Copano Bay Fishing Pier

Rockport, Texas

Every now and then the governing bodies do something right. The old causeway over Copano Bay was getting unsafe for the size and amount of traffic on the highway now. A new causeway was planned and built to handle the traffic of our current times.

The old causeway was turned into a very long fishing pier. It makes a pretty good pier even if it is a bit high off the water. The center section that went over a channel was removed. Now you enter either side as your choice. Tonight we are seeing it from the Fulton side of the bay. This entrance area has the fancy new boat ramp and parking area. The other side has a shell/gravel parking area and a sloped bank of shell/dirt that is ok for launching yaks.

Bait is sold at this end. A nice new restroom facility is provided. The boat ramp facility includes a very nice fish cleaning table. It is easy to see where the entrance to the pier is from the large archway.

To attempt to give my readers some idea of the height, this next picture was taken after an exciting scramble over a lot of sometimes loose rip rap down toward the shore line. One yaker told me of paddling length wise under the pier. He could not see the monofilament fishing line. Every now and then a fish would seem to fly out of the water up onto the pier above. That must have been a sight to remember.
This Fulton side is the short side, but it is still a long walk out to the end. One fellow told me the other side is three times as far to walk to the end. We will see the other end in a later picture. Here we have a view from right in front of the bait house out toward the end. The shade shelter way out there is about a hundred feet from the end of this side.
When you get out to the end, it feels like you are a long ways out in the middle of the ocean. The end of the other pier is right across from you. The current causeway has it’s high section close on your right to help you feel really small.
It is free to walkout and enjoy. Fishing costs $2 a rod if my memory (what’s that says the old man) is correct. It is certainly a lot cheaper than a power boat.

Speaking of power boats, a jet ski was being run around the area by the young man operator. He was doing it fairly safely but not always being the most courteous operator in the world. Here is the jet ski heading toward the folks fishing on the end of the pier.
As he passed under the causeway he hit a nice large wave for this large splash.
He should have stayed farther away from the fishing lines in my opinion. He could have moved out into the bay a couple of hundred yards and had lots of room to play and the fishing folks would have had lots of room for their fun also. Usually all the different types of toys and fun can be accommodated without causing one or the other trouble. The ski basin area of the Rockport each park is a great example of giving everyone a good and designated area to play.

But when it is all said and done this day every one was having a good time trying to have tooooo much fun. TheOFM.

Credit Card Works Again

Rockport, Texas

Laundry then play in Sneaky the Yak the rest of the day WAS the plan. Right off the start the campground laundry was backed up. The one down the street was standing room for waiting only. Ok head back to the Castle and take Sneaky out first.

Of course a weather radar check is smart since there are clouds on the horizon. OH NO look at all that red, yellow and orange on the radar screen. Never mind. Some internet searching for the next general direction to roll was the actual event this morning.

Later a check of the campground laundry proved fruitful. All the laundry was grabbed and hurried on over to the laundry room. It turns out everyone else was finished for the day and all the time needed and then some was available. Now all the clothing is put away. The radar is still not nice enough for me to go out in a boat.

More research on the next location to roll. About four pm a weather alert popped up for a tornado about six miles from the Castle. My feet insisted we get over to the concrete block office to sit around for a little while. There was plenty of dark skies around that there was not a chance Sneaky the Yak would be leaving the campground.

Finally it was give up and find some supper time. AH Ha go to Whataburger and try the credit card and see if the issuer has fixed their mess up. Yep they had. During supper the dark clouds were watched as they moved around like a massive dance in the sky. Definitely not small boat weather. Speaking of boats, how about a tour of the harbor was the thought.

The harbor turned out to be pretty neat. The odd overall color in the pictures is exactly what the lighting was like with the dancing dark clouds over head. There are some long piers in the harbor that wind around like a drunk rope. This picture of the Maritime Museum ended up having several stories in it.
The red building on the right is a bait house. This particular pier leaves the bulkhead just to the right of the bait house. Notice the water running out of the pipes from the bait house. They have tanks holding live shrimp, mullet and croaker. The water is run through the tanks 24/7 to keep all the bait frisky.

