Early beach walk

This morning I woke up pretty early (about 5:45), and I had been wanting to get out for a sunrise beach walk... It was already 62 degrees at that time, so by 7:00 a.m., we were out on the beach!

I thought the shell-pickings would be better at that time, but really, about the same.

We ended up with a broken coffee pot this morning, which was a major catastrophe.  That'll teach us for deciding to wash it today.  Luckily, we were able to find a replacement in town!

Since we were out, we decided to pop in on a few more open houses.  We went back to see this one, because when we stopped there yesterday, it really wasn't the open house time... We just happened to catch the owner there cleaning up (someone who's initials are JB didn't read the listing correctly).  If we were actually going to buy something, this would be my pick... 3rd row from the beach, beach views, and $250,000.  Nicely laid out, and surprisingly roomy-feeling for a 950 sq ft house.  And no carpet anywhere!

This one was really pretty, and brand new.  Beautiful bay views, but aways from the beach (well, maybe a 5 minute drive).  It was $360,000.

This one was a blast to go through!  Five dollars short of a million on the asking price!  Very cool master with 2 (TWO!!!) master baths!  And at the top of that turret?  A kids' game room/sleeping area accessed by a spiral staircase!  Kids would love that!  The second level from the top in the turret is the "girl's" master bath, with a old-fashioned claw foot tub and giant closet.  And this house is right on the beach, with a personal walkway to get over the dunes.

While we were out shopping, we splurged a little.  Brad had installed his little 19" flat screen tv in the RV when we remodeled it, and we decided we could use one slightly bigger (it still needed to fit the space and be able to swivel on the arm).  So we picked up a 24" one today.  TV prices are really ridiculously low!

Old one:

New one:

Soup made from the hambone of last night's smoked ham!

Warm, sunny Saturday

We don't ever get tired of our beach walks, and I never get tired of looking for shells.  Today's haul:

Whenever we're staying somewhere for an extended period of time, we like to check out the real estate market and see what you can get for your money.  And since we keep coming back to Galveston, it's possible we could end up here permanently one day.  We took advantage of some Open Houses this afternoon to go check some out.

This little one was actually our favorite.  Views of the beach (though second-row, which keeps the price down), decorated really cute, around 1000 sq ft, and on the ground level is a nice sized bedroom and bath that would be perfect for guests.

We looked at a couple more, too, that we just happened upon as we were driving through neighborhoods.

Brad is smoking a ham for dinner... Yum!

We took a walk with Budger around the park this evening, and chatted with a couple who had just bought one of the new models of RVs that we had looked at before we bought this one (Open Range FLR... front living room).  People are so friendly in the RV parks... They asked if we wanted to see inside it, and I said yes!  I'd love to take a look again.  It was nice to see it, and I still love the front living room, but I remember why we decided against it... Small kitchen, and no room for washer/dryer.

Walking back, I just had to get some pics by one of the many palm trees in the park (funny... The people that we talked to with the Open Range RV... They are from Canada, and they said they just wanted a tropical feel by the beach, and they ended up with one of the VERY FEW parking spaces without a palm tree).  Brad wouldn't stand still for a picture.

But here's one of him working hard back at home.

Sunny Friday

Mid-60's today, and sunny.  We both slept in fairly late (for us) after our long walk yesterday... And **someone** was up late watching cowboy movies last night.  I think I fell asleep about 11:00, after reading a long time last night.  I've found I really like reading on the iPad, and when I finish a book, I can just start another one I've downloaded, or look up a whole new batch.

We got out for our usual beach walk this morning with Budger.

After lunch we decided to try out the bikes again.  We're both still trying to get our butts used to riding.  Why does it seem like it was so easy and pain-free when we were kids?  I know my siblings and I rode our bikes everywhere, and I don't ever remember my butt hurting!

Can you tell which 4 miles were into the wind?

I picked up a few more shells today.  Love the free souvenirs!

The new container is filling up fast!  That's okay, though, because once we leave Galveston, while we'll still be by the water for the whole month of March, we won't really be in a "shelling" area.

We finished the day up with steaks on the grill.

And a nice sunset.

