The Gulf Coast - Sat., Aug. 3

My turn to drive, so at 7:00 a.m. I was at the meet-up area for a San Antonio Hill Country Hikers day trip to Mustang Island State Park on the Gulf Coast of Texas. Two people rode with me: Mara and Glenn. Both were gracious and contributed to the gas fund.

We had lively conversation in the car for our 2-1/2 hour drive. Topics ranged from Comic-Con to Peace Corps to full time RVing to where everyone grew up to movies and much more. Bob did not attend today as his plantar fasciitis is still bothering him (it hurt to walk), and he had work to do.

Once we got to the beach different parts of our group set up at shaded picnic tables far from each other. Then Gary arrived with his ocean kayaks and drove waaaay down the beach near the jetty.

Mara

A visitor in Mexican ground squirrel clothing.

Mexican ground squirrel.

Laughing gulls.

Dave and Jessie pointing to where Gary put his truck.

Our table with a view.

Lilibeth

In an effort to get the group together, Theresa (our leader) came to let us know where Gary was and we were invited to join everyone down there. "Down there" (by the jetty) was approximately 1/2 mile away. We had two coolers, chairs, an umbrella tent and bags of towels, food, and clothes to transport. None of the six of us wanted to haul our stuff 1/2 mile, slogging through sand in the midday heat. We stayed where we were.

Mara and I walked to the water and waded out to our knees. It's the first time I've put my feet in the Gulf in Texas. The water was nice and warm, so different from the frigid Oregon coastal waters. Maybe next time I'll go swimming.

Our group certainly brought enough food! Mara packed chicken salad sandwiches, home-made chocolate chip cookies, jalapeno chips, Baby Bel cheese, apple slices and crackers. I brought mustard potato salad, Sun Chips, Chex Mix, fresh strawberries, paper plates and plastic forks, Jacob brought Bud Light, and Lilibeth brought onion-chive potato chips to share. We would not starve.

Later on some of us walked down to visit the rest of the group while Glenn guarded our stuff.

Amanda and Jake hauling out kayaks.

Theresa and Amanda.

Gary emptying water out of kayak.

Hilary.

Theresa and Gary heading out into the surf.

Looking toward our spot from where the rest of the group landed.

Now you can see why we didn't want to haul all our stuff. It was a long way!

Gary's kayaks were a hit. Jessie, Amanda, Jacob, Jake, Theresa and Gary took turns kayaking beyond the surf and coming back in on the waves. More people may have kayaked as well; I only knew about those mentioned. The kayakers said ocean kayaking really kicked their butts, plum wore 'em out.

While we were visiting Gary, Theresa, Amanda, Hilary, Jacob, Jessie and Gary, we saw a small import car stuck in the sand up to its frame. A park ranger hooked up tow straps and pulled it free. Two minutes later, after the ranger left, they were stuck again. The ranger saw them and towed them out again. According to Gary, even he got stuck in the sand in his truck on the way out. I'm glad we didn't try to drive across the sand!

Susan, Mara, Glenn

At 3 p.m., we decided it was time to leave. The six of us at our picnic table decided to eat supper at Snoopy's Pier just before crossing the bridge off Padre Island. Snoopy's Pier has an interesting history. You can read about Snoopy's Pier and the Redfish Wars here.

Mara and Glenn at the entrance to Snoopy's.

 They insisted on taking my photo too, hat hair and all. I look like I'm doing a scout pledge.

Yours truly.

For dinner, I opted for the shrimp plate with six deep-fried shrimp, fries, hush puppies (they call 'em "pups"), coleslaw and a drink. Jacob ate my hush puppies because I'm not a big fan of them. The shrimp were so yummy!

In addition to Snoopy's Pier, the same owners run Scoopy's Veranda next door for ice cream desserts. We were too full to partake of ice cream.

We headed back to San Antonio; a very relaxing day at the beach accomplished. Thank you to Theresa for organizing the event and keeping track of us, and to Gary for bringing sea kayaks, folding chairs and a tent or two for us to use. What a fun, thoughtful group to belong to.