The Museum in the back has added a large addition to it and the OFM has been negligent about getting in there to see the new things. It was a great place when it was toured in Jan 08.

Notice the sail boat moored at the dock. The rent for a slip is $375 a month including water, electric, sewage pumping and use of the toilet and showers over in the parking lot. This information came from a live aboard fellow who was out enjoying the cool 88 degree evening. He was waiting for the fuel dock to open tomorrow to fill up with about 600 gallons of diesel and head down south toward Mexico. These folks are the water borne equivalent of Rvers like me.

Back to the sailboat. Check out this picture.
Moss on the boat is a new one on me. The poor sail boat had it growing all over the topside. The in the water portion was not any better. It had barnacles and weeds a couple of inches thick on the hull under the water. What a mess that will be to clean up!!

On out on the pier were lots of nice and not so nice boats. Here is one that looked ok from the pier and is waiting for YOU to buy it. Not me, my boats no longer use motors that are not human and a kayak paddle would not do much good on this one.
On another full timers boat was the owners attempt to produce electricity when in gunk holing mode (boon docking in rv terms). It looked like a 100 watt solar panel and a wind generator of unknown size. They should be able to get by ok on that much electricity normally.
Since it has been very hot, a lot of boaters have purchased small window unit air conditioners. Then they fabricate some sort of ducting to get the cool air into the boat. Some were nicer than other, but here is one example of a solution.
After all this it was getting pretty dim with more clouds closing in. The cooler air was nice. Getting some serious rain would have been better. It was still a great day for trying to have tooooo much fun. TheOFM
　

Credit Card Misery

Rockport, Texas

The day was a totally void of industrious effort day. The grocery store run netted groceries and a new fishing license. It also showed my credit card was not being accepted at Wal-Mart.

On return to the Castle, a couple of phone calls resulted in the comment that the machine at Wal-Mart must have been acting up. Ok was my thought. At least no real trouble was happening. The rest of the day was spent just relaxing and goofing off. Some arm exercises were done, but the day of rest really felt good.

While checking my budget expenses, it was noticed that there was enough money left in the restaurant bracket for one more trip to my favorite Mexican food restaurant. Hey Truck let’s go. As the credit card tried to pay the bill, the card was rejected AGAIN. The lady was pretty sharp. She figured the mag strip was messed up. Therefore she entered the card number directly to see if it worked. NOPE.
RATZZZZZ

Ok call the card company again. This lady searched a little deeper and found that a large pile of accounts had had a computer glitch and none of them were working including mine. They are working on a fix she said. She was very nice and also suggested that the card not be used for anything critical until they send out an email telling everyone that the trouble is fixed. That email will not be counted on in my lifetime.

At least my debit card is working fine. So life goes on and noting exciting happened after all. For that I am thankful.

A short walk this evening resulted in a very nice conversation with Matt and Dorothy. They are nice folks to talk with. Matt just had some knee surgery and is hobbled some right now. Before long the mosquitoes came out with a vengeance and cut the visiting short.
A nice sunset always makes a good ending to a day of trying to have tooooo much fun.

A Good One Goes Home

Rockport, Texas

Morning Edition

With the morning finding another spider in the Castle, it is time to relocate the Castle. Every time the Castle has been parked under trees, there has been an insect problem. This site has a few branches hanging over the Castle. The birds lately have been congregating on the roof. That usually means food for them and insect trouble for me.

The relocating was to the left two feet and forward about six feet. Now the Castle is barely out from under the tree limbs and as far forward as the current sewer hose allows.

Maybe the insect trouble will die out also. When we return in December, the Castle will likely be set a few feet farther from the trees. By then the shade from the trees in the morning will not be needed. With the bitter cold winter weather an early sun warm up will be welcome. Those forty degree mornings are rough on an old fat man’s body.

Here is the new front yard scene. Now the picnic table is far enough back it does not interfere with coming out the door. Sturdy Steed used to have barely enough room to fit between the table and the Castle.
Noon Edition

For those who knew him, Glenn Johnson of Houston, Texas passed on to our real home today. We worked together for many, many years. We were always trying to outdo the other on conscientiousness at our job. He was willing to stick you with a practical joke that did no harm and much more willing to stand beside you if you had trouble. God must be having a problem in Heaven so He chose Glenn to come help. God could not have chosen better help.

