Mar 17 - Rockport & Felton, Texas

  I went into Rockport this morning to try again to do a little grocery shopping, including getting the paper towels and anti-bacterial wipes.  I did get other items, but not those, at either the H.E.B. grocery store or Walmart.  The RV section at Walmart's was even out of RV toilet paper.  And, the lines were really long at the checkout.  Other than the grocery store, we are staying away from places with large groups of people.  I did find a place to print off my IRS & MA tax vouchers to mail them in. 
  After lunch, we drove across the bridge to the next peninsula called Felton.  There was a small State Park, that mostly had fishing access on the coast.  Not impressed with the area.  So we drove over to a place the park attendant mentioned- "The Big Tree".  Since all of the trees so far in this area of Texas are small and round-ish, we thought the Big Tree would be just a regular upright tree.  But, no, this tree was a Coastal Living Oak tree, that was 1,000 years old.  Still sort of short, but very large around and the branches spread out impressively.
  We drove back over the bridge and decided to drive the loop road around the northern side of the Rockport peninsula.  I was not impressed.  The map shows a really neat road, driving right next to the coast, with spits and spurs of land, so the map made it look really interesting.  However, like in Hilton Head, SC and some of the barrier islands in the Gulf coast, the road does go by the water, but has houses, condos, and mobile homes lining both sides of the road.  So that is all you really see.  And, there are NO public access to the water anywhere along the route. 
  We ended up driving back into the town of Rockport and going to the Rockport Beach and Park.  Now this was a very nice beach/park area.  It extends into the Aransas Bay, which was very shallow for a long distance out.  Due to the strong winds, there were white caps on the bay.  While we were sitting on a park bench, enjoying the pleasant, sunny day, some men and a teenager came with their KITE BOARDS.  This was really cool to watch!  They inflated the rim around their "kites" that to me looked like hang glider chutes.  Then they straightened out all of the long cords connecting the kite to their harness.  Finally, they picked up their Boards, which looked like snowboards, and lifted up the kite, and walked the kite into the water.  Once there, they took off.  I couldn't believe how FAST they went.  The wind was strong, and they ran it like a sail boat does--tacking to and fro through the wind.  Then they would jump into the air, and the kite would lift them up and they'd spin around.  If they fell, the kite would just pull them back up again.  If they dropped the board, oh well, they were just in 3 feet of water.  I kept thinking of Ann, surfing.  They didn't use wetsuits, they didn't need to wait for a wave, they didn't need to just go fast for the life of the wave.  Theirs was a continuous ride.
  Since it was late, and due to the Corona Virus alert, we decided to do Chinese Take Out for dinner.

Goose Island State Park, Felton, TX photos:

Rockport Beach photos:

Mar 16 - Travel to Rockport, Texas

  The trip over to Rockport, Texas was pretty easy, for the most part.  Until we hit the Corpus Christi area, and the strong, gusting winds reappeared.  At 55 mph, I still needed to do battle with the steering wheel.  Oh, did I mention, we bought gas for $1.95/gallon.  I haven't seen gas under $2/gal in years.  Our RV park is on a pennisula, surrounded by three Bays:  Copano Bay, Aransas Bay and Corpus Christi Bay.  On the other side of the Bays is a very long barrier island, with several names:  Padres Island, Mustang Island, San Jose Island, and Matagorda Island.  We plan to visit those while we are here.
  Our campground is large, and there are two ponds in the center.  We walked around the campgrounds and over to the ponds.  One of the two ponds had scores of white egrets, ducks, and a great blue heron.  I had a beer sitting outside (the weather is now a balmy 74 degrees with a mild wind), made dinner, and am now updating the blog.

Bay View RV park photos:

Mar 15 - "Home" day at Harlingen, Texas

  I went into town looking for a Staples or an Office Depot to print off my tax balance due vouchers so I could mail them in.  Both addresses that I got online were not accurate--no such store at those locations.  I also failed to get paper towels or hand wipes at either Walmart, Walgreen, or H.E.B (local grocery chain).  So  my shopping excursion this morning was a complete dud.
  We decided to just hang out for the day, instead of going into Brownsville area.  The sites offered there were pretty similar to the beaches we saw yesterday.  So, I went swimming in the park's pool.  It was sunny and hot at 85 degrees.  The water was very refreshing.  I went back to the RV and worked on the family's tax returns.

No photos today.

