Laguna Madre Yacht Club

Tonight was the monthly social at the Laguna Madre Yacht Club here in Port Isabel.  It started with happy hour at 6 and pot luck salads at 7.  A great time was had by all.  Willie and I are new members and look forward to many other socials in the future.  The Club plans an outing to Arroyo Colorado next week.  We will meet at the causeway and ICW and boat to the Wharf Restaurant in Arroyo City.  We will overnight in the river and return Sunday to Port Isabel.  It will be our first night out on our little Ranger Tug.  Willie is a bit apprehensive.  This is from someone who traveled across the country on a motorcycle with a tent.  At least we have a comfortable berth and a cabin in which to sleep.  No shower and how to make coffee is still being considered.
July 4th a boat parade is planned to go up the beach and return to the bay for the spectacular fireworks display.

Walldog, Willie, and Jake (stayed home)

Another Day in Paradise

We spent most of the day out on the water of the beautiful Laguna Madre.  We took a picnic lunch and anchored out in Barracuda Cove, watching the boat traffic and families out for the day on Boca Chica beach.  A pleasant day.  On the way home we topped off our diesel, took 2.8 gallons.  We have been out on the bay at least 4 times for this amount....$7.03 at $2.45 per gallon.  We do not go fast, but we go for little dollars.

The Admiral took the helm for a while:

Jake the boat dog watching for dolphins:

These were taken with my Droid...as we forgot the chip for the real camera, not too bad.

Walldog, Willie and Jake

Boat ride with Jake

Walldog and Jake took a ride today to check out the installation of the cut down mast.  We took 27 inches out of the mast so that we could leave it installed and still fit in our boat house.  We also installed new cushions made by Kathy's Upholstery of Arlington WA.  She made them from the original patterns for the Ranger Tug.

We got boarded again by the US Coast Guard.  I think they just wanted to look us over.  Now we have two "Good as Gold" papers that keep us from inspections for at least 6 months.  I wonder how many more we will get during the next 6 months.  Nice folks, so we did not mind at all.

We went out to the first buoys past the jetties.  Not many people on the Boca Chica side as the road is still closed from Brownsville by the gas well leak.

Coming back in to my slip, I pass as close as I can to the bulkhead without grounding out on the oyster shell rocks.  I am lined up with my boat house and I hear a fishing boat trying to pass between me and the bulkhead.  I do not know what he planned to do after he hit the rocks, but I waved him off and told him that I was docking there.  Maybe too much cerveza.

We spent the afternoon at a real Louisiana Crawfish Boil.  The mudbugs were properly cooked and excellent....I should know.  A real treat.

More pictures of the boat ride are here.

Walldog, Willie and Jake

Tenaha Timpson Bobo and Blair

On our last trip through East Texas, we took a route that we have not traveled in a long time.  Staying on US59 North of Nacogdoches, you pass through these small towns Tenaha, Timpson, Bobo, and Blair not necessarily in that order.  Going from North to South, you pass through Tenaha, then Bobo, then Timpson, then Garrison.  So the conductor on the old train took a little license with the order of the communities.  Tex Ritter wrote a song about the area.  He was from Panola County.

On the HE--WT line,
Old East Texas sure looks fine
Drop me off just anywhere (near)
Tenaha, Timpson, Bobo, and Blair

Here those drivers pound the rails,
Takin' me back to Texas trails,
Bought my ticket, paid my fair,
Tenaha, Timpson, Bobo, and Blair

Whooooo, waiting for the whistle,
Whooooo, when you hear the whistle,
It means that the stations not so far,
From where we are,

Let'er highball, engineer,
Pull that throttle, track is clear,
There's a gal just waitin' there,
Tenaha, Timpson, Bobo, and Blair.


I used to drive the road a lot during my early days in Texas.  Not being familar with Tex Ritter's song, I would chant Tenaha, Bobo, Timpson, Blair and Garrison as I returned from my trips.  My brother would correct me.