Evening Edition

Late this evening the emergency vehicles were gathering near with lots of noise. Hmmm what is going on????? A look out the door gathered in this scene.
It was about four blocks away with a lot of dried out tinder between here and there. Tomorrow might be an ok time to go see what happened. For now it is let the professionals take care of business time.

A newly opened restaurant was tried tonight. The shrimp platter was the choice. It was ok but the price about 40% too high. My Friday night shrimp will go back to the China A buffet and all the shrimp my body can hold. Having any good shrimp dinner is a good way to finish a day of trying to have tooooo much fun. TheOFM

Sturdy Steed Came Apart

Rockport, Texas

The morning was less hot than usual so the work on Sturdy Steed was started. The chain ring side crank needed to be removed. Luckily that needed tool was in my collection of bicycle tools from days of olde. However a socket of the right size was needed to get the fastening bolt removed. Before it was found, all three tool boxes had been brought out for the search. The right socket was found and the bolt easily removed. The crank remover was attached and force put on the crank. Ratz a cranky crank. So WD-40 and gentle HAMMER work and the crank came right off.

The chain ring bolts proved to be ornery also. After several applications of gentle? Force, they also came on out. The inner and outer chain rings were set aside for the dumpster. The middle chain ring was cleaned. The installation attempt was a failure. The outer chain ring is needed to space the bolts the correct distance. Oh well. The outer chain ring was reinstalled until some proper sized spacer washers can be fabricated.
After EVERYTHING was lubed with the white Teflon grease, the crank was installed on the bicycle. It all went back together easily.
The front derailleur was removed and junked. The left grip shifter and cables were removed and junked. That way when the parts that did not come in the mail later in the day come in, they can be quickly installed. The handlebar is now ready for the parts whenever they show up.
Earlier in the week some fingernail polish had been purchased to use as touchup paint on the Steed. About twenty minutes were spent cleaning paint worn spots and putting fingernail polish on the worn spots.

All the tools were gathered from all over the place. Then they were cleaned and put into the proper tool boxes. Then the tool boxes went home to their little cubby holes in the Truck and Castle. Now it will be easy to forget again where certain tools are located. It is like an Easter egg hunt when a tool is needed around this place. How can a 21 foot trailer have so many hiding spots??????????????

For the giggle of it, a fishing trip was taken to Goose Island State Park fishing pier this afternoon. Using tip water lures was chosen for the fun of it. The sad part is the fish were there. Several times my lures had “blowups” and they are fun. A blowup is when a fish hit’s the surface lure knocking water all over the place but does not get hooked. A blowup close to you will give your heart a quick rate increase.

As my effort was waning and the path was back toward the Truck, a yakker was noticed coming in from across the bay. When he got to the launch point, it was noticed he had had success catching. His name was Robert and his catch was two nice redfish and two smaller black drum.
My help made it easier for him when loading the yak. Afterward we visited for a long while. He drives down from San Antonio to fish now and then. Today was his fiftieth birthday.

Back at the Castle it was canned chili time and an easy end to a day of trying to have tooooo much fun. TheOFM

Texas Parks and Wildlife At Work

Rockport, Texas

It was an earlier than normal start to the day. From the number of folks out walking at the beach park, it was not early for a lot of walkers. A good parking spot was chosen near the you know whats that old men need all too often. The air was warm but the breeze was nice. Sturdy Steed was brought out from the Truck and ready to go. The only trouble is my riding gloves were at the Castle on the table. Time to get tough and get going.

Almost immediately the first slow down came up. A Texas Parks and Wildlife (TPW) fish trailer was at the Allegro channel putting some new fishes into the water. That has to be checked out, correct friends????
The fellow doing the work was extremely friendly. He took the time to tell me about the happenings and many other things. One of which is he has to hit the road at one am in the morning to go get the fingerlings and be where he has to be to put them into the water. The bunch today is redfish. He estimated the load at near 200,000 fish. They expect to get only near fifty percent to legal eating size.

