Ocean Day 5

Wednesday 8/18/2021

Ed and I went fishing again, this time on the bank in a boat ramp/fishing park just a few miles south of our campground. I caught a redfish!  It didn't fight much and in fact, I wasn't even sure I had a fish on for a minute there. Yeah, I saw the cork disappear and I gave a jerk, feeling something, but then it stopped struggling and I assumed I'd missed it. Again.

I did miss an awful lot of them. They--or something--were very good at sneaking the frozen shrimp off the hook without me even noticing them. And it didn't help that a strong south wind was blowing in our face, bringing our hooks back to the bank.

The coolest thing about that site was the big sea turtle who kept poking his head up to look at us. Later I saw a second turtle. But of course I never had my camera ready when they looked out. Also a little Great Blue Heron stood right next to me on the "bank" (it was a concrete surface with little holes cut out, just the right size to swallow up any shrimp I accidentally dropped down there.) He stood there for a long time, not really fishing or taking much notice of my movements as I went back and forth to the bait supply in the cooler. I wish now I'd thrown him a shrimp to see if he were interested.

I got a walk in and saw lots of the usual beach birds--Brown Pelican, Laughing Gull, Sanderling, and Willet. And Ruddy Turnstone, of course.. But that makes me wonder if maybe there were other birds I missed because I wasn't looking for them. According to the bird book,, Sanderling "shouldn't" have been there in the winter--they should have been way far north. But
allaboutbirds.org says "Nonbreeding Sanderlings often stay on the wintering grounds through the summer, saving energy by avoiding the long trip to the Arctic nesting grounds. "
 

Day 4 at the Ocean

 Tuesday 17 Aug 2021

Went fishing on the bay side of the island, in the channel. No bites that I noticed, although some pieces of shrimp disappeared off my hook. Could have been crabs, of course.  It came a short shower while we were there. Great bird watching site, but I forgot my binoculars. Lots of white ibis, laughing gulls, brown pelican, of course. Great blue heron, one small egret that was probably a snowy, and I think I saw a reddish egret come in for a landing.
 
Hermit crabs swarmed all over the muddy beach at the bay. When my big foot took a step, they pulled their claws back in the shell and got very still. But a minute later they were back wandering around all over. I'd have had a better time if I'd discovered them sooner--I'd have quit the fruitless fishing expedition and just played with the crabs.

Hermit crab

We returned when Bob brought his kayak in, and took a lunch break. Afterward they retired inside their Casita for a couple of hours of reading (aka taking a nap), and so did we.

The single air conditioner in the back of our RV, aided by a floor fan to push the cool air to the living room, struggled mightily to keep the place bearable. But it failed. The afternoon indoor temperature crept up to 91 or so before the setting sun forced it to start falling again. It was actually more comfortable outside than in. However, I did discover that sitting on the floor right in front of the fan, I could stand it well enough to read some Andy Carpenter.

I believe this was the night we did a crab and shrimp boil. I say we, but Bob and T did all the work. Blue Crab tastes good but I'm not so sure it's worth all the work in getting the morsels of meat out of the shells. But the shrimp were huge and meaty, the corn and potatoes well spiced, and my stomach elastic enough to swell out and consume a whole lot more than was good for me.

Day 3 at the Ocean

 Monday 8/16/2021

Bob went out fishing in the morning, so Theresa and I took a long jog/walk to the beach and along it, past the jetty and back. When we left (at about 9) it was intensely hot and heavy, but when we returned clouds had moved in, the wind had resumed blowing, and it seemed much cooler. In the afternoon we went swimming. I left the dogs behind but I might as well have brought them along. They could have sat under the jeep and kept cool instead of sleeping in the Mammoth. Oh, well.

After swimming we did showers and then went out to eat at Bob's (or Sam's, or Jack's, or some such one-word name), We do not want to eat there again--it was overpriced and not very good. Theresa and I split an appetizer, guac and chips. The guac was supposed to have crab in it,, but I never saw or tasted any crab. It had a bitter aftertaste so maybe that's what they called crab.

My clam chowder--bad choice--I should have asked if it was cream-based--was no better than canned. and my side salad was just romaine lettuce and carrots and not much of either. With stale croutons. Note to self: next time you're eating out and plan to blow your healthy eating habits, just go ahead and get something fried. The flounder fish sandwich would have been fine.

