Crises averted

 Car all rigged to tow.  Engine turned off.  Transmission in neutral.  Pop the hood release from inside the car.  Shut the doors.  Open the hood.  Throw the battery disconnect switch.  Drop the hood.  We’re good. Problem. The car doors are locked.  I don’t know why they’re locked; they’re never locked when we tow; but this time they’re locked.   I pull out the fob. It does nothing.  I can’t unlock the doors.  The battery is disconnected.  The front doors, the side doors, the rear door, nothing is going to work without the battery connected.  The only way to open the hood and reconnect the battery is to open the car door and pull the hood latch.  But I can’t open the car door because the door is locked.  All I have is a digital fob with buttons to push.  I’m going in circles… Finally. The aha moment. The digital fob has buttons to lock and unlock doors, make the sliding side doors open and close, and open and close the rear door.  None of them work because the battery in the car is disconnected.  But there is one more button on the fob.  Push that button and the fob separates.  Cleverly hidden inside the fob is an emergency key.  Who would ever need anything so primitive as an actual physical key? Me.  Thank you Chrysler.  The key worked.  The door opened.  The hood opened.  The battery reconnected.  And the car alarm didn’t even sound! Crisis averted. We’re home, safe and sound. 

Wednesday

 Lunch at Juan’s.  It was packed, as usual. Now THAT is a shrimp cocktail!  Poor Judy had to make do with crummy fajitas again. We didn’t see Juan while we were there, but we did get to catch-up with his oldest son Guadalupe.  They opened a second restaurant in Aransas Pass a couple years ago.  They’ve just now opened another! A doctor’s visit in the afternoon for the cast-off. And in place of the cast…  A removable splint! She gets to take the splint off when we’re around the house and her hand is safe.  I think rehab should consist of shoulder rubs for me, but the doctor says no, not yet.  For now, she practices touching her thumb to each finger in turn.  That’s it.  Range of motion rehab only for the next six weeks.  (None of her fingers reaches her thumb at all yet.) Met up with Miguel and John for dinner at a pizza brew pub in Corpus.  Stopped by Gulf Waters and interrupted Tom and Gloria-Ann’s dinner for a quick visit. It’s all good.  

Port Aransas

 This new RV Park has people in it. And it’s nice. But there aren’t many people out back where we are. Got to visit Paradise Pond and the Birding Center today.  Picked up bird number 400, the Philadelphia vireo.  We made it to 400 species for the year.  Guess we’re done. Then we got 401, willow flycatcher, and 402, yellow-bellied flycatcher. We’re done.  Unless… Our all-time record for species in a year is 407 in 2012.  It’s only September.  I wonder… 

Texas RV Supply to Port Aransas

  New transmission pump installed in the Chrysler, we head south. 2016 San Antonio Map A new RV Park in Port Aransas to try; coincidentally named Port A RV Park.  (It’s so new, it doesn’t even show up as RV sites yet on the google earth map.)  It’s right next door to the South Entrance to Charlie’s Pasture.It’s an excellent trail.  You can zoom in on it and follow it on the map.  It’s mostly boardwalks across the shallows. With a birding tower halfway out.   Made it just in time for an evening walk.