Texas 2011-Day 12

A good post Tour de Padre Island sleep though the waves sound like a storm at night. Glad we're not in one of the three tents next door.

Up and off to town to restock. Great bargains at “1,000 Swimsuits for $25” store then to HEB for groceries and wine )three bottles of VERY passable Cabernet for $10). Back for lunch and long beachwalk.

Happy Hour here again (we six plus Joanna and Ivan from New Mexico). Loads of fun-the one evening where we ALL over-indulged and laughed a lot and loudly. Soup and grilled cheese for dinner ;-)

Last day on the beach tomorrow. Feeling a bit sad already. MUST catch a good photo of migration White Ibis flocks tomorrow!

Here are our People and Places photos and Texas Birds.

Texas 2011-Day 11

Yet another beautiful sunrise, so we decided we will stay until Monday. Why not? Great spot, great people.

Walked the beach after breakfast; less wind and fewer waves so lots of people fishing. There was a bulldozer there cleaning the seaweed from the beach (we later found out it was in anticipation of the weekend and the start of Spring Break).

Went up for the Beach Walk led by a sweet Park Ranger, Chelsea (a kayaker!). Not a lot to see on the beach but we DID see a Piping Plover and were excited after our experiences with the sweet bird in Newfoundland!

Lunch then a 15 km (yep..15 KILOMETERS!!!) bike ride to Bird Island Basin to watch the windsurfers (thought they'd all be young people but were mostly old farts like us!). Pooped and sore bums but wow.

Dinner and a quiet evening and early bedtime. We're amazed at the skies filled with hundreds of White Ibises. Beautiful.

We have really settled in to this place. We love the people, the beach and the sun (though my ears are burnt...my hair's too short!).

Here are our People and Places photos and Texas Birds.

Texas 2011-Day 10

A THREE EVENT day! This seems to be a trend.

It was a beautiful sunrise over the dunes just outside our dinette widow. Complete with heron on a beach hut. What a start to the day.

For Event 1, we took the free birdwatching tour with George and Mary, 75ish volunteers with great expertise. We saw 37 different birds in three hours; it was amazing.

Back for lunch and Event 2, a bike ride on the beach.

The six of us (we're now hard and fast friends) had happy hour and Nancy and Allan from New York State also joined us (they will be ten months on the road this year...heading to Alaska soon!).

After dinner, we headed up the beach for Event 3, a campfire. This was fun...great fire, lots of laughs and chatting including two “rounds” of questions:

1. If you could return to any time in your past life, when would it be?
2. If you could have lunch with anyone from your life who had died, who would it be?

Touching answers...a great evening...a great day!

Here are our People and Places photos and Texas Birds.

Texas 2011-Day 9

It was a short drive down the coast to the Padre Island National Seashore. We pulled into the only campground (other than those ON the beach) just as a 5^th wheel was leaving. SO we got THE best site and plan to be here for three nights. It's right on the beach...just some low sand dunes separate us from the beach and crashing waves. Amazing.

Denny from Ohio next door came over and introduced himself.

We had lunch and headed to the beach. Southward we saw many gulls and shorebirds. Northward, a gorgeous (but nasty, stinging) Portuguese Man-of-War jellyfish (turquoise...would make great but painful earrings).

Back at the site and Denny and his wife, Linda, had returned from shopping and we sat and chatted and had a beer. Brad and Marilyn from Hamilton next came over and friendships were developing! Lots of laughs and swapping of ideas (Denny and Linda have been on the road for about two months; Brad and Marilyn for about four).

A wonderful day on the beach!


Here are our People and Places and Texas Bird pictures.

Texas 2011-Day 8

Good sleep in a very quiet plce. You can hear the ocean beyond the dunes and see a small highway, but it's quiet and nice.


Up fairly early (will NEVER tell you how early we go to bed and how late we get up!) and breakfast. Love that we're on hydro so everything works, including the microwave. We're NOT boondocking (see there is an RV language) these days.


We went for a walk on the beach...great crashing waves. It was overcast and a little cool (okay, it was like 65 degrees) and we tried out the video camera (may try to embed that later).