Day 2 Mammoth at the Ocean Again

 Sunday 8/15/2021

Finished dumping and left Crane's Mill 10:37. Arrived at Mustang Island gate at 2:22; short wait; hookups done by 3:02. The reason the drive took so long was that my GPS went to sleep on the job and let us head west on the loop around San Antonio, instead of going south to Corpus Christi. I was blindly trusting it to do its thing, and when I picked up the phone to see where we'd gotten to, I was shocked to find out where we were going. The detour wasted at least fifteen minutes. Then we had to stop for gas. It would have been a much shorter and pleasanter drive otherwise, but any drive that ends at ocean-side sand dunes is a good one.

The site was free already, so no problem with us being too early. There never does seem to be at places like this. It's a nice place. there could be a little shade and the beach could be a little closer, but I have to admit the dunes serve an important purpose in sheltering the park from storm surges as well as sheltering the beach goers from needing to look at stupid RVs.

Bob and T beat us here, of course. Not having as far to go, as much to do, and not making the stupid wrong turn. We drove down to look at the beach, walked along it a little, and killed time until supper. After supper it wasn't sunset yet, so I took Molly for another walk to the beach. Lovely.

Mammoth goes to the ocean, again! Hurray!

Saturday 8/14 Day 1
Going to the beach!  We got a horribly late start due to Ed working on the air conditioner until eight o'clock the night before. The thermostats he ordered weren't going to work, so he eventually gave up, taped down the loose wires, and ordered different ones.  So we headed to the beach with only one air conditioner...and much worry.

We ended up pulling out at approximately 10:45; we arrived at the gate at Crane's Mill Park on Canyon lake at 5:18. We had to wait on people to get into the park, just five minutes or so, and by the time we were all done and hooked up it was 5:43.

I won't say it "poured down rain" but it very well could have. As we headed out 121 toward I-35 West in Fort Worth, heavy rain was moving in from the northwest. We sped to the southwest, hopping to outrun it. And we succeeded, mostly. It rained only a little bit as we headed south on I-35, but it was enough to make the already bad traffic suck worse.

When we stopped at the rest area between Hillsboro and West, the rain had ended. And the cool air it brought was beginning to be replaced by the midsummer blast furnace that is central Texas. Ugh.

Traffic never really got better. The route I chose to avoid Austin had us cutting over through Killeen to 281 South. And that sucked because we had to go through Lampasas, Burnet, and Marble Falls. There were no real problems in any of them except stupid traffic lights and stupid people doing their stupid Saturday shopping.

If I had to retire anywhere in central Texas, I'd probably choose Marble Falls. it's the prettiest little place and it has lots of water--the Colorado River dammed up to make Lake m\Marble Falls.  In any event, the falls are lost way down deep under all that impounded water.

At Crane's mill Park we were checked in by an attendant who didn't seem to understand that we needed a sticker for the tow vehicle, too. Instead of trying to make sense of what he was saying, we should have just stated, loudly and clearly, may we get a windshield sticker for our Jeep?  But we let it go.  Later, of course, when we returned from Bob and Theresa's, the guy at the gate was a little upset that we had disturbed his internet browsing and were trying to get into the park without a sticker, but he let us in anyway. I guess it would have been too much work to look up on the schedule to verify that we were registered campers.

I dislike this campground immensely. Next time I'm going somewhere else, and if I can't find a park nearby I'll just do a private campground.  The only exception would be a single night stopover, like this one, but on a week day.

Another quick YA

 Unscripted

by Nicole Kronzer

So hard to stop reading that I devoured the second half in a single sitting. This book for young folk deals with serious, scary issues--sexism, friendship, control, date rape, butting in to help people even if it might get you in trouble--lots of that--and the power of family. And all without being preachy. I hope some youngster sees themselves in here and gets out of a bad situation before it gets worse...but that ain't gonna happen. Just like her, young people never seem to see themselves from the outside, like an impartial observer would.

I'm not sure there are any memorable characters here or anything that would make me clamor for a sequel. But still good for a one-off.

Read or not? Dunno

What's missing from Medicine:
Six Lifestyle Changes to Overcome Chronic Illness
by Saray Stancic

Did I read this before? The premise seemed awfully familiar. The author, having successfully treated her MS with a set of altered behaviors, writes them up as a prescription for other sufferers. And who doesn't suffer, in one way or another, from the SAD, the inactivity, and the stress of modern life?

Possibly I read a similar work or an early article by the author. I seem to remember a similar experiment that worked for a while but was followed eventually by a return f the MS symptoms. But in any case, even if it wasn't a complete cure, it gave the sufferer a lot of years of good living. Which is all we can all really hope for, isn't it?

This was very straightforward and sensible. The "why" of each element was typically glossed over with a few weak examples, but the "how" was pretty well done.