Here is a bucket of them that he a few minutes later carefully released into the channel.
He picked up a few in his hands to let me get a better picture. They look like they are dead and lifeless in the pictures. Let me assure you they were a very active group of fishes. The pictures had to happen quickly or the little devils would have been scattered all over the place.
After a few minutes it was time to continue my exercise. The distance today ended at 10.2 miles. During today’s riding several thoughts went through my head. Sturdy Steed came with three chain rings in front and a seven gear cog on the back. Long ago right after Sturdy Steed came into my ownership, the front chain rings were changed out to gear Steed down for slower riding. Later, after that change, the derailleur was adjusted to NOT go to the largest chain ring. As my eyesight and reactions slowed with age, that chain ring went too fast for my own good.

The lowest chain ring was for extremely slow going like in loose sand. It was tried out today and no longer am I able to balance at the slower speeds. HMMMMMM Maybe it is time to do some more changes. After a couple of miles of experiments, it was determined that all the front gearing needed is provided by my center chain ring. Now when my new grips get here, the installation will include getting rid of some unused, or dangerous if my ego jumps up, items on Sturdy.

The excess chain rings, derailleur, grip shift on the left and a couple of brackets will be deleted. That is several items that require maintenance that will go away. KISS principal at work. That will leave me with a low end speed of 3mph and a top end speed of 18 mph in very even increments. For my situation in life nowadays, those seven gearings should be sufficient. If you want to go slower than 3 then get off and walk. We will see what else works out as it progresses.

My leg wounds are well on the way to healing thanks to the saltwater soakings. The long soaking yesterday seemed to do a huge amount of good.

Tomorrow is looking like a great day to try to have tooooo much fun. TheOFM

Sandbar Safety

Rockport, Texas

Morning Edition

The gentle alarm went off right on time at 6:10 am this morning. My hand reached over and turned it off. A nice big stretch and it was 8:45am. WOW what happened?Bedtime last night was 10:15 pm and sleep was almost instantaneous when my head hit the pillow. The aching muscles this morning tell the tale of all the fresh exercise yesterday.

The continuous sharp edge of summer heat seems to be dulling a little. The daytime temps are still in the mid 90’s, but the night time temps are starting to drop below 80 by morning. Yesterday it was only 75 at 7:00am, a virtual snow storm for the area. Since it is too late into the heat and humidity to do vigorous exercise, the question is what is next. Just for the information of it, arthritic fingers do not necessarily go where they used to when touch typing. Bye, it is play time.

Night Edition

The afternoon was full of surprises. The Truck decided to carry me down to the beach for a long walk. First stop was the Aransas Pass jetty. The water is beautiful and not many folks were there. For some unknown reason it was chosen not to stop there.

Let’s go see what else is happening down the island, Mustang Island that is. After some meandering, we made a grand entry to the State Park on the island. When the Truck got to the cross roads in the park, my goal was the "Fish Pass that is not a pass anymore" jetties to the left. That darn Truck grabbed it’s grill in it’s teeth again and turned right to the longer beach. That was actually the better choice today. It is horrible when the Truck is right.

However the sand was very powdery. When a spot was chosen and we tried to back up toward the water, the rear wheels started to dig in when the front wheels were turned. OK. Into 4wd and pull forward. Still in 4wd another spot that looked less soft was tried going forward and it worked.

The beach was nearly deserted. No one was within at least a half mile either direction. The water was beautiful and the surf fairly flat.

The water was very inviting. My body had the wrong clothes on for wading, cotton. Too bad body and into the water we go. It was wonderful. This next shot was taken from a good ways out into the surf.
All knowledgeable beach runners know this next trick. The first thing is to mark the water line so you can judge if the tide is going in or out and how much. That way you know when to get back farther on the beach. Here is my mark in front of the truck. It was a good deal because before we left the water had risen enough to erase the mark.
An almost disaster happened out in the waves. For the first hour or so, fishing had been the game. Then it was time to take some more pictures for the blog. Back to the truck and drop off the fishing rod and equipment Grab the camera and wade back out. When the water got to waist deep an extra size wave gave me a big splash and got some salt water onto the camera. There was nothing to dry the camera. My shirt was completely wet from that wave. Oh Well. My equipment is for using not looking cute.

