The Lady in Waiting...

Today was a lovely, bright blue day, and we had planned a beach outing to Aransas Beach....it seemed like a good day to enjoy an early walk over to the waters edge, so I took off and headed down the lane to Aransas Bay. Last week, I had noticed a Great Blue Heron that remained perched in the tall grasses for quite a long time.

Sure enough, approaching the water's edge, I first noticed the Heron that flew to a large pile of brush, lingering there....

...then I saw his mate, perched high atop the platform above the waters' edge....

...she waited, patiently there, as he flew back and forth from the brush pile to the perch...

each flight bringing another twig with which to feather their nest.

She moved hardly at all, staying very still atop the growing nest, as he slowly and surely,

continued with the nest building.

We have loved to watch the Herons over the years, living on the River,

but we've never seen anything like the little drama that unfolded this morning.

It seemed pretty clear that his lady was ready to lay her eggs, as soon as he finished their little nest, and he was working diligently to make sure this was going to happen.

Amazingly, I had left my camera behind this morning, and I rushed back to the park, collecting it, and Karen treked back with me, to capture their ritual with our cameras!!!

Then, we finished our walk and headed out to Aransas Beach....Oh, the things in Rockport that we will miss!!!

Rockport days....

Unless the calendar is wrong, it is almost the end of March, and we've been in Rockport for the entire month. The days have been nice ones, mostly sunny days and warm nights.... and it's been a pleasantly busy month.


Most of us drove down to Corpus Christi one day to tour the USS Lexington Aircraft Carrier....

...where Bob and Donnie (aka PeeTee) boarded the flight simulator for a little ride!!

The next day we drove North to the Aransas Wildlife Refuge. It was an almost perfect day for the trip...the sun was warm and the little breeze kept the mosquitos at bay. We rode with Mac and Nette in their big truck!!! There were lots of baby alligators soaking up the sun....

....and we lost count of the HUGE alligators, also sunning on on the banks.

Several evenings we drove in search of the Whooping Cranes...which we did find, and there will be photos of those another day......but on this evening we came upon a small flock of Roseate Spoonbills, which are an amazing rosy, pink with splotches of red....they are skittish birds... and I just love their coloring as they splay their wings and play in the shallow water.

Here are several Roseates beside two large White Pelicans...........

The variety of shorebirds in this coastal area is amazing...Herons and Egrets are plentiful also. We really enjoy the lovely shore birds here around Rockport and Aransas, along the Great Texas Coastal Birding Trail.

I tried very hard to get closer to these birds....even crossing the marsh grass and attempting to walk on the mud flats....alas, those mud flats claimed a much loved pair of Birkenstocks, and almost claimed me....as I sunk in the stinkiest mud you can imagine....ughhhhh, what a mess!! But there were some great laughs enjoyed from my little mud bath!!! Good thing no one thought to take a photo of me covered in the thick, black goop, that would neither release my shoes from it's hold in the flats, nor let go of my feet after abandoning the the shoes!!! YUCK! is all I have to say about that!! :)

We're still walking, eating, playing cards and games, eating, laughing a lot, eating......yes, indeed, it has been a great month with good friends here in Rockport!!!

The wearin' of the Green...

Another St. Patrick's Day in Texas..... a little more fun with the wearin' of the green......

Greg McHenry and Donna Green...wearin' the Green!

Lynette and Greg are Mr. & Mrs. O' Paddy, for certain!!

Do you recognize this Green??

Ready for the evening games!

We all welcomed Lynette back to Rockport...she's been AWOL since Monday last, as she had to fly back to Kansas to attend to some things at home!!! Just in time to celebrate St. Patrick's Day....and she sure showed those guys how to play cards tonight!!! It is, indeed, good to have Lynette back with us!!

Hope everyone had a wonderful day....wearin' the Green!!!

MoonDog's and Fish Tacos.....

The days here in Rockport seem to fly by...the weather has been almost perfect.....we get in long walks every day, Happy Hours most every afternoon, and campfires or potlucks crop up almost daily. We have dined at MoonDogs, down on the waterside a couple of times.....

....and it was here I had my first ever Fish Taco!!! Now, having heard of Fish tacos , but not having eaten one, my mind's eye envisioned a fish stick in a hard taco shell....not so appealing!!! But at MoonDog's they were filled with fresh grilled grouper and shrimp...wrapped in a fresh, soft, jalapeno tortilla with mango salsa....and they were delicious!!!

