Winter trip, 2017 - TX Gulf

This trip is the result of last winter travels, and wanting to spend a month where it's warm. don't travel every day, and diacover an area in depth, or at least the pubs.

Donna hashad Padre Island on her mind since mid summer.  We looked around Vacation Rent by Owner.com (www.VRBO.com) and decided to stay around North Padre Island for three+ weeks.  We split the weeks up into three different apartments and are now working on places to see and things to do.

Here's a link to our (growing) road map.  Will be spotting in potential destinations oer the next few weeks.  Jan 27th is our launch date, with three road days planned to get there.  At this point we're planning on takig the car and leaving the bike home.  Potential solo bike trip in the works for spring.

Food
Bird sanctuary photography (new 2X lens!)
Fishing
History
Local road trips.

Signed up for TX newsletters and are hitting up the vacation bureaus for ideas.  I like having lots of targets and then we have options based on weather conditions, energy levels and generally poking around.

Will keep you posted.

Nearby top fav restaurnats:

1. Ceviche Ceviche (South Padre Island)

2. Snoopy's Pier (Corpus Christi)

3. The Spot (Galveston)

4. Boiling Pot (Rockport)

5. Moby Dick's (Port Aransas)

6. Joe's Oyster Bar (Port Isabel)

7. Tookie's (Seabrook)

8. Louie's Backyard (South Padre)

9. Doc's Seafood and Steaks (Corpus Christi)

10. Gaido's (Galveston)

11. Irie's Island Food (Port Aransas)

 

Road trips

Hill Country road trip  

Year end message

Here I go again... at a loss to explain why I haven't posted in weeeks... months.   Just too much travel and not taking time to blog.   Although it has been fun.

5 weeks on the PCH (Pacific Coast Highway) in Sept and Oct was great fun.  learned much about those towns, growing weed and western USA mother nature.  We now have a (soong to be) Giant Sequoia growing in a planter in the living room...  Details in 200 years.

I'll come back and work on this topic as time permits.  I've been through the photo files one time and need to go back to find the second tier of good shots.

If you ever get the chance, this is a great way to spend a month (or two).

Jeff

30 minute job in two hours.

Good Grief!!

 

Almost a month ago I had taken the rear end of my bike apart, cleaned up the caliper, replaced the disk and put that much back together.

 

Finally this afternoon I figured I'd finish the job and bleed the brakes... but first... let's take the caliper off again and make sure I got grease inside the slides.   What could go wrong???

 

Reassembled the caliper and started putting things back in place... but the wheel/rotor/sprocket-side(which is floating on the axel... won't go up between the disk nor up into the swing arm.

 

After some cursing I found that the pad on the left was stuck not quite in place.  take it apaat and reassemble.  same problem... then I see the other pad had slipped down out of its holder.  It actually looks like there is a wide spot in the center of the caliper where you could install new pads without removing the caliper... fat chance...

 

Reset everything and kept my pinky stuck between the pads to hole them in place and insure first blood.   Then it all went back quickly.

 

I have the bike hanging from the rafters and was able to adjust the ratchet strap hangers so everything was at the same level and the axel slid right in.

 

Now I'm back to where I have been for a month and will try the bleed (oil, not human) tomorrow.

 

Happy day!

 

Jeff