Our last days in Port A, March 24 - 27

We're trying to pack things in now that we have wanted to do while here. I biked to Aransas Pass, 7 miles, after the ferry, picked up some groceries and checked out the town while Gerry golfed on Sunday.

Monday we biked over on the ferry and met Hector from Coastal Bend Kayaks, at the Lighthouse Trail Park to rent kayaks. He brought all the gear and maps and planned a "float trip" for us. We kayaked up the Lydia Ann Channel, watched a big tanker heading out to sea, then in thru the mangroves. There are many waterways thru the mangroves, coming out into small lakes, with markers here and there to guide the way. Had our lunch on a duck blind, nowhere else to stop as its all muck! Great sunny, calm day for Texas. Wonderful to be out on the water again, in with all the birds and butterflies.

The weather turned very warm all of a sudden about 10 days ago, has been 90 degrees many days, using A/C now, often at night...quite a change from the cold winds when we first arrived.
Today we cleaned up, packed up, and then took one last bike ride to the beach for a dip to cool off, ahh. Tomorrow we are on the road again, starting our way north and east.

boats in the channel from bridge

Lydia Ann Lighthouse (private)

Lunch on the duck blind

USS Lexington Museum, Corpus Christi

beach fashion, 2nd from left. My bro Ryan started this trend 30 yrs ago!

the Barber chair in the ship

the dentist chair 

Gerry toured the Lexington, a navy ship decommissioned in 1991, which played a major role in the Pacific in WWII. I walked the beach and people watched....

Port Aransas, mid-March

Well, I have not put any posts up here for awhile as my computer was being used by Gerry, since his calved almost as we arrived here. Has got new motherboard and new hard drive, thanks to the excellent Paradise Computer, 1 block away. So I only had the iPad to use, which is more difficult to blog on, so was avoided...

Gerry has golfed several times, with Dick from Michigan, James who was next to us for a weekend, and just biking out on his own to meet up with whomever else was there. He has also been fishing a few times, and his best day was with Bob from Minnesota, who took Gerry out surf fishing down the beach from the town. Gerry caught 2 whiting and just as they were packing up, a nice pompano. All were delicious, and he had mucho fun, so he is hooked for getting better set up next year. James came back again, and his wife Marcella joined us for dinner after. They live in Sinton, about 40 miles north of here and are into growing organic food since their son was diagnosed with are rare stomach condition several years ago. He does the research, tells them what they need to know and they follow suit, he is very healthy now. So there was much discussion and sharing of info about healthy living. We've made plans to meet them next year. James brought Gerry some "micron magnets" to attach to the oil filter & transmission oil pan, which attract the micron particles so that they don't circulate in the motor..., amazing!

pompano

whiting

We've been hanging out with Jack & Karin from Oklahoma, they took us to the National Seashore for a long beach walk, then to lunch in Corpus Christi one day. Then we all went out to Bernie's Beach House on Wed night to dance to the PA Rockers, a group of winter Texans who play 50's and 60's music. What a hoot! Everyone was up dancing, great music, great singers and the band is really into it! We met others from our park, people from Ontario, Maine, etc.

We also rented a car for a weekend, $9.99/day! Went across the little 5 min ferry to Rockport & Fulton and to Corpus Christi one day.

One of the large ships going thru the channel at Port A to Corpus Christi

Live bait for fishing

a pretty eel in the aquarium in Rockport

alligators at the National Wildlife Refuge

We've also attended 2 pot lucks in the park, great food! Starts at 5 and we are home by 6:15, unless you are staying to play Mexican Dominos! On Sat night there was an appreciation dinner and dance put on by the management. Brisket, beans and salads, tons of food, all very good. The music was a DJ who comes several times each winter to this park, and lip syncs to all the music, he's very good and the choice of tunes is great. Everyone got up dancing to everything and he kicked us out at 9:30 with "Take your drunken ass home" (Big Al Carson) "if you don't know what to do with yourself, take your drunken ass home"...! 

Spring break

Well its spring break here and we have noticed the change in traffic, in our little town. Now biking on the streets is treacherous, what with all the golf carts on the roads, half tons with people in the back (yes, this is Texas, those things are still legal!), and lots of families.
We took 2 bike rides on the beach, one almost to the end, to go any further you need a 4 wheel drive. That was treacherous also, on the return trip on a hot Tuesday. There was quite a traffic jam, with cars, mostly trucks, and college kids all over. Let me try to paint a picture for you, then you can look at the pictures below.

There is the water, then people doing the usual beach things on the beach, then there are posts to stop the vehicles from going closer to the beach, then there are the vehicles parked straight in, as I said, mostly trucks, then there are about 10 feet of sand, then the road (sand), wide enough for about 3 lanes, then more sand and in some places next to that are RV's or trailers or tents set up, then the sand dunes. Where the vehicles are parked, many have all 4 doors open, with music blaring, people may be in, on top or in the back or around the "truck", drinking beer, playing football catch, modelling their bikinis, or yelling at those across the road that are modelling their bikinis. Then on the road is a constant stream, going both ways, of mostly trucks, loaded with girls "modelling" bikinis, or guys blaring music or looking at the modelling of bikinis.....does that give you the impression? It reminded me of when someone got their first car and they had to drive it up and down main street to show it off, like a parade....
Some "trucks" had things painted on them like, "honk if you are horny", "tit police", and such...hmmm, but they are all having alot of fun, mostly. The police are very present, Gerry saw them making some people dump out large vats of beer on the ground...did I bring too much, Officer ?

beach before break

during break

someone brought their blow-up doll

a truck being stopped by police

Gerry's birthday & other

Was in such a rush to publish my last post, after neighbors dropped in, I forgot to mention Gerry's birthday, March 5. His last two birthdays, we had parties, as we were in BC & then Halifax, where we had friends and family, but this year, we had only arrived here 5 days earlier and so spent a quiet day and went out for dinner at a nice restaurant, Shells. The food was amazing and huge quantities, we had enough gumbo left over to start a big soup a few days later.

