 2007, paid for by Ozark Tax Dollars!! Too bad they didn't have enough in the pot to complete it all the way to the park - that would be nice. I hear the Ozark Park had a nice Christmas light show but we never made the trip to see it.

I did take a couple of different walks around town but in most I had to walk along a road without shoulders and with hills and it was difficult dodging cars that may or may not be able to see you. So in the end I preferred to walk a trail without cars and where Cooper could run to his heart's content.

Okay, I know you see sunshine but it's cold I tell you!!

A Limestone cave - there is a LOT of limestone here

A little patch of blue sky!

All good things come to an end!

....but you get to enjoy the local artwork!

Cooper playing in the leaves

Twelve Ozark Observations

I've been in Ozark, Mo for a month now and I've made a few observations:

 1. Southern Charm is real - everyone is nice.

 2. Cigarette butts line the roadway like confetti after a celebration.

 3. People still flick their cigarettes out the window - one of them almost hitting me as I walked.

 4. They still ask you if you prefer smoking or non smoking when being seated in a restaurant.

 5. There are a lot of churches here, some of them are huge; most are Baptist.

 6. There is a lot of talent in my brother's family and in their church - maybe in all of Missouri!!

 7. My sister-in-law makes a great Christmas dinner and the kids all pitch in - from cookies to clean up.

 8. It's cold here and the wind blows most of the time, bringing the temp down another 10 degrees

 9. I had to buy another space heater to keep my pipes thawed out, but then my black/gray valves froze.

10. There was a great walking trail for me and Cooper, thank God, because the roadways don't have shoulders or bike paths.

11. The McDonald's across the street always has a line at the drive-through ~ even on Christmas.

12. My brother's family is kind, smart, talented and growing up fast.

Christmas Dinner - 2010

I'm Here Ya All

...... in the Ozarks – and I haven’t posted anything since the Outer Banks in early November!

I can say I’ve been lazy, which is true.

 I can say I haven’t really done anything exciting, which is also true. 

Both are excuses however, and something I’m trying to rid myself of, so whether I have anything important to say – or not – at least you’ll know I’m here  - and well – and not doing anything exciting!

 This is Wildlife Woods RV park, where we stayed in Troutman, NC

 

Okay – to update you a little bit. We drove from the Outer Banks of North Carolina to Davidson (just north of Charlotte). Davidson is where my brother and his family live.

 

 The view of Lake Norman from brother's condo....nice!

 

One day we walked from their condo on Lake Norman to the farmer’s market downtown. What a quaint & lovely college town they live in. We had breakfast at this great little café and then walked around the market.

All I bought was a bone for Cooper but they had a lot of great produce (lots of greens) and meat, fish, chicken (even livers). And it was the end of the season. I think I would be down there every Saturday during the summer growing season, cloth grocery bags in hand, filled with organic produce! Davidson even had a great Natural Food Market, where I bought some bulk oat bran to make muffins and some almond milk. Natural Food Markets and all things organic are sometimes hard to find in this part of the country. I am very spoiled living in Oregon, where "Organic" and "Natural" are common terminology!

We had a lovely Thanksgiving dinner at my niece’s house – and I mean ORGANIC made-from-scratch awesome tasting food– and she’s only 23! 

I was far from that at 23! Impressive – so impressive. 

 Unfortunately, or maybe it was fortunate in some twisted way – I wasn’t able to eat all that much because I was still trying to kick a flu bug. I think it was the first Thanksgiving ever that I ended up hungry at bedtime!! It’s not that the food didn’t taste good because it was terrific – it was the 'intestinal protest' after eating that was the kicker! Enough said!

After leaving North Carolina we traveled east through Tennessee, into Kentucky and then reached Missouri. We ended up just south of Springfield in the town of Ozark, where my youngest brother and family live. We’re at a small RV park (which is really just another parking lot) but with full hook-ups and Cable TV!! Now that was a bonus! Not that I watch a lot of TV but to have it, even for abstract company is pretty nice!

I wasn’t sure if I’d like this particular spot but turns out I really do! My main requirement is being able to get out and walk. While I do spend too much time inside the motor home (more about that in a minute) I really do like to take a long walk/jog in the morning with Cooper. The last places I’ve been in haven’t been great places for walking, unless you just circle the RV park again – and again – and again. While I’ve been here I’ve been able to take various long walks around town.

Today for example, I decided to walk down this country road to see where it ended up. About 2.5 miles into it I entered a housing development in the hope that I could cut through to another development in the general direction I knew I wanted to go. No luck. I finally exited the neighborhood to the main street again – looking left and wondering if I just went that way instead of heading right to back-track the way I’d already traveled – would it circle back to where I wanted to be – or would I be 7-8 miles into it and then have to turn around after all?

This is when a GPS comes in handy - which i didn't have with me.

No guts….I went back the way I’d come – and partly because I’d received a call from mom wanting to know if I wanted to drive into the town of Branson with them. Since I hadn’t been to Branson for 8 years, and there was new stuff to see, of course I wanted to go! Unfortunately they had to wait on me to get back but they were patient and understanding!

It was a good thing I walked so far because dad treated us to lunch at Panera Bread. 

Yummy deliciousness! Turkey and artichoke Pannini Sandwich and French Onion soup (for me). I'm proud to say I ate every bit of it and even had dessert - only later - with a cup of hot tea.

When I got back to the motor home I had to do motor home chores in preparation for the upcoming 22 degree high temperature (with 50mph wind) fore-casted for Sunday.

The weatherman said it will seem like “the siding is just ripping off your house” – and that’s supposed to make me feel better living in a tin box? Should be quite the ride....!!!!

The reason I spend an inordinate amount of time inside the motor home? A space heater.....a nice - warm - space heater!! A good book and my knitting don't hurt either!

The adventure continues –

Stay tuned! I'll try to be a better poster!!

Sherri