Monday, July 28, 2008






Canyon Lake, TX is about halfway between San Antonio and Austin. We still weren't
positive when our start date on the construction site would be so we set up at a COE park on Canyon Lake. Here the deer owned the grounds and tolerated humans.

This was the 3rd COE campgrounds we stayed at and again discovered how different each is. At Obey River the main wildlife was water birds and the area was primarily a sports fishing paradise. Cedar Breaks had next to no wildlife and signs were posted everywhere not to feed what there was. Georgetown Lake is almost entirely pleasure boating and we saw only a few waterfowl. Canyon Lake also is for pleasure boating, fish and fowl are few, but the deer are many. These shots were taken during our stay there June 8th-16th.




Aransas Pass Wildllife Preserve was our last stop during our Gulf Coast visit. We almost ran out of gas because it was a 45 mile drive from Fulton and there wasn't anything more than farmland in between. We had to go beyond our designated turnoff in order to reach a gas station. For a time we thought about visiting a farm and hoping they had gas! We went there late in the afternoon figuring that more wildlife would be out then. Other than the crocs we didn't see much until we were leaving the preserve. Then we saw herds of deer and flocks of wild turkeys. And when I finally had lots of things to take pictures of my batteries went dead. Turned out that my back up batteries hadn't been replaced. But we did get a few good shots. Hope you enjoy.
OOPS! This is the windmill in the tree mentioned in my previous post.




Fulton Mansion in, of course, Fulton, TX was built in 1871. Several features made it unique. It's size. They call it 4 stories but I say 3 with an English basement. It had central heat and air conditioning, and it had indoor plumbing. Things like this were never seen on a Texas ranch. The kitchen was in the basement and a dumb waiter was used to bring food upstairs. The 1 upstairs bathroom was a Jack & Jill arangement with a tub big enough to drown in. Although the comode was one of those upflush jobbies the water for the tub had to be carried up by the servants. I know how grateful they must have been that baths weren't taken too often! The archetecture and furnishings are of European design and materials that they had shipped in. Final cost was around $100,000.00. It is truly a beautiful building with a breathtaking view overlooking the Gulf. It has withstood several Hurricanes. Remarkable workmanship. The windmill in the tree had been on the original property and the later builders kept it intact. I wonder if they could remove it. Anyhow the story is that the windmill was in place and the tree grew up around it. Hope you can make it out. This was our June 6th adventure. More to come!!!








Kings Ranch, Kingsville, TX. Since I'm still catching up on posting, these pictures were taken on June 6th. We went on a driving tour of the ranch and although it is a working ranch it is not at all like you see in the western movies. Other than our tour bus driver we saw no real Kininos working with the animals. Herds and/or individual animals are pastured according to their purpose. Mating, birthing, grazing, waiting to be shipped off for slaughtering. Each animal has a record of statistics from birth to death. It is all very technical. Instead of riding out and rounding the animals up when needed, although it is sometimes done, the ranch has a sweet treat that the animals know awaits them when called. Not much work involved. Each horse is assigned to a cowboy when it is born and no one else works with it. This is done to gain trust and makes breaking the horse easier. I wonder what happens when the horse is sold and knows only one human!

Workers are allowed to live off the ranch but residency is preferred. Homes are build on an as needed basis. There is even a school on the ranch which currently has 150 students.

Many ranch hands are decendants of the original Mexicans who came with King to start the ranch in the 1800's. He had gone to a small village to buy cattle and realized that with the cattle gone the villagers could not survive. He promised all who came back to TX with him a place to live, food, and wages.

The original house is now maintained as a hotel for King family members. There are maids and a chef in the building at all times. Actual ranch administrators live in homes on the ranch.

I threw in the picture of the tree because of it's unusual shape.

Saturday, July 19, 2008






Our Gulf Coast adventure took us to Padre Island then back to the mainland via ferry. We could see dolphins in the waters but the camera didn't catch any. I was amazed at the undertow in the gulf and the claylike "sand." The ground leading to the water is more like clay and as I walked I left footprints on top. Not at all sandy like Ca or even Lake Michigan beaches.. Wading out was fun but I got wetter than I planned due to the cresting waves. Getting back to shore took a bit of an effort. There is definitely a strong undertow trying to pull you out into the ocean.


Tuesday, July 15, 2008












CC Botanical Gardens was my favorite stop in Corpus Christie. My love of flowers shows from all the pictures I've posted. The orchids are grown in a special conservatory and as you can see some are really beautiful. It's a shame they have so little fragrance to go with their beauty. I thought the colorful flowerpot was neat and had to share it. Take a close up view of the sofa if you can. It is stone! The design is ceramic tiles. I couldn't understand why a sofa would be in a garden but as I approached I could really appreciate it's uniqueness and beauty. Surprisingly it wasn't uncomfortable either although I can't say I sat there very long. Hope you enjoy the pictures as much as I enjoyed taking them. (Thanks again kids).


USS Lexington Aircraft Carrier is docked next door to the Aquarium. Took snapshots but decided not to go onboard for the tour. I remember taking a tour of a Submarine when it was docked at Navy Pier and it was depressing. It really makes you grateful to all the Navy men who live at sea for months at a time. My Dad was Navy and served on a PT boat in WWII. Life amid combat --- they all deserve a medal. I know there's more room on a ship than in my RV but 500 bunkmates!!! Need I say more.




Corpus Christie, TX. Once we crossed the bridge overNueces Bay and got into CC proper we were able to see what we came to see. 1st on our list was the TX State Aquarium. It was ok but we have been spoiled with visits to the Shedd in Chicago. I watched the dolphin show and Jim thought he was video taping. Oops, someone forgot that you had to depress the record button. Oh well, I'm sure you all have seen dolphin shows!



Breakers Point Park is just east of Corpus Christie at Nueces Bay. We found it by accident when Jim took a wrong turn. There was nobody else there and it was just beautiful to see and to hear the waves crashing on shore. One of those times when a wrong turn is actually the right turn!