Wednesday – December 6 – We headed back into San Antonio again this morning, the weather was a bit overcast but warm, by mid day the sun was out and it was quite warm and nice.

We got the trolley tour and took it to the Market, then got off and wandered around for a while. We had lunch there which was very good but the stores were a disappointment – either very pricey or just junk – T-shirts, hats etc. The Yuma market is far better!!! We then went back and did a long walk along the river walk, it is very pretty and was quite quiet and peaceful. We were really glad that we had done the night cruise with the lights as it was much prettier than the daytime one would have been. We wanted to get out of San Antonio before the traffic got really bad so headed out about 3:30, as it was we hit a real slow down for about 3 miles but it turned out there was an accident on the frontage road and every one was stopping to gawk as as soon as we got past there it was normal again.

The roads here in large Texas cities are interesting – there is the main highway with controlled access then there are frontage roads on either side which are one way roads (I-35 is a north/south highway so the frontage roads are northbound on the east side and southbound on the west side of the interstate). This means that you have to know where you are going on the frontage roads (shopping, gas, restaurants etc.) or you will have to go to the next intersection, do a U-turn and come back. It’s really not bad as long as you know which side of the highway you want to be on!

Tuesday – December 5 – Today was a nice day and reasonably warm, not hot mind you but warm. We headed into San Antonio this morning, boy what a large busy city!

We parked at the River Centre Mall then found the Visitor’s Centre and got tickets for a trolley tour, we got the one where we could get off and on at any spot all day, plus it is good for a second day. We got off at the Mission San Jose which is the nicest of the 5 missions and has been restored more than the others. There was a film at the Visitor’s Centre at the mission which was quite interesting then we walked around the mission. We got back on the trolley and did the rest of the tour without getting off, now we know where we will get off and visit tomorrow. After that we had lunch then went to the Alamo which is right across the street from the Visitor’s Centre. We then went to the Imax Theatre at the River Centre and saw Alamo, the Price of Freedom.

By this time it was dark and that was when we wanted to do the River tour. It is a half hour tour and was absolutely beautiful with all the Christmas lights. The guide said it takes 2 months to put up the lights, and they are up from the day after Thanksgiving until New Year’s day, then it takes 3 months to take them down. Wow!! It was a beautiful tour and the lights are just stunning.

San Antonio is the 7^th largest city in the U.S., which we hadn’t realized, and man is it big and lots of traffic. We are glad we are staying outside of the city.

Still no internet so I can’t download my blog or pictures tonight, there is a Rest Area a few miles down the highway towards San Antonio so tomorrow I will take my computer and we can’t stop there and use the wi-fi.

Monday – December 4 – The duvet was nice and warm last night so that was good. It was in the low 30’s when we got up, I thought it was supposed to be warm down here!! I don’t care if it isn’t really hot, but warm would be nice.

John used his new ladder to get the roof of the trailer clean, he said it was totally black so he was happy to get that done. We went out shopping for a bit but nothing really exciting today.

Sunday – December 3 – Still no internet, am I ticked!! Today was cold and cloudy, John couldn’t get out and try out his new ladder to wash the trailer so you know it was cold when he doesn’t do that.

We did some cleaning and puttered around then went out this afternoon and bought a new duvet – sure hope it is warm as John wasn’t sure if it would be warm enough and I don’t want to hear that it isn’t. Not too exciting a day but we did enjoy talking to all the kids.

Saturday – December 2 – Today was overcast and cool, the high on the truck thermometer was 61 for a quick moment, but most of the time it was between 57 and 59. Actually, today was a good driving day with being overcast and cool. We drove to New Braunfels which is north of San Antonio and are staying at the Hill Country RV Resort, we have paid for a week and will see what happens from there. Both the lady at the office when I checked in and the man next door have said Sunday is a bad to go into San Antonio so we will wait till Monday to start exploring S.A.

Today after we got set up we went into New Braunfels to Camping World and Wal Mart to pick up a few things, John is finally happy – he got his 6’ ladder at Camping World so now should be able to reach the roof of the trailer to clean it. He can also wash the trailer here so guess what tomorrow will be unless it is pouring rain! Guess the ladder will be his Christmas present!

When we got to our camp site here there is a huge pole (like a Maypole) with rope lights coming off it and sure enough when we were coming back from shopping we could see this huge Christmas Tree of lights from many blocks away – guess what – it is the tree right outside of our door. Actually it is quite pretty, maybe it will get me in the Christmas spirit!!

I don’t know how many people have said to us what “a mighty purty rig that is!” We have to agree with them and tell them how much we like it. Today we got it from 2 people in this park, makes us happy that we have an Airstream!!

My big beef is that I have signed on for internet here (paid for it) and now can’t log on. We have sent them an e-mail but so far no response – GRRRR!!!!, so don’t know if I will be able to post my blog tonight.

