Reet On the Road: Great Nephew Ethan Thomas Arrives!

Ethan sleeps on Dad Casey's shoulder-so precious!
Saturday, February 20, I slept like a rock until 7:30. I check the phone but no news yet on my new nephew. We have a light breakfast before I walk this morning but first I check email. No baby news. I Google for Robstown and find a map. At 9:30 I walk with Nan and Roxy. It is so great to have walking partners. We stop at the clubhouse for free coffee and donuts this morning as part of the grand opening. We both have coffee and I sneak an oatmeal raisin cookie. Nan tied Roxy to the front door handle and I was so impressed that she never moved.

At 11:30 Bob dumps the holding tanks as we get a new neighbor streetside in a Holiday Rambler Presidential. Seems to be a single guy from South Dakota. We leave and let him get set up. Hope to meet him later. Nan and Tom join us and we all pile in Big Bertha to head to Port Aransas. There is only a 15 minute wait for the ferry. We have lunch at Trout Street Market and Grill. It is open again this year after remodeling last year. We think it looks the same. Maybe they put on an upper deck. I have my favorite Crab Cakes with Remoulade Sauce. Tuna on Focaccia Bread for Nan. Tuna Salad and Pasts Salad with sweet sun-dried tomatoes for Bob. Fish Corn Tacos with citrus vinaigrette for Tom. It was all good.

My brother Mike, Gramps, looks pretty proud!

Next we hit a couple of gift shops on the main drag. Nan finds a Larimar stone pendant to match her ring. Tom finds beach shoes. I get postcards. We feed gulls on the fishing pier then drive to the beach and feed more gulls. We get mobbed by them there. A guy on wheels is being pulled by a huge glider kite. We tell a guy in a Class A who pulls out in front of us on the beach road that his steps are still down. The Maritime Research Center is closed Saturdays so we head back across the ferry with not too bad of a wait. I have a voice message from Tom and Shirley our IA RV friends; I was so sure it was news of my new great nephew!

We stop in a dive kayak rental place near Lighthouse Trail Park and the folks were not very helpful. We stop at HEB to get produce and almond bark. Then we go home and Nan and Roxy and I walk. When I get back I have a text message from my brother Mike who is a new grandfather! My niece Megan and her husband Casey are the proud parents of Ethan Thomas; born 10:30 a.m., 10 lbs. 3 oz. Mike's picture shows Megan holding Ethan and looking very good. Then he sends another picture of Linda, the proud grandma,holding Ethan. I try to call Mike but have to leave him a voice message. I'm so happy for all of them.

I call Tom and Shirley and catch them in a Chuck-E-Cheese kind of pizza place so we can hardly hear each other. They are in Victoria until Monday when then move to Bay City for a week before heading to Houston to await the arrival of their grandchild. We'll have to try to meet them somewhere while they are nearby.

I warm up the cheese dip and take veges over to Tom and Nan's. We can't see their front door now that the Presidential is in between our rigs. They have salmon dip, cream cheese and jalapeno jelly, humus and crackers. What a feast. Nan has us finish off Roxy's ice cream birthday cake as a fog rolls in at dusk. We get to watch some curling on the Olympics as they have a satellite dish. Bob calculates the electric usage based on their readings and Nan turns off the water heater. We decide we better get our readings tomorrow. We watch the Women's Super G and head home at 8:45.

Linda looks like she's in grandmother heaven!

I have a picture of Ethan from my nephew Travis who is now a new uncle for the first time. I call him and get his voice mail but he calls right back saying he was giving his friend Cody directions to the hospital. Travis and his Aunt Mari Bess went down to Dallas from southern Missouri on Thursday. They go back home tomorrow. How wonderful that they could be there for the big event. Trav says Ethan has Megan's nose ad looks a bit like Casey too. He declares his hair to be brown.

Brown pelicans wait like vultures above the fishing pier in Port Aransas

It's 10:00 p.m. and 60 degrees. The high was 66 after a low of 56. The humidity is 91% and it is very foggy. The windows on the RV were completely drenched on the outside this morning. I have no clue how to get pictures from my phone to my blog. But I'm posting this a few days later so I'll post some pictures of Ethan after he gets home on Tuesday. So he's four or five days old in these shots. What a cutie!