Mar 14 - South Padre Island, Texas

  We headed out this morning to go to South Padre Island.  This is a long barrier island off the shore of southern Texas, near the Mexican border.  It took 45 minutes to drive there, and I have to say that the flat, open landscape is not that interesting.  I did notice that instead of the scrub bushes of the desert, there are small palm trees everywhere.  I also noted Wind Turbines along the route.  So, I see why the speed limit is 75 or 80 mph. 
  The south end of the island is completely built up with hotels, restaurants, condo, subdivisions and tourist shops.  But, as you drive about 10 miles out on the narrow strip of land that is the island, there is open sandy land, on both sides.  At some point it becomes park.  We stopped at the South Padre Island Birding and Nature Center.  This is a really neat area that has boardwalks out into the muddy flats that are between the ocean and the land.  It is a bird and alligator sanctuary, and about 500 different types of birds fly through this area each year, at various times.  Lots of migrating birds.  However, this, apparently wasn't the peak season.  The walk on the boardwalks was really nice, and we did see some birds, fish, tortoise, and alligators.
  We had lunch, then drove further out on the island.  The road ended with sand dunes on both sides.  This is NOT a protected beach area.  Cars are allowed to drive on the beach, so there is a lot of traffic right at the water's edge where the sand is harder. with folks sitting and laying on the sand just a little ways off to the side.  Beautiful sand with lots of sea shells.  We walked over the dunes and found a nice place for Peter to sit while I walked in the water's edge, finding sea shells, and enjoying the waves. 
   It is such a difference, being near so much water again.  We haven't see any since California.  It also feels like we have made a big circle, since we were on the Gulf Coast in Florida last winter.  Now we are on the Gulf Coast in Texas.  I have to say that the Gulf Coast here is not as dramatic or as breathtaking as the Pacific coastline was.  Also, it is hot and humid!  85 degrees in March!  We went from being too worried about the pipes freezing to air conditioning.

South Padre Island Birding & Nature Center photos:

From the observation tower at the Nature Center

South Padre Island Gulf shore beach photos:

Sunshine RV Park, Harlingen, Texas photos:

Mar 13 - Travel to Harlingen, Texas, along the Texas Gulf Coast. Siena Killeen is born.

  Today was a really long (for us) travel day.  It took us 5 1/2 hours to get to our next campground, in Harlingen, Texas.  It is near the coast, near Brownsville and the Mexican border.  The campground is another parking lot, with a lot of full time, annual RV's.  But they have a really nice small lake and facilities, and it is all really clean.
  The landscape really changed coming down here.  We went from semi-desert around San Antonio to balmy springtime along the coast, complete with palm trees, flowers, and 85 degrees.  The worst part of the trip was the very strong, gusty cross winds.  I needed to drive 55 -60 mph, and had to fight the steering wheel the entire way.  But, we did get to see wind turbines.
  The Corona Virus is getting folks here in Texas (like everywhere else) quite reactive, or should I say, proactive.  They have canceled all of the "activities" in the campground, and I'm told some of the grocery stores are getting low as folks are stocking up.  On the other hand, being in an RV, in Texas where there are more shrubs than people, is probably a good place to be.  We may start shying away from the big cities.
   Tamara's new baby, Siena Margaret Killeen was born today.  Beautiful, of course.  And healthy,  All are doing well.

Good bye Medina Lake RV Park photo:

Mar 12 - day off at Medina Lake, Texas

  We sort of took the day off--at least from sight-seeing.  I did the laundry.  This Thousand Trails campground is beautiful, but 50 years old, and not well maintained.  The laundry room is a shack, and 3 out of the 6 washers were out of order.  Oh well, my clothes got clean.
  Then we went back into San Antonio to Trader Joe's and then Whole Foods.  At least we got take out dinner from the Whole Foods food bar, since we didn't get home until late.  We did get a chance to walk over to the lake and watch the sunset. 
  On the road into the campgrounds, we saw around 8 deer, just munching away by the roadside.  I guess they have a whole herd of deer, that they are trying to wean off of people food, and back onto natural food.  So the deer just wander around the campground.  It's pretty cool to see them.

Deer along the road photo:

Mar 11 - San Antonio, Texas River Walk,The Alamo & the Sky Needle

  We drove in to San Antonio and stopped, first, at the Bank of America.  Apparently, BOA is not found in the smaller Texan towns.  It always takes a long time, but Peter got his business banking done.  Then we headed over to the River Walk.  This is a surprisingly well done area in San Antonio's downtown.  They have a river cruise with a tour guide telling you about all of the places located along the river/canal.  This area was created 52 years ago for the World's Fair.  We had lunch along the river, did the River Cruise, then walked the short distance over to The Alamo. 
  Peter was in his glory.  He found Davey Crockett's name listed in the Memorial Statue, we watched a movie about the history of the San Antonio area--native Americans, Spanish eras, Texan Republic, Texas as a US State.  Lots of history.  He listened to a very erudite tour guide give a "alternative history" talk and really enjoyed it.  We toured what is left of the original Alamo.  Read about Sam Houston, Jim Bowie, Davey Crockett and William Barret Travis. 
  We then walked over to the Sky Needle, a 750 foot tower with an observatory and rotating restaurant and bar at the top.  We went up to the Bar that overlooked all of the San Antonio area.  As it was Happy Hour, we got dinner for $6 each, and $5 beer.  Such a deal, all while having a breathtaking view.  We even got to watch out the elevator windows as we went up and down.
Another nice day--even if it was 84 degrees and somewhat humid.

San Antonio River Walk photos:

The Alamo photos:

Sky Needle photos: