Thom and Dar's Sabbatical Journal

Since January is almost at an end, I guess it's about time to bring the Journal up to date with some of the more notable happenings from the past couple weeks. As usual, Old Man Time ripped through Rockport at supersonic speeds leaving at least this writer stunned by the accelerating pace... the quick repetitive pulsations of lightness and darkness previously known as days and nights... that seem to meld into an ersatz slide-show, one picture per day... the same one each day. At times I feel like a spectator as life parades by... and must exert some effort to get up and into the action. Vacation is over... time to get back to work.

The big neighborhood fish fry was scheduled for the 18th. We joined friends Tim & Gisele and Phil & Rose in contributing a bag of oysters to the party. This is a good year for oysters here on the Coastal Bend... big and plentiful... so it was easy to score a bag right off the back of a fishing boat down at Fulton Harbor. The price was $26 for the…

Whenever I fall behind with the blog, it's a real chore for me to get back at it. Whether initially caused by laziness or busyness or whatever, there's a certain momentum that accompanies stepping away from the routine of regular posting. I mean "if I haven't posted for the past 5 days, what's one or two more?" And so it goes.

I write this blog for two reasons: first, to keep family, friends, and curious others informed about our location and adventures. This reason has an element of selfishness to it as it's much easier for me to write one blog entry instead of a whole bunch of individual emails and phone calls. But it also means that those who are interested in our whereabouts can do so at their convenience. The second reason I write is for a permanent record of our travels during this fulltime RV lifestyle phase of our lives. Ultimately the permanent record takes the form of a book that I have printed each year with all the entries from that particular…

A mixture of busyness and laziness has prompted this unplanned hiatus from blogging during the past week or so. But fear not... I'll be back at it again soon.

T

The weather this week certainly didn't disappoint anyone who likes it dreary, cold, and wet. No sir... the electric meters here at Sandollar Resort are all spinning like tops and the propane delivery crew has been pulling overtime for sure. I'm writing this weather stuff into the Journal as a record... not to elicit sympathy. I'm well aware that as crummy as it's been here, it's still far better than most of the rest of the lower 48.

And the propane guys aren't the only ones with bigger paychecks these days. Dar's been working hard at the hospital and putting in more hours than she signed up for. I think they were testing her stamina the first couple weeks (almost 70 hours in 7 calendar days) as it looks like her schedule relaxes some for the next couple. Maybe it was some kind of initiation ritual? She's doing fine... still has the spunk and stamina of a 25 year old.

The weather has kept most of our fellow Sandollar denizens inside their fiberglass box…

We've been at Sandollar Resort near Rockport for almost a week now, and that week has gone by quickly. The weather has been, I believe, rather typical for the Texas coast -- which is to say it's been changeable. Those who demand a winter of bright sun, warmth, cloudless skies, and light tropical breezes should probably book passage to the south sea islands instead of Texas. During the past week we've had highs in the 60's, lows in the 40's, a lot of clouds, a big thunderstorm in the early hours of Sunday (complete with reports of a small tornado just a few miles away)... and just enough sun to keep cabin fever at bay. But I'm not sure that will be the case this next week as we're expecting even more clouds, more rain, and much cooler than normal temps... which is still OK by me. Any way you look at it, even highs in the 40's are more tolerable than the deep winter sub-zero readings up on the Wisconsin-Minnesota icepack.

The local hospital wasted no time…

Yesterday we finally showed up at our Gulf Coast winter base camp... Sandollar Resort and RV Park, just north of Rockport in the town of Fulton, TX. Strategically and stealthily showing up during a light drizzle we were able to back into our site, level up, and punch out the slides before starting with the process of meeting and greeting and getting caught up with everyone. It was a lot like old home week. Because of the quickening passage of time these days, it seemed like we've only been gone a few weeks instead of the better part of a year.

The expedition from our last extended camp in the State of Washington was a little over 2,800 miles, took 74 days, and involved 17 different camps. Our travel pattern has developed, driven by family circumstances, locations, and nature, into an annual series of three extended stays... Wisconsin in the summer, Washington in the spring or fall, and Texas in the winter... interspersed with three periods of travel and exploration. We strive to t…

Yesterday, Sunday, we moved from the Escapees RV Park near Hondo, TX. to a new-ish RV Park near Aransas Pass that we thought we'd try on for size for a couple days. It was an easy and agreeable 190 mile downhill drive to the Coastal Bend of Texas... and it felt good to be back. The Aransas Pass location is perfect for Dar to wrap up all the preliminary employment stuff at the hospital, as it's almost right next door. She'll get that done today, and tomorrow we'll head on over to Sandollar, just 15 miles away, to begin our long winter camp.

Three months is a long time for us to be sitting in one place, but we'll both be busy. Besides work (Dar at the hospital; me on a long list of bus-house chores and a writing project), we have our Sandollar friends to make sure we're not bored. And if one has to sit someplace for the core of Winter... this is one of the best places to be as far as we're concerned. The unpretentious and laid-back nature of the Coastal Bend…