Motorcycles on the Port Aransas Ferry

The ferry between Port Aransas and Aransas Pass runs 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

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It's free, which astonishes us no end.

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I've counted 7 ferry boats operating at the same time, and still there can be a line 2 miles long. The wait is never horrible but it can be frustrating ------ unless you're on a motorcycle.

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If you're on a motorcycle you pull to the shoulder and fly by all the cars and trucks in line! How cool is that! When you arrive at the head of the line they send you straight to the departing ferry! You get on the boat feeling all smug and entitled, but there is one firm rule. You must keep one hand on the bike. They won't be responsible if it dumps over.

The Flowers at Gulf Waters

We're leaving Port Aransas tomorrow after a four week stay. It has been beautiful here, with wonderful weather and long walks on the beach. Bella knows the zigzag route through the park to the boardwalk, and will drag you there at any opportunity.

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With spring break long over the park is back to winter Texans, and those are leaving in twos and threes for their homes in the north. The park is now half or two-thirds filled.

Our friends Joe and Barb have made it back to Wisconsin, and Jake and Candy left three days ago - headed for Dallas and a plane to Cincinnati.

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Below are some of the flowers growing here in the RV park.

Hibiscus are wildly popular here.

A flower known as Bottle Brush

Bird of Paradise  -  I'm so spoiled

A Dwarf Hawthorn 

This is a yellow wildflower growing in the dunes next to the beach.

  Prickly Pear  Cactus starting to bloom

I'd always thought they had a yellow blossom.

Pink Oleander is grown as a hedge here.

How could you not love this place?

The Fulton Mansion

 This is the Fulton Mansion in Fulton, TX. It was built by a local rancher/businessman, George Fulton, over the course of three years starting in 1874. The house was far ahead of it's time with running water, bathrooms and central heat. The Fulton's had their own natural gas well for lighting. There is a fire place in every room but they are not functional. They hold the central heat vents.

 The view from the front porch shows how close the water is. The home has been through many storms and hurricanes. Legend says that a fishing boat was blown out of the bay into the mansion and destroyed, but the building didn't suffer any damage at all.

The home is now a state historic site furnished with period antiques and some pieces owned by the Fultons.

An especially fierce hurricane came through in 1917. Even though the home was unscathed, the windmill was blown two blocks away.

 It landed in a live oak tree and remains there today.

The tree has grown around the blades. It'll take another hurricane to get it out.

Huh?

Sometimes you just have to shake your head and wonder............

Vino 2 VanGogh

 This is so much fun!

You make a reservation to spend an evening painting a canvas and drinking wine!

What a concept!

 Arriving at 5:30 Candy and I found easels set up and wine glasses at each place.

 It's a BYOB joint. No problem here.

Take a good look at my canvas. This is the best it'll look from now on.

We are all given aprons, brushes, paints and instruction. Turns out some of us do a lot better on the instruction than others.

Here's Candy working on her painting. She's really a very accomplished artist on her own. The instructor is the young lady standing to the right of the screen. The movie being shown in Lust for Life, with Kirk Douglas playing Vincent VanGogh. The lights were turned down and we painted by candle light, as VanGogh supposedly did.

 The rest of the class. One group of five brought a box of wine, and I think they may have finished it. They were VERY enthusiastic artists.

At the end of the evening with our finished works and our instructor, minus 1 bottle of wine.

Here's the entire class. The instructor judged the best canvas to be the one to my left, but I'm sure Candy and I were close runners up.

WHYFLY

 A very nice Monaco motor coach with the personalized tag WHYFLY.

(There is also a pick-up in the park with the tag 5PMHERE, but I can't seem to get a picture of it!)

The Monaco also has a couple of options.

Each side of the coach has a Cat-atrium!

Bella had no idea she was under surveillance.

Lake Corpus Christi

 Another sunrise at Gulf Waters.

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Last winter in the valley we became really fond of an Italian restaurant near our R V park.

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 Ron and Nancy's Little Italy was one of our favorite places to eat, and when they told us they'd be relocating to Lake Corpus Christi we promised to look them up.

