TIME'S UP

We bought a month's worth of internet connection one month ago today.  Our time runs out in about 30 minutes.  I had photos from my walk today to post, but the connection is so weak that it's won't load photos.  15 minutes for one.............so I'll just forget it for today and bid you farewell until we get to San Antonio.  We'll take off in the morning and it's only three hours away so we should be there by noon.   The campground lists wifi...... hope it's better than this one!

THE SUN FINALLY CAME OUT

 

I guess I complained enough yesterday so the sun finally came out.  I walked the beach, as I do every day, and caught a few photos.  This guy comes around almost every day about four in the afternoon and goes for a little ride on the bay.  I'm guessing he gets off work at four and needs to refresh himself a bit before heading to his dorm room.  It is pretty much clockwork, every day at four he is out there, sun or not.  Yesterday he lucked out because the sun did come out.  In fact it turned out to be a lovely afternoon. 

 

 

GUESS WHAT OUR WEATHER IS TODAY?

Can't guess?  I'll tell you.  It's gray, rainy and WINDY!  What a surprise.

RECENT PROJECTS

I have made three really cute aprons since we've been in Corpus Christi, but I haven't taken pictures of them yet.  I have fabric for about 6 more so maybe I'll do one whole photo shoot on aprons!  I've also made two pocketbooks, purses, bags, or whatever you call them.  I made the pink one first and loved it, so I've been using it.  Now I've finished the lime green and aqua one, and I wish I would have waited for that one!  Oh well.  I also have fabric for about 4 more bags........I'll probably get another one out of the bunch!  It's hard to see, but the bag is roundish squarish.  It's called the tulip bag, and all four sides are exactly the same, but you put a small dart on the two sides so it folds in nicely on the top.

 Which one do you like best?  I really think the green one is cutest.....and I made the handle a bit longer and it "fits" me better!

And just so you know.  The background for the photos is "The Queen Chair."  Several years ago we gave mom this camping chair for Mother's Day.  She loved it and christened it "The Queen Chair."  We often took mom and my sister camping with us, so we just left the chair in our trailer.  Therefore, I claimed it when she died because I had possession of it!  And now I am the Queen!

MONDAY TRIP TO NORTH PADRE ISLAND

Monday was the most beautiful day we've had since we arrived, almost a month ago.  We took advantage of the weather and drove across the big bridge over to North Padre Island.  We just turned left on one of the public beach roads, and this is where we ended up.  The Gulf was covered in diamonds sparkling in the afternoon sun, and someone was apparently trusting that no fish would take the bait on the end of this line and interrupt the little snooze he was taking on the pier.  There were a lot of folks fishing, I didn't see anyone catching anything, no one seemed to care, and I think the sole purpose of the afternoon on the pier was to soak in the sun.

 

Or maybe to just gaze off into the distance along the shoreline.

 

Pictured below is the road we were driving on.....the sand!  It's a super highway on bright sunny afternoons!

On one side was the Gulf with several oil platforms off in the distance.

Some of the travelers on the highway weren't in cars.  Doesn't this look like fun?

 

The other side of the road was lined with sand dunes.

When we returned to our campsite I decided to go for another walk along the shore of the Bay.  All in all,

it was a beautiful day in Texas.

LAST THURSDAY - CAMPGROUND TOUR

This is a tour of our campground.  The pictures were taken Thursday morning.  It's it a beautiful place?  This is right behind our trailer, looking to the North where the laundry room and bathrooms are located.

This is our lovely view to the East overlooking Corpus Christi Bay.

 

The next one is to the South Southeast and the beautiful sunrise. 

And this one to the West shows you the large campground and the many trailers that are camped here.

There.  Wasn't that a fun tour?  Bet you all want to come down and enjoy the beautiful scenery for yourself!

THE KING RANCH OR I'M A PIONEER WOMAN WANNA-BE!

Yesterday we visited the King Ranch in South Texas.  This ranch is one of the largest in the world, sprawling over 825,000 acres at the present time.  Captain Richard King founded the ranch in 1853, and today the ranch is recognized as the birthplace of the American ranching industry.

The King Ranch also produced the first registered American quarter horses, and claims the only Triple Crown winner to come out of Texas.  That horse was Assault.

 

At the present time there are 300 quarter horses on the ranch.

 

The King Ranch developed the Santa Gertrudis breed of cattle.  I am not a cattle expert by any means, but I think these cattle are beautiful!  Look at the rich cherry red color!  I think they are absolutely lovely!  And there are 60,000 of them on the ranch.

 

We met a real honest to goodness cowboy, LoLo.  He is in his 80's, plays a mean harmonica, and still ropes cattle.  He just celebrated his first anniversary with his new wife!

 

And now I'm going to complain about these longhorn cattle.  Look at them, posing with their heads down in the grass!  I'm trying to take their picture and they are not cooperating!

