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Well, so this has been called a Polar Vortex…It began here in Falcon Lake TX on Sunday, Jan. 5th at exactly 9:30AM.  I know that because MacGyver and I were doing our 2 mile walk that morning. I was wearing jeans and a T-shirt….After checking the Weather Channel, I figured our cold snap wouldn’t be here until late afternoon. EL WRONGO!!!

 

About half way through our walk, we noticed this looooooong cloud coming down across Falcon Lake . The fact that it was coming from the NORTH was key …Crap..Here comes that darn cold front, and we aren’t even near the Hiker yet! Man, oh man, when that thing got on top of us the wind began to blow and I was holding onto Toto Dennis for dear life…Instantly the temperatures dropped from 65 down to “damn cold for  here” (that’s my new number). We both did a speed walk, got back to the Hiker and turned on the fireplace!!

It’s a good thing we did our cooking out the night before. When I realized we would be thrown into a cold snap soon, I figured I would let MacGyver be the Grillmaster one last time on Saturday night..We did some beef kabobs on the little Weber…a masterpiece. But grilling outside is not much fun in the cold…and if you think MOI will grill under those conditions you are wrong!

I did manage to get off a couple photos on the trail before someone locked us in the freezer…(OK, I realized 90% of the nation was colder than here!)

 

Normally, I don’t peek out the door if the temperature is below 35 degrees here in the early AM.  And we have one of those clock/thermometers that projects our time and temp on our bedroom ceiling..This way I know which it’s gonna be..shorts, or jeans…or sweats! We always have our day/night shades down at  night, so Monday morning when I saw a little orange light coming in around the shades I just  had to go look out the living room window…Could it be??? the sun???coming up??

YES!!! ..Alas, it didn’t last long. Ol’ Sol just took a peep and realized it was to cold to shine..He left within minutes..boohoo.

MacGyver has been working on our itinerary ..even though I ‘M the one who use to be a Travel  Agent.. However, he has done a dandy job…Here is our plan after we leave Falcon Lake on Jan. 15th..

Jan. 15 for 1 week, Lake Corpus Christi  : then 1 week at Mustang Island  ; then 2 weeks at Goose Island State Park  ; then 1 week at Goliad State Park (a fav of ours); then 2 weeks at Canyon Lake, but not Potter’s creek. We are staying at Crane’s Mill at Startzville.. then1 week at Lake Belton corp park, South of Ft. Worth (the guy who was best man at our wedding lives around there, and we haven’t seen him in forever!): Then 1 week at Jefferson and our last week will be at Texarkana…getting us home about the end of March. As you RV’ers all know, plans can slop around and turn into jello in a hurry. That happened to us quite a few times, but we have faith that all these plans will actually come to fruition…(fingers, toes, eyes, legs crossed!) 

One of the bestest things about this park is the birds…HEY JUDY!! COME ON DOWN!! IT’S A BIRDLADY’S PARADISE!!

I would have preferred that Woodpecker on a nice Mesquite bush instead of a darn ol’ telephone pole…and can you even SEE the Dove amongst those rocks??

On the right is a Cardinal…(notice when I don’t KNOW what the bird is, I zip right by…)

Yep, I know this guy well, he eats snakes, and I love to have the Roadrunner in our campsite..However he did turn his back on me.

 

Here we have a male Pyrrhuloxia…not to be confused with the Cardinal…

A pair of Pyrrhuloxia….Of course, the male is prettier…Gonna get me my badge in birding for this photo!

….And that is about it for the Caves here in South Texas.  Oh, I managed to throw my back out making our bed yesterday AM.. Anyone living in a camper for a while knows just how much FUN making the bed can be..NOT! I am hoping it will heal with Ibuprofen and Rum and Coke…Today, it’s not so good, but I will be better tomorrow..I HAVE TO BE! We are driving into “the valley” and walking across the border into Mexico at Progresso.. I sooo want to do this, as we haven’t attempted to cross for a few years. Gotta get some Mexican Vanilla for my YaYa’s, and a big bottle of Kahlua for MOI…(for medicinal purposes , of course)….If nothing else, crossing the border will make an interesting blog…SO…hasta más tarde, amigos! (I cannot get in trouble in Mexico…they have NO sense of humor at that border!)