The Texas Half

27 degrees, 20 mph North wind, 13.1 miles, 2:10:48

Goose Island /The Big Tree

Michele once again had a long weekend over the New Years Holiday and we took a trip to the Rockport area and stayed in the camping trailer at Goose Island State Park. I know that was a while back but I have not felt the urge to post here in my public diary.
With a cool spell in North Texas it was 15 degrees warmer on the middle coast of Texas and we have fond memories of this place from a trip a few years back. since some of our friends bought a home here we took a look around to see if it was as we remembered. We first headed to OUR coffee shop we rode our bicycles to on the last trip and it was out of business, bummer, but we did find another shop that was OK but not the same.
In the photo below we are backed into our site and with thick brush on all sides it was very private and had a fire pit in our little hollow in the woods, this is a nice small park that this time of year was full of snowbirds.
You can see we brought the kayak and mountain bikes so our first side trip was to Aransas National wildlife Refuge where we rode our bikes on the 20 mile loop through the refuge, we saw birds a-plenty and talked to several birders, we also saw whooping cranes, deer and several big wild hogs. This was a nice place to take a bicycle ride.
We also visited The Big Tree, this a coastal live oak that is over 1000 years old, also a nice ride you can do from the Park.
We still like Rockport even though the economic downturn has put a little hurt on this artsy enclave. The travel has been on hold due to the record setting cold weather we have had and our lack of ability to string several days off together. As soon as it warms up we would like to go to Caprock Canyons and ride the 64 mile rails to trails path and do the old 1000 ft tunnel.

I have been in training for a half marathon on my birthday, due to my late start I have condensed the 16 week program into a 5 week plan and of course now it will be icy and 27 degrees for my first distance race, I don't care, if the race happens I will run.

This is going to hurt
Dennis
,

Make the best of it

The weather has been bad for outdoor activities for a while, I did ride 60 miles on the bicycle Saturday but I had on 4 layers. The forecast for Monday called for a one day respite with a high of 70 with sunshine and light winds, not enough wind to sail but I wanted to get out on the water.
A couple of weeks ago one of Michele's cycling friends Marla asked if she could store her Kayak at our house, since we have tons of storage and I had always wanted to try out a kayak, you bet. The removable ladder rack went back on the truck and the kayak fit like a glove, soon we were off on our maiden voyage at white rock lake.

After unloading the yak I climbed in, adjusted the foot rest and played with the rudder. This model of the Dagger has a rudder to help steer and move straight in a cross wind.

I chose White Rock Lake because of the many piers and protected coves where I could get in and out hopefully without getting wet. This was a lot of fun and a good upper body workout and I did not get wet. What a nice day to learn, now I plan on trying to fish out of it but will first need more time to develop balance and become more comfortable with the small low sitting craft.

Are you ready for Christmas?

Dennis

Enchanted Rock and Cross Moutain

The week of Thanksgiving was a busy one for me, I had another chance to go sailing with Bobby and David and we had a romping day with 20+ winds and large rolling waves. We exceeded hull speed a spent a lot of time dodging spray and trying to get each other wet.

After a great Thanksgiving Day of food and family at my brother Bart's, Michele and I headed for the Hill Country and Fredericksburg.We spent some time shopping in the Historic part of town and I got a nice gift for Michele for Christmas, It was busy as it was the weekend of the Lighting of the courthouse.

On Saturday we went to Enchanted rock and climbed to the top as well as hiked the perimeter loop trail. Enchanted Rock is a giant granite rock about 400 feet tall and was a sacred place for the American Indians.

A distant look at the granite monolith.

At the top Michele, Sprocket and me left a long shadow on the windy barren top.

We then went to a winery near comfort Texas and drove through open range land with loose cattle, herds of deer and beautiful fall color to sample a nice estate grown Merlot on the deck behind the Winery. I highly recommend the Singing Waters Winery, great people and good Texas wines.
On Sunday we found that the local walking club has a walk box at a local hotel where you can get maps for some local walks. We chose the Cross Mountain Walk and set off through a neighborhood for a mile or so and got this glimpse of the small mountain.

We continued our walk to the top of the mountain and the base of the cross, the story is a man purchased this land in the 1840's and while exploring the mountain he found an old cross probably left by early Spanish explorers. He put up another cross and had Easter Services there for many years and the cross was eventually replaced with this current one. We had a true moment of thanksgiving while here for how blessed we have been, and I finally realized that I can stop looking for the place where the grass is greener because I AM STANDING IN THE GREENEST GRASS THERE IS.

I hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving and holiday season.

Dennis

Fairfield/Palestine

On Wednesday the 11th Bobby and I went sailing again on a perfect day with 12 to 15 mph winds,we tied a reef in the main and off we went. While discussing sail trim with his new main we made a little adjustment to the jib trim by relocating the anchor point for the sheets allowing a 3 inch tighter trim angle and a much tighter leech. We were pleased with the results and were able to get the Mac 26S to sail 35 degrees to the true wind without giving up any speed.For a long weekend we once again went to Lake Fairfield State Park, we had wanted to go to the Hill Country but could find no campsites. Who could complain when Fairfield has roads like this one and a 14 mile mountain bike trail called the Dockery Trail.

