Great cover art, too!

 Treasure in Three Acts
by SW Hubbard

I read this just before Christmas Break and had forgotten to write about it until now. It was full as good as all her others, with interesting wrinkles about a child care person they hired spontaneously after she insinuated herself into their life. That part was surprisingly good. And her assistant (forgot his name, sorry--the young guy) had an interesting and heart warming wrinkle as he searched for the impossible-to-get toy for his nephew's Christmas.  And the part about the girl's school residents, now older women--good reading!

I'm surprised to say it, but I think Ms. Hubbard is getting better and better with her plotting. Surprised, and very very happy!

Both great and not-so at the same time memoir

 Lights to Guide Me Home

by Meghan J. Ward


Great book! But it felt just a little repetitive and so I wasn't as willing to say "unqualified great" as it seems a lot of people were.

The author writes of her journey of self-discovery as she undertakes many smaller journeys that tested her endurance to the limit. And then, just when things were getting really good, she and her partner decide to through children into the mix! Horrid!

And wonderful. And so the story goes, from horrid to wonderful and back again, over and over.  But that wasn't why it seemed repetitive to me--this was:  she'd write of a marvelous vista, a strenuous hike or a sweet, sweet experience with her children, I would sigh with delight, and then she'd write <i>about the experience again, reflecting on the lessons learned.  In fiction writing, <i>do, don't <tell>, is the recommendation. And it seems that's true in memoir writing as well.

But this didn't prevent from my enjoyment of the story overall, just caused me skip over a paragraph or three from time to time.

More of the bird title mysteries

 Revenge of the Wrought Iron Flamingos
by Donna Andrews

Since this is my #3 in the series, I should probably stop writing reviews. Obviously I liked numbers one and two, or I wouldn't have continued. But--not so obviously--I liked this one ever more than the others.

The mystery seemed better, and the whole Revolutionary War battle re-enactment setting was a hoot. And the flamingos, and Meg's attempt to hide them, hilarious. Her family is there but it was her future mother-in-law who got to play a major, funny part this time. And on a side not, the relationship thingy is getting some interesting wrinkles. All's not love and coziness in cozy-land.

I give this a good, solid, liked very much rating. Which would be 4.5 stars if that were possible.

[Mis]Adventures in Cooking

It's been a while, but then, I haven't been cooking in a while. But based on the internet recommendations and rave reviews, I tried a new sugar cookie recipe, a "no chill" recipe.

And I say, what's so bad about chilling, anyway?  Most recipes--including my beloved 40-year-old recipe hand copied out of an unknown cookbook--have you shape the dough into a disc, wrap it tightly or put it in a lidded bowl so it won't dry out, then chill in the refrigerator for an hour or so. That firms it up so you can roll it out.

This recipe adds an extra cup of flour instead, resulting in a dry, tasteless, and very crumbly cookie. She uses almond extract instead of nutmeg, too. But I LIKE the nutmeg.

So no go. Also I realize that my patience and artistic finess for icing and hand-decorating cookies is somewhat lacking at the end of a long and tiring day with three screaming children in the house. 

Historical detective novel, but not what I hoped for

 The Enemy We Don't Know

by Liz Milliron

First of a series called "The Homefront Mystery." I finished it, because I made myself. But I didn't like it much, which is a shame. It had everything needed to be likeable--interesting characters, lots of dialog and lively scenes, historical perspective and no obvious bloopers I caught. But the story was...wooden. Written in a strange, simple style that made me feeling like I was reading a kids' book.

I can't explain exactly why I felt that way. But the threat of any kind of "adult issue" was strictly avoided and the whole thing was so squeaky clean it could have been read by a ten-year-old. I don't necessarily want blood and gore, violence and abuse, or even overt scenes of prejudice, Jew-bashing, or any other serious issue in my mysteries. But the strict avoidance of them feels weird, too.

Hard to explain. But I knew it when I read it, and I didn't like.

Mammoth Meanders to Goose (Is)Land, Day 7

 Return day, Monday 12/5
 

Huntsville State Park was a lovely place, but we had to leave and go back to our home that is not our home. Don't get me wrong--we love 'em, but after seven years alone, we don't want to live with 'em.

