After I wrote yesterday’s post, I took a walk through the RV park. The soil here usually drains quickly. But hours after the storm passed through, we still had standing water. Overnight, 1.52″ of rain fell, bringing the month-to-date total up to 6.66″, more than double the average rainfall for the month of May.
Standing water several hours after the storm
When I hand washed our coach last week, the hard water left water spots from mineral deposits. One benefit of the storm was the low PH of the rain water. Around here, the average rain water PH is 4.9, meaning the water is acidic – a PH of 7 is neutral, higher is alkaline and lower is acidic. The slightly acidic rain water washed the mineral deposits from the coach. We don’t have any water spots on the glass or paint after the storm. I’ll still go over the coach with waterless cleaner as it leaves a protective film on the paint.
Today is Memorial Day, a day to give thanks to all who served our country. We went to a charity fundraiser crawfish boil yesterday to support a group called the Coastal Bend Troop Support. They send care packages to troops deployed overseas and assist troops returning from combat with post traumatic stress syndrome.
The crawfish boil was similar to the event we attended a year ago in Heber City, Utah, but not as fancy. For $20 each, we got a crawfish flat, which is a cardboard soda case (flat) filled with crawfish, five jumbo shrimp, potatoes, corn and andouille sausage.
Crawfish flat
It seemed like a lot of food, but it takes a lot of crawfish to supply a small amount of meat. After picking up your flat, everyone was seated cafeteria style in the Fulton Convention Center Paws and Taws. The convention center title seems to be a little ambitious – it’s more of a community center or auditorium.
The convention center was created by a group of square dancers from Rockport, the Paws and Taws square dance club. They incorporated the club, raised funds, leased the property from the town of Fulton and began building the center in November of 1964. The grand opening dance was July 10, 1965 and 340 square dancers attended.
For this event, the Coastal Bend Troop Support organization had the walls covered with Memorial Day posters and displays.
Display at the back of the stage
Wall poster
Display commemorating local veterans
We found a table and sat with a couple from the area. They spent three years living on a 44′ sport fishing boat. They cruised from Rockport to the Bahamas and south Florida before coming back and moving into a conventional house. Now they spend January and February in The Keys and the hot summer months in Taos, New Mexico. We had an interesting conversation, but we never got their names before they left.
Another couple joined our table. He is the publisher of the Rockport Pilot, a local Aransas County newspaper. She is the president of the Rockport-Fulton Chamber of Commerce. They’ve lived in Rockport for 30 years and take frequent weekend getaways, often flying to the west coast. We enjoyed conversation with them as we finished eating.
After we finished our lunch, we took a walk out on the Fulton fishing pier. The pier is constructed from wood and is about a quarter of a mile long.
A laughing gull on the rail as we head out on the pier
We walked to the end of the pier and saw a few people fishing. A woman reeled in a small catfish as we approached.
View of the Fulton Convention Center from the end of the pier
Then we rode the scooter on Fulton Beach Road until it became Broadway in Rockport. This was a scenic ride and we found shops and restaurants along the way. There are many nice houses along the waterfront. We hadn’t been to this part of town before. Donna has a 25-mile bike ride mapped out that includes this stretch of highway. Now that we’ve driven it though, she’s not sure about cycling it as the road is narrow and there is no shoulder. Perhaps the road will be quiet enough after the holiday weekend.
By the time we returned to the RV park, the skies had cleared. Although it was windy, it was the nicest weather we’ve had since we’ve been in Texas. The forecast calls for a chance of thundershowers every day for the foreseeable future. We’ll be here for another week and hope for the best.