Tenaha and Timpson are still small towns, Bobo has a marker for its location but not much more.  Blair has faded into obscurity having started as a switch location on the old railroad.


Just my day for trivia and memories.

Walldog, Willie and Jake

Nearly Home

Walldog, Willie and Jake are en-route back to Port Isabel from Northeast Texas.  Here is where we stayed last night.

Entrepreneurship is alive and well....at least in Mexico.  These guys buy these wrecked cars at auction, temporarily repair them enough to drive and tow another back to Mexico.  Then they are repaired and sold for a profit.

Back in Paradise today, God willing, and the creek does not rise.  Actually from all the rain flood warnings are in effect for this area through the weekend as rivers and tributaries are rising past flood stages.

Walldog, Willie and Jake

Horses, Beaches, and Boats

March 14, 2010

Our granddaughter is spending her Spring Break with us.  She was sold by the billboards advertising horseback riding on the beach.  So finally the schedules allowed a visit here and a trip to the North Beach for a horse ride. After church and a great lunch at Pirate's Landing, she and her mother saddled up and headed out.  Of course proud grandmother was there to document the event.

They returned from the ride with just enough time for what else......but a pleasant boat ride in our beautiful Laguna Madre.

This pirate yelled that we came too close and he was going to run us down, but we cranked up our 18 hp and out ran him and his motley crew.

Jake does not seem too unhappy sharing his seat even though it includes "THAT DOG".

Father and daughter on Spring Break

Back in home port and a dinner of lunch leftovers.

Walldog, Willie and Jake.

Happy Hour Cruise

March 10, 2010

We are getting to know our new little tug.  Today we cruised out to the jettys for happy hour.













Jake was really enjoying "his spot" before THAT dog comes to visit.








We tried out the anchor in a little cove off the ship channel and watched the dredge working.  One of the tender boats was a tug by the name of Bayou Blue.  Listening to the crew work on vhf channel 7, it was obvious of their South Louisiana heritage.




On the way back we were treated to a partly cloudy sunset and the lights of the bay.

Pier 19's new spot light was showing the way to a good place to eat.  All the Navigation lights worked and we slipped our little tug back into its berth for the night.



Walldog, Willie and Jake

Tir Na Nog

It has been a very interesting and exciting week.  Friday a week ago, we decided to adopt a little tug boat from our new friends Brian and Jennifer in Wilmington, NC.  So Saturday morning we load the truck and strike out for the East Coast.  Our plan was to arrive in Wilmington on Monday, see the boat on Tuesday, load it up Wednesday and start back.  Well, we arrived on Monday around noon, checked into our motel, and went directly over to see the tug.  We found it exactly as advertised, a very nicely maintained and equipped 1997 Ranger Tug model R21.

Brian and Jennifer invited us to dinner Monday evening.  Their daughter Megan was a little upset that her parents were letting HER boat go to a new home.  Jake visited with Truman in their nice back yard, while we tried to convince Megan that we would treat Tir Na Nog well.

So Tuesday morning we hitched up and headed South because the weather was predicting snow for later in the day at Wilmington.  We felt that we wanted to avoid the hilly North Georgia route we traveled on to North Carolina.  Jennifer sheds a tear as we leave. 

Along the way back, we attracted much interest in our little tug.  We had to answer questions at the hardware store even before we got out of Brian and Jennifer's neighborhood. We had two offers of outright trades as we traveled.  One was a dealer hauling two new bass boats and the other was a guy with a Zodiac type jet boat....no thanks one SeaDoo is enough.

We arrived back in Port Isabel shortly after noon on Friday.  After unpacking, we headed over to the city boat launch in Modern Venice and floated our little Tug.  Our friends Sam and Dave came in from fishing (no small sacrifice) to assist.  We idled around to our house and docked it outside the slip.  After a thorough checkout of all systems, we went for a short turn out into the bay.

Then it was back to see if she would fit into her new home. We have decided to name our boathouse the "Tug House"  Here we are threading the needle.

Yes it fits, hooray!!