 

We got on the road a little late but who cared? It was a three-hour-drive. Is that like the Three Hour Tour of Television legend...? which lasted some six or more seasons with endless re-runs?

Yep. We ran into a bad wreck at about halfway, around Richland-Chambers Reservoir, and the backup lasted forty minutes or more.  It was a horrid drive. We ended up getting in at about 4:30--over five hours for a simple, three-hour trip.

Lessons Learned

1. I-45 is a good road, but like any Interstate Highway, it can sure stink.

2. The ocean is always a good idea, even when it's the bay.

3. Having full hookups is a great thing, but that's where all the other yay-hoos converge.

Mammoth Meanders to Goose (Is)Land, Day 6

Sun 12/4

Goose Island State Park to Huntsville State Park

Sorry to leave the goosies, but it was time to head home. With a short stop, to keep from having to drive the whole seven hours in one shot. I chose Huntsville State Park as a stopping place--it's on one of the routes to home, it's about halfway, and it has pull-through full-hookup sites.

And it's gorgeous! Little did I know how beautiful a wooded, hilly spot just out of the Houston mesquite scrub could be. We'd been here once before, on a day trip while we were camping in the Sam Houston National Forest. And I'd remembered it as a nice place, but not beautiful.  But is was--the trees were turning and the ground  carpeted with leaves. Lovely

And, sadly, crowded. Not the whole park, mind you, but the camping loop I chose. The other sites--the tent sites and the water/electric sites, were almost completely empty. And there were some beautiful sites there, too--with no people! But not where we were. We had an couple of empty spots on one side of us but most of the others were filled. And all lit up like the second coming. Blah.

So if we ever stop at this place again, I should pick spots 96 or 98 or any of the back-in spots along the river and well removed from the other ones.

So after a fairly normal drive and a horrid jog around Houston on the tollway by-pass they've built in the last fifteen or twenty years, we arrive. The bypass is a nice road with lots of lanes, but so much traffic. After that, we got on I-45--going north on a Sunday afternoon on I-45 was horrid.

And that's about all. We hooked up and I took Molly for a nice long walk. And then we hopped in the Jeep and ran down to The Woodlands to eat--


Yeah!

Expensive but worth it. Ed had the usual crawfish etaufee plus fried crawfish and dirty rice. I had grilled trout with four shrimp and some yummy, buttery, garlicky spinach.  I must have eaten a stick of butter in one meal. It really needed some rice or some more bread to cut the grease, but I didn't order any and just enjoyed the buttery richness of heaven.

Mammoth Meanders to Goose (Is)Land, Day 5

Saturday, 12/3
Lazy morning, since it was going to be our last. The sun crawled and edged its way out of the dense fog and by mid-morning, it was a gorgeous day.  But in the afternoon a few rain showers were popping up here and there in the distance. None on us, though.

A Snowy Egret and a Willet roamed along the shore, amusing us greatly. And a rather large, lone dolphin cruised up the bay.

There was a little breeze and the mosquitos weren't nearly as bad. We went back to Aransas and had a great wildlife and bird viewing adventure. Alligators--big ones!  and one huge monster, resting on the bank of a pond with his eyes mostly open. He gave me the creeps. Frogs, turtles, 

 

alligators again, and--

 in the distance...could it be?

Javelina!   Cool! 

Or was it?  We sure thought so, and the signage indicates it could have been. It sure didn't look like the wild hogs I saw out in West Texas.

Also Roseate Spoonbill, Great Heron, Great Blue Heron, Little Blue Heron, White Ibis, Cormorant (species TBD), Phoebe, Kestrel, Red-tailed Hawk, Northern Harrier (on the road going home)

We walked up to the tower and didn't see too awful much. No whoopers that day. But down on a lower tower I saw and absolutely gorgeous Little Blue Heron and a lot of Ibis. All white, I think. I hope--I'd hate to think I passed up a chance to identify a white-faced ibis--oh no, never mind. They're not white.

