Wednesday, May 23, 2012

Back on Home Truf


Eustace, Texas – Purtis Creek State Park
Weather Condition; High 87, Low 67,

We pulled out of Goliad State Park around 8:45 last Wednesday morning. We stayed an additional day due to storms. Anyway, we pulled out with nice weather and the drive wasn’t bad at all. We covered 372 miles getting to Purtis Creek. We made a couple of stops to stretch our legs and to walk the dogs. We stopped in outside of Hearne for fuel and we arrived at Purtis Creek SP about 4:15 P.M. It was a long day but we were glad to be that much closer to our next destination.

We have a nice shaded back-in site. These sites are water and electric only. We are only going to be here a few days so we don’t need the sewer.

We were able to visit with Dawn’s sister and brother-in-law while there.

We pulled out of Purtis Creek State Park on Monday morning around 10:30. We pulled into Rockwall about noon. It was hot and humid.

We are all set up in the driveway.

We couldn't get Internet so we haven't been able to post until now.

Saturday, May 12, 2012

Goliad Market Days


Goliad, Texas
Weather Condition; High 91, Low 68,

Today was Goliad Market Days. Dawn and I were looking forward to walking around the town square and looking at what Market Days had to offer.

The Goliad Chamber of Commerce host Market Days and describes it as follows;

Goliad Market Days, which combines an arts and crafts fair, farmers market, and community festival, is held to relive Goliad's traditional role as a crossroads for commerce, beginning with the 1700s' Spanish-colonial trade from Mexico to Nacogdoches.  The tradition continued throughout the 19th century, as Goliad was included on the routes for oxcarts, freight wagons, and stagecoaches.
    
Today, Goliad Market Days is one of the largest and most popular street markets in South Texas.  It is held on the second Saturday of each month, from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. and it features more than 170 booths and vendors.

We waited until about 9:30 this morning to go. It was overcast out and the temperature was comfortable.

Going early gave us access to close parking. We parked on the square and walked along the courthouse sidewalk and looked at all the different wares the venders had to offer.

There were a couple of shops around the square that Dawn I missed the last time we were in town so we decided to check them out as well.

The first shop we stopped by was Faye’s Texas Naturals. Dawn was in hog heaven! They had a sample table sit up in the middle of the store with all their jellies and chutneys. She sampled almost all of them! While we were in the store the sales lady asked if we were playing the Mother’s Day Bingo sponsored by the local merchants. The local merchants had put together 4 gift baskets for a drawing to be held at 4:00 P.M.

She explained that if we took the Bingo card around the shops listed on the card. You only have to visit 13 of the 16 listed. Each Merchant will stamp the card and once you have the 13 stamps you drop it off at Eula’s shop. It had to be done before 4:00 P.M.

 No problem! We visited 13 of the merchants and had our bingo card stamped. They have a lot of interesting locally owned shops here. We were done by 11:15. We turned in our bingo cards and went back home for lunch.

I walked around the mission and took a few pictures. It’s hot and humid out so I didn’t stay out long.

We kicked back and watched some T.V.

About 4:00 P.M Dawn received a call from the owner of Eula’s. She told Dawn she had won a gift basket. WOW! Dawn told the lady she would be there in a few minutes to get her gift basket. The lady then asked Dawn if she was with Denise. Dawn told her yes, she was and the lady said Denise won a gift basket too. Double WOW!

We drove to Eula’s shop and picked up our gift baskets.


The baskets were both filled with goodies and gift cards.

 We received gift cards for array of different things such as free breakfast for two at Empresario Restaurant, Free dog grooming, Free large 1 topping pizza, $10.00 gift certificate at Mae’s Shoppe, $15.00 gift certificate at Sammie’s Hair Design, $10.00 gift certificate to Hen House Gifts, $10.00 gift certificate at Goliad Pharmacy & Gifts, $10.00 gift Certificate to Blue Quail Deli, 25% off floral arrangement.

WOW! We feel like we have won the lottery.

Happy Mother's Day to Us!!!!!


Friday, May 11, 2012

Storms in Goliad,TX

Dawn and I had a late night. It was around 2:00 A.M before we went to bed. We were under a flash flood warning, tornado watch and severe thunderstorm warning most of the evening and into the wee hours.

The Park Police came through the park around 5:00 P.M to make sure everyone was aware of the weather conditions and invited us to the office for shelter if we felt uncomfortable.

We opted to stay in our fiver. We did however, had a plan in place in case we needed to load up our fur kids and drive to the shower building.

We kept an eye on the weather reports on TV.

