Apple Dumplin' and Titanic Tour with Ken and Vivian

Monday, March 8, I was up at 7:00. It is cloudy, warm and windy with of low of 64 and a high of 67; not much difference. I get on-line to work on journal pages and then we have a light breakfast (we have to keep having light breakfasts as we seem to be having a lot of Social Hours that entail too many calories.) Some day we'll cycle again and eat power breakfasts. It sprinkles as I put out the trash just before 9:00 a.m. Nan calls at 8:50. We decide to brave it and use umbrellas. Tom joins us as well with Roxy in tow but they leave us after one round. I'm pretty sure Roxy is happy about that; I don't know about Tom. Anyway, it turns out they were the smart ones. It really starts raining on our second round. My sweat pants and sleeves are wet when we get home. The wind almost turns our umbrellas inside out.

This morning I vacuum, clean myself up and read. We leave at 12:30, pick up a San Antonio paper at Stripes and battle a light rain to arrive at Apple Dumplin' at 12:45. They still have their CLOSED sign on the doors from the Oysterfest on Saturday and we wondered at first if they were open. They are and I tell our waitress who rips them off the door. A few minutes later our friends Ken and Vivian arrive. They live in Silver Bay, MN, but we met them at Arrowhead State Park in Oklahoma, can it be four years ago! Our two RVs were parked right next to each other and were the only units in the entire park in the fall. It is great to see them again as it has been a few years. They both look great. Ken lost 91 lbs. and is a shadow of his former self. We all talk at once it is so great to see them.

I have the Trio Salad Plate (Chicken Waldorf Salad, Black Bean Salad and Egg Salad with three mini-muffins.) What a great lunch. Bob has the tuna sandwich that he loves and Baked Potato Soup. Ken and Vivian split a sandwich and each have soup. Ken tops it off with Cinnamon Walnut ice cream (Yikes, I'm glad I didn't know they had that!) One of the couples we met at Woody Acres a few years ago (that's where Ken and Vivian are staying) come in to the cafe. It's nice to see them again. We tell Ken and Vivian that Lorraine and Bob from MN pulled us out of the mud at Woody Acres three years ago.

We invite Ken and Vivian out to Southern Oaks. They stop at a flooring/decor shop to buy a seagull yard art figurine and a True Value Hardware metal bank. They have been eyeing them and want to get them before they leave the Coast. Bob and I head home and they arrive shortly. It is raining hard when we leave the restaurant but it stops and the sun comes out by the time we get home.

They get the nickel tour of The Titanic and seem to like our new digs. It turns out they are trading in their 5th wheel for a Lance camper as they want to downsize and make driving easier. They plan to take it to Alaska next summer after getting it in May. It is so fun to visit with them. They are off to the big rodeo in Houston tomorrow. They are staying overnight in a hotel. Then they leave for Fredericksburg on 3/16. We have coffee and HEB chocolate drop shortbread cookies (my favorites). What a fun visit. I'm so glad we were able to get together before we all left. We point out Lake Murray State Park in OK as a good place to stop on their way back north.

Bob and I knock on Nan's door to see if her and Roxy want to walk. Tom is in work mode filling out an application for some Federal contract work. They saw Dan--he wanted to go to lunch but Tom is on a mission. Nan told Dan about our shrimp boil later this week.

On our walk we meet Gretchen, a mini-dachshund/Jack Russel terrier, in a red sweater with her owner Rae. Actually we saw Rae at the Grand Opening of the clubhouse. She was serving BBQ. Jerry and Ann are getting PVC delivered as we pass by their place.

Back home we're snacking and Jean, my Austin friend, returns my call. She's home from the hospital after her knee surgery on schedule today. It all went well she is happy to report. I'm so glad to hear it. We have a nice chat and she sounds great. She starts her physical therapy tomorrow and has folks staying with her this week. Her beagles rejoin her from the kennel on Friday maybe. I am so glad she called to let me know how she's doing. It's 6:35 p.m. and j66 degrees with 85% humidity.

Hair, Apple Dumpling, Shop Rockport and Social Hour

Spring has sprung with the arrival of Glenda's quilted wall-hanging!

Friday, March 5, I slept like a rock for eight hours after only getting three and a half hours sleep last night. After a light breakfast, Nan, Roxy and I walk at 9:30. We go by the office to get my package from Glenda afterwards. My Spring quilted wall-hanging is here. It is so cute and colorful. Check out the cute button flowers in the wheelbarrow. I love it! I hung it up right away. Manny, Moe and Jack Frost are stored until next Winter. I called Glenda to say thanks and let her know I received it--that was fast. It was fun to chat with her.

I have a voice message from Julie when I get back from our walk. I will call her after lunch. She wants to get together next Wednesday. Bob is off getting a haircut at a new place in Aransas Pass--Don's Barber Shop (Don turns out to be a hefty gal--Donella I guess!) He comes home with a San Antonio newspaper but we don't read it. We leave right away and browse an antique store in Aransas Pass that we saw. The lady has a new Mac with a huge screen and no tower that she is getting used to.