How about a shot of the waves from my level! These are only 1 to 1.5 foot waves so it was fairly gentle. That white froth of the breaking wave is the next sandbar out.
Right after the last picture, my attempt to go to the next sandbar out was aborted. When the distance to the bar was down to about fifteen feet, it was deep enough that my body would float when a wave passed. The alongshore current would in that time of floating move me down beach eight to ten feet. This is in my experience bank from years past. As you get closer to the bar, the current gets stronger. If the right equipment had been in my possession, it would have been and easy swim to the bar where the water looked to be about a foot deep. Since the correct safety equipment was not with me, the only thing to do was turn back. It will have to wait another day.

A short walk was taken along the dunes while my clothing dried out some or at least quit dripping. While up on a high dune, it was noticed that this car is up on a dune nearly turned over. It appeared to have been there for at least a couple of days. It looks like and old classic. Hopefully the owners will be coming back to retrieve it.
The last thing of the trip was to take a picture of a dune scene that seemed very nice to me. As you know, dunes are one of my favorite scenes to enjoy. This one even includes a couple of birds.
Back at the Castle the plan was to go play nine holes of golf about 5 pm. My body said NO when 5 pm came around. It was too tired from fighting all the wave action for over two hours. At least it is guaranteed it was a great day for trying to have tooooo much fun. TheOFM

Slip Sliding The Sofa

Rockport, Texas

Morning Edition

After getting up very early for me, it was decided to do some bike riding at the beach park. A nice parking spot next to the rest rooms was chosen. Sturdy Steed was unloaded and prepared for the assault. The riding was pleasant and a little breezy. One lap around the park is exactly two and a half miles on Steeds cyclometer. The roadway is sort of a Y with a loop at the end of one leg and just parking lot turnarounds on the other two legs. This is my first time to ride the park and it was actually very nice. There was about thirty old folks out walking.

By eight thirty am and only five miles, it was too hot and humid for me to continue safely. Sturdy Steed was put back in the Truck. With the AC doing a great job, it was about five minutes back to the Castle. Earlier starting times are needed during these days.

Afternoon Edition

WOW that old fat man is moving good. More cabinets were unpacked and reorganized. There was a large mesh bag with pairs of socks in it. Now were did that come from? In the end, my normal sock box from the closet and the bag were both dumped out on the bed. Both piles were mercilessly gone through and any sock looking a little thin was discarded. Eighteen socks went to the garbage. There are still more socks than a person really ever needs. Some of them were from when the Castle was in the cold country. Three pair were kept for down here in case we get a hard winter of a night or two below 40.

Earlier today a trip with lots of stuff was made to the thrift shop here in town. The extra blankets, day pack for hiking, several Callaway golf clubs that are no use to me any more and a few other things like an anchor were all given to the young man at the unloading dock to sort. They will get some money from the items and help the group of churches that sponsors the shop.
Now there are empty places in the cabinets that will have to be considered for a solution before moving the Castle again. The items in the cabinets need to be secured to prevent damage on the roly-poly roads of this country.

After a flash of brilliance, the extra (since the boat seat is working well) dinette cushions were found a home. As my lazy body was lying on the jackknife sofa letting my mind try to figure out what to do with the cushions, it was noticed that if they could be squeezed under the sofa, they would fit well into the open area there. Just unscrew the four screws that hold the sofa in place. Slide the sofa forward about a foot. Insert the cushions between the sofa and the wall. Push the sofa back, Reinstall the screws. All done. Now the sofa cannot be laid flat to act as a two person bed. However it still does great duty as a lazy bum nap location.

On top of all that good luck, my leg that was infected is healing very well. The saltwater soakings did the trick, thank goodness.

Evening Edition

After supper a nice walk at Memorial Park made for a fine finish of the sunlight. The temperatures seem to be easing a little in the evening. At eight pm it was only 89 instead of 94 or more. Lots of folks were out enjoying the less hot evening. The baseball fields had folks banging balls all over the place. The basketball courts had all the hopefuls shooting them hoops.