 

 I don't get it.  Everytime Pioneer Woman takes pictures of cattle, they look right at her.  Straight, head on shots.  No, not these cattle......they keep their heads down in the grass.

 

 How can I ever complete with P-Dub's cattle photos if these guys won't look up for me!  Oh, you say I'll never be able to compete with her photos?  Well, yes, I know that.  But these cattle just made me feel a little bit like her.  Well, except that we were riding in a bus, not in the truck with Marlboro Man.  And we were just visiting this ranch, we don't own it and live on it like they do.  But hey, I was taking pictures of cattle like she does!  The cattle just won't cooperate!

 

Oh, thanks.  You weren't exactly my choice of cattle to photograph, but at least you have your head out of the grass.

 

And you may not be gorgeous, but you too are at least walking around with your head above the grass.

 

Thanks guys for letting me play Pioneer Woman for a couple of hours!  I had a ball!  

WHAT A BEAUTIFUL DAY!

Sunday was a beautiful day here at the campground.  I awoke bright and early to a rosy glow in my bedroom.  I know what that means!  So I grabbed my camera, and out the door I bounded, dressed in blue and white striped pj bottoms with a lovely gray long sleeved college T-shirt.  Bare feet.  This is the scene that I found!  What a beautiful beginning to a beautiful day!

And I recited the requisite 'Red sky at night, sailors delight.  Red sky in the morning, sailors take warning.'  But it wasn't really red - more orange than red - so I don't think anyone had to take warning.  I just have to say that poem at colorful sunrises and sunsets.  It's required.  

Then the beautiful day continued.  The food was prepared, the scene set.  And Favre came through for the Vikings!  We watched and cheered through the game - between bites of  taco salad, re-fried beans, fresh veggies, fruit salad, and peach pie and vanilla ice cream.  I loved one of the headlines I spied this morning:

TEXAS TOAST: Vikings burn Dallas!

Then later, as the next game began, we looked out the window to see this in the sky.  A fellow camper was taking advantage of the beautiful day and was flying her kite.  Neat against the blue sky, isn't it.

All in all, it was a beautiful day!  Look out Saints.....here we come!

ARE YOU READY FOR SOME FOOTBALL?

Here we sit, Viking fans in the middle (well, I guess we're on the bottom edge) of Cowboy territory, and we are going to party!  Our friends, Glenn and Carole (sorry about the Ravens last night) are coming over to our little trailer for food and football and Favre!  Carole is bringing taco salad, I have refried beans and tortillas, munchy vegetables, and peach pie with ice cream.  We are ready for some football!

WIND + SURF = WET!!!

Under the gray skies, in between rain showers, I went for a walk along the shore, picking up shells for my friend Lisa.  The wind was blowing and the water was churning and crashing.

Most of the shells are cracked and broken.  I did find a few good ones though.

 

The wind came up during my hour long walk, and the skies got darker, so I headed back to camp.

 

I saw the waves were crashing along the sea wall, so I went to snap a few pictures.

I was on the pier, safe from the splashing water.

Or so I thought!

 

This is what I snapped just before I got soaked!

THURSDAY ADVENTURE

Yesterday morning started out sunny with heavy fog.  We headed to the Texas Aquarium to hopefully see the sights before the predicted deluge hit.  The forecast called for 4-6 inches of rain.  It started literally dumping rain about suppertime, and by this morning the reports say 5 inches.  AND, there are 3 to 5 more forecast for today.  Everything in Texas is big!  When it's windy, it's WINDY, when it rains, it RAINS, and when it's foggy, it FOGGY as the picture below suggests.  Half a bridge is completely hidden!

The first attraction was the dolphins, always a fun show.  Jaden, Madison and Anna, this picture is for you!

 

 And the next one is for granddaughter Kjirsten.  These are a sparkley gold colored piranha.  Kjirsten stuck her hand in her father's piranha tank when she was a little girl, and she has a perfect circle of tiny teeth marks on her hand where the piranha took a bite out of her!  Just think of all the stories she can tell about her trek through the jungle in piranha infested rivers........good attention getter! 

These fish, and of course I don't know the name, are the ones that swim around and around and around in the huge circular tank.  Sorry for the blurry picture.

I love this picture of the shell with the little creature peaking out!  See his eyes?

 

And you all know my fascination with jelly fish.  I am so sad when I see all the dead ones along the shore, so I stood in front of this tank for a long time yesterday, watching the quiet, peaceful jellyfish drifting up and down in their tank.  This is the most relaxing scene to me, a real stress buster, and I wish I could have one wall of my home made into a tank with jellyfish in it.  I'd be as relaxed as a limp dishrag!  

 

I like the simple translucent  jellyfish, I think they're called moon jelly fish, as pictured above, but this fancy one with all the fluffy accessories is fun to watch too.