POOOOH!!  Too bad they weren't in the same place!!  As you know, we've been house hunting.  We actually started looking at real estate last summer, when it was really hard for me to get up & down the steps.  Apparently, one of us thinks I won't be able to last much longer on the road full-time, and he's looking out for my interests, trying to find a place to put all my STUFF (sewing notions, fabric, etc) where I can still get to it at my convenience, AND, there won't be steps to climb!  This is made slightly more urgent by the fact that I can no longer ride more than about 20 minutes without suffering pretty severe pain in the butt.  Yeah, not my idea of fun, either.  Jack, I know you can relate!

Soooo, we started looking for a place to settle down last summer, right here in Rockport.  Seems the climate is mostly nice, the beach (and WALMART) is within biking distance, there's a grocery store, a couple of hardware stores, Lowe's is not far, dancing is weekly, on a nice wooden floor, and shrimp, lotsa shrimp!  Everything we found was either run-down & shabby or in a neighborhood that was run down & shabby....so, we pretty much quit looking.  Went to the Valley for the winter, and didn't give it another thought. 

Got a little improvement from the weekly shots (yup, in the butt) and came back to Rockport for the summer, with a few little side trips in between.  So now it's been since the beginning of April since my last shot, and boy, can I feel it.  Takes me longer to get moving and I am really struggling to get into the camper now.  Oh, and getting in & out of the truck, especially if we've been riding more than 10 minutes, is just miserable.  Yeah, it's time to call & arrange another shot, but until then....

So, we started looking at real estate in earnest again.  I mean, what else do we really have to keep us busy?  Washing & waxing the camper, walking the dog, floating in the pool or bay, cleaning the inside of the camper, sewing, geocaching and cutting the grass only take up but so much time...

We looked pretty hard while we were up in Nacogdoches & Lufkin area, and found not much to our liking or affordable, so we hit the computer down here.  And, once again, Rockport comes up pretty much empty for us.  There are plenty of available homes, but nothing that really says BUY ME!  Oh, except that one property that has a 1999 mobile home plus an RV pad on an acre and a half, treed.  THAT was nice.  Till we walked into the mobile home.  OMG.  Took us about 30 seconds to find the sub-floor rotted out, water damaged bathroom walls, DARK, DARK, DARK paint on textured walls (eeyuck!!), really digustingly ugly cabinets and the kicker - black mold on the ceiling.  PASS.  But, the lot was very pretty, and if cheap enough, we could simply move our RV and a park model into place.  Provided the mobile was gone.  Seller was not interested in that offer at all.

Found another property that Jose said he was interested in, but truthfully, looked like too much work and not nice enough floor plan for me.  BUT, there was room to store the camper onsite.  PASS, please.

So, when we decided to start looking in Victoria, I was pretty pumped.  That's a nice town, has a nice mall (we visited there when we went to go see Mike & Brandi up by Houston for our anniversary) and seems to have a nice mixture of intown & countryside homes.  PLUS, the demographics are to our liking, 'nuff said.  Using the internet, we developed a list of about 18 properties to preview and we decided if we found anything REALLY REALLY interesting, we'd just give the listing agent a call.  Granted, it was a holiday weekend, but we figured we could make an appointment for a "next trip" if need be.  This was just our way of politely cutting the chaff & narrowing down the list.

It really was easy to plot the homes' locations, using our NEW Street Atlas (only $49 to upgrade with a new GPS sender and updated maps and everything, and oh, YES, Windows 7 compatible!!!!)  and just go from one to another.  We were able to peep in windows and walk around lots, without being bothered or watched closely.  And, lo & behold, yeah, we found the very perfect country home. 

One & a half acres, all cleared, but with a few mature trees around the brick house.  Oh, yes, the rotted wood would certainly need replacement or vinylized, and the bricks could use some powerwashing, but look, there's a privacy fence for the pup, and there, over there, is the PERFECT place to put the new hot tub.  Oh, what's THAT, you say?  and THAT??  and look there - what are all those cracks from?  Are they settlement cracks?  Well, could be.....but why is the brick shifted?  Why can I stick my finger in there where the mortar should be?  Every single window had a crack leading from both bottom corners running down to the ground.  Oh well, the lot may be perfect, but this house is NOT.  Next?

