Saturday, January 29, 2022

Farewell to great friends!



Pat broke off a piece of the driftwood above and found holes from maybe shipworms?

Pat told me this beached fish looked like a baby shark.  Actually it's a hardhead catfish.

The 4 of us took a long walk on the beach Thursday afternoon. 

We walked out on the beach and walked back through town.  The chamber of commerce claims to have the largest outside sandcastle in the U.S.


We were ending our month in SPI with some seafood from Louie's Backyard Sat. afternoon.  We enjoyed watching a couple of dolphins in the bay.  It was near 65° this afternoon, with little wind, so it was a nice evening on the deck.



The bridge over to Port Isabel.


Saturday was cold, wet, and windy.  OK, cold to us.  It was in the 50's.  Sally and Mike came over this afternoon for Monopoly (Mike was the winner) and to do laundry.  
Pat was the first to spot them late in the afternoon, a pair of dolphins in the bay.  Unlike other times, they were jumping completely out of the water. It looked like they were jumping over or riding the large waves coming into the bay from the nasty weather.  Didn't get pictures but had Sally and Mike to corroborate the sighting.   The dolphins looked like they were playing and having a great time.

Lots of small fishing boats go in and out of the bay.  This is one of the largest ships we've seen.

I have not seen waves like this hitting this side of the bay.  The dolphins appeared to follow the waves all the way in
Where are the Piepers now?  SPI, TX

Monday, January 24, 2022

The sea was raging...


We've had a cool and rainy weekend.  Played some games, Monopoly with Pat, and Careers with Sally and Mike.  We still managed a few short walks on the beach.

Tried to take care of some things while the weather wasn't the best.  When we pulled into Jiffy Lube Mon. these ducks were there to greet us.

We returned to a favorite spot in Brownsville from last year.

I had forgotten that the menu was in Spanish.  

Two tacos tucked in there.  Small shells but heaping full.

They came with a side of grilled onions, limes, and 3 sauces.  Green was mild, down to hotšŸ„µ on the bottom.  Sally tried the bottom one first!


Sun. we had pizza, followed by the company of Sally and Mike.

Sat. was just nasty so Pat took revenge!


The last 3 days have been kind of miserable, although I realize nothing like the weather up North and East.  Gloomy skies and angry waves.


The kite surfers were really moving and there were lots of broken shells on the beach.

When we talked about going on the road I picked out several things I could do to occupy my time, quilting, crafts, puzzles and reading.  It was karma when we left Lee Summit for the RV life, as maybe 2 weeks prior the Lee Summit Library switched to life-time cards. I wouldn't have room for my favorite "real" books but my tablet would now never be empty!

Before we left for Boston for Christmas, I searched for some books to read on the plane and put a hold on several.  Of course, all 4 didn't make it here until last week when they all became available at once.  I read 2 last week and I just finished another.  With our cold, rainy weather they came at a good time.

I enjoy a character that I can follow through a series, and I have always been fond of female detective series such as Sara Paretsky (my favorite), Sue Grafton, and Janet Evanovich.   Thanks to my sister-in-law, Mary R. Davidsaver, I moved into cozy mysteries starting with her first book, Clouds Over Bishop Hills.  Her second book in the series, Shadows Over Bishop Hills, recently hit the book shelves.  Both are set in the Swedish village of Bishop Hills, IL. and are available on Amazon.

Sometimes I move out of my zone and surprise myself.  Loved Orson Scott Card's  Ender's Game, J. K. Rowling's Harry Potter, Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins' Left Behind.   J. R. R. Tolkien's, Lord of the Rings even got my attention after reading some of one of the books to my Granddaughters.  All something I didn't think I would like.

Although not a series, I really like Jodi Picoult's books.  I read her, House Rules, about a boy with Aspergers and I was hooked. I just finished her book, Wish You Were Here.  It's very timely and deals with the Covid pandemic.  I would highly recommend it.

Hope you have nice weather or at least a good book to read!

Where are the Piepers now?  South Padre Island, TX

Thursday, January 20, 2022

Action in Boca Chica!

Not a launch but at least a tank check at SpaceX in Boca Chica.

Tuesday we were headed for a beach walk when we heard a loud boat horn on the bay.  We cut short our walk to go check it out.  We got up to the Jesus statue behind our RV, and saw the large boat below sitting up near the bank where it shouldn't have been.  Pretty soon it was aimed the right direction and heading out to sea.

About the time we saw the boat correct it's route we heard a loud boom across the bay.  We were so glad we came back and were able to see the SpaceX tank test.  Certainly not as exciting as watching a launch, but better than nothing.  They test the tank until it fails--the loud boom which was followed by a lot of smoke (actually a cloud of nitrogen gas). 
 

Friday afternoon we enjoyed the South Padre Island Birding and Nature Center with Sally and Mike.  They had indoor displays, and outside they had a butterfly garden, alligators, turtles as well as birds.  Cost was $8 for seniors.  Next up was a food truck, Breaking Bread, for some tasty nachos.  On my final beach walk of the day someone's sand castle was heading out to sea.






Great Blue Heron


We survived the alligators!

Big Padre is 12'6".

Snowy Egret

Laughing Gull

Black-neck Stilt

Roseate Spoonbill

Duck

Great Egret

Black-bellied Whistling Duck

Common Moorhead

Mottled Duck






Where are the Piepers now?  South Padre Island, TX