How South Can We Go?

Day 23 – Dec 29

(D) The beach stretches forever and is wonderful.  In the summer it would be great.  The wind at this time provides great resistance training.  So after our walk/run we check out Port Aransas and Aransas Pass.  Lunch is at the highly recommended Kody’s where Ian samples their oyster sandwich and I, the shrimp sandwich.  Excellent food at a minimum cost.  We spend over an hour watching dolphins and pelicans at the island point then take the ferry to Aransas Pass to pick up groceries and gas.  There is only one small grocery store on the entire island and it doesn’t look great.  The ferry is also lots of fun as we get to dolphin watch.

Day 24 – Dec 30

(D) We start the day with a walk/run on the beach decked out in hats & gloves but today is sunny.  Then off to check out Padre Island National Seashore Park which stretches for 70 miles down the coast, is over 130,000 acres of undeveloped beach and winter home to migrating birds.  Beaches in Texas are part of the transportation system. The only way to see most of the park is by driving on the beach, so we go for a spin.  One can camp anywhere along the beach but we will not be towing the rig onto the sand. If you get stuck, it can cost hundreds or thousands for the local tow company to get you out and anyway, the rig is too pretty to subject it to salt and sand whipped about in 30 to 50 K winds. Then off to check out more dolphins. 

Day 25 – Dec 31

(D&I) Today we start the day looking after the truck with an oil change in Corpus Christi.  $58 for an oil change, tire rotation and check the brakes – this is a better price than we get in Canada.  We follow that with a quick trip into Best Buy for some TV remote batteries and then we check out the USS Lexington, a WWII aircraft carrier that is permanently anchored (actually, the hull is buried in 16’ of sand) in Corpus Christi.  Interesting tour.  Then time for a rest so that we can stay awake for the Pioneer New Year’s Eve Party.  We are seated with the staff which works out well as they are sociable and easy.  Ian and I spend the evening dancing to a lot of country and Texas 2 step. ( We’re treated to an awesome spectacle when the band starts a number I don’t recognize  and three people get up and start a line dance. Within a minute there are five rows of over twenty people all doing the same moves – moms, dads, kids and grandparents; they’re all kicking and swaying in step.) We have fun and are actually awake at midnight.

Day 26 – Jan 1^st, 2013

(D) Another cool and cloudy day.  The only entertainment open is the Texas State Aquarium so off we go to Corpus Christi  again.  The aquarium turns out to be great, the only problem is that I have dressed for an inside building to discover that more than half of the exhibits are outside.  Makes sense in a climate that is hot most of the year.  For $99.00 you can buy a private session to feed and play with the 2 dolphins.  We watch Mother and daughter for over half an hour and chat with an educational guide who is ensuring that the public stays out.  It looks like a great present for a grandchild but we realize by the time we have any grandchildren old enough, we will be too old to make the trip.  We do not feel a need to stay for the dolphin show which follows as we had a great show watching the young girl.  

Day 27 – Jan 2

(I) I’m going to start today by saying that the weather is finally getting to me. We’ve had weeks of gray skies, rain, 40º F temperatures, more gray skies and clouds – when the skies are not uniformly gray. I’m pissed.

Now I’m not pissed. Oh the weather’s still rainy and cold but we’ve had a good day. Drove back to Corpus Cristi and went to the South Texas Museum of Art – an absolutely beautiful building of stone and blended concrete on the seawall with a small but enjoyable collection of paintings and sculptures.  We followed that with lunch at Landry’s and they were good enough to let us eat cheap. They belong to a large chain that charges you $25 for a Landry’s card and immediately gives you $25 in credit the first time you use it. Plus you get a $25 bonus if it’s your birthday month. Since we decided my birthday was in January, we were able to double up. We then hunted down the Water Street Market which wasn’t doing much in the rain but Ian found a small gallery of local artists and bought a metal fish. (I think I want to buy a plasma cutter.)

Day 28 – Jan 3

Royal Terns

(D) Another walk/run on the beach in cool, cloudy, windy weather.  We head out to find track pants for Ian to run in as it is just too cold for his running shorts.  The highlight of the week is the 2 hour Birding Tour at the Padre Island Seashore National Park.  A couple from Missouri volunteer for the winter and stay at the park. Twice a day they take up to 4 people in the park van for a free birding tour.  Ian sits up front to take pictures and I am in the back with the wife.  Another couple of birders from Kansas in the middle.  The 2 guides are a wealth of information and we are thoroughly entertained.  Often eager birders can seem a little strange but this couple are terrific. Finally we can put some names to those innumerable shorebirds and gulls and we get our first sighting of two caracaras. We are planning on returning to Port Aransas on the way back north and will most likely do the tour again to see and learn more. 

Day 29 – Jan 4

(I) We leave Port Aransas in dull, cloudy weather and move on to the most southern part of Texas -  Port Isabel & South Padre Island in dull, cloudy, cold & rainy windy weather. We’re camping for a week at Isla Blanca Park the county campground which is right beside a beautiful beach – if you can stand the wind and rain.

Setting up we discover that the rear stabilizers no longer work; they seemed to be jammed. The motor won’t move them and the manual crank has stripped the rusty nubs from the crankshaft. I get even wetter & colder lying on my back trying to free them. Nothing works so we make a trip to WalMart (the only large store in Port Isabel) to buy jacks to take their place. Ian’s RV rule #1: Nothing bad happens in good weather.  Once again we are pleased that we got an early start and arrived in mid afternoon which provided lots of time to get parked in the rain and sort out the problem.

Day 30 – Jan. 5

(D) In the cold, wind but not in the rain we walk along South Padre beach, the point to Laguna Madre and around the park.  After breakfast, our standard of yogurt and fresh fruit which actually tastes like fresh fruit we head out to drive as far as the road goes on South Padre.  South Padre Island is much more developed than Padre Island and Port Aransas.  Here the hotels and condo’s are high rises along the beach strip, with many restaurants and beach stores.  As we drive out of the strip area the dunes take over, not just the landscape but the road as well - until the 2 lane road becomes one lane.   Most of Padre Island is a national park, but South Padre Island, other than a very large section of county park and RV Park, is private.  For half a mil, you can buy a beach lot with no services.  It doesn’t seem like a great investment to us but our views are coloured by grey, wind and cold.  Everyone tells us this is unusual and the brochures all say this is paradise.  Investments were never a strong point for either of us.  Our new hydraulic jacks are not holding the pressure so off to Walmart again to exchange them for scissor jacks.  This provides the opportunity to stop by Los Tortugo’s Seafood Market and purchase fresh shrimp for dinner.  What a difference fresh makes.

Day 31 – Jan 6

(D) Finally, a little warmth and a hint of sunshine.  For our walk/run we are still bundled in hats, gloves, fleece and rain jackets but as we return with the wind at our backs we take off the gloves, and unzip the jackets.  We check out the Farmer’s Market where we buy homemade nacho chips which are excellent.  Next stop is Port Isabel to wander their flea market.  So far the Texas flea market are pretty junky.  Lunch is at tripadvisor’s #1 restaurant, Joe’s Oyster Bar, a family owned small spot with great food and even better prices.  We inquire about ceviche, which is raw fish in lime juice.  I am not ready to order it so instead have Joe’s special - grilled shrimp, fish & great crab cake.  Ian has seafood special with oysters, shrimp, fish & crab cake.  Our waiter brings us a sample of ceviche which we both love.  We spend the rest of the afternoon wandering around the wharf area and enjoying the hint of sun and blue skies.  As the afternoon ends the skies become blue and the sun shines.  There is hope yet.  We are now up to a balmy 55 degrees F.