A few days off

Ye Olde Blacksmith Shoppe
Goliad loves its live oaks!

South Padre Island

Bob's World

As you can tell by the interesting pix, we have been touring again. We had a few days off due to some scheduling irregularities, so we decided to see what else the world could offer. First was a driving tour of Goliad. Duane was particularly attracted to the blacksmith shop. To the uninitiated, this looks like a junk shop, but of course we know better. There are real treasures to be found--if you know what you're looking for. I liked the trees in the middle of the streets. Seems the founders of Goliad admired the live oaks so much that there is a city ordanance against cutting any down. They grow where they are and life goes on around them. Next day we drove down to the Rio Grande Valley just to see what we could see. We found South Padre Island and its beautiful white sand beaches were not so inviting under gray skies, chill winds and blowing sand. By the time we were back in the car after our 10 minute visit, my teeth felt as if they'd just been cleaned by the dentist (full of grit). We drove to the end of the island, then headed for the causeway. We did enjoy seeing and hearing the ocean again, and the big dunes at the far end, but had to admit that blue skies and warm breezes added much more fun to a beach outing. So we headed north again, intending to turn west toward Mission, the winter home of a lot of RVers. We wanted to see if we would be happy spending the winter there sometime. We got sidetracked by Bob's World. We had to stop and explore the parking lot. It was way cool! (I particularly liked the norman sized dolphins where everything else was giant sized.) Then we got sucked into the store. Hundreds of shells (fake and real), lots of ornaments and other personalized items, lots of touristy stuff, but none of what we call truck stop kitsch. We wantered around for a while, then headed out again. By this time we ran out of light and Duane started to come down with some kind of cold or sinus infection, so we looked for a place to eat dinner and hole up for the night. Next day we woke up to cold rain and a forcast for ice and snow for the afternoon, so we gave up any idea of further fun and headed home. We are not enjoying the weather here now. Last night the low was 31 on our themometer and the water froze. (We unhooked first, of course.) I wonder if people showed up the the lighted parade in downtown Goliad in the snow. This am is sunny and cold. I think it put the damper on Goliad's Christmas on the Square. The vendors must be frozen! We were planning on going, but to us cold is a nasty four-letter word!