So on back to the house, a long dog walk, and supper. There were a lot of people in the park for the weekend--pretty much every site full. But it was still pretty quiet and pleasant. The sun sank into large clouds, but after an hour or so the sky was clear. I'm 99 percent sure that big, bright, orangish-looking planet not too far from Orion was Mars. It's close to earth right now and easy to see, they say.

There was a fireworks display out at the oceanfront in Rockport--Ed sat out and watched it for a while, while I took a shower. We concluded the fireworks were about 1-1/2 miles away.

Supper was gumbo that had been frozen and re-thawed several times, so it was time to finish up. I had leftover fish Ed cooked a few days earlier.

And bed. Lovely camping trip so far.  No, we are not "by" the ocean, but we are "at" the ocean. We're camped right beside a huge bay along the intercoastal waterway. The water is not deep where we are--we've seen fisherman wading only up to their knees several yards out--but a little ways farther it's deep enough for fishing boats and dolphins, which we've seen several times. It's very pleasant (or would be, weather permitting) to sit outside beside the motorhome and gaze out over water. It was glassy calm in the morning, but by evening was stirring a little.

I like the ocean best, but this is awful good.

Mammoth Meanders to Goose (Is)Land, Day 4

Friday 12/2

Day trip to Aransas NWR. It was only about 40 minutes away--I'd thought it was an hour--so we proceeded directly to the visitor center and picked up a map. And, of course, went to the bathroom. Being old and drinking coffee causes those sort of issues.
There was a 14-mile or so auto tour we were going to do, so I decided to go straight to the tower, then do the tour, and then visit all the little pull-offs and walking loops on the way back.

Alas, it was not to be. The wind had stopped overnight and the temperature had stayed in the 60s, climbing to 70 during the day. And the mosquitos, those blood-sucking creatures of the swamps, attacked. Mosquitoes plagued us so badly that Ed couldn't even stand going up the tower. He was wearing shorts and a tee-shirt; I had on long pants and a hoodie over my (embarrassing) white tee-shirt. (Real birders don't wear white!) So I was relatively protected from the mosquitos.

 
Pelicans, our favorite bird. This is a Brown Pelican

Of course we didn't have any mosquito spray. I'd carried a bottle in my backpack for years but never used it, so I finally took it out to save weight.  So it wasn't there when I looked for it, and sure enough, we needed it badly. We made it to the tower and started up, but Ed didn't even get out of the parking lot before he ducked back into the Jeep. I made it up, and once I'd climbed a couple of stories the mosquitos were left behind, But still I had to endure them going up and going back.

 

These below are White Pelicans.

I did get out of the Jeep long enough to see a Big Tree and a Very Small Alligator,

We drove the wildlife loop, made a couple of stops, and returned. We had to slow down on the way to let a family of raccoons cross the road (in the park) Molly got a bit of a walk, but before long we had to turn around and jog back to make it in time for the phone conference with Edward's school.

After that, Ed and I showered and headed to Pier77 Seafood and Steaks of Rockport. Wow--everyone online had raved at the quantity and quality of their fried seafood, and every one was right. My flounder and sweet potato fries were excellent; Ed's shrimp was also and his onion rings (hand battered) were pretty good. We would have both gotten the oysters but, as the waitress explained, they only sourced seafood harvested locally. Their bay had been over=fished for oysters by a lot of poachers from Louisiana, and so the entire oystering season was canceled until the population recovered. So sad for us, but I'm glad they did it.
 

My only complaint with the restaurant was that, for the price, they could have thrown in a little coleslaw or some hush puppies. We had plenty of food, but a little variety would have make it perfect. Of course I could have gotten a side order of coleslaw but I'd read it wasn't so great, so I didn't bother.  Also I didn't like their tartar sauce at all--it was bland and needed a kick.

But still, 4.25 stars and I'd gladly eat there again.

 Birds seen: (at Aransas) Whooping Crane. Great Egret. Common Moorhen. Coot. Kestrels all over the place and mockingbirds. Western Kingbird.
(back at the site) Pelicans, brown and white. Cormorants. Ducks of some species--most likely, Blue-winged Teal and Lesser Scaup. Medium-sized terns.

Mammoth Meanders to Goose (Is)Land, Day 3

Thursday, Dec 1

Since we had a phone conference with the coordinator at Princeton ISD, Sonja Cox, I think, we decided today would be a shopping/hang around the RV day. Plus it was colder than snot and very windy. Actually...not all that cold. If you were completely out of the wind, it was just sweater weather.

There wouldn't likely be many birds out in the mess, so I said no to the trip to Aransas NWR. With any luck--or without--that would be next day. Instead, we went to the Maritime Museum in Fulton. It was a lovely little museum, not the least because the admission was only six dollars a head. (with our old peoples' discount)

We saw all kind of sailing boats and exhibits from the shipwreck recovered from the bay, and watched a little film on how the Texas navy saved the American revolution. Except I got confused--it was the battle against Santa Anna that they saved, by stealing his supplies being ported through the gulf on a smallish boat, and I thought that was the Texas war for Independence?  I dunno. My knowledge of Texas history is poor and faulty to the max.

 

From the top

The afternoon would be shopping and a long walk for Molly.

Later--
Shopping was nice. We only went to two stores, a novelty shop and a bird-themed shop, and bought stuff at both of them. Highly unnecessary and somewhat expensive stuff. It's what we do.

When we returned, it was spitting rain and time to take Molly for her long afternoon walk.  Which was horrid--there wasn't really enough rain to cause a problem or even an annoyance, but the godawful wind was still blasting us. I started off hungry and uncomfortable, and after a while I developed some pretty bad stomach and upper intestine cramps. I just wanted to sit down.

 

 

 Some strange but pretty grass flowers.


 

 

 

 

 

 

Lots of dead jellyfish

 

 

 

Instead, we kept going. We went to the end of the south-side camping area, walked out on the little birdwatching boardwalk there. Then we went back to our area. After a short sit-down at our cabana, we went on to the fishing pier.

Where I saw an American Oystercatcher!  Only about 25 feet away!  I'd seen one before, at the park at South Padre Island, but that was at a good distance, far away in the mud. this one was Right There !!!

Cool bird, and no camera.

When I got back and drank a little water, my cramps eased. And after cooking tacos and eating supper, they were pretty much gone. I suspect it was a combination of hunger, cold weather and a slight need to go to the potty.

Weird distortion:

Birds seen: laughing gull, white pelican, brown pelican, common grackle, roseate spoonbill, great egret, great blue heron, dunlin, sanderling, some large tern, some annoying weed-skulking sparrows, heard a yellowlegs, turkey vulture, and AMERICAN OYSTERCATCHER!

Mammoth Meanders to Goose (Is)Land, Day 2

Wednesday 11/30

Lockhart State Park to Goose Island State Park

First, farewell to our Fairway View Loop:

 

I think we kind of dawdled although it didn't feel like it.  We left at about 10:30, had a fairly normal fill-up stop at the Love's in Edna, then cruised on down to the bay. Not the ocean, I must admit, but the bay-slash-intercoastal waterway between Rockport-Fulton and the mainland.

It was a pretty uneventful drive and afterward, little happened. We simply arrived, set up, hung around a little, took Molly on a nice long walk. And then we went to eat.

Wow! The Wild Prawn in Rockport. Really good. We started the meal with Tuna Tartare

 After which Ed had prawns in chili sauce and dirty rice for a side;

 I had Mahi Mahi in an Asian ginger sauce with green beans.  The only things that were not exceptionally good were the salads--although they were made from fairly decent microgreens like you get in the prepared salad aisle of the grocery story, they were drenched in dressing. The restaurant only had two dressing options, both homemade. Ed liked his buttermilk-Parmesan dressing but I didn't care for mine, and the quantity of it that they applied destroyed my enjoyment of the lettuce. The other not great note was that my Mahi, which came "topped with shrimp" was not what I pictured.  I thought it would be a sprinkling of tiny shrimp cooked in the sauce, but instead it was simply topped with a pair of skewered, grilled shrimp that were overcooked and dry.  Too bad. 

