Cap'n Bob & the Damsel

Texas Gulf Coast

Tonight, we’re comfortably camped at the Port Lavaca KOA, alongside an inland bay very close to the Texas Gulf Coast. We had an interesting drive today.

First, we stopped at the cemetery where one of my great grandfathers is buried. His grave is unmarked and the cemetery does not list where his exact grave is located, but we stopped in his honor, said a little prayer and moved along.

Next, we headed to a place on the Gulf Coast called Sargent Beach. We viewed the Gulf of Mexico from there. The interesting thing about this place is the bridge over the intercoastal waterway called the “Sargent Corkscrew Bridge.” We had to cross over it to get to the beach. Photo below courtesy Damsel.

The rest of the trip was uneventful and we arrived at our current site, Damsel grilled some cheeseburgers and we’re sitting contented here this evening.

Tomorrow, we’re headed to San Antonio which is about three hours northwest of us.

11 Apr 2024 by Retirement

Camping in El Campo, TX

Our travel day started out with moderate to heavy rain showers in the Waco, TX area, Then, as we progressed southward towards our destination, the weather improved to overcast with no precipitation for the “middle” of the drive. The clouds gradually broke up and as soon as we parked in our camp spot, the sky became clear.

On the way, Damsel took a shot of one of the many pastures we pass, usually no big deal, but this pasture had a little something unusual about it:

Damsel found that this herd belonged to FreBo Ranch.

Click on images to view enlarged.

10 Apr 2024 by Environment Retirement Wanderlust

Eclipse Day

What we anticipated to be a dismal forecast for the weather on Eclipse Day, turned out to be not so bad, especially during the totality phase. Clouds passed between us and the sun often, but then opened up for partial phase glimpses and during totality, most of the four minutes of darkness, we were able to see the corona and in the image below, a couple of prominences at two-thirty and five-thirty on the disc. The 5:30 prominence was huge.

I wasn’t very well-prepared to take photos given the woeful forecast, which affected my motivation, but I was able to attach the big 100-400mm telephoto lens and shoot bunches of photos hand-held (no tripod) and had a few fair results including the one above. Damsel had similar results and captured the “Diamond Ring” at the end of the totality show:

As I’m blogging this, we are getting some moderate to heavy thundershowers with lightning and thunder, but, Praise the Lord, no tornadoes. The precipitation knocked out the satellite TV a few times, but it is up and running now.

We’re here until Wednesday and then off to other parts of Texas south of us towards the Gulf of Mexico and thence via westerly routes heading back to Arizona over the next several days.

08 Apr 2024 by Astronomy Environment Notions Science Wanderlust

2024 Total Solar Eclipse

The (clickable) panel below shows the details of the eclipse as expected here in our RV campground located near Waco, TX. I cropped the image from a screenshot taken from the Time and Date website.

The right side of the panel shows our approximate location in the RV park (green area), The left side of the panel shows times for events associated with this eclipse. It also shows the expected weather of overcast with scattered thundershowers. That’s sub-optimal for eclipse viewing, of course, but we’re optimistic that we will see some of the spectacle, regardless.

At a minimum, the daylight will diminish to darkness if overcast, and I may be able to take a video the lunar shadow as it approaches our site at 1500 miles per hour. Likewise, four minutes later, I may be able to take a video of the shadow’s departure.

We just learned that there is a tornado watch for this area after the eclipse. We probably could use some prayerful help with that. Stay tuned.

07 Apr 2024 by Astronomy Environment Notions Science Technobabble

Camping — Waco, TX

We didn’t post about our campsite last night since the internet connection was almost non-existent. (Note to self: next trip get Starlink and bypass crappy internet service.) At any rate. we had a nice overnight at Abilene, TX last night.

Tonight and for the next few nights we are where we expect to view the total solar eclipse on Monday. We’re all settled in and relaxing after another tedious driving day with gusty crosswinds most of the way from Abilene to here.

The outlook for clear skies on Monday for the eclipse isn’t looking too good as of the current weather forecast; mostly cloudy and possible rain. We are optimistic that we will be able to see some of the totality with breaks in the clouds possible.

Damsel and I will be spending the weekend with our usual emphasis on dining, albeit on the road. The menu currently features entrees of Steak Salad (Filet Mignon, of course) and BBQ Country-style Pork Ribs. We hope y’all will eat as well this weekend.

05 Apr 2024 by Travel Wanderlust

Camping — Lubbock, TX

After another day of gusty wind driving, we arrived last night in Lubbock, TX, for some R&R. We got all checked in to the campground, opened the slideouts, hooked up the sewer/water/electric and immediately had dinner that the Damsel prepared.

This campground is very nice, but has a couple of drawbacks in that there is a busy highway and a railway right next to it. We’re OK with that since we can run the RV Fan or A/C to provide some white noise to cover most of the outside noise.

We are going to grill a couple of steaks today and that will be dinner along with some veggies. We usually take a walk after that with the dogs. Later, we will watch TV and probably a movie. We’re really roughing it out here.

Tomorrow is shopping day with a stop planned in Sweetwater, TX for that activity. Thence on to Abilene, TX for a one-night stop before heading out to our eclipse-watching destination.

03 Apr 2024 by Wanderlust

Camping — Roswell, NM

Don’t let the sunshine (April) fool you about the weather here and on the drive from Albuquerque to Roswell; we had not-so-good weather most of the day until within a couple dozen miles of Roswell. We started out in the snow and drove through fog, sleet and gusty crosswinds along the route. We had a few light showers later in the trip along US 285 enroute to where we are now.

At any rate, we’re here and settled in for the night. We will be headed to Lubbock, Texas in the morning. We will be there for a couple of days as we continue to enjoy the trip to our eventual campsite where we are hoping for clear skies to enjoy the total solar eclipse.

01 Apr 2024 by Environment Retirement Travel Wanderlust

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