Texas State Parks - Sheltering in Place During an Ice Storm

We find ourselves with some unexpected time on our hands as we hunker down in Pedernales State Park (west of Austin) for a winter storm in central Texas.

We were supposed to have left yesterday. The original plan was to drive about 100 miles north-ish to take a hike to Gorman’s falls at Colorado Bend State Park, then to continue another 100 miles north to Dinosaur Valley State Park (southwest of Fort Worth) to wade into the Paluxy River to see dinosaur footprints.

We started out yesterday morning, barely left Pedernales Park, and saw the ice already accumulating on the trees. After thinking about it a bit, we turned around and came back to stay safe at the campground.

So, I figured given the circumstances, I would do a post on the four Texas State Parks we have stayed at.

But as I started to go through my pictures, I realized I will need to do a separate post on each park, given the number of pictures I want to include.

So this post is just about the ice storm at Pedernales State Park. And these may seem like a lot of pictures, but I brutally cut the number down from all the ones I wanted to post.

Fun Fact 1: This storm has a name - Mara

Fun Fact 2: Yesterday wasn’t a good day to go hiking or wading anyway.

Koolulam at San Antonio Congregation Rodfei Sholom

Sometimes it’s all about being in the right place at the right time.

Today we attended a Koolulam Sing Along? Concert? Performance? (They call themselves a Social-Musical Initiative) in San Antonio at Congregation Rodfei Sholom where we were for shabbos.

This one stars Bob!.

Terrific community at Rodfei Sholom. We had a great time over shabbos. But this post is about Koolulam.

To subscribe to this blog please send a request to parentaltravels@gmail.com

Severe Storms Warning and Severe Storm, Also Riptides

Yesterday morning, Tuesday (we have to keep reminding ourselves what day of the week it is) we got an email alert from the Reserve Alabama Park web site:

noreply@reservealapark.com <noreply@reservealapark.com> 

Tue, Jan 3, 2023 at 8:01 AM

Dear Alabama State Park Camper:

Please be weather aware throughout the day today and into the morning tomorrow, Tuesday, January 3, 2023 and Wednesday, January 4, 2023. Severe storms are possible including flooding, damaging winds, and tornadoes. Heavy rainfall could cause flash flooding.

Be sure you have a plan to shelter in a safe place in the case of inclement weather. Please also be sure to have a source where you can hear weather warnings (do not rely on outdoor sirens), and we recommend enabling emergency updates on your mobile phone.

If you have any questions about local shelters or specific radio/television stations to follow, please contact the park/campground office.

Getting a message like this is always a little alarming, especially because we were camping in the parking lot of the Bass Pro Shop in Mobile, and no longer in the fabulous Gulf State Park where we had been the two nights before. Therefore the advice to "please contact the park/campground office” was not helpful. But all turned out OK. Fortunately, the storm was just full of sound and fury, but did not signify tornados.

Here’s more evidence of the sometimes alarming weather in this part of the country.

Leaving Gulf State Park, we drove to the end of a barrier island to catch the ferry (another cruise!) across Mobile Bay to Dauphin Island. This warning sign was on the road to the ferry:

Yes, that is correct. There are sometimes rip tides on the road! You don’t only need to worry about rip tides when swimming, but also when driving!

More info is needed. If caught in a rip tide while driving, I'm not sure if you need to drive parallel to shore and across the current to escape it.

This is the road where the riptides sign was. To be fair, this barrier island is barely above sea level and it wouldn't take much of a storm to flood it or send waves pouring over it and I guess even form a riptide. 

These are also the first places evacuated in case a storm is expected. You see evacuation route signs all over these coastal areas. Much of this area was totally flattened by Hurricane Michael in October 2018.

Caribbean Cruise - Sunsets with the Occasional Sunrise

We got back from our Caribbean cruise 3 weeks ago. It’s about time I posted about it!

This post is just for sunrise/sunset pictures. Little needs to be said other than that there were a lot more photos that I could have included.

Since we got back from our cruise, we have been puttering around in Florida. We are heading to Alabama today.