Unfortunately, after going to bed with the air conditioner on, we woke up freezing with the heat on.  Ed had the good sense to put seven degrees of separation between the A/C setpoint and the heat. But that meant the heat wasn't warm enough to do more than take the chill off the air.

Outside it got down to about 44 degrees, and with a strong and gusty North wind, we felt every degree of it.

Birds seen: laughing gull, white pelican, brown pelican, common grackle

Mammoth Meanders to Goose (Is)Land

11/29 Tuesday
Home to Lockhart State Park

Lockhart State Park was just a stopover on the way to the coast, but it was not a bad little place. We were camped beside the golf course--they called our loop the "Fairway Loop".  After sundown all the deer came out to feed on the lovely green grass. Probably on the greens, too--I wonder if deer poop makes a difficult putt?

For future reference, it's a pretty convenient stopover unless your navigator falls asleep and lets you miss your turn and have to take the slow route through town. In the case of the sleeping navigator, it's an embarrassment.

Our drive was uncomplicated. We got an early start, about 9:17, and only planned to stop twice--a pee break and a fill-up.  It turned out, we skipped the pee break. When we got to the rest area near Hillsboro, Ed didn't need to go so he planned to wait until the Love's in Temple.

But that was a sad mess!  There were trucks everywhere, lined up all along the little street that goes back to the truck pumps, coming in, going out, inside, outside, upside-down.... We were in line while we were still out on the access road, but then Ed through there was an opening so he followed a big truck through, only to realize that the truck was actually going through--all the way out the other end. So by the time we were in the parking lot, stopping would have meant cutting in front of a whole slew of big trucks waiting in line.

So we went on. Circling around and coming in at the end of the line was going to result in a 45-minute wait at least, since we knew there would be several trucks in front of us. I frantically looked for Love's, Pilots or Flying Js in the area and just couldn't find any. Then I checked the Open Roads app and found a "Walhburg's" just at the highway 130 toll road entrance. It was a big truck stop, and it was on our fuel discount program, so that's where we went.

It wasn't bad at all, and I think we'll use it in future. Both coming and going.  I know that once you get on 130 (the Pickle Parkway), you're stuck on there all the way past Austin and there are NO gas stations at all, let alone ones we have a fuel discount for. But this was fine.

(For future note: there actually was a Flying J on I-35 just a little ways past Temple. For some reason, it wasn't on the map. Not when I looked, anyway.)

And on to the park. It was a little crowded, especially for a weekday. Most of the site in the Fairway Loop with full hookup were occupied. The sites were a lot closer together than I like, especially for a state park. Of course, compared to a private RV park they were spacious!  But I noticed that the water+electric sites (no sewer), along the Creek View Loop, were much better spaced.   A lot of them were pull-through sites. and the dump station was right there on the way out, very convenient. Also, they were mostly empty--I think only two out of ten or so were occupied.  So it's good place to consider in future planning.

 

There were several little walking trails, so after hooking up, Molly and I set out to find the "scenic overlook" and Ed came along.  It was surprising--the terrain looked pancake flat all around, but then we went up a slight hill and suddenly came to a decent little climb. Not all that high, but high enough to have a CCC staircase of huge stones and a decent view on top. Plus, apparently we'd just ascended to Hole 1 of the original golf course--

Birds seen: red-bellied woodpecker, chickadee.

More good treasure series book

Treasure Under the Tree

by S W Hubbard

Another of the predictably good "Another Man's Treasure" series. I really like this author. She's got a few quirks that rub me the wrong way, like her insistence of having the black dude say "imma" from time to time--I guess she's trying to introduce dialect as a touch of realism. But she doesn't do that with any of her other characters.

And she seems to write in first person present tense most of the time. Which works...most of the time. Sometimes I find it jarring, especially at the start of a chapter.

But she's got a way of creating people you care about, and making them behave (mostly) sensibly and still get themselves into deep sh*t.  So when I say the books are predictably good, I mean that in all the best way. They're just Good.