Day 31 - Houston at Night

 

City life is not our favorite, but one thing is pretty cool and that's getting shots like this of traffic lights and car taillights streaming by with a slow shutter speed.

Only one more night and then we're outta here....

Day 30 - War Birds

 

If you've been following along on this 365 challenge, you've seen a few wild birds recently.

Well now we're in Houston, and wild birds have given way to War Birds. We're "camped" in a Walmart parking lot and there must be an air base nearby because we have lots of these jets flying over on final approach.

(well their landing gear is down anyway)

So kind of a fun change of scene for a night. Hope they don't fly over all through the night though, they're kinda loud!

Day 29 - Nighttime in the City

 

We're in the city tonight. Just outside of Houston.

Gotta get RIGBY in for service on Monday morning so we thought we'd hang out close by.

What a change from the peace and quiet of the last 2 nights! But, I guess you can't have it all perfect all the time.

This too shall pass...

Day 28 - Cathedral of Trees

Today was a Texas State Park day. We stayed at Brazos Bend State Park and biked around looking at wildlife. 

Mostly birds but also some very large alligators.

This trail was almost a tunnel through the trees and it was begging to be photographed, especially with Shannon on it.

Day 27 - Texas Trees

We stopped for lunch at a highway rest area just off Texas route 90.

Beautiful spot shaded by these gorgeous trees. And apparently you can park overnight if you need some sleep.

But it’s doubtful you’ll get much sleep if today’s lunch hour traffic is any indication.

Day 26 - Bird's Eye View

We've had a wonderful several days at Shannon's friend's place just outside of Austin. So good to catch up after over a year since we've seen her last.

Several days were damp, wet and cloudy but a few including today were nice and sunny. We spent most of our time visiting out on her back patio.

And today the drone came out and got some nice aerials of her new house. This is one of them. That's her house with the white van in the driveway.

Day 25 - Moon

There's a moon in the sky. It's called the Moon.

Trying out the new longer lens today and was looking all over for something distant to get a photo of. 

Then I looked up...

Day 24 - Grey Day

The sun, it hid from the sky

And the clouds descended to the ground

And the rain fell upon the land

And the people were nowhere to be found

Day 23 - Aimless Grass

This grass doesn't seem to know which direction it's growing. 

We were out on a short nature hike today through a greenbelt we found near a residential area west of Austin. There was a gentle rain - really nothing more than a very light drizzle. Just enough to keep us cool in the humid afternoon.

I was trying out my new camera and for the first time getting to really see how it works. But nothing I shot today really grabbed me except this silly look at the grass just off one of the trails.

I don't imagine it grows very tall but rather probably quite wide.

Day 22 - Traci’s House

We spent all day today just lazing around and catching up on old times with Shannon’s good friend.

Luckily I went out for a bit at one point for a few snaps or I wouldn’t have gotten a photo for today.

Day 21 - First Shots

My new camera arrived today. Gonna hopefully take my videos up a couple notches with this thing.

Also telephoto shots of wild birds and the moon, etc...

This is the very first shot with the telephoto lens, a tree branch about 30 feet away.

Day 20 - Reaching Across

Saw this tree on the golf course today and some of the branches were reaching way far away from its base. Almost 20 feet or so.

Don’t know how it was able to remain standing but there it was...

Day 19 - Evening on a Ball Field

We're still at the same RV park tonight where we stayed last night. We have a good cell signal and still a couple days before we hook up with Shannon's friend in Austin.

I thought I'd get some work done and also have a good connection for my zoom meeting today with the OMRT group BUT THEN I TOTALLY FORGOT ABOUT THE MEETING! (sorry guys!)

So then evening came and I saw these glaring lights from the baseball field over on the other side of the RV park.

So evening photography again wins the competition for the day's photo.

Day 18 - Evening on a Golf Course

Today we headed inland from the Gulf Coast. After a busy day with chores and a fair amount of driving, including passing on 2 other potential overnight spots, we ended up staying at an RV park.

After a day on the road it's always nice to get out and stretch the legs a bit. And there happens to be a golf course adjacent to our spot which made for a nice evening walk, and the winner for today's daily photo pick.