On the loop back by the turtle ponds, the sun was making nice views all through the trees. This one caught my attention and turned out pretty nice in my opinion.

By the time my path returned to the Truck, my body was sweating nicely without being so hot you want to pass out. This is good. A little exercise at the end of the day puts a fine finish on a day of trying to have tooooo much fun. TheOFM

Picking My Seat

Rockport, Texas

My abilities could never say it this well, so this is from Andy Baird.

What would I miss most if I gave up my Rving life?"
Well, I'd miss the gorgeous views out my big windows. In the past year I've lived in the mountains, I've lived by the seashore, I've lived in the desert, in the deep forest and beside a lake. I'd miss the magnificent and ever-changing scenery, and I'd miss the wonderful photo opportunities that come with it.

Thank you Andy. Please go to his blog mentioned yesterday for more great info from Andy.

Now what more could a person ask. As Ben Ngo, a wise man, always said it is important to have options. Thank you Ben you are more correct than you know!!!!!!!

What to do to get me a comfortable spot to sit at the computer for hours on end or doing anything else that takes a few hours??? The dinette is the only location that has a table available. It is the primary work surface for everything inside. Additionally when the Castle was purchased, Carolyn Thompson, of Thompson RV Sales in Pendleton, Oregon, had a wonderful discussion on modifications to smaller trailers. She highly recommended that a 22H be as near original as possible when it is time to sell it. Larger trailers have a lot of two people shoppers, but small ones like the Castle are almost always families. It is two different markets.

The dinette seats are adequate for eating a meal, but really want you to get up soon after. The earlier attempt at comfort by adding more rigid foam in the cushion did not really help enough. When Sneaky the Yak came into my life, it’s very comfortable seat spends most of its time at the dinette replacing one cushion. My brain has been in overload trying to think of a solution without tearing out the bench and using an office chair. This would effectively change the Castle dining to a three person situation. Sneaky needs his seat back.

Lightning, thunder and all kinds of brilliance hit here this morning. The comfortable seats in fishing boats might work and leave the bench seat base in place. After some serious measuring it was off to Academy to try them out. The prices ran from $30 to $245 each. The Academy clerk must have thought me nuts at first. Each seat was carried to a place to try it out for comfort then brought back to the display shelf and replaced. Good news several were comfortable. The next to the cheapest was good to my back side and came home to the Castle.


This means all that is needed it to store the factory seat back cushion and seat cushion somewhere. Then when it is time to sell the Castle, the boat seat is lifted off the cabinet and the cushions put back down. Perfect like it was originally. YEA TEAM!!!

The Whataburger was interesting tonight. A little over half the family units there were older couples. All six of the couples looked like Winter Texans except it is still hot summer. The four that were heard speaking also sounded like from up around the Great Lakes. January to March this area is packed with these nice folks. Maybe a few are just staying here full time instead of all the traveling back north and south each year with an RV. This is a nice area so staying here all year can be pretty good, especially if you like fishing, golf, biking, beach activities, great food and sun. Not really much to offer afterall I guess.

Getting the seating worked out really made this a great day of trying to have tooooo much fun. TheOFM.

Chaos And Ransacking

Rockport, Texas

John Wells was curious how his buddy Benita the Longhorn drinks water. He rigged up a clear bottom bowl and filmed her drinking. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5gbZLlgcIqo
Check him out on the left sidebar as the Field Lab.

For some reason a cabinet was opened and curiosity caused me to unpack it. That set off a chain reaction of events. The first cabinet had FIVE blankets in it. Now what in the world is this old fat man doing with FIVE extra blankets. If everything goes to pieces and it is necessary, my 25 degree rated sleeping bag will be put into service.

Also in the chaos, my day pack of lots of years came to the surface. My body will no longer allow me to go places the pack needs to go. It was with me all over from Texas to Washington and has served very well at all times.

