The Sixty Third Annual Gulf Coast Gem and Mineral Show, Robstown, Texas

It was time for the Gulf Coast Gem and Mineral Society’s Sixty-Third Annual Show. The show and the club’s existence had hung in the balance. We are happy to say that the President, Rick Price and his wife Yvonne along with club volunteeres had done an excellent job in saving the club and setting up the show!. They had even attracted new venders and so this year’s show, had thirty-five booths! One booth had a vender with a mechanical dinosaur that anyone could ride! It was a hit with the kids! The ride had a weight limit of two hundred pounds and even I could meet this, but as my back was giving me fits, I didn’t think It would be a good idea. I tried to get Renita to take a ride on the dinosaur, but she also passed.

The doors opened at ten am and after a slow start the Exhibit Hall, At the Robstown Convention Center, became filled with people. We had donated four pieces of our work as door prizes, (as did many of the other venders). Every hour a number would be drawn, and the lucky winner awarded a prize. Pam and Roy drove over, (Renita’s sister and her husband), and they aided us with our booth, (thanks). In the first wave of people many stopped at our booth and viewed our work before moving on to look at the other tables. All tables must be related to rocks, fossils and minerals. Some said that they would return, something that is often said but seldom happens. This time most did come back! The first day, the crowd was steady, and we had an excellent day! I added to my fun by purchasing a partial scapula from a Colombian Mammoth, (to add to my partial Colombian mammoth skull),and a small display case with two Bison Antiquus teeth, (the prehistoric bison weighed three thousand pounds).

Saturday afternoon we were filmed by the Channel Three, an ABC Affiliate in Corpus Christi, and were part of their broadcast!, The day ended at six pm and we drove back to our rv park. Unfortunately, the new harbor bridge was closed, (accident or high winds), and so we had to detour through Mustang Island and Port Aransas. That added another hour to our drive home! A cold front passed through on day two and brought much needed rain. As this part of Texas is a in a severe drought, (stage three restrictions), you never complain about free water. It ended by noon and the crowd slowly grew. It wasn’t as busy as day one but we still had a good day. This is the Twelfth Year we have sold at the show, and as usual we had many returning customers/friends stop by! We set a record in sales for our Texas Shows! Regardless, the shows are always fun! Thanks to all who volunteered to work on the show! Clear skies

A Winters Day Birding at Port Aransas

We decided we needed a day birding at Port Aransas. Barb and Dan joined us and so we loaded up, crossed on the Ferry and headed to The Leorna Turnbill Birding Center.

When we arrived the trees along the sidewalk harbored a few Yellow Rumped Warblers. The one pictured wasn’t in its breeding plumage, which was a common sight for many of the birds at the Center. One exception was the American Flamingo.

It was still at the center but sleeping with a flock of American White Pelicans. It did wake up for a bit and preened its plumage before returning to it mid-morning siesta. The weren’t as many ducks as we expected to see and that was normal as hunting season is over.

A pair of American Shovelers did pose only to have a Black Necked Stilt, photo bomb the picture. A pair of whooping Cranes made a brief appearence but they were too far away for a decent image. The huge alligator nickn

amed, “Boots” has been trapped and moved to near the city of Beaumont, Texas. Probably because it was eating too many waterfowl at the Center. Leaving Leorna Turnbill, we drove next to a small birding spot, Paradise Pond. There was very little there as the pond is almost completely dry from the severe drought, (we later talked with a member of our rock club who told us that his four wells were all dry and that his fifty-year-old Live Oak trees have all died from lack of water). Our next stop was at Virginia’s for lunch, and as usual were served a lunch of excellent seafood! Our favorite is the Parmesan Crusted Black Drum, while our friends shared a salad and an order of Calamari. The day had passed quickly, the older we get the faster time flies by, and so we crossed the ferry and returned to our place at Blue Lagoons Rv Park. Clear skies