At one point about midnight we decided to make a run for the truck as the wind started blowing the fiver. The lightening was all around us and it was pouring down rain by the buckets. We stopped at the door before running out and suddenly the wind stopped. We decided to stay put.

It rained for about an hour longer and then it stopped. All was quite.

This morning we were shocked when we went outside and saw many tall trees on the ground. There were a lot of tree limbs scattered around too.


So glad no one was staying in this site.




Sunday, May 6, 2012

Cinco De Mayo or Not


Goliad, Texas
Weather Condition; High 93, Low 73,

Dawn and I were to excited to be staying in Goliad during the Cinco De Mayo Fiesta. Especially since Goliad claims to be the official birth place of Cinco De Mayo.

The fiesta celebration is held at the fairgrounds across the street from the state park. We arrived on Tuesday and we watched the park fill with campers as the weekend got closer. The anticipation was building. This must be a great place to spend Cinco De Mayo.

The advertisement for the Fiesta read;
 Friday, May 4th, General Zaragoza Society 68th Annual Cinco De Mayo Fiesta begins at 6 p.m.  Enjoy free live music, margarita contest, fantastic food vendors along with arts and crafts booths. 

Saturday, May 5th, Opening ceremonies begin at 10 a.m. at the General Zaragoza Statue in La Bahia.  Ceremonies include wreath dedication, guest speakers and introduction of visiting dignitaries.  Fiesta begins at 12 Noon.  Saturday's events include the annual IBCA sanctioned BBQ Cook-off, 3rd annual "Ride For Education" bike run, and classic/antique car show.  Enjoy free live music, colorful ballet folklorico performances, Mariachis and vendor booths.  Fiesta ends at midnight. 
Saturday, May 5th Annual Spring Concert at the Mission Espiritu Santo in the Goliad State Park with the Beeville Community Chorus. 

We drove over to the fairground at 6:00 P.M. We parked close to the entrance and walked into the area roped off for all the festivities.

We walked through the area to see that the band was NOT playing. They were still setting up the sound equipment. There were only 3 food vendors and there was NO margarita contest!

There were five or so craft vendors and about a dozen BBQ rigs parked in a field in front of the fairgrounds.

We were very disappointed to say the least.

O.K, maybe something happened to cause them to get a late start. We’ll try it again on Saturday.

On Saturday we waited until late afternoon to go back to the fairgrounds.

Well, seems something must have happened with getting the word out to the participants because there were only a handful more vendors and the stage was still empty.

There were a few more BBQ rigs then the day before.  O.K, we give up!

We walked back to the truck and drove downtown for Mexican food.  The restaurant was almost empty, so we received great service. The food wasn’t the best but it wasn’t the worst either.

The day wasn’t a total bust. At 7:00 P.M we enjoyed the Beeville Community Chorus singing in the mission.

 It was wonderful. The acoustics in the mission is wonderful. It was a little warm but worth it.

We didn’t get to see the super moon due to the thick overcast.

Today we are watching all the campers slowly pulling out of the park to return home.

Thursday, May 3, 2012

Exploring Goliad, Texas

Downtown Goliad

Goliad County Court House

The Hanging Tree at the County Court House




State Park





Tuesday, May 1, 2012

Goliad State Park-Texas


Goliad, Texas
Weather Condition; High 83, Low 72,

Today we hooked up to our traveling home and moved to our new location.  Goliad, Texas.

It was a little strange preparing to travel again after sitting in one spot for five months. We spent our morning running a few last minute errands. Once the errands were behind us, it was time to get all hooked up and pull out.  We did pretty well at getting all hooked up. We took our time and it took us about two hours.

The real problem was the humidity and it was pretty warm at ten o’clock this morning! We were the last of the winter Texans to leave Coastal Oaks RV Resort.  Well Karin is still there.

We said our goodbyes to Manager Marg and Joe. Buddy also came out to send us off. We will really miss Marg and Joe. They are great people and made us feel right at home from the get-go. We will also miss our new friend Karin. She is great fun with a wonderful sense of humor. We’ll also miss Jim and DeDe. They are a fun couple and they also made us feel like family.      

Anyway, after our goodbyes, we headed north to Goliad, Texas. It was a short seventy mile drive. That’s fine by me. I like those short drives from one location to the next.

We really like our site. The park isn’t full!


Our Review;

±     Partially Shaded, level pull-thru paved sites, grill, picnic table, wildlife, lake, 50amp, good water pressure, friendly staff, river, mission, hiking trail, 3miles to shopping and fuel, TV signal, Verizon Signal, quiet, reservations required, gated park  

-       None