February 3, 2005

February 3, 2005

Port Aransas to Padre Island National Seashore, Texas

DAY 230

 

WOW ... what a view ! ! ! As I look out the kitchen or living room windows to the right of where I'm sitting at the dinette table in the trailer, I see the Gulf Of Mexico surf crashing on the beach 100 feet from the trailer. As I look out the dinette window to the left ... OMIGOD ! ! ! I was about to look out the window, and type about the sea oat covered sand dunes to the left of where I'm sitting ... and there is a six point buck deer munching on sea oats on the sand dunes 25 feet from the trailer window. GEEEZZZ ... another one ! ! ! Two bucks eating sea oats beside the trailer ! ! ! Welcome to beach camping on Padre Island National Seashore !

Today was cloudy and cool, but a bit warmer than the last few days. This morning we drove off the beach at Port Aransas, and into town. Joanne encouraged me to buy some fresh seafood at a fish market she read about last night in one of the tourist newspapers of this area. We easily found the store, Oceans Of Seafood, and went in to buy, and learn about what seafoods are available locally, and how to cook them. This was my job, as Joanne doesn't like most seafoods. I bought half a pound of stone crab legs, 2/3 of a pound of fresh shrimp, and a 2/3 of a pound red snapper fillet. Gee, they grow their shrimp huge around here ! I learned why some shrimp in the barrel of ice were pink, and some were opaque. The opaque ones were caught in the bays, and the pink ones were caught out in the Gulf. They taste, and cost, the same. Both kinds were caught yesterday ! I got cooking instructions, and a seafood seasoning spice for the water used to boil the shrimps and the crab legs. The spices are in a mesh type bag like a tea bag. Just drop it in the boiling water, toss in the shrimp, seven minutes later toss in the crab legs. Wish me luck.

We drove out of Port Aransas, heading south on Hwy. 361, the only road on Mustang Island. We drove all the way down the island along the shore line, admiring the view. At the southern tip of Mustang Island, we crossed onto Padre Island. Once on Padre Island, the road became Hwy. P22. I think the P stands for Park. Most of Padre Island is a nature preserve known as Padre Island National Seashore, administered by the U.S. Department of the Interior's National Park Service. Thirteen miles into the park, along a paved road, at Malaquite Beach, is Park Headquarters, where we stopped to pick up information, and obtain our free beach camping permit. We had lunch in the parking lot, then explored Malaquite Beach around the Park Headquarters area. Joanne wanted to drive a mile back up the road, to the Grasslands Hiking Trail. We hiked around this 3/4 mile trail, with an interpretive trail map, through sand dunes covered in vegetation, mostly different types of grasses. Bo was very "up" for hiking. Bo seems to be very "up" for just about everything. After the hike, we were driving back towards Malaquite Beach / Park Headquarters, and decided to detour over to Bird Island Basin, which is on the Intracoastal side of the island. There were some campers on the shore line at Bird Island Basin. We parked at the boat launch, and walked around for a few minutes, observing the many different types of waterfowl that winter here. On the marshy mud flats, there were a bunch of very large birds that looked like, and walked like, ostriches. After seeing Bird Island Basin, we drove back to Park Headquarters, then a mile beyond.

A mile after Park Headquarters, the paved road ended. We just ... drove the rig the rig onto South Beach. I had some reservations about driving the rig onto the beach, but when I saw many other heavy rigs on the beach, I figured it would be okay. The information booklets caution that many rigs get stuck in the sand, and need to be towed out, which is expensive, and takes a long time for a tow truck to drive out here from Corpus Christi, but having come this far, I wasn't about to wimp out now ! Besides, Dee-Dee is a 4 X 4 ! I drove slowly onto the beach, and soon realized that a bit of speed was helpful in preventing the rig from sinking too deeply into the soft sand. The Park Ranger had said that it's probably okay to tow a fifth wheel with a 4 X 4 as far as 5 miles down the beach, at which point it definitely becomes impassable for RV's, or anything other than 4 wheel drive trucks. About a mile down the beach, I stopped and shifted Dee-Dee from 2 wheel drive to 4 wheel drive ( 6 wheel drive, actually ). That made it a bit easier. We drove another mile or so down the beach, and then just pulled over beside the sand dunes, like everybody else. There's an RV parked about every 200 feet along the beach. I don't know how far down they go, but they certainly continue as far as we can see to the south down the beach.

I wonder why a military helicopter just flew over the trailer at an altitude of about 50 feet ? It must be from the Naval Station that's somewhere near Corpus Christi, which is just across the Intracoastal, on the mainland, near where Mustang Island and Padre Island meet.

So ... here we are ! Camped on the beach on the Gulf Of Mexico. I mean ... really on the beach ! No water, no electricity, no sewer, but what a view ! I guess this is why we're self-contained.

Just before I started typing today's journal entry, Bo and I went for a long walk on the beach. Bo likes "beach combing". He finds interesting ( to him ) sea weed under the sand to dig up, birds to chase, etc.. Somewhat unfortunately for him, and a tad amusing to me ( although Joanne's not amused ), he stuck his nose onto a live jelly fish on the sand at the water's edge. I don't know whether it stung him, or just smells bad, or what, but he vomited twice within a couple of minutes of this misadventure. Then he came back into the trailer, and started to eat one of the silk plants. Dogs and cats instinctively eat grass, or plants, to make themselves vomit, to "cleanse" / purge their insides. We're both "in the dog house" with Joanne at the moment ! Bo for eating a piece off the silk plant, and me for "allowing" him to sniff the jelly fish. Hey ... it's not like he asked my permission ! I picked up a jelly fish information sheet at Park Headquarters, and I think this was a Sea Nettle jelly fish. Oh, yes, I see on the information sheet that jelly fish have "microscopic stinging cells". I guess sticking one's nose onto a jelly fish must be a bad idea.

I just returned from taking Bo for a night time walk. The lights of two offshore drilling rigs are visible out on the Gulf. I just remembered the Park Ranger's warning to us about Bo, because of Western Diamondback Rattlesnakes in the grassy areas, and coyotes in the dunes and on the beach after dark. Some campers' pets have met their demise because of both.

DSK