2023-02-06 Rockport TX

Running behind again. Discovered I had about three backposts I needed to complete before I started on my latest trip. Done!

With a Texas Ramblin' Roses Rally rapidly coming up in February, I invited my friend Carolyn to bunk with me since it's a lot of gas to drive from Louisiana for a short rally. My thoughts then turned to the fact that it would be great to add some days to the time I was going to be out in the RV. Immediately, a trip to Wilderness Oaks in Rockport TX popped up. Carolyn was more than onboard with the idea. I headed towards Rockport from Schertz and Carolyn got on the road from Louisiana.

I was only about 8 miles from home when I had to recalculate my route as they had the bridge over I-10 closed with no advance warning. Added a few miles but no big deal. when I arrived at the RV park, the first site I was scheduled for wouldn't allow me to use my EMS because the post was so low to the ground. they quickly found me another site and I got settled in. Carolyn had a much longer drive but she also stopped at 3 Buccee's on her way. Louisiana is deprived that way......no Buccee's and no HEB so they come west to get their fill, lol.

I wasn't there long before I ran into Olivia, another member of the Texas Ramblin' Roses who is wintering here at the park in Rockport. There have been other Roses here off and on all winter as this park is one of our favorites.

After Carolyn arrived and we got her settled in, we had a great dinner of Lasagna Alfredo made by my daughter-in-law Helen. She cooks large batches of everything so leftovers are always great.

The next day, Carolyn's brother asked us if we could go look at a couple of airstreams that he was interested in that were located in Aransas Pass so off we went. We spent about 1 1/2 hours there checking them out thoroughly with Carolyn taking lots of pictures of every part of them. The trailers were at Silver Oaks Airstream RV Park. the park is actually open to other RVs as well as airstreams. It's very nicely landscaped and very secure as it is enclosed with a fence and locked gate. The owner is onsite, loves airstreams, buys, fixes, and lives in them. It was an interesting visit. It ended with him inviting us to host a women's rally there but it is too small for TRR rallies.

After we were done, we decided to take the ferry to Port Aransas. The line may look long but we were on the ferry in 15 minutes.

On the way back to the park, we drove along the bay through Fulton. The guy on the dock was cleaning fish and the pelicans were there to help.

The trees along the bayshore in the residential area are so unique. They look like they are reaching out to grab the houses.

Tuesday evening we had dinner with Olivia and Andie at Paradise Key. 

It's right on the water.

And we sat on the outside deck. I was wishing for a light jacket before we were done. Olivia was warm so she kindly lent me her shawl.

Olivia, Carolyn, and I met at the clubhouse to play Rummikub when we got back.

Got this picture when Harley got his nightly walk. It's a great park with friendly staff and guests.

2023-01-21 Morgan's and Steve's Birthday's

 Usually we celebrate birthdays for Morgan and Steve separately but this year it worked out that we did them together. Both Cameron and Morgan came to Cibolo to celebrate the birthdays. Our family has birthday hats. Morgan thought she lucked out since she got to wear this hat versus the "cake" hat that is the normal birthday hat. Steve got to wear that. It's a privilege, right?

This bag has been around for many years. We reuse!

Morgan's biggest interest right now is theater and film so she received a number of books on both.

Also related T Shirts.. This is for film makers.

Morgan got her Dad this cat calendar as a joke.

Helen got Steve a new motorcycle outfit, jacket and pants with body armor.

Checking sleeve length is important to motorcyclists.

We got Steve a custom seat for his motorcycle.

Of course, it had to be installed immediately by the Phipps Motorcycle Shop.

Definitely an improved ride.

Morgan had a special request for her birthday cake. Yes, that is an ice cream cake.

Steve had his own cake.

Helen was the only one brave enouugh to try to cut the turkey.

The legs were waffle cones. There was frosting over the ice cream and that was all covered by caramel.

Daddy's girl!