Wishing everyone a year of beautiful sunrise and sunsets!

Caribbean Cruise - Drum Band

Another day in paradise...

Here we are in Antigua 10 days into our 14 day Caribbean Cruise!

I wasn't planning to post until we got home (ie, back to Our V) but we are standing here waiting for our jeep tour to start and we have wifi. So, I'll try doing this post on my phone. (I edited this post on my laptop when we got back)

One of my hopes for this trip was to hear a steel drum band.

This morning when we docked in Antigua, the giant Celebrity Millenium was parked one dock over from us. They had set up a steel drum band on their dock to greet their passengers as they streamed out of the ship. (Had our ship set one up also, we could have had a battle of the bands...)

Celebrity Ship Band

We sat and watched and listened to them for a while from our balcony. (So glad we got the balcony.) They were not very good.

Some background on me here. When I was a kid, I commuted daily to high school from Washington Heights to Columbus Circle, Manhattan, by subway.

On occasion, there was this big black guy who would go from car to car playing a big steel drum and passing his cup. (I have loved steel drum music ever since.)

He would start with the schpiel, "You have nothing to worry about when I am here; I will keep you safe."

One day he showed up without his drum.  It had been stolen

Anyway, he was much better than those Celebrity guys.

Back to Aruba. Later, we wandered into the downtown area and heard a really good steel drum band. So I am happy.

Town Band

This guy was dancing to Town Band, or to music which was only playing in his head; It wasn't clear.

Fun Fact #1 - The Cerebral Palsy Lady would also come collecting car to car on the #1 train

Fun Fact #2 - Freshman year I commuted with Esther E. because my mother thought I would be safer than by myself but how she thought 14 year old Ester E. would protect me or vice versa, I have no clue.

We're Off On a Caribbean Cruise!

We interrupt our regularly scheduled (actually, not very well scheduled) road trip for a 2 week cruise vacation! 

Expect lots of pictures! 

Meanwhile an update on my last post, Not in NJ Anymore. This is how Wolff's kasha us marketed in Wynn Dixie

and we have seen manatees and alligators! 

This manatee was seen from our clear kayak at Silver Springs State Park, FL.

Here is sighting of my feet!

Turning off mobile data now guys. Bye!

Top 10 Ways to Know You Are No Longer in NJ

1. Bales of Cotton in Fields 

Photo taken in SC

2. Alligator Warning Signs 

Photos taken in SC and FL

3. Spanish Moss - not Spanish, and not moss. (Actually, a bromeliad) 

Photo taken in Santee State Park, SC

4. Live Oaks 

These trees are spectacularly majestic. The name Live Oak comes from the fact that the trees stay green throughout the winter when other oak trees look dead. (I originally thought it was because they are loaded with tons, literally, of live growing plants. Like Resurrection Ferns. And Spanish Moss.)

Photos of Live Oaks taken in Savannah, GA

5. Camellias and Azaleas Blooming at the End of November

Photos taken in Savannah, GA

6. Welcome to Florida Signs

Take a wild guess where this photos was taken

7. Palm Trees

Photos taken in Paynes Praire State Park, FL

8. Actual Alligators (haven’t seen any yet, but stay tuned)

9. Manatees (haven’t seen any yet, but we are hopeful)

10. If You Want to See Snow, you Need to Check Your Ring Doorbell Back Home. (Or look at pictures from Buffalo)

Photo taken by Ring Doorbell in NJ. Downloaded in GA.

Prayer for the Traveler - What Happened to the Robbers and Wild Animals?

We Are Off on Our Next Adventure!

Every time we start on one of our trips, whoever is not driving always reads the "Prayer for the Traveler" (Tefilat HaDerech) soon after starting out. (Or as soon as we remember, which is when we see an accident, or someone cuts us off, etc.) Or on takeoff, for those kinds of trips.

This is a prayer we always say with a lot of Kavanah (very sincerely).

I have a card with a printout of this prayer in my pocketbook, but on our last trip, my pocketbook was locked up. So I figured it would be easier to just read Tefilat HaDerech from the Siddur (Prayerbook) app on my phone. Which I did.