We have looked at many boats over the past year, but this one seems to fit us at this time.  We were able to afford this one as we only spent just a little more than what we got for our SeaDoo.  If we decide to do more extensive cruising in the future, we may need a larger boat.  But as a wiser person than me once said, "Buy it smaller, buy it cheaper, but buy it now so you can enjoy it now."  Walldog, Willie and Jake went out for a longer ride Saturday.  The Coast Guard checked us out and gave us a free pass for a year.  The dolphins really welcomed a new hull as they played all around us near the causeway bridge.  It seemed like they were glad to see us in their waters.

Walldog, Willie and Jake

Valentines Day at Daingerfield State Park

                         Photo copyright 2010 by Willie the Artist

Still at Daingerfield State Park

Looks like we had about 4-6 inches of snow yesterday and last night.  Covered the streets and loaded up the pine trees.  It has been falling out all day today.  Sounds like bowling balls hitting the roof of the motor home.  Jake did not like it when a big pile of it fell on top of him.  He came running back to me for protection.  Power went out during the night and we still do not have it back on.  But we have run the generator for about two hours only today to recharge the house batteries.  We have plenty of diesel, food and wine.  Jake and I walked up to the pavilion at the lake this morning.  Only my toes got cold walking in the snow.

Our home....I climbed up on the roof this afternoon and swept snow off.

Walldog, Willie and Jake

Snow in East Texas

We could be in a worse place to watch it snow.  We are beside a lake in the East Texas woods, in a campground in which we are the only campers.  Great view, not too cold, plenty of heat and food.  It does not get much better than this.

Walldog, Willie and Jake

Birds of the Bay

Sunday, December 13, 2009

During our boat trip to watch the Tower Implosion, I could not resist taking a few pictures of the birds.  Several of our winter visitors, the white pelicans were flying around the area.  It is always a treat to watch for them at this time of the year.  We see more in January, I was surprised at the number today.

From Birds of the Bay

See a few more of the pictures at the link below the above shot.

Walldog, Willie and Jake

The Leaning Tower of OTSPI

The Ocean Tower of SPI or as we call it The Leaning Tower of OTSPI came down today and we were there.  My friend Bob took us on his boat across the Laguna Madre to a spot near the Convention Center and the tower.  The demolition company had scheduled to implode the tower this morning at 9 AM.  It went off right on time and seemed to have done exactly what they wanted it to do.

From Leaning Tower of OTSPI

You can see an album of pictures taken by Walldog and Bob here.

Walldog, Willie and Jake

Joy Hansen 1947-2009

Tuesday November 30, 2009 through Friday December 4, 2009

We traveled by motor home to Splendora Texas to attend the funeral of Wilma's nephew Gaylord's wife.  She died Saturday November 28, 2009 after a long battle with cancer.  The funeral was in Cleveland, Texas December 3, 2009 with burial in the Blue Branch Cemetery at Pitkin, Louisiana.

Walldog, Willie, and Jake

Thanksgiving 2009

Thursday November 26, 2009 Thanksgiving

We invited our Winter Texan friends Ralph and Barb from Oklahoma to join us for Thanksgiving Day.  We had our meal at noon, which we Southerners call dinner.  If we served it in the evening, we would call it supper except when it is really big and then it becomes dinner even though we serve it at supper time.  Herb grilled a big Salmon fillet and sauteed green beans.  Wilma fixed a really nice salad and HEB supplied the pecan pie and Blue Bell homemade ice cream.

Lloyd and Herb examined and took pictures of a Hibiscus tree that has yellow and red flowers.  That is red flowers and yellow flowers.

After dinner and a suitable rest period, Ralph and Barb told us about an orchard at Los Fresnos that had u-pick tangerines and oranges.  We called and they said they would be open for us to pick all we wanted.  A five gallon bucket of tangerines was $7.00 and a five gallon bucket of oranges was $4.00.



From my motorcycle days:
So many roads....
So little time.....

So many balls.......
So little time............




