Artist Mary Ruth Barnes and husband, Mike, spend four months a year as ‘Winter Texans’

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MaryRuthBarnes_Mike_rig_JulianneGCraneFour months each year, artist Mary Ruth Barnes and her husband, Mike, relax on the gulf coast of Texas in the small artist and fishing community of Rockport.

They travel to the coastal bend from their ranch in south-central Oklahoma with their 2014 38-foot Cedar Creek 5th wheel trailer (complete with fireplace, residential refrigerator, and washer and dryer).  Mike, a retired manufacturer’s rep for International Trucks, has no problem pulling their rig with a 2013 Dodge Dually 3500 with Longhorn package.

“We love the fishing and the warmer winter weather in south Texas and we love making new friends with other snowbirds like us,” says Mary Ruth. “It connects us with our peers and keeps us healthy and vibrant to have good activities and conversations with people who like to travel like we do.”

MaryRuthBarnes_apron_JulianneGCraneOne activity that Mary Ruth enjoys is painting in her outdoor artist studio setup on their RV site’s patio.

To read more about Mary Ruth Barnes and see more of her paintings, click here for a profile of her on Women RVers blog.

“Change has been the only constant in my life,” says the award-winning artist. “After eleven corporate moves in our first 21 years of marriage and living in 13 different states, we find that change is healthy and keeps us up with our America and the people we have met across this great nation, We love our RV. It creates a new picture in life, every time we hook up and go down the road.”

— Text and photos by Julianne G. Crane

Photos: (Top) Mary Ruth and Mike Barnes, have been RVing most of their 43 years of marriage.  (Bottom) “Loksi”- Long life. This piece will be in the juried show at the Artesian Market Days in Sulphur, Oklahoma, the last weekend in May 2017. 

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