Another Wonderful Day, Sunny and 72

We walked a mile down the beach for breakfast today.

This man is catching ghost crabs for bait. He puts the tube over the shrimp's hole and pulls up on the plunger, sucking sand and hopefully a shrimp out of it's hole.

Got one

Cabbage Jellyfish

The company was great, the food so so.

I went geo caching this afternoon.

Cache title - Another mindless cache

I didn't bother to sign in.

This one had trading trinkets.

Coastal Cleanup Day

Several members of our group participated here on the Port Aransas beach. This is a great beach and not really trashy. We picked up mostly styrofoam and plastic bottle caps.

USS Lexington

We had a great time today visiting the Lexington. Nickname the Lady Lex, she entered service in 1928 with the Pacific Fleet. She served longer than any other carrier in the world

F18 Hornet

F14 Tomcat

Captain's quarters

In 1980 the Lexington was the first ship to have female sailors. This is their berth area. 

And I thought my RV was small. There are 3,500 beds on board

Capability to machine any replacement parts needed on the ship

Where you steer a big ship

The bridge

This is a Skywarrior (blue) developed in the 50's to deliver nuclear bombs.

Nature Preserve

We took a nice walk around the Port Aransas Nature Preserve today. (27.83484, -97.0842) The only wild life we saw were some birds at a distance. The only one I recognized was an Egret.  I was surprised that I did not see any crabs or fish in the water.

Mr. Coyote meets Mr. Raccoon

Serenity has Landed

Finally, back with my WIN friends on the Gulf Coast. (27.82175, -97.05955) It feels so good to be back in the rig and on the road again.

The rumors are true, west Texas is miles of nothing

Ferry to Port Aransas waiting for ocean bound tanker to clear the channel

All settled in. The group is happy ecstatic

 that I brought sunshine with me. It had been been overcast, damp and very windy before today.

Went for a long beach walk, it really felt good. I am probably walking in my friend Nyssa's footsteps.

Heading South

On the road again, on the road again  sing it Willie

Repairs complete and headed for the Texas Gulf Coast. Last night spent in Las Vegas.

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to Everyone

Repairs are ongoing and I should be back on the road next year. We had a wonderful Christmas dinner at Cliff's sister Bonnie's home. Thank you Bonnie for a wonderful time. 

Fuel Pump

After arriving in Carson City Serenity would not start. Just crank and crank, but no go. Got her to Christensen Automotive and they determined the fuel pump was bad. That meant dropping the gas tank to replace the pump inside. They did a great job of turning it around in two days. I feel lucky that the pump did not fail on the way up here.

This delayed taking the rig up to Paramount RV until today. The initial estimate is two weeks to complete the body work. 

 

Cliff and I are going to LA tomorrow to see my sister and visit with friends. A smart move considering the weather that blew in last night. 

It’s Always Something

The dreaded de-lamination has reared its ugly head.  A de-lamination is moving toward a seam and if the seam opens up, water will get in. I decided come up to Carson City, NV where I can stay with my friend Cliff while repairs are being made. Easier to deal with it here and now than latter while traveling east. Hopefully I will rejoin the group before they leave Texas.

Painted Rock Campground

We are at Painted Rock Campground in Arizona. (33.02338, -113.05131) The campground is within a mile of the Gila River, a traditional travel route through this area since prehistoric times, 7500 BC. These early inhabitants chipped petroglyphs into the desert varnish on the basalt rock here at the campground. The Spanish followed the Gila River when traveling up from Mexico to the western US. Later, mid 1800s, John Butterfield opened a stage/mail service between Missouri and California, nearly 3,000 miles, that passed through here.  There were140 stations along the route and the trip lasted 23 days.

Our intrepid band.

Zig zag line represents a rattle snake

l-r  Ellie, Dennis, Gill, Garth, Adelle and Rose

 Rose is from Germany. She comes to the US every October and RVs with the WINs until April. Then stores her RV and goes home. In the late 60's, Gill and his wife lived above the Arctic Circle for a year in a 13 by 16 foot cabin they built.  They did not take enough food and had a hungry winter until spring when they could leave.