What a beautiful place in which we are most fortunate to be able to live

Thank You God!

South Padre Island World Birding Center

Wednesday November 25, 2009

My sister Jenny and her husband Lloyd came to visit us for a few days Thanksgiving week.  One of our touristy thing to do was visit the new South Padre Island World Birding Center.  Lloyd and Jenny are avid birders, so they were excited to see the many new birds for them that make this area home.  The recently opened birding center still has some maturing to do around the elevated walkways leading to the Laguna Madre Bay.  The wildlife is starting to occupy this area and I am sure it will only get better as time goes by.  I have posted a couple of pictures here, but you can see more here.  SPI World Birding Center.

Birds were flying everywhere

Many fish were spotted in the canals dug along the walks








Monarch Butterflys were located near the convention center

An overview from the lookout tower at the birding center building.





Walldog and Willie, Jake stayed home

On Your Mark

November 19, 2009
We went to Port Aransas on Thursday to visit some friends.  They
invited us to stay the night on their boat.  Happy hour was on the upper deck fly bridge and dinner was at a local cafe that did not take credit cards.  We scraped together enough money to pay and leave a tip.  After settling in for the night aboard the boat, the rain started.  Several inches fell in just a few hours.  Lucky we were already afloat.  Sadly we left our friends and their beautiful boat and returned to Port Isabel Friday.

Atlanta to Port Isabel via Houston

Tuesday November 3, 2009 to Saturday November 7, 2009
We leave Atlanta and motor to Houston.  We decided to try the Lakeview RV Park about 2 miles further South on Main Street from the South Main RV Park we have stayed at in the past.  The Lakeview RV Park is new with concrete streets and pads.  It has a large recreation room with computer area and WiFi throughout the park.  Free popcorn, excercise area, hot tub and swimming pool.  All for about the same price.  The shuttle to the Medical Center is also available here.  A loop around the perimeter of the park is about one mile, so two loops is just about right for us and Jake in the  mornings.

Our first appointment at MD Anderson was Wednesday morning, so we took the shuttle over and back, really convenient.

Wednesday evening we joined friends Joe and Pearl at the Rotary House for happy hour and dinner.

We had one last Appointment Thursday afternoon.  We drove over and used the valet parking, because the shuttle timing was not good for us.  We find that all is normal thanks for all your prayers.  Coming back, we got to enjoy 5 PM Houston traffic.  Luckily we only had a short distance to travel back to the RV park.

We stayed over another day so we could have dinner with our daughter and her family Friday night.  On the way to Pearland for dinner, we stopped at the Verizon store to check out the new Droid.  It appears to be a neat phone.  I start to buy one, but find I can save another $100 if I wait until my "New every Two" is effective in January.  The way things go, there should be another bigger and better model available by then.

Saturday, we drive about 100 miles further than we like to drive in a day to make it on in to Port Isabel.  This trip was just over 1400 miles and we were gone 15 days.  Good to go, but good to be back.

Walldog, Willie and Jake

Amazing Grace

We needed to check on some of our business in Atlanta, Texas.  So we decided to try out the Amazing Grace Acres RV Park.  This park is located right in Atlanta, so it was convenient for us this trip.  A very nice couple, Larry and Charlotte Patterson operate this small park of about 30 sites that surround their home on a hilltop off South Boggie Street.  Even though the rain over the past several days was excessive, the hilltop drained well and we did not have any problems with the gravel sites.  Charlotte brought us pears from a tree in the park the first evening we were there and the day we left, she brought us bran muffins.

All Saints Day, we got to attend All Saints Episcopal Church here in Atlanta.  We were members of this church many years ago when we first came to East Texas from Louisiana.  It was nice to renew old friendships here.  In Port Isabel, where we now live, this holiday is known as the "Day of the Dead".  Where the departed family is honored.  It brings to memory my South Louisiana heritage and the All Saints and All Souls Day celebrated in the Roman Catholic traditions.  All of this has little to do with Halloween, which has fallen out of favor with many of my Christian friends.  These holidays are quickly followed by the US Marine Corps birthday on the 10th and Veteran's Day on the 11th.

