Chores On Sunday?

Well today's chores are done.  I've cleaned the trailer from stem to stern, did some sewing and got my veggies ready for Sunday dinner.  The sewing might sound like a simple chore, but I was doing it on my new sewing machine that I just bought and I had to learn how to use the damn thing first.  You can tell by my cursing that it's a far cry from my old Singer Zig-Zag machine.  But I think I have the basics figured out.  Dan's in charge of the roast on the Barbee, tonight because of the heat.  We are hold up in the trailer and haven't even been for a swim yet today as it is far too hot out there.  It's 88 out there now and is supposed to go to over 95.  So we will wait until the sun goes down then we will go for one of those evening swims I like so much. 

It's Chore Time.

Well, since getting back from our little sight seeing jaunt on Thursday, we have buckled down to do some necessary chores.  Friday it was grocery shopping.  Saturday, was laundry day.  And tomorrow will be clean the trailer from stem to stern.  But we will have to get it done nice and early, because it's supposed to go up to 95 degrees tomorrow.  But each evening we get to go for a hot tub and swim, which makes for a nice relaxing nights sleep.  We have still got to find out about those tie downs for the trailer.  That has definitely got to be finalized next week.  Still enjoying the heat, is that snow melting at home yet? 

A Trip to South Padre Island & Port Isabel

We went on a sight seeing trip to Port Isabel and South Padre Island. 
This is the first real sight, Port Isabel Light.

Then we decided to stop for "All you can eat" shrimp And it was great. 

The restaurant was really nice and they sure did give all we could eat.  In fact we won't eat until some time tomorrow. 

The restaurant is in a very natural area and kept very attractive. 

These are our friends Sharon & Casey, who we traveled with.  Thanks for the lift guys. 

Here's a unique take on a glass bottomed boat.  Its a glass canoe, hung from the ceiling with gold fish in it. 

Then we traveled on to a public beach access that had, Boomerang Billies Beach Bar. 

It was quite the rocking place. 

Then we all went for a walk on the beach, because Sharon wanted some sand for her garden. 

All in all it was a great day. 

Another Scorcher in Texas

Today we did what every winter Texan eventually does.  We went to the gigantic Flea Market.  It got up into the 90s today, but again there was a breeze, and as long as you weren't out in the direct sun it was OK.  After a long day of walking around acres of Flea Market, we came home Bar-B-Qed then again went for an evening Hot Tub and Swim.  This is something I could really get used to.  I love and evening swim.  I can't believe we only have 3 or 4 more weeks of this, for this year.

Another Day a Bit More Sun Tan.

Dan spent the morning picking grapefruits.  We have so many on our trees they are falling all over the place. 

He borrowed a picker from the maintenance crew and just kept picking and picking. 

They are not the prettiest grapefruits, like you see in the store (that are bred for there appearance).  But these are so sweet you can eat them like oranges.  They are great. 

Next week he will back the truck up and try to get some of the higher ones out of the tree that he couldn't reach. 

Then we ran some errands, Dan took Sea-enna to her dog park, then after dinner we went to the Hot Tub and Pool.  So, so relaxing for the evening. 

Just Hanging Around "Home".

Well, it was another day in the Adventures of Dan & Linda & Sea-enna.  We are still enjoying Texas.  Sea-enna got to go to her Dog Park.  Dan puttered around with the trailer, washed his truck and got an oil change.  I got to go shopping,  then we stopped in a Sharon & Casey's for a visit.  The temperatures were in the 90s, but the breeze made it bearable.  But now, I can't seem to upload any pictures to my blog.  Oh, well, there is always tomorrow.   

Home Sweet Home. For Now.

We are slowly settling in and are so pleased that we decided to spend the money to have the our Patio enlarged. 

Now we are sitting there trying to decided what to do next.  Dan is thinking about stabilizing the trailer and how to make it secure for the summer.  I'm thinking about decorating.  We have two nice Grapefruit Trees, with a lovely little shady spot underneath them, that I want to take advantage of, but I also need some screening between us and the next trailer.  You get the idea. 

I have already bought a nice patio table for out there, but I won't buy anything else until we come back next year.
Meanwhile we will make do with the boat chairs we brought with us. 

It has been gorgeous today.  The temperatures were in the mid 80s and being Texas there was a lovely breeze.  Dan did a roast on the Bar-B-Q and we are enjoying the outdoor living that we came down here for. 
So here we sit with our wine glasses and making plans for what we will do next.

