Port Lavaca and Home to Retama

Hi all, Dianne here.  Well, we're back at our winter home, Retama Village, in Mission, Texas.  First, though, I'll chronicle our short stay at Lighthouse Beach RV Park in Port Lavaca on the Texas Gulf Coast.

Lighthouse Beach RV park is a municipal-run park right on the bay.  We enjoyed full hookups and a view of the bay for $29/night.  The sites are close together, but we were lucky in that the sites on either side remained empty during our stay.

Most of our time was spent either enjoying the view and tropical breeze at our site or walking the 2,200-foot-long boardwalk over the marsh and viewing the shore birds.  Egrets, small blue heron, willet, roseate spoonbill, ibis -- these are just a few of the interesting birds that we saw during our walks.  Bandido enjoyed the boardwalk until it ventured out over open water and he could see the water through the cracks; then he didn't like it at all!

There is a small beach area at the park.  We didn't use it, because dogs are not allowed on the beach.  

Here's a final sunset shot from Port Lavaca, bringing this summer's travels to an end.  We've been on the road for five months; it's time now to settle in and save our pennies for next summer's adventures.

We were anxious to finally get home to our winter spot.  We pulled into Retama Village around 3:00 p.m. last Monday and made our way down Mallard Drive to our tiny little home.  It was still all buttoned down for the winter, with Reflectix in the windows and all of our outdoor furnishings stacked inside.  (This is necessary in case of hurricane winds; even the garbage can is supposed to be stored inside in our absence.)


We had only been home an hour or so, when down the street came our friends Jim and Sue (who we met up with in Duluth this summer), bringing us each a cold beer and a chew-bone for Bandido!  What a nice welcome!   They've been back a couple of weeks, getting their newly-purchased home furnished and settling in.  


Most folks have not returned yet, but several have arrived even since we came in on Monday.  It's fun to renew acquaintances, and we look forward to lots of fun times this season.


Bandido is very happy to be able to chase balls and run free at the dog park.  He will enjoy it even more when his pals arrive from up north.  He has already renewed his friendship with Gabe and Click, Jim and Sue's whippets.


If I sound a little tired, it's because we've spent all week moving our things back outside, buying new plants for our containers, cleaning, and doing the loads and loads of laundry that I saved up, waiting to use my own washer and dryer -- no more laundromats for me until next summer!

Here are a few photos of our place now that we've settled back in:


BEFORE:

AFTER:

This year we can just enjoy our place and not have construction going on, as we did all last winter.  Our only chore this year is to repaint our faded Adirondack chairs a brighter red; they've pretty much faded to pink, as shown in the above photo.


We moved my antique metal comfy/bouncy chairs to the side area in order to take advantage of the afternoon shade.  It's still really hot here (mid-90s), but with the constant breeze and low humidity, it's actually very pleasant so long as you stay in the shade.

We probably won't be updating the blog quite as often while we're holed up here for the winter, but we'll keep you posted on our Retama winter fun as things occur.

The pet photo of the day shows Bandido and Charlie laying on the bed in Port Lavaca, keeping vigil out the open window at night.  (See why we keep a sheet on top of the bedspread?  It's Charlie's favorite spot, especially when that window is open.)