We talked to Mike & Marg tonight and they are back at the park in Ruskin where they were last winter, guess Mike’s pool buddies were glad to see him back. I am sure they will enjoy the winter there and for sure this week their Florida weather is better than what we have. Oh well, as long as I don’t see snow or freezing rain I won’t complain.

Friday – December 1 – Today was sunny but much cooler, it didn’t get much above 60 but was nice in the sun. I did some laundry and John did some odd jobs. We have been getting quite fed up with the dinette table being unsteady so today John nailed it down so that is rock solid. I did laundry and a few other things, but mainly it was a quiet day. John went out and got propane and diesel so we are set to go tomorrow.

Thursday – November 30 – Wow, what a difference an hour makes – at 9:15 this morning it was sunny and 78 and by 10:00 it was totally overcast, extremely windy and 43 degrees!!! Sure don’t like this change, but on the other hand in looking at the weather channel they have snow in Dallas/Fort Worth so guess we should be thankful we don’t have that. Tonight it is to go down below freezing so guess we will pull the hose for the night. We were sure glad we did the National Seashore yesterday as we wouldn’t be doing it today.

We didn’t do a lot today, did some cleaning, reading, went to the Post Office and got some stamps, then Wal Mart and HEB for a couple of groceries. Tonight we went to Catfish Charlie’s for dinner - it was good, we had the combo with shrimp, catfish and oysters as well as a bowl of seafood gumbo.

Wednesday – November 29 – I was awakened this morning at 4:28 a.m., the people beside us were leaving and it was their diesel pusher firing up that woke me up. Then when they put it in reverse it made a lot of weird, loud, squealing noises – needless to say I WAS NOT IMPRESSED!!!

Today was another nice day and we enjoyed it as there is supposed to be a cold front come through tonight and be the end of the nice weather for a bit. We went out to the National Seashore today and went to the Visitor’s Centre, then went for a long walk along the beach. The water was still rough, we sure didn’t want to try it out for a swim but it was plenty warm for walking along the edge. We saw a lot of dead Portuguese Men of War washed up, that was enough to tell me that I really didn’t want swim there anyways!

The woman at the Visitor’s Centre was saying that the sea turtles here are Kemp’s Ridley, and here, at Padre National Seashore, when the mother lays her eggs they immediately gather them up and send them to a fish hatchery till they hatch. They then have a hatchling release, the turtles go into the ocean then they hope that they come back to lay their eggs. She said they lay their eggs around Easter, and it doesn’t matter when Easter is, that is when they lay their eggs. In 2004 there were 42 nests, 3,759 eggs and 3,298 hatchlings released. She also said that they have found that when the eggs are incubated, if they keep the heat up there are more female hatchlings than males. All in all, it was very interesting.

After that we went back to a couple of malls and I finally found a duvet cover and a couple of cushions, then returned a throw I had bought yesterday.

Tonight a couple from Perth came in beside us, we will have to ask them if they know the Millers.

Our Home In Corpus Christi 

Tuesday – November 28 – Another hot, sunny day. We didn’t do much this morning then this afternoon we decided to do some shopping.

I am trying to find a new duvet cover, you wouldn’t think it would be a big problem but I am having trouble finding much of a selection to choose from. I did find one I kind of liked but John didn’t like it so I decided to keep looking. We did manage to get a new battery for the cell phone, that was the major purchase of the day. Real exciting!!

USS Lexington - Aircraft Carrier at Corpus Christi 

Looking Down the Beach (It's Foggy!!) 

Bob Hall Pier on Padre Island 

Monday – November 27 – Happy Birthday to my sister Pat. Hope you had a good day!

I also enjoyed getting a nice long e-mail from Art, my brother in Australia.

Today was another nice day here, warm but cloudy most of the day. I spent a large part of the morning on the phone with Bell Canada – man do those people ever know how to pi—off a customer. The first person I talked to wouldn’t talk to me without my account number, I explained I was in a RV park in Corpus Christi, on a pay phone, but she wouldn’t give me the time of day (I wasn't about to waste my cell phone minutes trying to talk to them when I can call for free from a pay phone). Back to the trailer to get the account number then start over, this time the girl could care less about an account number!!! I still am not sure I have everything straightened out with them, time will tell. One thing we do know, we will do anything in our power to never have to deal with Bell Canada again!!

We decided to head out and see what Padre Island is all about – we drove over to the island then drove to Port Aransas and looped around back to Corpus Christi.

A blogger friend, Sandra and her husband Gordon are staying at Mustang State Park on the island, so we stopped by but they were out. It turns out we were in the same park in Lindsay in August but didn’t know it until after we left, don’t know if we are ever destined to actually meet.

When we got back to Corpus Christi we took Shoreline Drive and wow, were there some beautiful homes along there. We stopped at H.E.B. (a grocery store) and Wal Mart on the way back and by the time we got back the day was gone. It was still nice enough to sit out and enjoy a beer before starting dinner.