We woke up to a beautiful day Monday morning and asked Jake and Candy to make the trip with us.

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Lake Corpus Christi is not correctly named, because it's not really close to Corpus Christi.

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It's not close to being a lake either!

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 No boat launching either.

There's also no place to pay the fee.

How sad is this?

No wake - no problem.

 I wished I'd checked the price per gallon.

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We never found Ron and Nancy. They were very nice people, and I hope they found success somewhere.

I also hope they didn't buy lakefront property.

Sand Castles and Elmer's Glue

 These sand castles are in Port Aransas.

 Started in November, they have a Frosty the Snowman theme.

After a segment is finished it's sprayed with a solution of Elmer's Glue and water.

A sign on the site says this is the longest lasting creation of the artist. Heavy winds and rain will eventually destroy the sculpture. I'd like know what it'll take because we had a doozey of a storm last night; with tornadoes in San Antonio and straight line winds blowing tractor-trailers over in Houston. We actually considered hooking the truck to the fifth-wheel for added stability. The rain was blown sideways so hard it sounded like hail hitting the trailer, and this sand castle is still standing!

Elmer's Glue?

They need to think about more uses for that stuff!

Earl in the Spa

Earl enjoys water, and keeps himself lookin' good with frequent spa treatments. He will often dip his paw in the running water and "comb" his head and face.

He absolutely will not drink water from a bowl; insisting on fresh water from the faucet.

And yes, that is my kitchen sink. Earl would prefer a marble fountain but we have to draw the line somewhere.

Spring Break

Spring break has hit us here.

The beach we all considered private has been inundated.

 The RV resort is full of families with young children and teens. Most of the people in our area are interested in sunning, fishing, sand castles etc etc. One gorgeous young couple is playing volleyball every time I visit the beach.

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Ten miles down the shore a different world exists. 

Candy and I drove down the beach this morning at 10 AM. Going any later is risking a traffic jam of epic proportions.

The morning fog is just beginning to lift, and those people with manageable hangovers are beginning to arrive. The dually pickup with the back up lights on is hopelessly stuck in the sand.

Mustang Island, Again

 We are back on Mustang Island, a narrow outer bank island off Corpus Christi, TX. Our friends Joe and Barb Stackman recommended this park to us last year and we loved the place. Gulf Waters is an RV park where the sites are all privately owned, and spaces are rented when the owners are absent. Some of the spaces are elaborately landscaped. The photo below shows an empty site that is kind of average for the park, with Bella wanting desperately to get in the hibiscus.

This shows the park and one of the houses built on the grounds. The park provides lawn care and security, making it appealing to owners. The prickly pear cactus growing in the dunes is quite large by mid-America standards.

Once you cross the boardwalk you're on the beach.

Days don't come any nicer than this one, not a cloud in the sky and high 70s.

Looking southwest toward Padre Island and the bridge to Corpus.

Walkers at 8:30 AM.
 We are bracing for the onslaught of spring breakers on March 10th.

Looking northeast toward Port Aransas, TX; the closest town and about 6 miles away.

We arrived here on March 1st, a day with more fog than I'd ever seen before. The air felt wonderful with the mist blowing through it after being used to the dry air in the Rio Grande Valley. Bella and I walked the beach for a mile or so even in the damp air. As it began to get darker the mist was eerily beautiful. You really could see it swirling in the air, reminding me of those old, black and white movies in the 1940s with Humphrey Bogart wearing a trench coat; or maybe London during Jack the Ripper's time. The surf was roaring in the background, sounding like a winter blizzard in the mid-west.

It was exotic and spooky and a totally new experience for me.


 I did have one problem with all that wet air though. I'd left the Valley with lots of product in my hair, and Wow! was that a mistake! My hair got gummier and gummier by the minute. I couldn't even run my fingers through it. The brush just locked up as soon as I tried to pull it through. No, I didn't take any pictures of me in that condition but it DID remind me of someone I'd seen before.

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