Looking for My Groove!

We have been back on the road for two weeks, and I am still waiting to get back in the groove of our wandering! Part of it is that we have been to places we have visited before. There was little anticipation or uncertainty to fuel my wandering spirit. We went. We saw. And we moved on. It was more touristing than wandering. But there may be more to it.

The wandering life has a rhythm and routine that demands that I stay present to our changing circumstances. We arrive, explore, listen to the vibes, and follow our thoughts and feelings as we wander around an area. Some days are very uneventful, while others are terribly engaging! The latter makes the former bearable! I am still waiting for that groove and may have to wait another week, but more on that later.

 

Last Saturday, after arriving in Rockport, we paid homage to the ultimate Winter Texans, the Whooping Cranes on 8^th Street at the Lamar Peninsula. These amazing birds migrate from Northern Canada to Aransas Bay along the Texas Coast. They lay their eggs and hatch their young as Canadians. Then, when the winter winds begin to blow, they migrate 2,500 miles to raise their chicks in the warm waters of the bay, where they feast on crabs and anything else they can find in the marsh. These incredible birds stand over 5 feet tall and walk with a stately grace, befitting their place as the largest bird in North America. They remain endangered, but bi-national conservation efforts have seen their numbers climb from less than 50 just 75 years ago to over 200 birds in this one flock. It is always a treat to see these wondrous creatures.

 

Whooping Cranes on 8th Street

A Young Whooper spending his first winter in Texas.

The actual view from 8th Street.

A beautiful Thistle

 

Last Saturday was also our 50^th Anniversary, and we went to a gathering at the RV resort where we were staying. A local band played 60s pop and country hits. We sat with a couple, Cindy and Bud, from Colorado Springs, who are spending the winter along the coast. Marlene even got me on the dance floor for a few slower-paced songs. It was good to celebrate the occasion and brave the environs of the Winter Texans at the RV Park.

 

The 12 footer that greeted us!

The sunshine on Monday enticed us to make the trip to the Aransas National Wildlife Refuge. We have been here often and enjoy the trails. It was the first weekend of spring break, so we enjoyed the trails with quite a few people, including a scout troop from Huntsville and an Ornithology Club from Ohio State. We saw more Gators than birds, but it was a good day to be out and about in an extraordinary place. I remember coming here with my Mom in the '60s to hopefully see one of the rare Whooping Cranes from the observation tower. They were tiny specks in the distant marsh below. But it felt like home and brought back many memories of my Mom and our many subsequent visits over the years with Melissa and Matt. 

Whoopers flying over the Aransas Marsh

A fresh water pond along the gravel bars

Spanish Dagger

Primrose or Buttercup

Northern Studfish

The Butter in the Buttercup

A ten footer

Gator cuddling

Gator Love

An 8 footer giving room to the 12 footer.

Prickly Poppies

A Paintbrush struggling for greatness.

A pair of whoopers from the tower.

The tower

Part of a stream of White Ibis

A Grackle striking a noble pose.

A string of White-faced or Glossy Ibis

Marbled Godwits

Red-tailed Hawk hovering over the marsh.

Another Red-tailed Hawk

 

The clouds returned on Tuesday, and so I spent the day replenishing the freezer with Smoked Chicken. One of the joys of life on the road is the opportunity to use my pellet smoker. Unfortunately, not every park allows them, and the weather does not always cooperate. Therefore, we will buy a whole chicken and some thighs and breasts and load up the grill when possible. We will enjoy a fresh smoked chicken dinner and then pack the rest in the freezer for other times. Yep, life is good, even on cloudy days!

 

We headed to Port Aransas and the Leonabelle Turnbull Birding Center on Wednesday. We were here on the way down last Fall, but it is always worth the trip. This is a marsh next to the Port A Water Treatment plant. But the birds do not mind the wafting aromas that float on the breeze. After a morning of birding, we had lunch at MacDaddy’s in Port A before checking out the beach. Did I mention it was Spring Break? The beach was crowded with families and College students. (200K college students go to universities within a couple hundred miles of Port A, and a good percentage of them were on the beach.) We decided to head into Corpus Christi and look for the Cattle Tyrant. This South American bird was spotted at the Corpus Christi Waterfront Tee. We arrived and found more crowds, but no Tyrant. So, we enjoyed a nice walk and headed back to Rockport.

Portrait of the American Coot

Portrait of the Snowy Egret

Black-necked Stilt

Snowy Egret

A Disheveled Shoveler

Female Blue-winged Teal

Portrait of the Black-necked Stilt

Tri-color Heron

A10-12 footer

Male Shoveler

Portrait of the Shoveler

Grre-winged Teal

Blue-winged Teal

Giving the Gator room

Pied-billed Grebe

Pied-billed Grebe underwater

Pied-billed Grebe Portrait

The Dragon Pose

What big feet you have!

