Nov 18 - 24, 2019 Exploring Victoria....Texas that is. Goose Island State Park.

Nov 18 
We left off when we arrived in Victoria and Dad's RV. All set up and ready to go.

We're starving. It's really hot today 26C/79F and we just don't feel like making lunch so with some advice from the nice lady at the office we drove to China B Buffet. Talk about being bigger in Texas! For $11 it's all you can eat and the buffet is massive. From sushi to ribs and sausage barbecue. Leslie did the best she could with her keto plan and I got 3 or 4 plates plus dessert. Even Les added some butter pecan ice cream. Don't need supper tonight that's for sure.

We later learned there is a China "A" in Rockport.

Starts here.....

Then this section......

And then more buffet to the back wall! Incredible.

We took a little driving tour while we were out and stopped at a bank for some cash and then back to Dad's. We went for a walk with Margaret around the park. We definitely need to move around after that feast. 
Nov 19 - I started the day working on the blog while Leslie made a batch of dog food for the little princess. We cleaned up and got going on checking out Victoria. It's another hot day, 29C/ 84F, so we can't leave Margaret in the truck without finding major shade. We found a spot behind the building for brunch at Denny's. I had a slam craving :)  From there to Riverside Park for a nice walk by the Guadalupe River. It's a beautiful park and we will come back tomorrow for a run/walk on these fantastic trails.

Guadalupe River selfie.

A little info.

Huge tree... I couldn't reach across it.

There's something in there but where??

Next up is a little shopping at Victoria College book store. I often buy sweats and hoodies in Victoria, BC (aka UVIC) when we are visiting  as they make their athletic gear for us tall guys. We thought it would be kinda fun to get some Victoria, Texas gear too!
We both got a new hoodie bit it's too hot to model them.

Should have bought one for our buddy Cap't Ron. Arrrr!

Next up was a little tour of the historic part of downtown. We did a walking tour of a few of the original houses that are close to the plaza. The houses and yards are amazing but our pictures got messed up so the best we have is the brochure. Sorry :(

So disappointing, they were way better than this.

Sorry about that.

De Leon Plaza. Martin De Leon was the founder of Victoria early 1830's.

The explanation.

The Courthouse is stunning.

Info.

South side.

East side.

More info.

Of course the jail has to be close. Not nearly as nice though.

We're getting a little tired so we headed back to the rig to do some laundry. That was about it. We got that fun task done and enjoyed a drink outside before going in to make supper. We really like Victoria.  It's big enough to have all the stores we need but not so big that you are stuck in traffic all afternoon. One downside of the RV park is that it's close enough to the tracks that the train horn is a little annoying. There's only a couple trains per day though so it's not a big deal.
Nov 20 - We got a good breakfast in early and headed over to Riverside Park before it gets too hot today. I want to extend the distance a little today and this will be a great spot to do that easily. Les is taking the dog for a long walk. Her back is a little stiff again but she's powering through. She had to carry Margaret for a bit as she's too hot and just doesn't want to walk anymore.

Margaret didn't even notice the bird !

Far from Butchart Gardens but still really nice.

Obviously our timing is off but it's nice.

Riverside Park is a fantastic park! There are beautiful paths to walk/run and even a golf course in the middle. There are lots of birds in the ponds and of course along the river. I wish I would have listened to Leslie when she suggested the city RV park on the edge of Riverside. Still regretting that decision. Part of my run was through the RV Park and it would have been good to stay there. Oh well, may be next time.

The path to the RV Park and the little creek.

Good road in and well signed.

The price just killed me :(  $12/day wow!

