We certainly are pleased to be wearing our Horns T-shirts and Ball Caps these days (although not, I confess, in this New Year's Day photo taken on Padre Island), as well as sporting the Horns decal on the back of the van! And don't you love their Team Color?
When in Texas...next thing you know, we'll have a Texas shaped trailer hitch on the back of the van as well! After all, we've been here for almost a month! As I write this, on Sunday morning, we are in Houston - or rather, north of Houston - after visiting with (another) of Kevin's long lost High School friends...Chris Harris. Chris was Kevin's roommate for two years at Berkshire, so they had a lot to catch up on, thirty-two years later. It was a fun evening. Chris lives in a pretty neighborhood, near Rice University, where the Live Oaks provide the major characteristic of the StreetScape. What wonderful trees! Low, sweeping branches, in full leaf, lining the sidewalks in stately rows. Here it is, weather in the mid-70s, trees in full leaf overhead, must be summer...can't beat it.
But as usual, I am getting ahead of myself. We were last seen in San Antonio and we've had a few adventures since our new year started in Texas. We left John on Thursday the 29th to head to Padre Island for the New Year's weekend. First stop - Choke Island State Park, near Three Rivers - huge, huge refinery there in Three Rivers. We got a late start, so we didn't get to the park until after Dark. And lo and behold, after we set up and wonder just where the heck we are and what it will look like in the morning - we find out that the Park is without water. So, no shower. And, well, no water for anything, if you get my drift. Not a funny situation pour moi, that is for sure. We make "certain" arrangements and somehow it works, but I really am not "that Kind of Camper". The next morning, in the sunlight, we see what a lovely park it is and find out that their water supply tank or something had gone up and they would not have water for days! We were glad we were headed onward, despite the view!
Padre Island National Seashore is a really, really great place to spend the New Year holiday. It is one of those awesome places that rank right up there in the top five. We will be back. Our first two nights we managed to get a nice site, Gulf-side, within the National Park's developed campground, which offers Flush Toilets (YAY!) and cold showers as their sole (man-made) amenities. No problem! We are there. And it was really so wonderful - we just had a short hike over the Dune to get to the Gulf Beach - and only had a short hike after that to get to a totally deserted stretch for some major Ball Time for the Ruby. We wore her out Big Time. We took some long walks ourselves, including a "Ranger" walk, where we were educated a bit on the Life and Times of Padre Island and the Gulf. We considered staying a third night...but...one of the Biggest Bad things about being in a non-electric campground such as this is that some campers really need to have more than Battery Power. And to get this, they run generators...and we had a neighbor on one side who ran his very loud generator quite a lot - mostly from about 6 to 10 PM, but other times as well. And directly next to us, another Generator Guy, who didn't run his as often or as long, but right next to us made for a noisy neighbor. During the day, who cared, we weren't there anyway. But in the evening, it sucked. By New Year's Day I was crazed. We decided to leave the developed camping area and check out the Beach. What a good move that was - you can drive for over 60 miles along the Gulf right on the Beach of Padre Island - and the first five of that is okay for regular vehicles, no four-wheel drive needed. So we headed out. Wow! Next thing we knew, we had a campsite 20 feet from the High-tide mark. Our nearest neighbor was hundreds of yards away. They could use their generator all they wanted. Of course, there were NO amenities out here, but by this time #1 who cares and #2 we were pros. *see Choke Canyon experience. It was the Best. And on the Beach, it's Free! Your tax dollars at work in the finest way. We can't wait to do it again, for a week or something next time.
Birds of the Gulf Coast we have seen - of course the Whooping Crane (from a distance only, with binoculars) on Aransas National Wildlife Refuge was one of the highlights, but the Crested Caracara was pretty cool, and I loved watching that Long Billed Curlew work the sand along the shore line. The Royal Terns were fun - sort of a Groucho Mark look about them. And many, many Great Blue Herons, always hunting.
We left Padre Island on Monday, but we still couldn't leave the Gulf. So, we headed north a little ways, and did one more night of Beach Camping, this time at Mustang Island State Park. This was almost as good as Padre except we could go to the Main Campground for a Hot (hot!) shower, and they had conviently located Porta Pottis along the Beach. What more could you want? That first hot shower, after 4 days of cold only, was a Happy New Year!
But time to move on. We pick up our mail on Tuesday at the Main P.O. in Corpus Christi - where my brother has sent us selected items via the General Delivery address - and start to head toward Houston, traveling once more from State Park to State Park. We are becoming very well acquainted with the Texas State Parks, and since leaving the Hill Country, they are all right. We expecially liked Goose Island - which is near Aransas - for it's two-toned campground: you can choose either Bay or Woods. We actually did a night of each there! and it seemed like two entirely different State Parks.
Did you know they have alligators in Texas? I think we saw our biggest in Aransas. And also - the six rulers of Texas Quiz - France, Spain, Mexico, Texas, the Conferacy and finally the USA. But you see plenty of bumper stickers advocating succession.
Our new favorite grocery store is the H-E-B chain here in Texas. Their main attraction - aside from what's inside - is that every store looks different from the outside! What a concept! No cookie cutter architecture for them. I keep trying to remember to take a picture or two but I never get to it - I'll try harder. They are great stores. And it's H-E-B - not Heb. "Here Everything's Better". Oh boy.
Okay, on with the photos. Hook 'em Horns!