American Avocets

A cohort of young males jousting with each other.

Oops, getting too close!

Tri-color Heron in profile

A Snowy offering a physical comment on my presence.

A pair of Shovelers

They are quite beautiful.

Green-winged Teal

Shoveler Portrait

Double-crested Cormorant with his own dragon pose.

Female Grackle

The Lex from the Tee

A Pelican on the prowl.

 

Thursday's weather turned cloudy and windy. We spent the day preparing Koko for our drive to Chappell Hill the next day. This was the day when I felt the least groovy with our wandering. We had seen the sights, including the Museums and downtown Rockport. There was little to entice me to leave the park, so we stayed around Koko. This is alright, but it does not feel much like wandering. Plus, the forecast for our drive on Friday promised to be potentially rough. Significant storms were forecast. I knew we would have a narrow window to get there. So, we packed up Koko and kept an eye on the Weather Channel.

 

Friday arrived, and it was a very anxious drive day. As the day began, I believed we were okay and started with a calm packing up. This lasted until I looked at the updated weather forecast at 9:00 AM. The NWS had moved the storm's arrival up by an hour, and we had about 4 hours to make our 3 ½ drive to Chappell Hill before a large, potentially dangerous storm arrived. We quickly finished prepping Koko. (Thank goodness for the checklist. When we hurry, we tend to forget things, but the checklist helped me relax a little knowing all was ready.) We pulled out of Rockport and had to drive by one of our favorite Mexican food restaurants on the coast, Los Canales in Tivoli. Our hurry-up offense proved effective. We arrived in Chappell Hill and got set up. But as soon as we closed the door after completing all the hookups, the first drops of the storm began. The area we had driven through on the way less than an hour before was hit by high winds, heavy rains, and large, damaging hail. (I feel for my friends, family, and the rest of the folks who had to endure that storm. I hope they recover quickly from the damage.)

Along with this, Friday was the day I was supposed to hear from the Repair Service, where we will have our slide mechanism replaced in 10 days. They had been waiting for the parts from the factory in Tucson. After arriving at our park, I received the email that the parts were complete and would be shipped on Monday. They will arrive in time for our appointment on the 25^th. After the storm passed and the emails with the RV Service folks were complete, I was ready for a good night's sleep. The first I had had in a while! We survived a challenging day, and I am ready to find my wandering groove once we get through the next couple of weeks of visiting family, getting the repairs made, and past the cool, rainy weather on all-too-familiar turf.

 

And so, here we are in Chappell Hill Luxury RV Resort just outside of Brenham, TX. This is very familiar territory for us. We arrived as the Bluebonnet Season was in full bloom. However, it may be a rainy week. We are also about 30 minutes from Marlene’s Dad in College Station. She also has cousins in Brenham. While here, we will revisit some of our old haunts in search of Bluebonnets, which we have done nearly every year for the last 25+ years. So, there will be only limited opportunities for wandering. But, we will have the chance to wrap up the last of our preparations for our mega-wander into the Midwest for the next 6 months.

After a lifetime of saying "groovy," I am starting to really appreciate what the word means. As I was updating my travel plans and taking care of travel budget stuff on the computer, my playlist offered a serendipitous song, "The 59th Street Bridge Song", or "Feelin’ Groovy” by Paul Simon. The words spoke to my soul in new ways. They helped me recover the essence of our lifestyle on the road. Each syllable resonated with my hopes and dreams, and I could see the groove forming before my eyes. It was time to drop the needle in the groove and let the music play! It was time to feel the groove.

 

“Slow down, you move too fast

You got to make the morning last

Just kicking down the cobblestones

Looking for fun and feelin’ groovy

Ba da da da da da da, feelin’ groovy”

 

“Hello, lamppost, what’cha knowin’?

I've come to watch your flowers growin’

Ain’t’cha got no rhymes for me?

Doot-in doo-doo, feelin’ groovy

Ba da da da da da da, feelin’ groovy”

 

“I got no deeds to do

No promises to keep

I'm dappled and drowsy and ready to sleep

Let the morning time drop all its petals on me

Life, I love you

All is groovy”

The 59th Street Bridge Song by Paul Simon

 

I look forward to sharing this groove with you. I hope you find your own and wander into the good life that awaits you.

 

Travel well, my friends. It is the only trip we get, so we must make the best of it!

 

Bob