February 5, 2005

February 5, 2005

Harlingen to South Padre Island, Texas

Day 232

 

Today was warm and cloudy. I need some sunlight !

At 8:00 A.M., just after I had showered, but was not yet dressed, there was a knock on the door. I thought it was somebody from the Travel Information Centre coming over to express their displeasure at our having spent overnight in their parking lot. It was a man from Edmonton, who had just pulled into the parking lot, and was hungry for some Canadian company. I told him I would come to see him a little later. I finished dressing, and went inside the Travel Information Centre to get directions to the nearest RV parts and service dealer. After getting directions, I chatted with the old man, who was also inside the Travel Information Centre. His name was Keith, and he was born in Dauphin, Manitoba. He left Edmonton January 15 for two months in the south, travelling in a class B van conversion. His wife did not want to go along, so she's gone to Disney World with the grandchildren. We chatted for a few minutes and I returned to the trailer, eager to get going to the RV dealer, and get the toilet fixed. Another knock on the door. Keith again. I opened the door, and he walked in, kicked off his shoes, and sat down like we were long lost friends, and he was settling in for a nice, long visit. We had difficulty getting rid of him.

We drove to the RV parts and service dealer, not too far from the Travel Information Centre. It was a small business, extremely busy, and with great service. I spoke to the middle aged Mexican woman who was running the place about the broken toilet flush pedal. She said they never replace the broken foot pedal parts, because the parts kit costs $40, and after the cost of their labour to remove the broken parts, and replace the new parts, the cost was pretty much the same as a new toilet. She suggested I try to disassemble it and repair it myself, using the $40 parts kit. I went outside and began working on the toilet in their parking lot. I removed it from the rig, and began to disassemble it outside, to get at the broken parts. I got it about 90% disassembled, screws and parts all around me, when I encountered a couple of rusty screws that would not budge. The broken parts were badly corroded, as was a lot of the internal workings of the toilet. I went inside and bought a new toilet. I installed it, and we were on our way out of Harlingen by noon.

We drove south on Hwy. 77, then east on Hwy. 100 to South Padre Island. South Padre Island is heavily developed, like St. Petersburg Beach or Fort Meyers Beach in Florida. We are at South Padre Island County Park, called Isla Blanca RV Park, at the south end of the main road running along the island. They’re a bit of a disappointment, both the park and the island. I guess I had formed an expectation that South Padre Island was the next best thing to heaven. This very large RV Park was full, so we are in their overflow area, which is just a parking lot on the road across from the beach. No services, 15 bucks a night ! We unhitched the trailer, and drove into town, to try to catch the end of the South Padre Island Chili Competition, at Louie's Backyard, a large, local restaurant and bar. We were too late. We continued driving down South Padre Island's main street, all the way to the end of the road as it leaves town on the north side. On the large mud flats at the end of town, was the South Padre Island Kite Festival. We parked and walked around for awhile admiring all the kites, and the skills of the kite flyers. The largest kite had a main body that was much larger than a van, with about half a dozen streamer tails, each about 100 feet long. The kites were not kids' toys, and the flyers were not kids ! I particularly liked the double string kites, and their acrobatic flying abilities. We drove slowly back through town, sightseeing. We stopped at a liquor store, our first time at a U.S. private enterprise liquor store. I bought a half dozen beer, and a small bottle of Jim Beam Kentucky Sour Mash Bourbon Whiskey. It's good with Diet Coke !

We drove back to Isla Blanca Park, and went to check out the Recreation Hall, to see about modem access. They have a couple of phone lines available, so while Joanne prepared supper, I went online, retrieved e-mail and my January bank statement, and updated my blog. After a late dinner, I took Bo out in our "overflow dry camp" parking lot, and we did some obedience work. It's coming along very slowly, but he's learning.

This place lacks appeal for us, so I think that tomorrow morning we're going to hitch up and head out to a rodeo that's happening this weekend between here and Harlingen, then we'll head down to Brownsville, right on the Mexican border.

DSK