Sunday – November 26 – Today was another lovely day, hot and sunny. We decided to spend the day relaxing so I did some laundry and tidied up a bit then read. John finally got out his summer shirts and shorts and packed away his long sleeved shirts and warmer pants, sorted out some files etc. - not a real exciting day but it was nice just to take it easy.

We had the left over chicken from Thanksgiving so it was even an easy dinner, can’t ask for much more for a day.

There is a small trailer behind us with a small shed and the fellow has an easy chair, a colour TV and lots of junk in the shed. He seems to spend a lot of time out there watching TV, guess there is always a way to get away on your own even while living in an RV!

Saturday –November 25 – This morning was foggy again but it was clear by 10:00 so we weren’t so late getting on the road. As it turns out we weren’t too far out of Houston last night so it didn’t take long to get around the city, we were clear of it by 11. The traffic wasn’t too bad which was good and we arrived at the park in Corpus Christi about 3:30.

We are staying at a park called Colonial Del Rey for a week, the park is located on the mainland just before you cross over to Padre Island so tomorrow we will check out Padre Island. I talked to a fellow from Sudbury when I went for a walk this afternoon and he said the beaches on the island are really nice.

Nothing new, we are looking forward to just taking it easy for the next week and enjoying. Tonight is still in the 60’s, gotta love this weather!!

Friday – November 24 – We were late getting away this morning waiting for the fog to clear up, figures, the day we want to leave it is foggy! It was about 10:30 when we got away but the sun came out and it was a gorgeous day in the high 70’s. Hard to take!

We drove to New Caney which is just north of Houston. The first RV park we stopped at had one spot left, the fellow took John to look at it then they came back and John and I drove around to it – I said to John what about the tree at the back and he hadn’t even noticed it! The fellow at the park said to drive around and if we stayed we could come back and pay, otherwise we could wave on the way out so we waved on the way out! We went about 2 miles down the road and found the other park which is really nice and had an easy pull through so here we are for the night. After this I thought I should call the park we want to go to at Corpus Chrisit and book so did that after we got settled. Being so late getting started we drove until later this afternoon, so by the time we got set up it was pretty well dark. As long as we are off the road when it is still light we don’t care, but we sure don’t like driving after dark.

The traffic was good today, we are taking Highway 59 from Texarkana to Victoria where we turn off to Corpus and if it is as good tomorrow as it was today it will have turned out to be a good route. I asked Rick Bacon at Green Acres about it and he said it was a good route so we took his word for it and tried it, this way we avoid going through Dallas. Hopefully going through Houston on a Saturday won’t be a problem.

Thursday – November 23 – Happy Thanksgiving (or as they say on the radio Happy Turkey Day!). Today was another beautiful, sunny day up in the 70’s – sure do like this weather!

We decided to go to Cracker Barrel for brunch today to celebrate Thanksgiving but didn’t realize they start serving their Thanksgiving dinner so early – we got there about 11 and they were serving the turkey dinner then and the place was a zoo, we had to wait about 40 minutes for a table, but what the heck, we had nothing else to do. I suspect we were the only ones there having breakfast!! I have a small chicken which is now on roasting for dinner so we didn’t want a turkey dinner at noon.

We were surprised to see Wal Mart open so we stopped on our way back and got a few groceries then came back and enjoyed the nice weather. We also got diesel so that we are ready to go in the morning. John cleaned out the back of the truck when we got back and I read, he is now getting us hooked up so that will be one less thing to do in the morning. I have started a Greg Isles book so am looking forward to an evening or reading.

Wednesday – November 22 – Another beautiful warm day, sure do like this sun and warmth. Today was cleaning day, we now sparkle both inside and out. I also packed away my winter clothes and got out the capris, shorts and summer tops.

There is a RV repair place here so after we got set up on Monday we went over to see if they could look at the furnace, the fellow said they were really busy but to check in again yesterday afternoon. We did and they are just too busy to look at it, thankfully it is warm so we only need it in the morning and evening and between the heat pump, catalytic heater and electric heater we have plenty of heat. That is still on our list of things to do sometime but fortunately it is not a big problem now.

We have decided to stay here until Friday, then will head for Corpus Christi, which means doing Houston on Saturday rather than a week day. Looking at the weather forecast it looks pretty good for the next few days, and not as cold at night as it has been.

Tuesday – November 21 – What a gorgeous day it was, up in the high 60’s with a clear blue sunny sky – I love it!!

John went out this morning and got the oil changed on the truck and I did laundry – exciting eh! When he got back he washed the truck, which was badly needed, then this afternoon we back to Arkansas to get some wine and a few other things we missed yesterday. Not a real exciting day but nevertheless we enjoyed it. Tomorrow we plan to lay low as it will be crazy out there with last minute Thanksgiving shopping.