Waterside dining at MoonDog's

We liked them so much, that we wanted to grill fresh shrimp, Grouper, and Redfish for an impromptu potluck on Saturday and make Fish Tacos!


And, we had wonderful Enchiladas, and chicken and beef, chips and salsa and all of the wonderful things that go along with fresh, warm tortillas. It was, indeed, another tasty evening at The Last Resort.
No evening seems to be complete these days without a card tournament...usually Hand and Foot as it seems that some "monsters" have been created....also known as Hand and Foot addicts!! (No names will be mentioned to protect the innocent! Ha!)

There is a bit of a "competition" between the guys and the gals to dominate this game....but most often the winnings are evenly distributed...although the guys insist that the gals do gloat a bit more! Hmmmmm.....stay tuned to Facebook to see the nightly winners....there is always a report going on there!!! Mostly, is is just great fun to play with wonderful folks...here at The Last Resort!

On the coast of Texas

After spending a few days at Medina Lake, we headed for Rockport on the last day of February. There is a large group gathered here for the month....we met Norah and Howie here upon arrival, and the next day Arlene and Kevin, Donna and Nolan, Bill and Debbie, Dortha and Mark, Karen and Donnie, Deb and Rod, and Mac and Lynette all arrived to settle in for the month of March. This week Peggy and Charlie and Donna and Keith pulled in....so there is a nice bunch of folks here!!! Also, Mark and Renita have been here most of the winter, and then Tom and Paula pulled in last week for a few days and Jim and Nancy Tidball arrived this week!!
Now, these are all good, fun, down-to-earth folks, and it really does not take too much to entertain us. We've been sitting around the campfire, eating, walking, talking, shopping, and most of all laughing a lot!!!

There have been some marathon Hand and Foot games, as all of these folks learned to master the game this week..... almost each evening finds us up in the Clubhouse trying to outplay each team. Talk about a million laughs!!!

So.... Rockport is still just the way we love it...laid back and rustic, with the salt breeze heavy in the air...warm and sunny...and with good buddies here to share all of these things....

.....life is, indeed, pretty good!

In the Hill Country of Texas

Leaving Lufkin, we headed West towards one of our very favorite areas in the country...the Texas Hill Country. We fell in love with this area last year and couldn't wait to get back!! We were also looking forward to spending time with more SKP friends at their Hill Country compound.
Now, don't ask me how to get there, because I don't think I could tell you; MerleDeen took us there precisely (she was doing pretty well that day) and the views of Canyon Lake along the way were beautiful...it was one of those sparkling, sunny days that we love!!

(MerleDeen, by the way, is the new GPS that came in the Bus. Her cousins, Lola and Freda Garmin, are a little smarter than their new counter part, which is of the JVC descent. We named her MerleDeen as we rambled thru the Alabama countryside following her lead)

Arriving at Tommie Sue and Harrell Hick's retreat, we were delighted to find lovely, natural grounds with lots of wildlife and birds. Now, the Cardinal might be the official State bird for Virginia, but the old saying that everything is bigger in Texas surely is appropriate...those were magnificent birds!!! We're thinking that it is Tommie Sue's generous feeding that keeps those bright red birds so plump and plentiful! The flocks were always surrounding her feeders.

The feeling of nature has been well preserved, using cedars and native rock. We backed into our site and I really wanted to find a cedar bough and erase the tire tracks, such was the feeling of just being a part of the landscape.

We spent almost a week enjoying the Hill Country with the Hick's and their wonderful neighbors, including Pete and Jo Peters.

Tommie Sue cuts the cake for Jo's birthday!

On Saturday, we traveled the Guadalupe River Road, ending up in the charming German town of Greune (pronounced "green") for Market Days, where we walked and shopped, enjoying more of what we call "Bavaria...Texas style".

During Market Days, the square is filled with many vendors of handcrafted Texas items of all sizes and shapes......

Harrell trys out a Texas- size handmade rocking chair in Greune!

Deb and Rod

Deb and Rod surprised us with a call from San Antonio and drove up for a visit. It was wonderful to see them again and we had a fun night chatting, eating and playing Mexican Train.

Of course, we had to have some cut-throat Hand and Foot games, as TS and Harrell, and Pete and Jo learned to play the game we enjoy so much

Once again, a nice week, with some bright, sunny days and even some gray ones, with a few flurries thrown in; but we can't think of any nicer people to spend it with!!
We'll return to the Hill Country after a month in Rockport!!