Several other items were shoveled out of the depths of the Castle. Finally the chore was stopped. Maybe not finished, but stopped for now. All the blankets except the two chosen to keep were folded and put into the trusty day pack. A few clothes were placed in the pack. A few miscellaneous items were added.

Now that leaves me with a small day pack with hydration bladder capabilities, two blankets, more clothes than are fun to wash and plenty of other items to wonder about next divesting time. Not a lot of weight is going away, but two cabinets are now empty. Looks like a smaller trailer would do just fine.

All this stuff will be taken to the multi denominational thrift shop in town to be sold and help them defray church expenses. Long ago trying to sell these types of items proved to cost more in delivery and bother than they were worth, so it all gets donated somewhere.

There you have a day of ransacking that was good for trying to have tooooo much fun. TheOFM

Devastation At The Buffet

Rockport, Texas

If you would like to see how an ingenious fellow can pack things into an rv, check out http://www.andybaird.com/travels/index.html and see how he got a life after years of cubical torture. He is an interesting person that had some impact on my choice to retire at age 61. He is a long way from wealthy and is living very well in my opinion.

While perusing some non utilities supplied locations for future travels, it dawned on me that the 12 v system charger was not easily put back into action. The switch system that had been installed several months ago would have worked, but the switch failed almost immediately. At the time the Castle was at a bad location for getting things to repair the design and due to the cloudy times, the Castle needed to be connected to 120 v for charging. So the plug was reinstalled like original and plugged in to it's designated socket.

Today it was time to fix that left over repair. A new style was decided on for the fix. All that is needed is easy access past the grill in the cabinets to pug or unplug the charger.

At the moment you had to take out four LONG screws while laying in the floor with your neck at an awkward angle due to the tri-focal eyeglasses. Screen fasteners to the rescue. The local hardware had the exact item needed, or so it was thought.
Closer examination brought forth an unpleasant surprise. The “screws” that came with the brackets were actually machine screws that use nuts. Definitely the wrong thing for my needs.
For a change some luck came my way. The screws originally used for the grill fit into the brackets perfectly. So now we have progress possible. A screw hole was carefully drilled in a good location.
Next the bracket was screwed to the cabinet. The bracket is like a small latch to hold the grill in place. The load from the grill is carried by the floor so all the latch has to do is hold the grill to the cabinet. The next three brackets were installed with no more trouble. The grill actually fit in place properly in spite of me. What a surprise!!!!!!!!!! And here it is.
Now all that is needed to hookup or disconnect the 12 volt system from the shore power is flip four latches and plug or unplug the charger. Nice and simple. My kind of equipment.

Since it was Friday night and shrimp night for me, wholesale devastation was caused to a large amount of shrimp tonight. The restaurant owners are beginning to look at me in wonder as the huge quantities of shrimp from the "all you can eat shrimp buffet" disappear from the steam tables. HE HE HE

After that some time for settling the food was needed. So the Truck grabs his grill in his teeth and drags me to the waterfront. He ran right up to a great spot for viewing the incoming catcher men with their catches. That is one smart Truck.

While the Truck was enjoying the view, my camera needed some work out. One thing that there is not a lot of down here is crabs of any type. To my surprise near the bulkhead was a colony of fiddler crabs. They have one big claw they wave around in the air. When something gets too close, they run down into their hole that is always nearby. This picture had to be taken from about thirty feet to get any shot. The little black spots are the hole homes of the crabs. The light spots are the crabs themselves. The bodies are about one half inch by one inch in size.
This next young man’s father went to The University of Alabama and gave him the shirt. He made a nice catch today that will make excellent supper of fresh Redfish.

Soon it was getting fairly dark and time to head home. The steering wheel for the Truck was grabbed with aggression and forced it to head for the Castle. It was a good day of trying to have tooooo much fun. TheOFM
　

Barefoot

Rockport, Texas

It has been decades since my feet have waded without shoes. This morning the beach was so inviting and the cleaning crews had just finished the raking. Barefoot was given a careful try. A cut from some sharp object is definitely not on my desirable list. The sun was nice and warm, the water nice and cool and the breeze brisk but refreshing. The sand was nice and firm under my feet. WOW it was great. Not many folks out this morning. In fact it seemed like everyone was somewhere else all day. This was a great feeling going barefoot. The leg wound has stopped getting worse it seems.