Goliad Mission and Fortress

This is the Mission Espiritu Santo at Goliad State Park.  A mission always consisted of a church, to convert the locals, a school and workshop to teach the converts European ways, an agricultural operation (vegetables, grains, cattle, etc.) to feed the missionaries and the converts, and always a fortress, to protect the missionaries and their converts from the local tribes that did not want them there.

This is the church.  Not exactly as it was in the 1700s, but restored to as it was in the 1800 once it had the white finish applied.

It had these huge front doors through which the priests and the converts only, were allowed to enter.  If you still thinking about it and had not converted there were two side doors that you had to use. 

This is one of the canons that the Spanish supplied to the missionaries to protect their fortress. 

This is one of the massive decorative doors for the main entrance to the church.  I include this picture for our cousin Wayne, who  has taken many pictures of many old doors in his travels.










 

The church  is a huge empty hall, as of course pews are a very recent addition in the overall history of churches.  You can see the very dominant pulpit for the priest to preach from.  And you can see the sun coming in through one of those side doors I mentioned. 

This is the tiny confessional.  I guess people didn't sin as much back then.  Before they felt it nessecary to add "Double Sided , No Waiting" confessionals. 

These are the stairs to the belfry. 

There is this strange carving over one of those side doors for the entry of the un-converted. 

This is the restored mission school and workshop.  This is what the exterior of the original church would
have looked like before the 1800 white facade was added. 

In this picture you can see the outline of the original smaller church that was built on the sight.  When the larger church on the right was built, the old church was turned into priests quarters and a granary. 

In the school/workshop there was an administrators office.  He would have been responsible for tracking the agricultural operation, as well as that of the mission itself.

In this picture you get a true picture of just how massive and thick all the walls in the mission are.

Everywhere you look you can see the outline of the original buildings and fortress walls.  There was a convent, a forge, gardens compounds and Indians and converts quarters all along the inside of the walls and of course the walls at that time were all about 10 feet high. The entire fortress enclosed about 800 X 800 ft.  with Bastions on each corner.







This is the San Antonio River.  The same river as the Alamo.  It's just further down river.  If you want to see authentic Texas history this is much better than the Alamo.  And it's not full of people hawking tourist crap.  We didn't take the time to visit the Presidio, which I intend to go back and see. 

So now we are "Home" in McAllen, and getting settled in.  We met so many people yesterday we had to start making list of names, our memories not being what they used to be.  Now we are making lists of things we have to get for out lot.  I will take pictures of our lot and nice big patio today. 

I Hate Driving Through Houston.

If there was some way around Houston without it taking an extra day, I certainly would take it.

I hate the stacks of highways going every which way, it's a nightmare, to be endured. 

But I did catch a shot of this delightful looking Seafood Restaurant, which might be worth coming back for.

We drove through Houston, to Goliad State Park.
There is an old mission and fortress here, that we will tour tomorrow. 

The campsites are very strange here, with the RVs and vehicles all lined up like in a parking lot, with your picnic shelter, picnic table, fire pit etc. all behind your parking spots.  It was a pleasant evening.  Dan cooked us some Steaks.

After dinner I was looking at my wine glass and I thought it looked askew.  Sure enough the darn thing must have melted in the hot dish water or something.  You just can't get good quality plastic anymore.   I think Dan gave this one to me to make me think I'd had enough wine. 

So we will tour this park tomorrow, then it's on to McAllen.

Back To Texas

We left our campsite this morning.  Over the Mississippi.  And on to Village Creek State Park, just outside Beaumont, Texas. 

Of course upon arrival, Sea-enna  is always the first to check out the her new '"Yard". 

Very nice campground.  But we are on the move again tomorrow. 

Our Last Day in Louisiana

We didn't do much sight seeing today as another place I wanted to see was also closed for renovations.   So we just took Sea-enna for a nice long walk. 

After seeing this picture and notice about the snakes in Louisiana, we certainly kept Sea-enna on a short leash.

We started our walk on the Fishing Boardwalk.

Then we decided to take the Swamp Trail.  Because it was also a Boardwalk I wasn't too concerned about the snakes. 

This trail went on and on. 

And on and on.

And on and on. 

Most of the Vegetation that is posted on the signs is dormant so it wasn't very interesting.

I guess later in the year when all the Vegetation is lush and full, it would be much more interesting. 

And so on we went.  On and on. 

And on and on. 

As you can see some of the vegetation is starting to green up. 

( It's amazing what you will find interesting after a long and boring walk.)

This long walk finally came out by the boat launch and the parks small marina. 

Then later we had a nice campfire and a beautiful sunset on the swamp.