Happy New Year!

 

Galveston has many things to attract us each Winter. Two important ones are the weather (usually) and the restaurants. But the real reason is these two young men and their brothers and mother. We genuinely enjoy wandering, and very few things can pull us off the road for a month. Meet two of them! Like most folks, the holidays are precious family time when we catch up and enjoy being together. Last Summer, we enjoyed being with our Son and his family. And in the last month, we have enjoyed being in-person grandparents. Melissa and family, thanks for the hospitality.

 

One of the facts of life is the laundry. On the road, we have four options. One is to “mooch dock” (setting up in a driveway) and use our host's washer/dryer. The second is to use the laundry at the RV park. But these are generally poorly maintained machines and have limited availability. The third is to have a small washer/dryer in your rig. These are more trouble than they are usually worth. The fourth option is local laundromats. We generally go for the latter. We can use multiple machines without inconveniencing our fellow campers. We get all the laundry done in a couple of hours rather than waiting for each load to finish before starting another. We can pick the size of the machine we need and consolidate dryer loads. A special bonus is we often encounter other full-time RVers and swap info and stories. We keep a healthy supply of quarters, but most places have change machines. While the weekly laundry can be a chore, we usually work together and have a routine that lets us get through it to get on with our day.

 

After a month in Galveston, I was grateful we had a checklist for move days. When moving every 5-7 days, we got into a standard routine. But many of those routines begin to fade after a month. Fortunately, we were able to get underway with a minimum of trouble. Our drive was quite eventful. As always, we had to find our way through the perennial construction on I45 out of Galveston. Then we stopped in Alvin, TX, for some of the best Pho we have encountered on our travels. 3 ½ hours later, we pulled into one of our favorite Winter stops, Rockport, TX. We set up at Reel Chill RV Resort and wasted no time. Within hours, we were sitting at a corner table at Paradise Key Restaurant overlooking the bay. We will only be here for three nights but will return in early March during our journey north.

Our first day was spent birding in Port Aransas. The adventure began with the ferry ride across the Intracoastal waterway. This is a short ferry service operated by the State of Texas. Still, whenever I ride it, I am carried back to being 8 years old and riding across with my Mom and Dad. I grew up hundreds of miles from the Texas Coast. But our trips to Port Aransas and Corpus Christi were great adventures. And the ferry was a great treat for this 8-year-old. It felt like an ocean cruise with seagulls, pelicans, and porpoises. I have been on much longer and larger ferries in Puget Sound. I have ridden the Bolivar and Lynchburg ferries much more often. But riding the Port A ferry always brings delight to the inner 8-year-old. 

 

A Yellow-Rumped Warbler

Port Aransas sits on the north end of Mustang Island. This touristy fishing village has some of the best Winter birding in the United States. We stopped at the Leonabelle Turnbull Birding Center, formerly the Sewer Plant, and walked the boardwalks along the marshlands. (Yes, the sewer plant is still there!) Over the years, it has been expanded, destroyed by a hurricane, and expanded even more. Today, two long boardwalks offer great views of wintering ducks and other waterbirds. This is the second year it has hosted a pair of Whooping Cranes. This year, they brought their brown-headed chick with them from Canada. We also tried Charlie’s Pasture but saw very few birds on that side of the Community Park. We will return in March and look forward to seeing the birds as they prepare for their migration north along with us. Here are a few of my many shots of some of our favorite fellow snowbirds.

White Pelican Taking a Bath

Pin Tail Preaching to the Choir

A Green Winged Teal

An American Coot

Roseate Spoonbill

Tri-Color Heron

American Avocet

Pied-Billed Grebe

White Morph of Reddish Egret

Pelican Skiing

A Great Blue Heron

Stared Down by a Shoveler

Black-Necked Stilt

White Ibis

Neotropic Cormorant

Natural Sculpture

A Coachwhip

White Egret

 

 

Whooping Crane Sculpture

Our second full day in Rockport offered a little birding on Goose Island, along the Fulton waterfront, and at Rockport Harbor. We found the Whooping Cranes and Sandhill Cranes at 8^th Street north of Goose Island State Park. This year, we saw 7-8 pairs with several chicks. There was also a sizeable flock of Sandhill and a couple of Cara Cara in the field. This field has been a reliable spot for cranes in the last few years, and the number of Whooping Cranes is increasing. Unfortunately, the birds were too far away to get decent pictures. But it was a joy to see them. There were less than 50 Whoopers in the wild when I first saw them with my Mom in the 1960s. Now, they are spreading out and claiming new territory as their numbers increase.

We spent the rest of the afternoon driving along Fulton Harbor Road, Rockport Harbor, and Water Street. We also enjoyed a walk along Main Street in downtown Rockport and stopped in to say hello to the owner of the "4 the Birds" shop we have been visiting for over 20 years. We also had a glass of wine at the local Mercantile. It was an excellent way to spend our last full day in Rockport. As we head north, we will return here for a week in March 2024. Until then, see you later, Rockport!

 

Here are a few shots from our day!

 

Laughing Gull

Common Loon

Gulls Fighting over a school of fish

Ruddy Turnstone

 

 

Nature’s Own RV Park in Kingsville, TX, is our final stop for 2023. We have completed our first full calendar year on the road and will spend two nights here before leaving for Brownsville on New Year's Day. While here, we will visit my niece, Christy, and her family. We will also transition into two months of stationary RVing in one of our favorite parts of Texas, the Rio Grande Valley. There should be plenty to keep us entertained in Brownsville. Plus, we have several major projects to complete before we hit the road for the Midwest in March. 

 

After getting set up and resting from the drive, we walked the Nature Walk around the RV Park. We enjoyed the South Texas weather and saw several of our favorite South Texas Birds: a Green Jay, a Golden Fronted Woodpecker, and a Great Kiskadee. We have slowed down and look forward to an easier for a couple of months. A relatively empty calendar and a manageable to-do list will allow us to enjoy the road without the "busy-ness" of never-before-seen sights or once-in-a-lifetime experiences. We have been to the Valley many times. And we will be back in the future. So, do not feel any need to hurry. Here are a few shots from our walk.

 

8 Feet of Prickly Pear

Spiked Hackberry

A Great Kiskadee

 

Before I close the book on 2023, I am excited about the new adventures that await us in 2024. But…. 2023 has taught me that looking back is OK from time to time. Looking ahead may be necessary from time to time (but it is always a risky enterprise.) 2023 helped me find a greater appreciation for the time between “past” and “future," what a favored theologian called the “Eternal Now.” This moment is all that we have. And the “Now” fills every moment of every day. I do not have room for much else unless I want to crowd out some of that “Now.”  I need not waste my time looking for joy over my shoulder or in my calendar. In 2024, I intend to embrace each day and let it unfold in its own unique way and time. I will be on the lookout for opportunities to smile. I will do my best to claim those moments that offer new ways of seeing myself and the world around me. I am not the person I was last December. And I hope to be able to say the same next December. The road in 2024 will be part of that remaking.

 

I look forward to seeing what it offers, starting with our drive to Brownsville on January 1, 2024! I hope you will be riding along. May each of us find our joy on the road ahead, one mile at a time!

 

Happy New Year!

 

Bob