All Good Things Must Come to an End

Saturday was a very busy day. Many of us gathered at 10:00AM for a meeting about a possible rolling rally but, due to a misunderstanding, the presenter was not available. Some of the group gathered to play games while others just got together to visit and some went to sight-see around the island. After lunch, one of the hostesses set up a sand dollar painting project. She went all out with lots of acrylic paint sets and a variety of paint brushes. And, her collection of shells, let's just say she has quite a collection. I introduced Carolyn to rock painting while we were in Rockport so she was all set to give this a try.

Marlene watched the rock painting at the other rally so she was ready to give this a try too. Sand dollars have a natural design which some of us in a lot of different ways.

Some of the ladies used sand along with the sand dollars and other shells to create something very different.

One of the women turned her sand dollar into a very unique pumpkin. Check out the lady in the white hat.

In between the inside fun and the rain, I managed to get the dogs out for short walks. We were going to have an "Open House" for members but it was cancelled due to rain. You don't exactly want a lot of people walking into your rig in the rain. During one dry period, one of our group members volunteered to show us her "new to her" Casita. It was really cute but inside and out. She really turned it into her own little castle.

I have been to Jamaica Beach before and remembered a very large tortoise in a pen near the miniature golf course. Well, I found the tortoise and he has moved up in the world. He has a very nice area with lots of space and varied terrain along with a house.

The miniature golf course is popular when it isn't raining. Did I mention they have two hot tubs.....one is in a building and is as large as a small swimming pool.  They also have a Lazy River which due to weather, we didn't even get to see up close due to rain.

Saturday night we had a great group dinner with the hostesses providing pulled pork and buns as well as some potatoes and everyone else bringing either a side dish or dessert. Needless to say, it was quite a feast.  Sorry, I really fell down on the job as far as pictures go.  We also played Bingo and the hostesses provided some nice prizes. We even had a couple rounds of dog Bingo where the cards had pictures of different dog breeds. I have to admit that I had never even heard of some of them. Lori did a great job of pronouncing some of the unique breeds.

On Sunday morning, the hostesses provided a "hitchup" breakfast of scrambled eggs, biscuits, and cinnamon buns. Some of the group left Sunday morning.  The rest of us played games Rummikub was very popular. Others worked on jigsaw puzzles. Sunday night the remainder of the group went to Nate's West End Bar/Grill for dinner. There were about 33 of us there. The was good and the waitress did a great job of taking care of all of us.

One would think with a picture like this on Sunday night that Monday would be a great day.....not so. It was pouring with rain.

 

The rally was great in spite of the weather. Unfortunately, I had a little incident when leaving in the pouring rain. Someone parked where they didn't belong and I was watching out for their car so closely that I missed the fact that a concrete barrel was too close to my 5th wheel as I rounded the corner......way too close. I was driving so it was my fault that my pretty RV has a big boo-boo which will have to be fixed.  Interesting enough, the people with the car parked where it didn't belong flew out of the RV where they were visiting, and raced off in their car. I also have to thank my fellow Texas Ramblin' Roses who came out in the pouring rain to help me get unhung.  Not one of the other RVers came out......even those in the trailer where the wrongly parked car was visiting. I also heard that another RVer had a run in with the concrete later that day and did a huge amount of damage to their RV.  I was very upset that I messed up my RV but stuff happens.

Friday, Friday.....

A lot more women arrived on Friday. The afternoon was spent visiting, playing games, and a few from our group went fishing.

Later that day, we all met at the clubhouse for a baked potato dinner accompanied by sides we all made. The clubhouse is nice...the only drawback is that it is on the third floor. There is a ramp but it is still quite a walk up there.

After dinner, there was a movie "The Gods Must Be Crazy" while others played games.

I should mention that I am still dealing with my battery not staying charged up. Fortunately, Carolyn has a battery charger which I have been using to continuously charge the battery. Either I have a bad battery even though it is brand new. Or my converter is giving up the ghost. Speaking of the converter, we have been hunting for its location. We called Jayco who insisted it was under the fridge behind the fuses and circuit breakers. I finally convinced them that it was not there as I put my camera phone back there and took pictures in all directions. The woman on the phone said she would have to get with the technicians and get back to me in 24 to 48 hours. (two days later the woman called again, made one more attempt to tell me it was under fridge, and finally emailed me detailed drawings for electrical and water line.) It shows the converter in the room with the toilet which is not possible because there are no panels; however, I think it must be under the toilet room behind the wall in the storage area. Thanks to the drawings, I also know where the water pump is located.

Yes, it is raining again but not continuously.

On the Road Again.....

Mary Jane, Carolyn, and I rolled out of Wilderness Oaks RV Resort in Rockport about 9:30AM  We had a smooth trip east on Texas 35 which took us more or less along the coast. We were a little concerned about water along the San Luis Pass area due to all the rain in the area recently. The San Luis Pass Toll Bridge is interesting. The bridge is about a mile long and there is a little toll booth that charges $2......no change. The lane is 10 feet wide at best and the man in the toll booth sits much lower than my truck window so I had to pull past and open my door to deposit my $2 in the revolving bin. They have added a second revolving bin at the top of the toll booth window but it is still too low for me to reach. Here we are coming off the bridge.....me in front, Mary Jane behind me and Carolyn tailing us.

Right along the coast at Surfside, there was water across the road but not enough to be a problem. There wasn't much traffic so we could just cross over into the other lane. Next stop....Jamaica Beach RV Resort.. This is a large resort with a number of amenities.