But Bob and I immediately realized something was very wrong with the wording!

This is a translation of the defective text from the app:

May it be Your will, G d, our G d and the G d of our fathers, that You should lead us in peace and direct our steps in peace, and guide us in peace, and support us in peace, and cause us to reach our destination in life, joy, and peace (If one intends to return the same day, one adds: and return us in peace). Save us from every enemy and ambush and may You confer blessing upon the work of our hands and grant us grace, kindness, and mercy in Your eyes and in the eyes of all who see us and listen to the voice of our prayer. For You hear the prayers of all. Blessed are You G d, who hears prayer.

What happened to the Robbers and Wild Animals? And Pooraniyot*?

Protection is generally asked for these in Tefilat HaDerech. Given the types of trips we take, we definitely need it!

Try my phone, said Bob. But his read same as mine. Duh - he had recommended the app I used.

Then I remembered I had downloaded a printout of Tefilat HaDerech. Checked my downloads folder, and there it was!

I read it out loud, and whew, now we were covered!

Here is the version of Tefilat HaDerech we use -

יְהִי רָצוֹן מִלְפָנֶיךָ יְ-יָ אֱ-לֹהֵינוּ וֵא-לֹהֵי אֲבוֹתֵינוּ. שֶׁתּוֹלִיכֵנוּ לְשָׁלוֹם. וְתַצְעִידֵנוּ לְשָׁלוֹם. וְתַדְרִיכֵנוּ לְשָׁלוֹם. וְתִסְמְכֵנוּ לְשָׁלוֹם. וְתַגִּיעֵנוּ לִמְחוֹז חֶפְצֵנוּ לְחַיִּים וּלְשִׂמְחָה וּלְשָׁלוֹם. (ואם דעתו לחזור מיד אומר: וְתַחֲזִירֵנוּ לְשָׁלוֹם). וְתַצִילֵנוּ מִכַּף כָּל-אוֹיֵב וְאוֹרֵב וְלִסְטִים וְחַיּוֹת רָעוֹת בַּדֶּרֶך. וּמִכָּל פֻּרְעָנִיּוֹת הַמִּתְרַגְּשׁוֹת וּבָאוֹת לָעוֹלָם. וְתִשְׁלַח בְּרָכָה בְּכָל מַעֲשֵׂה יָדֵינוּ. וְתִתְּנֵנִוּּ לְחֵן וּלְחֶסֶד וּלְרַחֲמִים בְּעֵינֶיךָ וּבְעֵינֵי כָל רוֹאֵינוּ. וְתִגְמְלֵנוּ חֲסָדִים טוֹבִים. וְתִשְׁמַע קוֹל תְּפִלָּתֵינוּ. כִּי אַתָּה שׁוֹמֵעַ תְּפִלַת כָּל פֶּה: בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה יְ-יָ שׁוֹמֵעַ תְּפִלָה:

Bolded words translated as:

Save us from every enemy and ambush, from robbers and wild beasts on the trip, and from all kinds of punishments that rage and come to the world. 

*This wording of “all types of punishments that rage to come to the world ” (in other translations given as “all manner of punishments that assemble to come to earth”) is a translation for the words פֻּרְעָנֻיּוֹת and הַמִּתְרַגְּשׁוֹת לָבוֹא לָעוֹלָם

Google translate defines the word פֻּרְעָנִיּוֹת as Atrocities. I translate the phrase as “all of the bad stuff”.

We got a very late start yesterday (Wednesday)...

This was one of the weirder things we have ever seen driving on the road...

It was a long slog down I95...

Our home for the night. Santee State Park, Lakeshore Campground, SC

Hope to be in Savannah for Shabbos!

Preparing ...

In preparation for our upcoming trip, Bob bought a new pair of Lowa Renegade hiking boots to replace his 8 year old Lowa Renegade hiking boots.

Had this tread been on our tires, we would have had a blowout a long time ago.

We’ll be heading out in a little over a week!

I wonder how many hundreds of miles these old boots logged?