MarkBarbieri
Semi-retired
- Joined
- Aug 20, 2006
- Messages
- 6,172
For Thanksgiving, we took the boys canoeing, camping, to an historical mission (Goliad), and to the beach (Rockport).
We canoed down Sandy Creek. It is a small, nondescript creek that flows into Lake Texana. We like it because you usually see lots of big gators hanging out on the shore. We didn't see any longer than 6 feet this trip, but the boys got a real kick out of canoeing with wild gators around them.
Here is our first campsite. It was at Goliad. Near the campsite was a "road" that they had carved out of the sand. It made for a great sandy area for the kids to play in.
The mission is a relatively modern recreation. It was rebuilt on the ruins of the old mission back in the '30s by the CCC. It was lit for the holidays with luminaries, except that they use electric ones now days.
After Goliad, we drove down to Rockport. We camped at Goose Island State Park. It has amazing Live Oak trees.
The kids loved playing at the beach. The water was surprisingly warm. Don't be fooled by the wetsuits. We thought it was going to be cold. Instead, I think the water was about 80 degrees. That's probably because the water is really shallow for about 100 yards, so it is warmed by the sun.
Here's a shot showing how far the boys waded without it gettting deep. This shot was taken at a 35mm eqivalent of about 90mm, so I'm not playing wide angle tricks on you.
The Rockport area is a mecca for birders. It's one of the few places you can see Whooping Cranes. I'm not a birder, but here is a shot of some Roseate Spoonbills I took Saturday morning.
There is a really long fishing pier at Goose Island. We don't usually fish, but the boys had fun playing in the area.
Back at camp, we played on some of the live oak trees. They never cease to amaze me. They are some of the coolest trees in the world for climbing on.
We never did have a big Thanksgiving dinner. We cooked our meals on the camp stove and made smores on the campfire. Our one big meal was pizza at Panjo's Pizza in Rockport. It's my favorite place to eat. We usually order much more than we need and bring the rest home in a cooler.
Overall, it was a nice trip. The boys had fun getting to know their world better. We had fun getting out of town for a while. The weather was great. The one sad part was the price of gas. I almost cried when we paid $1.55/gallon.
We canoed down Sandy Creek. It is a small, nondescript creek that flows into Lake Texana. We like it because you usually see lots of big gators hanging out on the shore. We didn't see any longer than 6 feet this trip, but the boys got a real kick out of canoeing with wild gators around them.
Here is our first campsite. It was at Goliad. Near the campsite was a "road" that they had carved out of the sand. It made for a great sandy area for the kids to play in.
The mission is a relatively modern recreation. It was rebuilt on the ruins of the old mission back in the '30s by the CCC. It was lit for the holidays with luminaries, except that they use electric ones now days.
After Goliad, we drove down to Rockport. We camped at Goose Island State Park. It has amazing Live Oak trees.
The kids loved playing at the beach. The water was surprisingly warm. Don't be fooled by the wetsuits. We thought it was going to be cold. Instead, I think the water was about 80 degrees. That's probably because the water is really shallow for about 100 yards, so it is warmed by the sun.
Here's a shot showing how far the boys waded without it gettting deep. This shot was taken at a 35mm eqivalent of about 90mm, so I'm not playing wide angle tricks on you.
The Rockport area is a mecca for birders. It's one of the few places you can see Whooping Cranes. I'm not a birder, but here is a shot of some Roseate Spoonbills I took Saturday morning.
There is a really long fishing pier at Goose Island. We don't usually fish, but the boys had fun playing in the area.
Back at camp, we played on some of the live oak trees. They never cease to amaze me. They are some of the coolest trees in the world for climbing on.
We never did have a big Thanksgiving dinner. We cooked our meals on the camp stove and made smores on the campfire. Our one big meal was pizza at Panjo's Pizza in Rockport. It's my favorite place to eat. We usually order much more than we need and bring the rest home in a cooler.
Overall, it was a nice trip. The boys had fun getting to know their world better. We had fun getting out of town for a while. The weather was great. The one sad part was the price of gas. I almost cried when we paid $1.55/gallon.
It's a disaster. $4/gallon seemed like such a nice, comfortable price. $1.55/gallon means that more people will be using more gas instead of conserving. It means that we'll be putting more CO2 into the atmosphere. We'll be consuming more of our finite fossil fuel resources. It's going to kill the alternative energy industry. Worst of all, it means that I'll be making much, much less money!