There is a mini-golf course in the middle.

They have added a lazy river behind the fence sinc I was here last.

All the sites are pull-through.

We settled in Wednesday and then we set out on Thursday to do some sight-seeing after we got registered. We drove into Galveston and on towards the opening into Galveston Bay. There were lots of ships.

Lots of people along the shore, some fishing.

As you can see, the day was very overcast......on the verge of raining any moment.

This interesting Peanut Butter Warehouse apparently also houses Coffee Roasters.

Back along the main beach, here is the popular pier.

We decided to have an early dinner at Fish Tales. We ate there several times on a previous trip.

It was nice enough to sit out on the balcony across from the beach.

Carolyn talked us into a lovely drink.

This is half of a ribs and shrimp kisses dinner. Mary Jane and I decided to split a plate because we knew they were large. Instead of just giving us an extra plate, the waiter plated it separately. He was a great waiter.

Mary Jane was very happy with her half.

Carolyn was pretty happy with her dinner too.

One would think from the idealic scene that the next day was lovely but no, more rain was in store for us.

Jamaica Beach RV Resort

For the first part of our trip to Galveston Island, we stayed at Jamaica Beach RV Resort. It is south of Galveston about 10 miles on the bay side but you have access to the Gulf beach right across the road.

 

It's a real nice park but when we arrived, the area where the connections for the RV are was under about 8 inches of water due to all the rain Texas has been having. Steve waded in and hooked us up. Since the pads are all concrete and raised up, it was only the grassy area that was flooded. There was no rain after we got there so they came out and pumped the water off the lower lying area.

 

The next morning Steve fixed pancakes for everyone while Helen was out running. She trains every day and vacation doesn't change that.

And while Helen is with us, she isn't actually on vacation. Fortunately she can telework from anywhere as long as she can use her cellphone for telecons and has Internet. Here she is working away at the pool.

Steve and the kids at the family pool. There are actually two pools. Neither are very deep. The adult pool has a much nice landscaped area around it and a walk-in type edge with a tiki bar on one side. A lot of families with kids were using the adult pool during the day because there was so much more room. They also have a splash pad for the kids next to the family pool.

Soon there will also be a lazy river but it is still under construction. They are also in the process of adding quite a few more sites.

They have a Pirates Mini-golf course which is available to RVers staying there at half-price.

 

 

 

One of the nicest facilities they have is the indoor spa/hot tub.  It is the largest one I have ever seen. Steve checked out their gym and used their weights. They also showed movies on an outdoor screen every night but first it was too wet to sit on the ground and then the mosquitoes were too bad due to all the rain. We also enjoyed the beach access area. They have a laundry room and a clubhouse available. The staff is very friendly and they will deliver pizzas you can custom order through the office. We stayed here Sunday afternoon through Wednesday morning.

Beachside Galveston Island

Steve and Helen drove to Brownwood to pick up the kids on Saturday. Morgan had a dance recital that night so they didn't get to head home until late and arrived at home very late. In the meantime, the longdogs and I took Angus home in the truck pulling the 5th wheel about 10PM. After he went to bed in his crate, we headed out to the RV to bed so we wouldn't waste any time in the morning. Once Steve and Helen were up, we loaded their stuff in the RV and head east towards Houston and then south to Galveston Island. We were a little concerned about rain and flooding but we were okay in both areas. It spit at us a few times but nothing serious.

Crossing the bridge to the Island.....

Welcome to the Island.....

We arrived at Jamaica Beach RV Resort about 4:00PM and got set up in our site. The pads are concrete but the grassy areas between the sites were flooded. Steve had to wade to do the hookups. Today they came by with a pump and started pumping the water out. We headed over to the beach this morning. Cars can access the beach but there are designated areas where they can go. They can't just drive along the whole beach area here. We walked over from the RV Resort.

The sun was shining and there was a great breeze to keep the mosquitoes at bay.

 

You can see a few of the "small" beach cottages in the background.

Nice little McMansion on our part of the beach.

Looks like it is going to be a great week.

Jamaica Beach RV Park

It occurred to me that I hadn't really taken any photos of the park where we all stayed.

The office is in the building on the right up on the second floor. There are also restrooms and a laundry on the back side. The top floor is the clubhouse that we were able to use for our group. There was a great ramp in between the buildings that made going up and down very easy. The building on the left is where the managers live. The ground floor is pretty much open in case of a hurricane but there is a small pool, kids splash area, and a playground in back.

I think I forgot to mention our fishing trip.

Actually, this is all part of the mini-golf area. Carolyn finds the most interesting men.

This big boy was definitely alive and had his own large pen and house.

Diana and Deb put the moves on the captain.

Four of us were on the last row behind the clubhouse which actually turned out to be quite nice as most of the time the wind came from the gulf side. You can see Galveston Bay on the horizon.

There was a stable back there that rented horses. There were quite a few of them in the field in the evening.

The lots were a decent size.

This is a view across the park pond on the other side. They were definitely full.

I took these from the balcony of the clubhouse so you can see the gulf across the highway. There was a beach entrance about half a block down from the park.

Sunday night, we went about two blocks down the road to dinner at Nate's WestEnd Seafood. It was good; however, they were all out of the "famous" bread pudding so many ordered Key Lime Pie and a couple had cheesecake but it definitely was not homemade or any special. One ordered chocolate cake the waiter recommended as great but it was just okay too.

It was our last hurrah but we were missing Mary who was resting up for her next adventure and Darlene, Mary Jane, Martha, and Pat had already left earlier in the day.