I did make a tire change on the GT mountain bike, the 26x2.25 knobbys are great on the trail but are heavy and not the best for the road so I put on a set of Tom Slicks in the 26x1.4 size and what a difference. Now I just change back and forth depending on the circumstances, a 10 minute job and worth it.Of course I rode the mtb to my favorite fishing hole several times and pretty much wore the bass out, I took this angled photo with the timer and by wedging the camera in a small tree.
We also took a day trip to Palestine and shopped the historic downtown area and a nice art gallery, the art was a little out of my price range with pieces up to 30K, we also visited a new to us winery, the Texas Vineyard and Smokehaus. Michele raced me to the bar for the tasting and complimentary wine glass, a really nice couple owns this new venture and while it may not look like what you would expect after looking at their website the wines were in my opinion good.

On the way home we stopped and had lunch at the Collin Street Bakery that is famous for its fruitcake that it ships all over the world. After lunch we got back on I-45 and I was passed by a giant weenie flying down the highway.

This past weekend I got in over 100 miles on the road bike in really good weather for November and I have been invited to a ranch in Brady next weekend. We also have reservations at an RV park in Fredricksburg for the Thanksgiving weekend.

Thanks for stopping by

Dennis

Galveston Oh Galveston

With the shorter days and lots of rain this is what some of our bicycle rides look like and have taken place in the garage. On the bright side it's safer and no helmet required, it also stirs up more of our addiction to travel.

Galveston Island has always been a place I like to visit, sometimes a little seedy but you have to like a place with a newspaper named the Twisted Parrot. Michele and I loaded up the camping trailer and took off for three days to see how things are in the wake of last year's hurricane.

" Sippin" on the dock of the bay is where we spent Saturday after a morning bike ride along the bay and on the hard packed sand of the gulf beach. The event was a wine and food festival that was our first of this kind, we sampled some of over 60 wines and lots of cheese, pasta, cured meats, and a really good Blues band. The event was hosted by the South Shore Harbor and this is a really nice upscale Marina, I could see us living on a sailboat here (not gonna happen).

The State Park is where we stayed and we met a nice couple retiring in a few months to travel full time in their 5th wheel travel trailer. The park is still suffering from the damage inflicted by hurricane Ike and was not exactly what we were expecting, but the ocean is still the same. This was sprockets first trip to the beach and he loved it, he wore himself out chasing gulls and investigating all that the sea washed up.

The Island itself is recovering from a lot of damage and the beachfront homes look nice since most of them have been repaired and have fresh paint and roofs, of course a lot of them are missing too.

I had one of my best runs ever when I did 6 miles from our campsite to the beach and watched the sun rise over the Gulf as I ran along the waters edge and had the place to myself. The hard packed sand is a perfect surface to run on.

The rain and shorter days has limited our cycling somewhat but last night we started our night ride season with the bicycle club and had a nice hard ride, much nicer than riding the trainer.

Dennis

J22 North American championship/ Niagra falls

Last Wednesday Bobby, David and I went sailing, the plan was to install a new Boomkicker boom vang on the sailboat. Bobby had been wanting one of these popular boom supports that eliminates the topping lift line from the boom to the top of the mast. He found the kit locally for $239.00 plus tax and asked me to see what I could get one for, the manufacturer wanted $199.00 plus shipping but a little more research and P-Yacht delivered it to my door for $167.00. I told Bobby for an extra $20 I would tell his wife it only cost $100.00, it looks good and performs too.

When we left the Marina and hoisted sail I noticed a lot of sailboats on the South end of the lake and we sailed the Bobcat down to take a look, what a treat and nice surprise to find the North American J-22 Championship in progress. These sailors are pros, the fleet stayed in a very close group and the sail handling and spinnaker work was impressive. The picture is not the best but we stayed a respectful distance away and with a stiff breeze the boat was anything but still.
We also had a busy weekend in Buffalo New York attending Michele's Nieces Wedding, it was an extravagant event in a Beautiful Church from the 1820's and the reception was in a Private facility also from the early 1800's with frescoes on the ceiling and large Marble columns, the open bar was nice too.

While we were there we also bagged another Lighthouse, The Buffalo Lighthouse marks the entrance to the harbour and the Erie canal. On this stormy night we caught the light as it came on.

Of course we had to visit the Niagara Falls, no photo can do justice to the power, size and magnitude of these falls. For a little perspective the boat in the basin is the Maid of the mist and is maybe 80 feet or more long. Of course we took a trip on the Maid and got a good close look and also got wet, even with the poncho's they give you, to wet for a good pic.

I even had a chance to run with the Buffalo, well we stayed with Michele's friend Leisamarie who lives close to Delaware Park where I went for a 6 mile run, the trail just happens to pass by the Zoo and the bison enclosure, it was nice to have the fence between us.

Bagged a Lighthouse and one of the seven wonders, even saw a world class sailboat race, sweet.

Dennis