Back and David did photo stuff while I lounged on our "gravity" recliner (we got two free from the RV place we bought from first and love them!). There are SO many pipers and gulls that we'll have to spend a lot of tme with the books identifying, so you may get un-named birds in our phot albums.


After lunch and a rest (yes, you rest when you're retired), we decided to ride the bikes on the beach. It was now about 80 degrees and It was so much fun. Would love to camp on the beach (there were a few tents) but not with the MH. We headed south first and saw more pipers and gulls and a heron posing just for us. Then north to a man-made jetty. Found THE best shell and saw two young guys surfing (there are som BIG waves here). Saw a good ole boy and gal poking around between the rocks on the jetty. When we asked what they were looking for, and after three or four requests for repetition (between drawl, missing teeth and cigarette between the lips), we discovered they were looking for shark's teeth.


I have the first winter tan I've had in about 30 years. We feel good and really love this part of the state. We're either staying here another day or moving further south on Padre Island to the National Seashore. 


Great day (especially after David had chatted with Kirk and learned that is was like 0 degrees in Peterborough)!

Texas 2011-Day 7

We woke to another glorious morning...sun, blue skies, pelicans flying overhead. Ahhh....


We packed up and headed south to Mustang Island. First was a stop in Rockport for supplies. Very much an RV Park and condo town on the coast. Lots of people around. Among other things, we bought several big fat steaks at HEB, as recommended yesterday. Further down the road to a ferry to Port Aransas. Looked like a VERY touristy and populated coastal town we avoided.


The last leg of the drive to Mustang Island State Park took us by many large homes, condos and resorts. Sadly, thanks to the economy here, I guess, not a HUGE population.


We're in a water and electrical site here with just the sand dunes between us and the Gulf. You can hear it and it's wonderful. Once settled, we headed for a walk on the beach (I got soaked!) and we look forward to more walks over the next couple of days. Nice to have electrical since we have a microwave AND air conditioning!


Big fat steaks for dinner and maybe another walk.


Pictures will have to wait; wireless is at the Park office and is a bit irregular. Hang in there.


PS to Heather and Ann, don't come here! First sign we saw was "Watch Out For Snakes"!

Texas 2011-Day 6

A perfect day: 64 degrees and sunny (not a cloud in the sky) and THREE events. Wow.


Our little Overflow Lot campers have stayed the same for these three days. One lovely couple is from Kansas and they say this is likely their last of many, many trips (she's turning 80 and he's 84 so I anticipate MANY more years for us!). The other is likely in their 70's and from Wisconsin and are like us in the sense that they prefer the less-travelled road with fewer RV parks and more adventure.


Anyway, Event 1 was when we discovered a hidden trail right beside our MH and took it this morning. It's along the seashore and we came upon a Roseate Spoonbill, White Ibis, some herons and too many shorebirds to identify yet. Amazing. The path led to a Millionaire's Row type waterfront subdivision that we learned is way over-priced and someone is likely to lose on his or her speculation.


After lunch was Event 2 when we took the bikes towards Big Tree, about two miles away. We heard that Whooping Cranes had been spotted there and we saw three. Maybe a once in a lifetime viewing. More birds followed then a visit to Big Tree: the oldest tree in Texas, a Live Oak, that is more than 1,000 years old and a gnarly mess.


On this ride, we met Catherine and James from Oklahoma who have land here and will come here full-time soon. They gave great advice on camping, steak buying, BBQ eating and other things. I love people.


Back to the campground, and I took a ride to where the "Kwit" (don't know the spelling yet) was seen. This is a rare bird sighting of a small Warbler- like bird from Belize. Birders eveywhere. The bird has been seen on the campsite of an eccentric guy from Mississauga we met yesterday. Sure enough, I saw the little birdy, visited the guy and he gave me a book. Nice.


Event 3 (for me; David was sorting photos) was a walk out to the end of the VERY long fishing pier. Loads fishing AND catching.


I am nicely sun and wind burned and very happy. We hear it's 30 degrees and snowing in Peterborough. Tee hee.


We will upload pictures tomorrow. David is making a new Texas Birds album so we can send both trip and bird picures soon.