By lunch time the heat index was miserable. The temperature hit a heat index of 111 today. That is much to hot for outdoor play unless you are in cool water. Mostly it was inside messing around and a shopping trip for a fan for my bedroom. Anything was going to be in the a/c as far as my wants were considered.

Late this evening a search was made for two launch spots that were discussed on a yakking forum. This first one is a shell area that will work just fine for launching when the wind is in the correct direction.

The second is a Parks and Wildlife ramp over on St. Charles Bay. It also will work well when the wind is from a different direction than today. In this picture across the water is a peninsula that is renown for the fish catching. It is only a mile and a half across to hit the shoreline.
Now there are two more known launch points for exploring. My goodness it is time to get out paddling some of these many places.

The campground owner reworked some of the foundation area today. He cleaned it out and filled with the crushed granite. Then put a number of potted plants on the new area.

It really looks nice now. He is working diligently to get this place looking good.
As you have read, it was a gentle day of trying to have tooooo much fun. TheOFM

Wet Again

Rockport, Texas

The grading of the granite started early this morning. The operator/owner was a very personable fellow and an excellent operator. This is a side line business for him. The campground owner and the equipment operator put the extra granite in several spots in the campground that could use it well. Things are coming along nicely here.
After the tractor work was done, the campground owner raked in the small spots of granite in the corners etc. Next he took his golf cart and used it to pack the granite into place.
After all this it was time for the saltwater treatment for my leg. It did not get any worse over night for a change. Down at the beach was more folks than yesterday. It was not crowded at all. While doing my soak the city was raking the beach to pick up the sea grasses and small trash along the waters edge. Sometimes the operator would get the tractor out into the water a couple of feet.
The beach had already been raked in the area above the grass/water line. This certainly is a nice place.

While standing in the water waiting for enough time to elapse, a familiar sound hit my ears. It took me a couple of minutes to recognize it from my time in Viet Nam. When the owner of the sound finally dawned on me, a glance to the sky confirmed the presence of a B-52 airplane. They certainly helped us ground pounders while I was over there.
Late this evening when the temperature moderated a little bit, another few holes of golf was attempted. This time score was kept and the final tally was 47 for nine holes. The Champions Tour is not worried about me joining any time soon.

After showering and rest for a few minutes, the closest restaurant got some business from me. Since today was payday from the SSA, it was celebrate another month of living time. Months are counted now since days go by way too fast to count at my age. When the meal was finished and the restaurant exited, the temperature had moderated enough that some time was spent on the veranda just goofing off. The breeze from the waterfront about five blocks away was almost cool. It was a wonderful way to finish a day of trying to have tooooo much fun. TheOFM.

A Dumpy Location

Rockport, Texas

The morning started with the delivery of some crushed granite. The BIG LONG TRUCK managed to squeeze in to the unloading spot. The driver did an amazing job. In this sequence of pictures you will see the drive had little room to work with








Even when the unload was finished, the trucker had to thread his way through the tightest part of the campground. However he was a real pro and everything went easily. The rock comes from Marble Falls which is about five hours north of here.

My leg’s shin got scraped with a rope the same day of the ninja tree limb attacking me. The tree limb wounds are healed. The leg wounds are being very obstinate. This happens on my legs once in a while. The skin was scraped off by the rope, but no damage was done under the skin.
Antibiotic ointments just seem to make it worse. It is time for the old home remedy. Go wading in the salt water at the beach.

The beach was ready for me. Very few folks were out and about yet.
The sun was warm and the water nice and cool. Wading around was very pleasant. There were fishes running around doing fishy things. To my surprise none ran into my legs. Here is the immersion in all it’s glory.
After about twenty minutes it was time to go. My sandals were rinsed off but the salt was left on the wound.

Back to the south it looked like they were getting some nice rain. Of course none of it came our way.
For fun this evening some golf was attempted. Notice the statement was “attempted”. It was nice and windy so the heat was tolerable. It was a nice close to a day of trying to have tooooo much fun. TheOFM