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.

Paaaahhhdre Island, Texas

A:  When you absolutely, positively have to be out-of-touch overnight.  When you're willing to suffer through a deserted, untouched, sandy beach and sunrises over the ocean.  When the sound of surf (and nothing else) can be tolerated all night.

Q:  When is it okay to boondock at Malaquite Campground?

  

Then I sez ... hehehe ... then I sez ... SNORT haw! ... then I sez ... This is the GULL'S room! 

In the fog we called this Briga-Dune.

You know what I always say about pelicans.

Still, I couldn't help but feel that the ocean was sending us warnings:











Our friend, Leslie, drove all the way from Bryan (six hours away!) to spend a few nights with us and help us welcome in the New Year. None of us saw the new year arrive, but we definitely felt the change this morning.  Thanks, Leslie - it was great to see you!  And, thanks, Gary! who soldiered through New Year's Eve without his wife to smooch at midnight.

Annie, Leslie, and satanic photobomber.  This must be what the warnings were about.

Cupcakes are a thing! Did you know?

The CupCake Shoppe has a cupcake van!  This is what they look like on the way out of town.

This is what they look like on the way back into camp.

Find The CupCake Shoppe on Facebook, or at their website. I'm not linking because they have instant music.

Guess where we are?

Not Lake City!

We made it about 250 miles today, which seems plenty. I would have settled for the Live Oak WalMart just to break out of the gravitational pull.

I have nothing to report, except that there's nothing to report. I offer some photos for your amazement, disgust, and identification.

I said skate egg sac.  Or skate reverse-direction.

I said "KIYIYIYIYI!"  Yes or no?

Box jellyfish?  I don't know.  I just don't know!

The cats did well. They all found a place on the bed while we rolled, then ran out as soon as the engine quieted.

Lake Ponchartrain by tomorrow evening?

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

Do we know you?

We've been thinking of Al and Karen today, because we're hanging out at Lazy Days, their favorite place.  It occurred to me that any of these folks we see around RVs could be bloggers.  Do we know you? Do we know you?  Five couples are seeking restraining orders, so we're laying low here at [a place we'll tell you about later] (which, by the way, is AWESOME).  I'm a little giddy from the free chocolate chip cookies in the lobby and the fresh coffee MOREPLEASETHANKYOU!!


We're taking the Driver's Confidence course at Lazy Days, so that Annie will finally stop martyring herself on the pale of pilot fatigue.  HA!  She loves to drive.  I'll never get the keys out of her hand.  It's okay, because I don't love to drive anything.


Little-known fact:  Seffner is not that close to the beach.  So, Annie hauled my whiney butt an hour west so I could dip my fat piggies in the Gulf of Mexico again.  Clearwater Beach seemed nice-but-busy, so we hit Sand Key County Park just south.




I've been away from Florida so long that I had forgotten how happy the beach makes me.   How happy does it make me?  It makes me pretty happy.

We got a car phone call from Alphonse and Bruno this week.  [Remember when saying "car phone" was like science fiction?] They made us laugh.  Made!

We thought of Maria and MaryGail a lot today, because we used our Dunkin' Donuts card, and because we checked our hotel for bedbugs.

[Maria travels a lot and taught us how to do that.]

The hotel we're at offers a water-conserving option to not replace your towels every day;  they call it "Save the World One Chambermaid at a Time," or something.   Annie and I plan to put a big ole dent in the world tonight by using 22 people's share of hot water.  Don't judge us.  You know why.