Have a good week.

Travel Bug out.

Corpus Christi, Follow-up #2 -- Tues., Oct. 9, 2012

So much excitement for my second foray out after the face plant. Bob drove us to Corpus Christi for my second follow-up with the maxillofacial surgeon. 

Once again, Dr. Cutbirth was amazed by how well my face is healing. Today, he took out the nose stents which kept my nasal passages open while my broken nose set up enough to support my nose by itself. Removing the stents entailed him removing one stitch from each nostril, then using tweezers to pull out the stents. OW, OW, OW. 

I admit, I cried and screeched a bit. But once they were out, I could breathe so much better through my nose! Now I can try sleeping in bed again instead of the recliner. He told me not to worry about lying on my side because my cheeks have enough cartilage growing over the bones now that it is like a callus. He said the bones won't separate at this point.

The appointment lasted all of ten minutes. He again patiently answered my questions. I will go back in two weeks to have the wires removed from my jaws. After the wires come out, I will make an appointment to see a dentist for x-rays and deep cleaning of my teeth. At that time, I will find out my options for what will need to happen with my teeth before we go to Australia. Worst case would be I will have three or four teeth removed from the top front jaw. I'm hoping I will be able to have some type of temporary front teeth  put in. Guess we'll see.

After the appointment, Bob drove me over to Mustang Island State Park on the Gulf Coast. The state park has a security gate which is open 7 a.m. to 10 p.m.

Love how the Escape pod is framed.

 

I took a couple of photos of the campground and the ocean. From the campsites, it's a short walk through the dunes to the ocean.

Pretty basic back-in sites at the campground.

The walk to the Gulf Coast.

Or, if you have 4WD, you can drive and camp on the beach.

Driving west from Mustang Island, shorebirds were all along the intercoastal waterway. I was able to zoom in on these two beauties from the shoulder of the road.

Long-billed curlew.

Great blue heron.

Next we headed over to look at another campground I had read about: Nueces County Texas--Padre Balli Park.

We were not impressed with this "campground." See what you think. There is good access to the Gulf beach and Bob Hall Pier, however.

Padre Balli Campground.

Another view of Padre Balli.

The beach and pier.

Well, as long as we're here, let's continue on to Padre Island National Seashore!

After waiting for a pilot car to take us a few miles through road construction, we arrived at Malaquite Pavilion Visitor Center around 4:00 p.m. Lucky for us the Visitor Center was open until 5:00 p.m. We watched two short videos: one on the five types of sea turtles that live along Padre Island with an emphasis on Kemp's ridley turtles, and one on orientation to the seashore. 

Padre Island, at 65.5 miles, is the longest barrier island in the world. It is noted for abundant bird and marine life, excellent fishing, world-class windsurfing [we saw a couple of people out windsurfing today], and wide, sandy beaches. The Gulf coastline includes windswept dunes, wild landscapes of coastal prairie grasses, teeming tidal flats, and warm offshore waters. [So says the National Parks of Texas brochure.]

A display in the Visitor Center anchored by Bob. LOL.

I can't smile, so this is the best I can do for now.

When we finished here, we headed over to HEB grocery where Bob bought me a berry smoothie and he got snacks (Triscuits, cheese and orange juice) for the 2-1/2 hour ride back to the 5er.

It was a very beautiful day. I got a little tired, but managed to walk around a bit. I did sleep for a wee bit in the car on the way back.

Welcome to Bob and Linda, new followers from Bob and Linda's RV Travels. They do reviews of RV parks, write travel blogs about their travels (since 2008), including their trek to Alaska. 

Tomorrow Bob's taking me to Costco so I can have a new optometry exam. Once that is done they can write a new prescription and I can order new glasses to replace the ones that busted up my forehead and nose when I fell. If possible, I will have them just order new lenses for the old frames. We'll see how that goes. That will be a much shorter trip.

Travel Bug saying "It's great to be traveling again!"