Texas rest stops need love, too.

Easy-out through Corpus Christi, and the seashore gravitational pull has been broken.  We had to wash most of the gravity off at a car wash with a series of delicate, yet demanding, maneuvers involving removing the Prius, the tow dolly, reattaching the two in reverse, pulling around, taking two bays, 122 quarters, two naughty words, becoming completely drenched, reattaching tow dolly, reconnecting the Prius, smudging my almost-clean-enough shirt, and Annie pulling her shoulder.  Later, we found sand in every crevice, and then there's the rig. [RIM SHOT]

These cormorants are just praying the salt comes off.  Why did we vacation here? I wanted to visit my mom in St. Augustine!

We were pleased to spend multiple units of time with Chris, another full-timer who will eventually be cajoled and shamed into blogging again.  

Photo by Teri

No, c'mon!  Not my backside!

Seriously, what is wrong with you?  Not my backside!

Honest, Chris, all the frontward pictures I took came out blurry!  It's like your frontside is a vampire.  Oh!  My mistake - here's a good one.




Teri is a full-timer who was cajoled and shamed into meeting us.  She caught the trolley, which was quickly controlled with ginger ale and bed rest.  It was good to spend time with her and learn more of her story.  She's in the pre-retirement set like Annie and me, and she has some interesting ideas for suitable employment that I'll try when times become desperate.

"Whatever you do, just don't post my picture to your blog."  Always happy to comply.*

We're in for the night at a Texas rest area, where they have free wifi. It's not strong enough to stream videos or TV - the gold standard - but plenty for surfing and blogging. Not good blogging, but it's fast enough for obnoxious posts.

We watched an honest-to-Pete murmuration at sundown. Please watch this and pretend these young women are us:



They are so graceful and lovely, those starlings, and they really only want a place to sit for the night. We're like them, we Road Starlings. Beautiful and flowing, restless yet weary, and ready to settle in for the night with wifi and Nutty Bars.

*In real-life, I always comply with photo requests.  If you don't want your picture here, it will never see the light of day.  Unless you're Chris' backside.

Biloxi Roxi and the Brown Water Blues. Don't forget to tip your bartender.

Mississippi Welcome Center:

Just flush it down.

Across the hall was the Bœrean Baptist Church choir entertaining weary travelers and, possibly, wearying entertained travelers.  An elderly man handed me the New Testament with Psalms, which I declined on the basis that we need to keep underweight, and I've read it already.  Once I know the ending, I can never enjoy it the same way again.  [Spoiler alert!] Surely I come quickly!  Yes you do, and don't call me Shirley.

A Lake City bargain.

Annie made a traveling crockpot chili yesterday.  Inexplicably, our inverter is working exactly like it's supposed to, which means we have AC any time we need it.  She quickly put this together at one of our rest stops, and by dinner we were nomming it.

Warning!  This chili requires secondary containment!

We're parked on the Gulf tonight!  We didn't make it to The Big Easy, although it's not that much further.  I saw all this white sand and water, and flumped myself dramatically all over the Duck until Annie stopped here for the night.  The flumping stuff really works.

You're thinking the sign exaggerates.  How dangerous could it be?

Ask Lefty.

This fancy joint even has security, and it's not to kick us out!  Lap o' luxury, I'm telling you.

Daisy leis

I was Miss Roxanne-ed in the doctor's office this morning. It's Fried Green Tomatoes here every day.

I can tell you, now that we've been allowed to leave the county, that we stayed at Country Inn and Suites in Seffner, and it was the best hotel experience we've ever had. AARP discount, and it just got better from there. Walking distance to the Lazy Days classroom and to food. Free full breakfast in the morning and COOKIES at night. Fresh coffee or tea all day long. Very comfortable, and very quiet.

Roxanne, you scold, why didn't you just take the Duck down and park in their campground? Oh, way to rock the disapproval. The hotel cost $60/night, and the campground $33. We would have spent $200 in gas for the trip, and Annie would have sailor-talked all the way through Tampa on I-275.

On the other hand, we were free to go here before check-in:

Clearwater Beach

sand dollar

shell phone

Why I oughta...

nyuk! nyuk! nyuk!

A wonderful bird is the pelican;
his beak can hold more than his belican.
He can take in his beak
food enough for a week.
But I'm damned if I see how the helican.
~not Ogden Nash, 1910

Man who gets trapped by his own net is in seine.  

Holes!  Current!  Rocks!  Stop - you had me at NING

Cheap trick

A blog is a place where, having nothing to say, you come to say it.  ~ Roxanne

We saw four Limulus pairs on our beach day, within a mile stretch.  They all had the same northward-pointing gaze, and they were all within the very small tidal zone.  There is a research organization who wants to know these things, so we reported what we peeped observed.  

This shoreline looks like the ocean has made huge, and fairly recent, inroads on the land.  Like the remains of the maritime forest are now littering the beach.  The quick dropoff (not great for wading) is odd and eerie;  I'm used to beaches that tumble you gradually and gently toward the continental shelf edge like a cat working your grandmother's ceramic knick-knack.

One of these things is not like the other.

I am not leering.  Seriously,  I'm not.

Annie was not just peeing.  Seriously, she wasn't.  

A tree

The same tree, later that afternoon

Photo for Bhikkhu John, who appreciates multi-tools (we rehabilitated this one).

I have a doctor's appointment today.  I had an aesthetician appointment yesterday (a friend treated me to a service I shall not mention because I don't want to end up on Google again).  All is well, and my FACE looks gorgeous.

Missed it by THAT MUCH. Annie's Behind™

We meant to pay money to go to the ocean, but instead we didn't.  It was an honest mistake;  we just got to the free ocean first and thought we were there.

It could happen to anyone.

Parking, picnic, and potty: the three P's of ocean fun.  Parking was empty enough that a moderately-sized RV could have parked there, too.  Our moderately-sized RV was a car.

This post has too many photos.  I'm embarrassed.