Not so good as others

 Grave Instinct
by Bev Pettersen

I'm very conflicted about this. I guess...I wish...I think the author might have concentrated more on mystery and less on romance and I'd have liked it better. Because, to put it bluntly, this was little more than a romance with pretense of police work. It reminds me very much of the Victoria Holt novels I used to read as a teenager. A puzzling mystery unfolds while the heroine falls in love with the mysterious guy who happens to be in all the wrong places at all the wrong times and has every bit of means, motive and opportunity against him.

It didn't start out that way, though. The first few chapters were really good, as Nikki and her police dog Gunner are called in to investigate a disappearance at the riding studio where she'd worked years before--and where her sister had mysteriously disappeared also. that part was good enough to make me want to try a second book by the author. Will see.

Cooking Adventures

 For my second cooking adventure of the week (last week, now) I made Tofu Bahn Mi. It's a recipe I saved from Marc who writes the norecipes.com blog. I don't recall a single thing of his that hasn't been good; most are great. This clearly is:

Okay,, maybe it doesn't look all that great. It's just tofu browned and then doused in a Hoisin Sauce/garlic/soy sauce/etc. mixture. You're supposed to eat it in a baguette, as a sandwich filling with crunchy radish, carrots, chili peppers and cilantro.

Me, I just ate it.
Yum.

Oops got busy and didn't even post a review

A Dream of Death
by Connie Berry

Thumbs up...I think. I certainly wasn't bored. In fact, I was fascinated. The old houses, the history, the antiques--cool stuff. The people were pretty much all full of backstories, front stories, liveliness and energy. The detective--an antiques dealer visiting a sister-in-law for mysterious, unspoken reason--was spunky and fun.

The only issue I had at all, and it's a minor one, was that there were so many complex characters that I kept losing track of who was who. But I was so caught up in the story that I didn't want to turn back and re-read.

So I'll give it 4.75 stars. Yeah, it lacked that little spark that would have made me love it completely, but that's a personal preference and I can see other people putting a lot of 5-star reviews on this.

End of a great thing

Any Way the Wind Blows
by Rainbow Rowell

Well shoot. She decided to wrap up the loose ends and turn the series into a trilogy. And now it's over and I'm devastated.

Looking back I guess it wasn't as "good" as the second one. There weren't so many strange creatures to battle. Or negotiate with. There was a rather sickening amount of romance. At one point she spent a whole chapter building up a crisis only to knock it all back down again. Which was supremely annoying.

But it was still great.

But I don't read poetry!

Gloryland
by Shelton Johnson

I write this review with caution and many apologies. It was absolutely beautiful and awfully sad, as any book about a young black man growing up in the early 1900s must be. The language is pure poetry in prose and sometimes even real poetry or songs. Beautiful.

But I should set your expectations. If you're in the mood for a travelogue or any sort of travel narrative, this isn't it. He travels, to be sure, but in a world colored by memories and feelings. If you're in the mood for introspection, dreams, fantasies and color, this will be perfect for you. My problem was that I was in the mood for history. And this is history, but not what I was wanting.

Still, I savored every word. Beautiful. Sad. Glorious.

Complex and entertaining

First Degree
by David Rosenfelt

Better than the first, in my opinion at the time. I waited a week before writing anything down and now find that I don't remember much else to say--embarrassing. Quick reading; clever plot; interesting recurring characters; and an occasional turn of phrase that surprises me and makes me chuckle. I like to chuckle.

Traveling the states in Josephine

 Not Tonight, Josephine:
 A Road Trip Through Small-Town America
George Mahood

Very funny at times; enjoyable throughout. Although I had to cringe at the naivete of the two young guys buying a van on its last legs (or is that, wheels?) and trying to keep it running without any mechanical knowledge whatsoever. Of course they spent a lot of time in repair shops.

They did, however, spend a lot of time parked on streets in small towns, sleeping in cheap motels or hostels, and driving long stretches on America's blue highways. I don't think they searched out smaller roads on purpose--I don't think they did a whole lot of anything on purpose--it just happened. Delightfully.

A night in a rest area in Maine:

...it wasn't until I had setup the cooking stove and put a pan of water on to boil for some pasta that we realized just how bad the mosquitoes were. I had left the boot of Josephine wide open while I prepared dinner and the inside had already filled with the devil's spawn.

Cooking Adventures, Hah

This afternoon I made Chile Verde from the Rancho Gordo blog.  I can't say it was all that good...but not all that bad, either. So I don't know whether to save the recipe or not.

*

Probably not. The instructions said to pre-soak the beans, drain them, and then when cooking "Add in enough water to cover beans by at least 2-inches." I knew better than to add that much water--I covered them by maybe 1/2 an inch. And still it came out soupy and thin. Which is not the way I like chili.