Day 17 - Beach Front Camping

We switched places and moved up the beach about a 1/2 mile from where we were 2 nights ago (at the top of the photo). That place was a bit busy with partiers and people fishing.  And when the 5th wheel trailer pulled up just after dark and fired up a really loud generator that was our tipping point.

This place is much quieter, although a man who's been here for a week told us that bridge construction gets pretty noisy so we'll see - we've only been in this location on the weekend when there's no work going on. Tomorrow is Monday so we'll see just how early we get awakened by that!

Day 16 - Gulf Coast Sunset

Another thing we've seen a lot of here in Texas is beautiful sunsets, and this one on the gulf coast doesn't disappoint.

This is a boat launch/fishing park about half way between Houston and Corpus Christi. With the gulf on one side and a shipping canal on the other this place gets a lot of traffic. 

But after sunset it looked kinda peaceful.

Day 15 - Spinners

One thing we’ve encountered a lot down here in southeastern Texas is wind. And where you find a lot of wind you may also find a lot of wind turbines. This has certainly been true for us -

Over the past week we’ve seen more of these than we can remember. And it’s pretty cool to see renewable energy down here.

I thought Texas was all about oil rigs but I’m happy to be shown otherwise.

Day 14 - Free Texas Camping

We found a small town near the gulf coast with a city park that offers free camping.

And it’s not just a free place to park or pitch a tent, but it also has free 15, 30 or 50 amp electrical service, free water and a place to dump grey and black water. For free.

Pretty cool!

Now we just wish there was a store or some other business we could spend money at to help support this place as a thank you.

Day 13 - Great Egret

Today we went to the Aransas National Wildlife Refuge and saw a lot of birds. Not as many as yesterday along the shoreline south of here, but still quite a few.

My favorite photos from today were of this Great Egret. We first saw him wading and then flying away after something (not us) spooked him.

Day 12 - Birding

We went birding today looking for a Grackle. And it was cool because along with about 20 other species that we identified and added to our life lists, we did see Grackles. A lot of Grackles.

They were specifically of the Great-Tailed Grackle variety.

And it got me to thinking, we are American tourists here, out looking for those birds. 

But just think if we were on this same quest for that long-tailed black bird, and we were instead from the U.K?

Might we then be called Grackle Grockles?

Day 11 - Airboat Fishing

We found a campsite just north of Corpus Christi this afternoon and went walking through the park just in time to see these fishermen arrive back at shore on this airboat.

This thing is powered by a V-8 engine driving counter-rotating props to push the boat along the water and shallows at a pretty good clip.

And it's quite loud as well, you can see a couple of the guys have ear protection.

Judging by the way they're dressed I'll bet the fish didn't even see them coming. 

No, all kidding aside, this looks like a lot of fun to me.

Day 10 - You Can't Always Get What You Want

We spent two almost wonderful nights at the water's edge on the beach at South Padre Island with the water nearly lapping at Rigby's tires, but after a somewhat boisterous night with locals spinning donuts in the sand at 3:30 A.M. just outside our doors we thought that was enough so we headed north this morning.

We checked out 5 different places to stay, campgrounds and RV parks, but just didn't have a good feeling about any of them so we kept driving. 

Then it got late so we ended up here at a Walmart parking lot. 

In van life, you can't always sleep where you want. But we're warm and dry and safe and as far as Walmart parking lots go, this one is very quiet so far so we're calling it a success.

Day 9 - South Padre Island

Another day here, this time with a bit more time to explore. We took a walk a mile up the beach and saw sandpipers skittering all over the place, pelicans gliding regally past in formation, a gazillion gulls and of course Rigby keeping watch over the surf.

What a great place for boondocking!

Day 8 - Good Campsite

We found a nice overnight spot on the beach. South Padre Island, TX. 

Here’s hoping the tide predictions are correct!

Day 7 - Van Video BTS

Today we finally got going on our updated Van Tour Video. Here we are doing take number 37. Or was it number 137? I don't remember... 

We did our original van tour video a year ago last December and a lot has changed since then. We're thinking our van is now pretty much finished the way we want it and we've been wanting to get a new tour video out so this is a big milestone. You'll be able to see it soon on our YouTube channel. 

Aaaaand - the sprouts are done and ready to eat! Actually if we were really in a hurry we could have eaten some yesterday, but today they look much better. 

