Click any of the images for a higher resolution picture
We have had a mild, polite fall. Then, a few days before leaving
it just had to snow.
Ohio sucked. While it wasn't really snowing, the roads were
dumping ample quantities of salt water all over the motorhome and
toad. Didn't find a chance to take a nap and got to Cave City,
Kentucky pretty tired. But had a nice walk with the dogs and
slept well.
There is a very cool rest area well situated for a nap. It is a
Tennessee Valley Authority solar site. They have truck parking
and a separate section for bus and RVs. There is excellent dog
walking.
At that site they have a dog park with an agility track. Cool.
The North Little Rock KOA is darn near full. Not sure why, but it
is. Got a decent site and we're comfortable.
Had a problem with the brake controller and had a side-trip to Legacy
Ford once in Rosenberg.
On arrival I presented Matthew with his childhood transformer
toy. And that led to this.
We headed out to Galveston and I have the first photos of the motorhome
under the new home.
We have an owl that hunts in front of the deck.
We took a trip to
Palacious, Texas to visit Liam's grandparents, Scott and Rebecca.
Much fishing and walking was done.
We went on to Port
Aransas and spent a few days exploring that area. We had an
interesting campsite where there is an owner who purchased a site,
improved it and then rents it. They were really nice sites to
just live in. Like you were in an apartment. Like an
assisted living for older RVers. Nice but lacking in exploration
and adventure.
We rented a golf
cart and toured the beach. Like most of the Gulf Coast the sand
was solid enough for any sort of vehicle, including forty-foot diesel
pusher motorhomes.
Liam driving the
golf cart:
We stopped at a
great community playground.
This is the BEST
SWING EVER!!!!!!
Here's Landon
helping Papa at Papa's house.
Here's Odo's
windsock ears. You know the wind is blowing at 12 knots or more
if both ears go up.
The temperature dropped from the 80s to the 50s and I learned that
Herons move from fishing to hunting. Their water-based food
becomes lethargic in the cold so they move up to mice, squirrels,
snakes and other creatures in the local fields. I had three
hunting in the field across from my house. The first is a heron
who sleeps for hours in the middle of the field.
Finally back at Brazos Bend State Park! Granted, it was 43
degrees and nothing but a very few birds were active. Still
.... Let's get updated on all state park receipts:
I never had a red shoulder hawk intend to fight me for the path at
Brazos Bend State Park. This one must have been hungry. It
was feasting on a rodent.
A beach sunrise.
In December of 2025 they are doing beach nourishment between Sunbather
Lane and 11 Mile Road.
At Galveston State Park there is a trail with a LARGE metal bird.
Toodles and Odo really wanted to attack!
In the winter, the cardinal provides a sharp
contrast to the browned out vegetation.
A cold-weather gator.
The view out my office window in Galveston.
My office.
My birds.
The concrete house as of February 1.
The beach on February 1.
The motel on February 1.
On the playground.
Static Landon.
Walking the paths around Brazos, you don't really
have to watch for gators. They stay in the
water. Until it gets a little warmer.
Here's our first "gator oooppppsie". Where we
walk up on a gator at the side of the path. This
gator appears much closer in real time.
First time I've seen a gator in the field across
from the 40 Acre Lake observation tower.
Walking the lake, with Landon taking his time.
The story of Yellowstone Landing followed by a
picture of the landing.
This is an example of a Texas Southern Live Oak.
They are everywhere in Brazos Bank State Park
and the area.
Butterfly! Eastern Tiger Swallowtail
butterfly!
Gator growling! It's mating season.
There were five gators in about 200 feet.
All were calling.
Had to go back to Cleveland for a court hearing.
That also let me take care of many other issues
in person. But leaving the dogs was
I write this on February 17, 2026, sitting on
United flight 544 bound for Cleveland, Ohio. A
particularly messy guardianship matter must be
heard in person. So back I go for a five-day
trip to deal with messy. I have a number of
other cases which also require personal
attention so I have, I hope, made my schedule to
suit those purposes.
The weather in Cleveland has been awful. While
there hasn’t been the blizzards and horrific ice
that could have cause disruptions, there has
been a consistent supply of ice, snow and yuck
that has kept the neighbors indoors. Or out,
shoveling snow. This while I stroll the paths of
Brazos Bend State Park in seventy or eighty
degree weather. Texas is a great place to spend
February.
While flying is always a pain, always to be
avoided, this flight isn’t so bad. Left
Rosenberg at about four am and arrived at the
gate by five-thirty. Now having the Texas
license, I had lots to keep me busy. Time went
by. Oh, one other thing. I’m flying First Class
for the first time in my life. Let me tell you,
the breakfast was quite good. Very good. Yum.
While in Rosenberg I bought a very-well-endowed
new laptop. A Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon. I’ve
been running the business on it. I thought it
might be nice on the airplane. It is. Very. I
like it!
This is an odd trip. I am leaving Toodledip and
Odo, Liam, Landon, and Lucas, Lesa and Matt to
venture off alone. Last time I did this kind of
trip was when my Dad died. Neither were pleasant
although both turned into an adventure. This
trip might be well-placed. The house has been
vacant since November. Three month might be a
good time to check in and see what is what. I
will be returning on Saturday, February 21,
2026, for another two months or so.
Now at home, with no dogs, I find myself still
chatting with them. They are not responding, but
I am still chatting. I get up and tell them to
stay where they are as I will be right back.
This is odd. This is very odd.
Four days have passed and so much work was done.
The trip was a success. The key to a trip home
without the dogs is to keep busy. Don’t stay
longer than needed.
Got a good view of a "glory", where the sun
being directly behind a person looking at a
cloud gives them a circular kind of rainbow.
Flying over the reason for the season:
Do you see it????
How about now?
The weather was great, in the 50s, which melted
about all of the snow. THAT BEING SAID:
Let no one claim that I never moved snow in
2025/2026:
In court:
Back in Rosenberg watching ants move pieces of
leaves into their nest.
A Blue Heron. This is not touched up.
They appear blue.
I am putting this here to preserve it.
Prior to building East Silver Sand, this is the
lot.
Walking the beach, I saw a kite flying from
behind the dunes. There is a lake
there and that might be a good place to
beach camp out of sight of the authorities.
I tried my best to find the campsite.
Eventually, I roughed in and realized the
kite had been lost by a child on the beach.
It bobbled its way through the weeks until
it just got caught. Missing the real
reason for the kite being in an odd place,
that is, not having seen the loss of a kite
by a beachgoer, was an interesting
experience.
Two neat firsts on this Brazos Bend State Park
trip:
A pink cloud! As I walked down the Elm
Lake path with the sun at my back I spied a pink
cloud. It wasn't until I walked closer and
the cloud of Rosetta Spoonbills landed on a tree
that I realized the pink cloud was a flock of
birds.
Sometimes I am three-and-a-half miles into a
four mile walk and a behemoth of an alligator
crawls across the path. What was 3.5
suddenly becomes 4.5 or 5 miles. Crap.
On March 9, this monster was just off the path
and not at all in a restful state. He was
looking around. We scootched by him and
saved the extra time, but not without some
consternation.
I stopped counting at thirty. another girl
said she counted over 100. Click on the
picture for a higher resolution.