Also for your enjoyment...a very sleepy toad

 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Passionflower

 

Black Swallowtail

 

Mammoth is Tired of Visiting

Friday 7/16/2021

Back. Horrible hot drive. The air conditioner worked as well as it ever has, but we didn't leave it on much because the engine was running hot. Funny thing was, it was raining when we left, and so cool that when I tried to take the dogs on a mini-walk at the rest area just over the Oklahoma border, I nearly froze.

But the rain soon stopped and by the time we turned south, it was sweltering hot. Probably not over 90 degrees on the outside, but a whole lot hotter inside. Misery.

Road construction along 69/75 through Oklahoma is horrible, especially around Calera. McAlester is messed up, too. And north. I'm not sure I want to take this route anytime in the next six months or so.

But finally we arrived at home and we have now done our duty and paid our obligations. Game over.

Light at end of tunnel!

Mammoth Visiting Day 2 and 3

Wednesday and Thursday 7/15/2021

On Wednesday we worked and sat around. So much to say, so much to do...hardly.

 *Butterfly exhibit that identified my Great Spangled Frittilary yesterday.

 

 

On Thursday we got some free time, so we visited Hobbs State Park and saw the historic Van Winkle Family mill site. Not much to see--it's mostly an empty space in the woods with a few rusty iron pipes going to the creek. But a lovely walk in the woods and I heard a Wood Thrush in the distance.

War Eagle Mill has a cafe upstairs and a gift shop below. But still a nice old place. Only not so old. It was reconstructed in the 70s, I believe.

And this is the bridge that our Jeep crossed. Scary.

Mammoth Goes Visiting

Home to Horseshoe Bend Campground on Beaver Lake

1. Planned distance: 331 miles
2. Map time estimate: 5:12
3. Adjusted estimate: didn't calculate
4. Actual distance: forgot to check
5. Actual time: 6:00, return trip 7:00
6. On way out, one quick pee stop and one quick gas stop. On return, one quick pee stop, disastrous gas stop and then another one. Plus construction delays.
7. Average mph trip: 58

This was not really a camping trip. It was a trip to visit Grandmother that involved staying at a campground. Here's the story:

When we'd had our second Covid shot and waited the necessary two weeks, it was finally time to go visit Grandmother again. But we already had trips planned, so this was the first free time to travel. And since I'd been in "camping trip" mode for so long, I defaulted to choosing a campground--not thinking about how easy it was to simply stay at her house.

Except it's not so easy anymore. There's no place for the dogs to sleep. In years past we've put Zack in his cage in our bedroom and Izzy in a cage in the garage, but she really hated that. And now we have Molly, and while she's perfectly well cage trained, she's never been stuck alone, far away from us. She really needs to be in the bedroom, too.

We'll argue that point another time. Anyway, I reserved a campground as close as I could get--about an hour away. Later I re-checked the reservation and realized that I'd reserved a 30-amp campground. So I changed it to a different one on the same lake, not noticing it was an extra half hour away. So there we were.

The drive up was sort of a test to see how the Mammoth would handle the long grades uphill and down in the mountains. She did splendidly!

Beaver Lake (Horseshoe Bend campground, Corp of Engineers) might be a nice place, but it was full of stupid people. Actually it was not completely full, but close enough. With all the dogs being walked here and there, it was very difficult to take Molly for a decent walk.  I had to wait until after sunset, Which didn't prove to be a problem, because we didn't get back to camp until after sunset every night.  We encountered a few deer but, thankfully, no loose dogs.

There are a couple of campsites down at the water's edge. They might be very nice, especially if we came back with the boat.  One of the idiots camping there has spoiled the whole shoreline for everyone else--he has his trailer lit up like a 1970's beer joint. I bet he is so clueless that he thinks he's doing us a favor with the stupid lights. Unless I could get a site on the water, I would definitely not camp here again.

Tonight (we arrived on Monday but I didn't write this until Wednesday) we get to leave at 6:30 instead of 7:00, so we might get back to camp before sundown. Unless we decide to stop off for some carryout supper.  Last night we were both hungry when we returned, so Ed had a can of stew and some cookies, while I had a half can of chili and a whole lot of chocolate candy. I messed up my diet completely, I'm ashamed to say.

Well, enough complaining. I will only note that it has been a year and a half since we were last here and saw these people, but Ed's Mom is watching a TV show and Ed is asleep in his chair. Idiots, all of them.

Green Heron, Great Blue Heron, Fish Crow, Starling, Purple Martin, Brown Thrasher, American Robin, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, Canada Geese, House Sparrow. And one really cool butterfly.