I got back to the truck first and was cooling off when Leslie got back. Great morning! We need to grab a couple groceries on the way back to the rig and then get cleaned up. We got back in the truck and headed downtown for a short driving tour of the historic houses that we walked yesterday. The construction of the houses and the way they have kept them up is just incredible. We can only imagine what these houses meant back in the day. Very cool stuff.
We found a car wash that we fit into so we stopped and gave the truck a much needed bath. We drove back to the rig and just hung out for the rest of the day. We met one of our neighbours, Elaine from Louisiana, who is staying here all winter while her husband works at a local plastic pipe facility. She was making tamales at the community kitchen so she gave us a 6 pack to go. Nice lady and I love the accent she had. The tamales were pretty good too lol.
Nov 21 - It's a travel day but another really short trip to Goose Island State Park. I'm a little concerned that we will fit in this park. All the reviews that I read and the biggest rig is 36 feet so we'll see when we get there. It rained overnight and it's incredibly humid this morning. Supposed to be hot today and with this humidity it's going to be even worse. Better than cold and snow, right?
It took about an hour to get to Goose Island and we fit to the gate. It's close though so if you are driving a big rig you need to go slow and really watch overhead clearance. We "tickled" a couple branches on the way in.

Really nice place to stay, we loved it.

There were a few of these but we made it in.

The lady at the gate was really nice. Tiffany checked us in and let us know that after Hurricane Harvey went through here  in 2017 they had cleared most everything to 14 feet or more. Go slow and we should make it to our site. The outside loop is best for bigger rigs and we are at site 147 on the top end of the outside loop. 30 amp with water for $15 per day. Sweet. The two ocean front loops on the island are still closed for re-construction. We got backed in with only a couple spots where we looked real close at the clearance.

Site #147, cement pad and table to the left.

We got set up and went for a drive to the beach here at the park. We're so glad to finally see the Gulf of Mexico!! It's been a month since we crossed the border and 5845 kms/ 3632 miles but we are here and it is beautiful. It's hot, 28C and 85% humidity, but the breeze from the water makes it perfect. Big smiles.

We made it!! Salt water & the bridge to Rockport way behind us.

Leslie had researched a place to eat that we can take Margaret to and we're heading into Rockport-Fulton over the bridge to a place called Moondog Seaside Eatery. The dogs are welcome on the patio by the ocean. Perfect. We found the restaurant easily enough and of course ordered a seafood lunch. C'mon this is not where you order a burger right? Lunch was fantastic, even Margaret enjoyed a couple bites.

Really good place to eat with a dog friendly patio.

Fantastic lunch! Leslie's Ahi tuna salad and my shrimp tacos. Delicious.

After lunch we drove back over the bridge to Goose Island and did a quick look at "The Big Tree". It's a thousand year old oak tree that has survived everything that has been thrown at it. It is held up with steel supports and cables that span the branches but it's spectacular to see. It really is a "big tree"!

Crossing the bridge into Rockport. Beautiful views from the deck.

The numbers with the Big Tree. Pretty amazing for where it is.

Lots of support cables and stands holding it up.

We drove back to our site and finished setting up and enjoyed a couple of frosty beverages. Feeling really good about the day. Just being at the ocean is a goal met. Sounds a little stupid but we made it! We relaxed in the rig for the evening. We get 28 TV channels out here and good cell signal. Great place.

Nov 22 - We started the day with a nice long walk around the park and out to the ocean and back. If you get a chance to stay here, do it! You won't be disappointed.

So before we got here to Goose Island I had noticed some bad wear on the drivers side tires of the trailer. I have already tightened a loose bolt on one shock on that side so that might be part of it. The other thing I noticed was some long and deep tears in the rubber shear springs on our suspension. I called ahead to Camper Clinic in Rockport and ordered both sides rubber shear springs. They had one side there yesterday and the other one is supposed to be in this morning. Best they can do. I called a mobile repair outfit and they said to stay in touch by text and let them know when I have the parts and they will send a truck out to the park. I had asked at the gate and they are good with doing work on the rig in the park. Camper Clinic came through with the part at 10 am so I drove there and back as quick as possible and sent a text to the mobile repair guy. As we were heading back with the part I got a text back from the mobile repair guy: "The job that my guy is working on is now going to be all day and they don't have anyone else available. Please call someone else." Gee thanks. Not a chance we'll find another company at noon on Friday. I feel I can do it myself but just not sure if I have the all right tools. If I get it apart and can't get it back together we're really in trouble. I need to think about this one. 