A few more addresses later, we are at a large corner lot, again with wood needing replacement, but a cute little FENCED backyard.  In the city, which is kinda unusual for us.  We called the agent, who happened to be out showing properties & made an appointment for later on that afternoon.  In the meantime, just 2 doors down, is another home for sale.  Info tube shows it's much bigger (and pricier) than we need or want, but we called the agent anyway.  Just to see.  Turns out, the agent lives right next door & is home, and is perfectly willing to open up the home & let us in.  OMG.  PASS.  Quickly.  But, the water's on & there's paper in the bathroom, so one of us takes a short break.  Then, get the heck outta dodge!  Not without stopping next door to thank the realtor, tho.  And guess what!  HIS house is gonna go on the market soon & it's smaller & cheaper!  Wanna come inside?  SURE, you bet we do.  The landscaping on his house is simply fantastic!  Oh, and there are beautiful tile floors throughout.  Oh, and that fireplace is working!  Oh, the kitchen is reallly nice!!  Oh, what a perfect little backyard.  Oh, what's that, you say?  Taxes are three GRAND??  A YEAR??  Oh, my, oh my.  OK, maybe it's a pass too.  Though it is nice.  Very nice.

So, if we could only put the realtor's house on the countryside lot, now, wouldn't that be just perfect? Plenty of room to enjoy the home, and plenty of room for friends to visit, with our without their own campers. So now it's time to go back & meet the realtor in that corner house.  We walk in, I remove my flip-flops & promptly fall into the sunken living room.  How's that for a nice impression?  And that fireplace, what's the deal with that?  There's a picture AND a wreath in front of it, and when I peep inside, there's a candleabra thing.  Does it work?  It's supposed to.  HA.  Ok, so what's with these floors?  They're all different!  Got Pergo-TYPE in one room, vinyl looks like short, wide, wooden planks in another, old timey 12x12 stick-on tiles in the kitchen, and two more different styles of fake (really FAKE) wooden floors in the other 2 bedrooms.  EVERY wall is a different (and DARK) color, and all the corners are chipped up & ceilings desperately need repair.  Cabinets are OLD OLD OLD & painted white.  The kitchen counter top has been CONTACT-PAPERED over formica.  OMG.  And wallpaper.  Really ugly wallpaper, everywhere it's not dark painted. Get me out, please.  The corner moldings are maroon!  And yes, that's a window air conditioner in the master bedroom.   PASS.  QUICKLY.  Now we know why this home is priced so much lower than the others in the neighborhood.  Shouldda been a clue!!!

So we look at all 18 properties or so on our list, and call it a day.  On the way home, we stopped in Goliad State Park & walked around the campground.  Very nice!  Also, VERY FULL.  It IS Memorial Day weekend - first official day of summer, right?  And there's a swimming pool across the street!  Very charming, but, time to move on.  Software says we have 65 miles & 1.5 hours of travel to reach home, and it's already 4:30.  All the while, Bailey has been the perfect little girl.  Well-mannered when we leave her in the truck, and sleeping while we drive.  Walks nicely on the leash when allowed to check out the lots with us.  Very impressive.  No barfs, no arfs.  Just cuddle up & sleep or cuddle up for some lovin' while we drive.  Couldn't ask for better.    Thank God!!

Once home, we reach the mutual decision that neither of us wants much to cook OR clean up, so we head out to China A buffet and have a great dinner.  All the King Crab & shrimp 10 different ways, plus salad, sushi  & steak we can eat.  Oh, and ice cream.  Also all we can eat.  Very nice day, very LONG DAY.  Very TIRING day.  Very non-productive day.  Oh well.  There's always tomorrow.  Which was today.  And today was a great pool day! 

Many thanks to our service men & women who have paid the ultimate sacrifice so that we may be free to enjoy our summer days and freedoms.  Let us never forget.

Y'all take care & wish us luck!