Winding Down, Getting Ready to MOVE!

fishing boats in Dickinson's harbor

It's hard to believe, but our month's stay is just about up in Galveston Bay RV resort...the time has gone by relatively quickly...when you have things to do and friends and family to visit, it does pass quickly. I've managed to ride my bike on narrow asphalt roads 3 miles almost every day, with only popping one tire on sharp oyster shells while we were here. It's not a pretty ride, but hey, it's exercise. Gotta keep doing stuff to make up for eating at TBone Tom's restaurant a few times while we were here. Best steak in the area! And, I've enjoyed the parrots! Here are my last two parrot photos and what I imagine them saying:

Hey, guys! Whaddya say we crash this party?

Ps-s-s-t! Don't look now, I think we're surrounded!

We did regret having committed to this particular side of town for a month, as the area around this pretty campground is kind of depressed looking as far as the landscape goes...refineries line the highway, no biking or hiking trails available nearby, no activities at Galveston Bay RV campground, trash and debris along the roadsides and in the Dickinson harbor and along the bayou and then there's the constant wind. We've been able to sit out and enjoy the view in our chairs outside only a couple of times since we've been here because of the cold and the wind. But it's been wonderful seeing my daughter Kerry and her fiance, and we really loved Galveston...but now it's time to plan for where we are going next...

Out come the maps, the weather channel app on the phone, and Eldy starts planning.  We use Mapquest to figure out the driving distance after looking on the maps for possible daily destinations. Then we check RV Park Reviews for possible campgrounds, figuring anywhere from 250-350 miles a day driving. Eldy checks the weather (average temperatures for these locations) for this time of year. we're hoping not to go through propane again like we did while we were here in the Galveston area. We've got our next three locations/destinations mapped out until the Gypsy Journal rally starts in Yuma, Arizona on March 7th. We're only going to have 20 amp service at the fairgrounds there in Yuma, so I'm a little concerned about that, but hopefully, the weather will not get too warm! First we think it's too cool, now we hope it's not going to be too warm in Yuma!  Are we fickle or what? We've even got a location picked out for a month's stay AFTER the rally and are getting bids now for month rentals.  We're heading to California after the rally.....more about that later. Last photo of Galveston Bay RV resort...a heron sitting on a derelict oil drum left over from the hurricane just a few yards out in the water in front of our campsite.

PS. I forgot to mention I went kayaking yesterday. The manager at the campground graciously offered the use of her sit upon kayak, paddle and vest so I could venture out on the bayou during a relatively calm day with just a little wind....It was an uneventful trip until AFTER I got back to the high dock where they wanted  me to leave the kayak. It was one of those floating pontoon docks where you could paddle the boat right under it halfway, then climb out of the kayak somehow...but it was too high for me to boost myself up, so I thought, well, think I will back out from under the dock and attempt to disembark sideways. So I laid my paddle on the dock and pushed backwards just a little too hard--WHOOPS! I'm now in the water gliding backwards rather rapidly from the fast disappearing dock, the paddle is laying on the dock, NOT in my boat and nobody is around to toss the paddle to me. "SH--T!" I exclaimed just a little too loudly. OK, Sparky, start paddling like hell with your hands and hope there's no current to keep you from getting back to the dock. There wasn't, and I managed to get back to the dock using my hands for paddles. Very ungracefully, I clambered out of the kayak onto the dock, stepping in squishy, extremely mushy clay mud that threatened to eat my sandals. Whew! I'm glad nobody was around to hear me cuss and see what an idiot I was for a moment. At least until I turned around and saw two fishermen on the other side of the channel laughing. Thank goodness, they didn't say a word!  See you on the road!