We stop at our bank across the street for cash and quarters. Then we go on to Rockport and park in the center on a side street. We walk to Apple Dumplin'. Every table is full at 11:00 so we browse a few stores on the main drag and walk back to try lunch again. Every table is full at 12:30 so we browse Junk Museum on Magnolia. We finally walk back and get a table. We both have tomato basil soup and half a sandwich; tuna salad for Bob and a Reuben for me.

We stop in the antique mall and find a book but the lady behind the counter is gabbing with a couple in front of us about being the owner of Paradise Key with her husband. She goes on and on about it being the number 5 restaurant out of 4000 in the region--right! Then she launched into a ten minutes discussion of Ahi Tuna being their specialty (too bad Tom's waitress screwed up his order or he could have tried it when we were there.)Bob and I left the book and got out of there. She wouldn't even make eye contact with us.

Back home we read the paper. I'm cutting up veges when Nan knocks. Steve and Debbie were just at Dan's next door. They are going to Corpus to get Windows 7 for his computer. they want to know if we want to go to Oysterfest tonight. We say we'll pass as Tom had a shot for his knee today and wants to save himself for the parade tomorrow. Nan, Roxy and I take a walk but only go around one time. I go in The Grand to see how Tom's knee is doing. New York Jerry knocks and invites us to Social Hour tomorrow at the clubhouse here at Southern Oaks. Tom calls Steve to say we'll try to meet up with them tomorrow at Oysterfest.

I go home to make Tropical Coconut Cheeseball. I split it in two; one for tonight and one for tomorrow. Nan and Tom come over to The Titanic at 6:00 for 'Social Hour' (I guess that's the new lingo here--apparently 'Happy Hour' is passe or perhaps politically incorrect.) At any rate, Social Hour turns into 'five'! They arrive with Smirnoff's, Spinach Dip, chips, crackers and queso. I add my cheeseball,veges, dip and Ritz PB Cookies. What a feast!

I try to look up the parade starting time tomorrow at the Oysterfest but the laptop won't boot up. So we drain the battery and restart it. Finally I get the site up. The parade is at 11:00. We all relax; we can keep drinking. I also Google for Bay View, a membership RV park Tom and Nan want to look into on 35 near 35 RV Park that Bud and Billie were in.

We laugh and tell stories until it's almost 11:00! So much for Tom taking it easy today. What a fun night. It's 11:29 p.m. and 68 degrees in the bedroom with no heater on. It was overcast and warm today with a 10 mph wind.

Keckners Furnace Guy

Tuesday, March 2, it is a chilly 46 degrees at 7:00 a.m. We didn't leave the heater on so the living room is 52 degrees this morning as I work my crossword. I catch up on journal pages and check email. We have a light breakfast. I walk with Nan and Roxy at 9:30. A crew is working on the sold lot across from Terri and Jerry. Two older gents cruising by in a truck stop us and ask which lots are for sale. We point them to the office and the brochures. I have gloves and ear muffs on in Texas in March! What's that all about?

It looks like the trash has already been picked up and I didn't get mine out the door. But the guy driving the cart around says to put it out, he'll get it. How nice. Back home to put out the trash and wait for the furnace repair guy. The company called at 3:30 and said we're on the schedule between noon and 2:00. What a concept to keep the customer informed.

Lo and behold he shows up just after 11:00. His truck heads back to the permanent sites but a few minutes later he comes over to our row. Bob goes out and the guy tests the circuit board and declares it to be the problem. he gets our serial number and will order the part. He may be back out by Friday. We'll keep our fingers crossed. That would be way too easy!

We have an email from Bud. he flies to Virginia at 7:30 this morning. We wish him luck. Bob and I clean up and go to lunch at Pepitos. On the way out of the Park we see Tom outside airing up the tires on The Pup. I heard Nan called their Grand Junction RV "The Grand", and they always call their Smart Car "The Smart", so if they would call their BIG truck "The Pup", their entire rig would be the GPS--The Grand, The Pup and The Smart! Enough of that--we're off to lunch.

I try the Chicken Monterrey which actually rivals some of Morelia's chicken entrees in Elgin, TX. It has a great white sauce and the chicken is stuffed with ham and spinach. Bob has Tilapia Verde.

On to HEB in Aransas Pass. On our way out Bob spots www.slowrideguide.com on the side of a kayak hanging from the ceiling. Back home he Googles for it and finds that they rent kayaks for $40.00 for four hours or $55 all day including drop-off, pick-up, oars and life vests.

I make Aunt Dottie's Cheeseball. Nan knocks to see if we're walking. Bob and I both walk with her and Roxy. The crew is still working on the permanent lot across from Terri and Jerry. It is windy but not as cool as yesterday and not as strong of a wind. The high is 71 degrees. Nan invites us for a movie and popcorn tonight. How fun! It's 5:20 p.m. and 60 degrees with 26% humidity.

At 6:00 we take Aunt Dot's Cheeseball, Smirnoff's and Kiliian's to The Grand. Nan makes popcorn and we watch The Proposal (Sandra Bullock, Betty White and Ryan Reynolds-is that Burt Reynolds son? LOL) It was a fun 'chick flick'; just ask Bob. We got home about 8:30. It is warm--55 degrees. There is no wind and the stars are bright.