Cool nights and pleasant days and lots of sunshine.  We leave Atlanta for now and head South expecting to return and visit our new friends at Amazing Grace Acres soon.

Walldog, Willie and Jake

Lewisville, Texas

We spent three nights in the "Campground" at Buddy Gregg's RV in Lewisville.  The part we ordered did not fix our smart wheel, which controls the horn, cruise control, and wipers.  The service manager determined that we needed a "clock spring".  That is a cassette that contains about 10 feet of wound up flexible printed circuit that allows connections from the switches on the smart wheel to the steering column and on to the computer.  A broken plastic piece had creased the flexible circuit board and broke the copper strips inside.  A new one made everything work as designed.  The campground at the dealership is a circle that holds about a dozen motorhomes.  A small rec room with tv, kitchen, and free washer and dryers makes for a nice stay if you need service or are just passing through.  With the economy, the complexion of the dealership has changed from just a high end Class A facility to a sales outlet for fewer of those to many pull behind units.  The sales staff has dwindled from 8 or 10 to 2.  Our service was excellent, and the technicians were competent.  This seems to have fixed the intermittent problem we had with our horn blowing during the night.  We left Lewisville on Friday for Atlanta, Texas.

Walldog, Willie and Jake

On The Road Again

We spent the last two nights in Austin.  Nice dinners with our friends Joe and Pearl.  Great happy hours with views of downtown Austin.  We had only planned for one night, but our windshield wipers quit on the coach.  It poured down rain yesterday  so we stayed put and ordered a part hoping it would be a fix.  The part arrived today but did not work.  So we traveled in the sunshine to Lewisville and the dealer who may be able to fix it for us.  They need a part that will not be here until Thursday, sure hope they are right.  It might rain again before we get back home.

Walldog, Willie and Jake

Sand Castle Days 2009

Wind out of the North.  Red Tide causing respiratory problems on the beach.  But the Sand Castle Artists are hard at work.  Willie, Jake and I went to Isla Blanca Park for a brief visit to check the progress of the artists.

More Pictures are here

Walldog, Willie and Jake

Mercado at the Lighthouse Square

Down to Port Isabel's Lighthouse Square today for the Mexican Market and Art Walk.  A few vendors out and a visit to the open air farmers market.

Charles, Diane, and Quin

Then over to the Island to Gabriella's Italian Grill and Pizzeria for lunch and a glass of chianti.

We are worthless for the rest of the day.

Walldog, Willie and Jake

The Blessing of Pets

Today is the feast day of St. Francis of Assisi and at many churches over the world a ceremony is held for the blessing of our pets.

“Blessed are you, Lord God, maker of all living creatures. You called forth fish in the sea, birds in the air and animals on the land. You inspired St. Francis to call all of them his brothers and sisters. We ask you to bless this pet. By the power of your love, enable it to live according to your plan. May we always praise you for all your beauty in creation. Blessed are you, Lord our God, in all your creatures! Amen.”

At St. Andrews by the Sea here is Port Isabel, we took Jake and met with about 40 other pets to be blessed.  After the service several of pets came into the church for the main service.  We took Jake home since we now live so close, but in the past he also attended the main service.  

All the pets had a great time.

An Early Trike Ride

Willie and I and our friends Sam and Inez loaded our trikes and their recumbent tandem bike on our cars and went to Laguna Atascosa Wildlife Refuge for an early morning ride on the 15 mile loop. Jake stayed home, too long and too hot for him. We got started about 7:45 AM and finished about two hours later. By then it was plenty hot. We saw lots of birds, rabbits and a few deer. We also saw three or four Ocelots (on the yellow signs). We look forward to returning to this loop more this winter. It follows the bay for several miles. When we have more rain filling the shallow areas, migratory birds are abundant here. Usually we also see Osprey eating a fish caught in the bay.

Walldog, Willie and Jake (stayed home).