Sunny and warmer

Much warmer today!  We got out for a fairly early beach walk.  This bird is usually waiting for us on the walk back, but takes off when he sees Budger.

Today's shells.  They are really pretty big!

We met Bruce and Roberta in Galveston today for lunch at Mario's.  Great Italian buffet for lunch!  

While at Mario's, we found out that Galveston celebrates Mardi Gras for two weekends... This coming weekend, and next weekend.  And 150,000 extra people come to town both weekends.  So we decided to pick up all necessary grocery store supplies while we were in town, and plan to stay out in Jamaica Beach over the weekend!

We needed to walk off everything we ate at lunch, so we meandered down the sea wall, enjoyed the sunshine, and popped into a few shops (I was going to buy some shoes at one store, but the ones I wanted, I could only find the one shoe that was the display... The other half of the pair was MIA.  And of course, that was the only one of that style left).

While we were resting along the seawall, I spotted where some energetic person has been doing some rock stacking.

We figured up later that we had walked over 6 miles up and down the seawall, so we're definitely just chilling tonight.  Not even going to the covered dish dinner here, because we're still full from lunch!

Bruce and Roberta are moving on tomorrow, but we'll cross paths with them again soon in the Orange Beach area, and then spend a month with them in Cedar Key, so the good-byes today weren't too difficult.

No rain!

We woke up this morning to no rain... Yay!  I was actually awake really early for some reason, but that let me catch this beautiful sunrise out our back window.

Budger was helping me collect shells on our walk today.

He picked up this shell when I set it down to trade it for another one.  I guess he thought it was worth keeping.  He carried it for about 2-1/2 miles... Seriously!

Here we are, back at the RV, and he's still holding it.

The shell at the right front is Budger's shell.

We didn't do a whole lot else today, because it barely broke into the 50's today, and the winds were still pretty high.  Tomorrow is supposed to be warmer, with much calmer winds.

Rainy, windy Tuesday!

Yuck!  I don't know what our plans are today, but I'm betting on something indoors.  I'm glad we took advantage of the nice weather yesterday to walk and kayak and grill burgers!

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Here's a clue to how exciting today is going to be... It's only 9:30 in the morning, and I've already reorganized the shoes in my closet and cleaned the flip flops that have gotten dirty out on the beach and located the one that's been missing for awhile.

However, Brad's been entertaining me by playing the guitar.  Lots more fun to organize shoes with American Pie to sing along to.

It's probably a good day to mop the floor and wipe down all the window ledges and countertops... Trouble is, it will only take about 10-15 minutes to do all that!

This is the view out the back window... Yucky!

Yep, it's been like this the whole day.  Brad was able to dash over to the main building to play guitar for a couple of hours with a gal he met here last year.  The "kids" and I napped and just hung out.  I've been able to dash out with Budger a couple of times when we had a 5 minute break in the rain, and Brad has dashed out with him a couple of times.  It would be nice if we had the awning out for times like this, but the winds have just been too high to chance that.

Bo's been the only one to get any type of exercise today.

Tonight it looks like we'll enjoy a Fixer Upper marathon.  Things can't always be exciting!  Tomorrow looks windy and mid-50's again, but at least no rain!

Warm Monday

We got out for a walk early this morning, because it was already so warm.  Budger is finally figuring out he's a water dog.  Usually he'll maybe chase some birds a little ways into the water, but then will turn back.  Today he was having fun just playing.

And a couple of good shells.

This afternoon we got out and kayaked with Bruce and Roberta, starting out in Jamaica Beach and going out into the bay (it was super calm today) and going over into the state park area.

Goofball!

This house is just at the end of the canal, at the opening to the bay.  It looks like two houses, but there's a connecting walkway.

And this is their view.

We came upon lots of tiny islands over in the state park area, and got out to explore.

We saw these pelicans sunbathing.

And some kind of bird.  We thought it was a flamingo at first, but it has a spoonbill.  I'll need help from the zoo boy to identify it.

I picked up this tiny shell, and the clam shell sculpture on one of the little islands.

We got into a little rain shower as we were headed in, but made it back just fine.  Ready for a rest this evening, after cooking up some burgers on the grill.