Only one week ago they were nothing more than seeds. So easy to grow and so delicious, just look at those sandwiches!

Day 6 - Peace and Quiet

So glad to be far away from Washington DC today. Out here it’s just the sun, the wind, some birds flying around doing their thing. Mostly just life as nature intended.

It is very relaxing to be in the here and now, right here where we are now.

And I think we’ll be eating some freshly grown sprouts tomorrow! Just look at those things... Mmmmmm!

Day 5 - Reading Aloud

One thing we've found time to do in this new vanlife lifestyle, is more reading. Or maybe I should say I have found time for it, Shannon has been reading a lot for a long time. But for me, it's something relatively new.

And when I read aloud, it's something we both enjoy together. Here we are on a warm Texas evening, reading the latest book to come across our Libby app's bookshelf.

And the sprouts will likely be ready to eat tomorrow. But here they are on day 5...

Day 4 - The Water Tower and the Sky

We are camped in a county park in Texas, just about a 1/4 mile or so from the Rio Grande with Mexico on the other side. The evenings here are so beautiful - shorts and shirt sleeve weather and clear skies with gorgeous sunsets.

There is a water tower on the property just west of us and it caught my eye against that beautiful deep blue twilight. We will not soon forget this place!

And the sprouts - they're growing gangbusters now. Should be ready to eat in a couple of days, maybe three...

Day 3 - Half a Pupil Clearer

I have an eye shade headband that I sleep with to keep the light out so I can sleep better (you’d be surprised how bright our van bedroom can be at night under a moon or a yard light or whatever, because of our plastic vent fan cover - it’s pretty translucent).

Anyway, I have a wide-band eye shade that covers the ears to purportedly keep the noise down as well, but it doesn’t help with noise at all. It’s wide enough that it has an inverted V-shaped cutout on the bottom edge in front, to accommodate my nose. It’s very comfortable and I sleep with it every night, and sometimes nap with it during the day.

Anyway, I awoke in the night not long ago and got up to use the bathroom and was surprised at how clearly I could read the numbers on the LED clock without my glasses on! OMG they were so clear and not much blurring at all. I thought I was dreaming at first. (really!)

Turns out, my eye shade headband was all twisted and out of place, (think: Uncle Tim Hair) and the edge of the V-shaped cutout was covering half of my eye (the other eye was covered completely). When I pulled the eye shade off, the numbers went full-blur again.

But now I know a neat trick - When I’m in bed or somewhere and my glasses are not easy to reach, if I need to read something I’ll hold my fingertip just in front of one eye, covering half of my pupil and voila - I can read things I otherwise wouldn’t be able to.

How cool is that?

I think it’s because of physics or optics or something.

And photo number 2 as expected shows the sprouts starting to sprout!

 

Day 2 - The Road Less Travelled

One thing we’ve discovered about ourselves is that we prefer taking the long way around, the lesser used side roads and backroads. 

This is the only way to see the real America. Small towns have so much more character than you will ever find on an interstate highway. 

Today’s photo is one such road in Texas, very near the Rio Grande and the Mexico border. You won’t see me getting a shot like this on a freeway. 

Also, here is Day 2 of the Alfalfa Sprouts. They’ve been rinsed and drained and should be sprouting soon. Check back tomorrow and maybe we’ll see some white poking out of them!

Day 1 - New Year, New 365 Project

And just like that, 2020 is in the past. A year that for many was the worst year they could remember. For Shannon and me it was definitely interesting but I think we were very fortunate regarding the pandemic in a number of ways:

1. It was our first full year of van life so social distancing was pretty easy. 

2. We were not affected by income problems from lack of work. 

3. And no one in our immediate family was stricken by it (knocking on wood this continues).

But now it’s time for a new year and a fresh start. So today’s post symbolizes new beginnings and new growth. We’re starting a batch of alfalfa sprouts! And it’s a bonus post too because there are two photos: the first one shows what all is needed to grow them and the second shows Step One being completed. 

Actually the first few blog posts of the year will show a bonus photo so we can watch the daily progress as the sprouts grow. The first step is to measure 2 tablespoons of alfalfa seeds into a mason jar and cover with water. 

That’s it - Tune in tomorrow to see what’s next. 

Click on the photo to see it full-size.