This is really a cozy little town, with lots of neat stuff (old and current) tucked away in the most unlikely of places.  We've had a few days off work, now, and have been really productive.  Well, as productive as two old coots with nothing better to do can be anyway.  We hit the base (NAS Corpus Christi), of course & checked out NEX (Navy Exchange) and the commissary....I think those would be Jose's favorite places, next to Best Buy & Staples that is.  Rank right up there like Joann's & Michael's for me...heheh.

Plus, we found another HEB Plus & sampled our way throughout the store, AND found a Wal-mart that sells fabric!  We also managed to get ourselves transferred to the new area for Tricare (mighty important if we ever wanna see a dr) and got a new primary care physician assigned.  No small feat!!    After all that, we took our new travel bug out for a drive and some pictures.  Hit a new beach (they're EVERYwhere!!) and spent some time soaking up the rays & checking out the water temp.  Yup, it's WARM!!  That has GOT to be the best part about this gig - it's WARM!  Actually, it's even pretty hot - and you don't hear me say *that* very often.  Sorry, I digress....

We had gone to the birding center (that's one of the main attractions that brought us here) and spent a bit just watching & waiting.  Didn't see the flocks of spoonbills that had so enthralled us at our last visit, nor the resident alligators, but we did see a couple turtles, pelicans, cormorants and the usual laughing gulls.  As we were leaving, we were treated to the sight of a Tri-colored Heron.  They're not all that common, and he was totally oblivious to us watching him fish.  As we were driving back home, I mentioned that I'd like to see the Tarpon Inn that I'd been reading about.  It is an old, old, old inn, where many famous people have vacationed in the past.  Well, being the Navigoddess sometimes has its challenges, and Dick's response to my "I wanna see the Tarpon Inn" was, "Why?  And where is it?"  Well, heck, the why was easy:  they used to run deep sea fishing excursions out of the inn, and when they caught a Tarpon (fish), tradition dictated they tack one of the fish's scales to the wall & date/sign it.  And, best I could gather, there were many famous people that held to that tradition, including President Franklin D Roosevelt.  And I wanted to see that, 'cuz I didn't know what a Tarpon looked like, and I couldn't imagine writing on a fish scale.  Well, just about as soon as he asked where it was, we rounded a corner, and THERE it was!  Right smack-dab next to us.  Luckily, there was a parking spot (actually TWO) for us right out front, so Jose was able to simply ease into it and we hopped out.  Inside the inn was in fact a full wall of tarpon scales!  And a big ole Tarpon, right up there on the wall!  Upon questioning, the clerk let us in on the secret that it was actually a fiberglass fabrication (glad of THAT), but in the older days, they truly did mount the original fishes.  Tarpon are making quite a comeback, I understand, and in just a few weeks, she says we'll be seeing them catch 'em all up & down the jetties & piers.  And, yep, the scales are HUGE, as compared to "normal" fish scales.  Check out the pictures here:  Tarpon Inn
And did you see the snow??  Well, that was from Jan 2004, which is just not all that far back!!  Snowed 7 inches!  Sure glad we missed that!!! 

Yesterday, we took the bikes down from the rack & rode them for the first time in a couple of months.  There was a bit more work to it than just hopping on, tho...first, they needed washed & lubed.  I didn't realize it until we got to town, but I only had 3 (of seven) gears...and they were 5th, 6th & 7th.  Needless to say, it was hard going!  Good thing the roads were mostly paved & mostly flat.  There were a couple of sandy areas that made things kinda squishy & squirrelly, and there was always a headwind (not sure how that works, but that's the way it was in Bradenton, too), but it was a nice ride.  Once we got into town, we made our way over to Fly It!, a small, privately owned kite store.  Inside was a treasure trove of spinner socks, wind socks, flags, and of course, some really cool kites.  I couldn't decide which I liked best:  3-d horse, parrot, clown fish, dragon or hippopotamus.  I went to the back room and found some "simple" kites - you know, just plain kite-shaped and not 3-d.  I thought they may be cheaper, and they were!  But then I looked again, and what I thought was 12.50 was really $125.00!!!  Who knew you could spend so much on a KITE!!!???!!!  Well, not me, fer sure!!  We ended up with a 16 foot long, 3-d dragon that is brightly colored &  came with 250 feet of decent-weight string.  Some assembly required. haha.  Brain surgery was required, as 4 of his braces were all in his head!!  Eventually, we got him home (Dick had to carry him, as I was having a hard enough time just pedalling) and I put him together as Dick put together our grill (yeah, dinner was still just a plan) and worked on my bike.  After dinner, we took him down to the beach, and for the first time ever, I flew a kite!!

So there you have it - we work, we beach, we geocache, and now, we fly kites.  Not bad for a couple of old coots!

To our dear friends, Theresa & Debbra, we wish you speedy recoveries and better health ahead!!  You're in our hearts and prayers and we love you all!