It is incredibly hot and humid this afternoon and we actually went inside and had a little nap with the AC on in the bedroom. The heat just knocks the stuffing outta ya lol. I studied a diagram of my suspension and decided I would try the fix in the morning. We fired up the grill and made a fantastic steak and mushroom supper and then just relaxed for the evening.

Nov 23 - Luckily the weather changed overnight and there is a "cold front" passing through. It's about 16C/ 61F which will be perfect for working on the rig. We had a quick breakfast and got right at the repair. I got set up and Leslie joined me to help where she can. Just having her there to pass tools is a big help. Her moral support is great too and it never hurts to have another set of eyes at times.

Started out with a sweatshirt but not for long. Getting the wheels off.

Took a while but we got it out, jacks under both axles

to take the tension off both springs.

The rip on the right was quite deep. Could stick a screwdriver in it.

The new one went in easier than getting the old one out so that was nice. We got it all bolted back up and put the wheels back on. I had enough for today after torquing the wheels back up so just got cleaned up to go for lunch. We figure we're saving about $500 USD by doing this ourselves so we'll buy some nice lunches instead. Took us just over two hours to get this side done, I'll do the other side tomorrow. It will go faster now that we know how.

We googled another dog friendly patio in Rockport and decided on Paradise Key Dockside Bar & Grill. Looking forward to some more seafood for lunch.

Good spot with a nice patio. They had heat on in the shade.

Leslie looked for something keto friendly and decided on shrimp brochette while I ordered a mahi-mahi burger. I had to have a couple bites of her shrimp. OMG!! So good.

Jumbo shrimp with jack cheese and jalapenos wrapped in bacon!

We asked the server where we could buy some fresh shrimp and she told us about a place called Flowers not far from here. It only took a couple minutes to find it and we chatted with a super nice lady and bought the last 2.5 pounds of her jumbo shrimp. Guess what's for supper lol? 

A little "out of the way" place across from the beach.

We stopped at the edge of Rockport Beach on the way home. Turns out the official beach is not dog friendly and we have Margaret with us so we just walked around by the entrance. There is a nice park area and you can get to the sand easily so it's kind of the same thing but doesn't cost $5 to get in.

Supposed to be really nice sand beach, didn't go in.

We can see the nice beach from where we get to go.

A fishing pier right by the park that we walked.

We got back to the rig and sat outside for a drink and then went inside for the evening. We're still too full to worry about supper tonight, maybe a snack later. We have some awesome shrimp in the fridge and the freezer for tomorrow and beyond. Great day.

Nov 24 - We started the day with a run/walk in absolutely perfect weather. Man what a great spot this is! I jogged down by where the construction is happening and then through a really nice neighbourhood with canals leading to their house. Beautiful houses with boat access, not hard to take I bet. Leslie walked a similar path and got some nice pictures.

The shelters are waterfront sites that are closed for re-construction. Bridge view in background.

A pond along the road with a couple herons.

Still working on damage from hurricane Harvey in 2017.

More waterfront sites with shelters that they are working on.

This is the houses on the canal, some beautiful places !

We both like it here so much we decided to stay two more days. Unfortunately we have to change sites but only a couple sites down, from 147 to 149. That will give us a chance to dump tanks anyway. That's tomorrow's problem. We also decided that today is a day off. We are just going to sit in the lawn chairs outside and enjoy the park. It's okay to just relax and enjoy sometimes. Our big accomplishment was to book a couple more state park stops in January on the way to Arizona. Phew, that was exhausting haha. 

We got the shrimp out of the fridge and grilled them for supper with a salad and I added a baked potato. A nice tub of garlic butter to share and it was a fantastic supper. Back in the chairs for the evening to relax. Fat and happy.

Look at these bad boys! $14/ pound. About 35 of these for $30.

Did them on the grill in avocado oil and Montreal Steak Spice.

Well look at this. We are just about caught up on the blog! It has taken a couple months to get there but here it is finally. Nice ! We'll try to stay current now. We are absolutely loving south Texas and we have some more incredible sights ahead of us. The heat and humidity are definitely higher than Arizona but easily tolerable. We'll post again soon. Looking forward to South Padre Island coming up! 

Cheers everybody!