Asian Shitake Beet Salad, Beans & Rice

a sand castle compound

A Black and white warbler, at the Birding Center

We've been reading "Eat to Live" and using the wonderful recipes, and Gerry has lost 15 pounds so far! One day while he was standing at the sink his pants literally fell down to his ankles...no belt, mind you. But he is doing great and we are both enjoying the flavors and new combinations of food. 

Port Aransas, TX March 1 - 7

Our first week in Port Aransas, Port A everyone calls it, on Mustang Island, or could be called North Padre Island, as it is the same beach, just divided by a channel at Corpus Christi. Port A is a lovely little town, 3500 people or so, but a big tourist area at Spring break and the summer. There are many services and facilities unusual for a town this size. We have biked all over to explore the sand flats with boardwalks, called Charlie's Pasture, great place to watch birds and other wildlife, the many jetties all around the town, (as it is surrounded by water on 3 sides) so there is a big fishing community here, everyone fishes; the shops and restaurants, and the beautiful beach.
Gerry has gone golfing several times, it's a 5 km bike ride for him, and a very impressive course on the beach, designed by Arnold Palmer. I've found a yoga class, available 5 days/week and sometimes on the beach, yeh!

A Farley boat, built/designed by the Farley family of Port A,  many yrs ago,  now decorating the streets

Gerry fishing on a jetty

A shrimp boat, yum, yum!

Signed Tarpon fish scales at the historic Tarpon Inn

Franklin Roosevelt's signature when he was here fishing in 1937

An offshore oil platform

We are in a smaller park, 200 sites, but with a great pool and hot tub and a new rec hall. We've been to a potluck dinner at the rec hall, where we met lots of people. There is a group of ladies that quilt every Tuesday at the rec hall, so I have certainly gotten involved there. They usually go out for lunch inbetween quilting and I got a ride the first Tuesday on the main mode of transportation here, golfcarts! On the road, no seatbelts, and no protection  for those of us in the back looking at the cars coming up to us! Well that was an experience, reminded me of riding in the backs of trucks many years ago!

South Padre Island, Feb. 27-29

We left the Rio Grande Valley and headed southeast, through Harlingen, where the Gibson family spent our last Christmas all together, as Rick died weeks later. So many memories flooded back then....Chantel also took her first steps here...31 years ago!

We loaded up with food and headed to South Padre Island, at the "tropical tip of Texas". S P I is a barrier island between the Gulf of Mexico (east) and the Laguna Madre on the west. SPI, the town, has a pop of 2800 residents, and they are outnumbered by 1000 to 1, when the tourists arrive. This is a very popular place for college students during spring break, coming soon!

The town and island have sure changed since 1981, with many large, tacky souvenir/beach markets. But the beach remains the same, hard packed white sand, deep, driveable and endless. There are some condos and hotels along the beach, lots of vacancies at the moment, great destination.
We relaxed here, biked around the town and especially enjoyed some time at the SPI Birding and Nature Center. The building is only 2 yrs old and has a documentary video about the wildlife in the area, a 5 story viewing platform and lengthy boardwalks out into the lagoon area.   www.spibirding.com

a large turtle being rehabed

a baby turtle

an itchy snowy egret !

a type of heron? Someone will correct me...

South Padre Island from the birding centre

We also enjoyed the Sea Turtle Centre, where they rescue injured turtles, rehabilitate them, educate about them and organize volunteers at hatching time (this is on my bucket list!).
Read about the founder, Ila Fox Loetscher, who in her first career was a contemporary and correspondent of Amelia Earhart, as the first licensed woman pilot in Iowa and Illinois.   www.seaturtleinc.org

Llana Grande Park, Mercedes, TX Feb 23-27

We drove for 2 days to reach this park in the Rio Grande Valley, since we had heard alot about the valley, and our fellow Souris-ite's are there, Ian & Diane Farr. We spent 4 days here and they took us everywhere along with them and their busy schedule! Ian plays the guitar and sings and Diane has started singing with him and playing the bodhran. They have been doing benefit concerts here, and we lucked out to be here for one! They used to live in Thompson, Man for many years, where Ian played in a band and wrote some songs about the north, quite funny! They are very entertaining and we hope to get them playing in Souris!

Outside the coffee shop, Savoury Perks

I have 4 videos of the evening, posted to Youtube, best to go to my channel to view them...

http://www.youtube.com/user/sherrida1?feature=mhee

We went out to a great Italian restaurant with them and some friends, some shopping, they took us to a health food store, and we went to the 9th Annual "Smokin on the Rio" Texas State championship BBQ Cook-Off. That was an experience, with many custom made barbecues and smokers, free samples of the chicken, ribs, and a local cut of beef called "fajitas", from the neck of the animal. There is also a contest for the best custom designed barbecue. So it was a busy few days, but gave us an idea of activities in this park and in Texas.

dancing at the BBQ

a custom made travel kitchen, the sides fold down, the steps fold up, a smoker and bbq at the back, cupboards, cooler...pretty much party central, Texas style!