How could I forget! Angus also celebrated his "Gotcha" day. He was a "rescue" dog through Luv-a-bulls in Austin. He served on their therapy team....the only all pitty therapy group in the country.

2022-12-25 Christmas

 Okay, this is an old Christmas photo of Angus singing to Santa but I just ran across it and coudn't resist.

This is this Christmas but his suit still fits and he is just as distainful about wearing it, lol.

Helen's mother sends us all Amaryllis bulbs in November and we have a growing contest between the four of us. They were beautiful as always.

Harley got to open his Christmas present on Christmas Eve. We had a big Christmas Eve dinner at our house and Christmas Day at Steve and Helen's. 

Okay, somehow we forgot to take any pictures of trees, decorations, dinner, and presents. But, the boys (Dave and Steve) got electric scooters and (Cameron) electric skateboard!

It was a great Christmas. The kids were here for 12 days so there was lots of fun to be had in our family.

2022-12-7 Texas Ramblin' Roses Annual Meeting

Wow, just checking in with my blog and realized that I haven't posted since the end of September. Even now I have to admit that I am creating this December post much later than December. In addition to having gotten a bit lazy, I do have good reasons for the lack of posts. Without going into any detail, one of our family members has been going through a health ordeal since the end of August so my travels were very limited because I wanted to be home. Last trip was in September. My sister-in-law stepped in to take my place as a host for a joint rally in November. The December rally arrived and I didn't want to copletely miss out on it but I was the transportation option for getting my granddaughter from Marble Falls TX to San Antonio and back again to meet up with her mother. So on to the rally

I arrived at Skyline RV Park in Bandera TX on Wednesday, November 30th. Now the rally didn't officially start until Friday but many of us like to come early. My sister-in-law Elaine drove in early from Abilene and met me. Of course, there were many other Texas Ramblin' Roses there early too.

Thursday night we walked next door to Maggio's Pizza for dinner. They have a wide variety of pizza and a nice selection of other Italian menu options. I ordered pizza with the thought of having some great leftover lunch options. My mistake.....the toppings were excellent but the crust was definitely not. Maybe we hit a bad night because the reviews are great but the crust was awful. Others in our large group made the same comment. I almost left the remainder of the pizza sitting there but good thing I didn't. I reheated it the next day and it was actually much better!  All the other Italian dishes looked and smelled wonderful and everyone raved about them. I think I would go that route next time.

Here we are headed back to the park. Flashlights on cell phones are really a life saver for those of us that forget flashlights when we head out before dark.

Friday morning Judy and Lois Kimmel made pancakes and bacon for everyone. It was great but I failed to get pictures. I've been a little distracted the last few months. Next we had a great presentation by an RV technician. He did a good job but I think he was a bit surprised about how knowledgeable many of our members are about their rigs. A few of the women kept him busy with some repairs during the rest of the weekend. 

I left to drive to Marble Falls to pick up Morgan so I missed the fried chicken dinner provided by Carol Carter and Skymed. We made it back to San Antonio about 8:30PM and enjoyed the rest of the weekend together. Sunday night I drove Morgan back to Marble Falls for her 6:00PM pickup time. then I headed back to Bandera where I my rig was parked. That was one hairy trip back as it was extremely foggy and the road is in the boonies. Fortunely the deer stayed holed up and off the road because I would have been on them before I could see them. Elaine and I stayed until Wednesday even though the rally was over Sunday morning. We tried to see the Christmas light display in the park along the river but the gates were locked. We checked with the Visitor's Center who called city hall and found out that they locked the gates because heavy rain made the ground too soft and they were afraid people would get stuck. We drove up to Medina to the Apple store and had lunch with several other TRR ladies. 

I wasn't there while these pictures were taken but wanted to include them because I was there in spirit.

Our new officers: President Mary Ann Miller, Treasurer Hilde Barnett, Vice President Beverly Hadley, and Secretary Teresa Johnson. Thanks for stepping up ladies.

Our rallies are always well attended especially the annual meeting in December. Glad I got to be there for part of it.