BBB Day 8

March 3

Hiked and biked 8.4 miles

 

Yes, a sunny start and temperatures which rose all the way to the 70’s today. Hooray!

 

We left Cameron, LA early, took the ferry and the coastal drive towards Texas. There are 5 or 6 beach communities which were obviously wiped out by Rita and Ike and about 50% were rebuilt. But WAY higher on stilts. Still a lot of trailers around.

 

At one place, the Exxon gas station, well what was once a station, had gas priced at $2.29 a gallon!

 

We noticed a lot of hawks on the hydro poles; there seemed to be one every 5 poles. Again, no natural perches, so whatever works!

 

As we headed to the Sabine Pass, the tools of the trade of the oil business were very evident. We crossed the bridge in to Texas and arrived at 8:40.

 

In Winnie, there were two great signs:

• “Do not spit in sink” at the coffee station (I decided not to buy us a coffee)
• “Redneck Riviera RV Park”

We headed south to the Bolivar Peninsula along the Gulf. Here, again, evidence of Ike, but many new developments along the beach. It’s like developers bought up the land after the storm for cheap) and started to build.

 

We boarded the ferry to Galveston Island and saw a few ships: one old:

 

 

…and a couple new (though none were the “Triumph”):

 

 

The Seawall Boulevard of Galveston is all hotels and souvenir shops and restaurants and a Midway on the pier. It was quiet today, but can you imagine next week and Spring Break?

 

 

We got to Galveston Island State Park and bought the $70 yearly pass. This means you don’t pay the Day Fees for any park (here they are $5.00 per person) AND gets you half price on four nights. We’ve already got back $32.50 in savings from our investment. We’d recommend this to campers in Texas.

 

FINALLY we walked the beach (note ballcap vs. toque and light top vs. down coat!):

 

 

And were welcomed by shorebirds and gulls:

 

 

Other flying objects seen were a replica RAF plane:

 

 

…and our resident hawk hunting by our campsite (#24):

 

 

We rode our biked and chatted with some park Rangers and learned that 3/4 of the campsites in the area we’re on were lost after Ike. So sad.

 

We’re happy to be here, in the sun and on the ocean. Tomorrow is to be even warmer than today. Yippee!

 

Here’s the view from my chair (really). The fence is to keep us of the dunes. If you squint, you can see the ocean: