South Padre Island and Traveling on....

May 1-9 –  I have not written during the rest of the time we were at South Padre Island, TX as it would probably bore you to tears.  Seriously, WE were not at all bored, but reading about it would likely be boring, unless you find lazy sun-drenched days interesting reading.  Let’s suffice it to say, our days were spent in an idyllic haze of leisure time.  We slept late, we sat outside in the breezy weather and read books, we grilled some and ate out some, whatever struck our fancy.  South Padre Island is located on the most southern tip of Texas and is bordered by the Gulf of Mexico and the Laguna Madre Bay.  We were on the Bay in our RV park, but just biked over to the Gulf whenever we wanted.  The beach here is nicer than the others we’ve seen in Texas, more like our Florida beaches with real sand, not just dirt.  The water was still pretty cold, but we enjoyed letting the waves lap over our feet as we walked.  We rode long bike rides,  strolled along the beach,  watched more episodes of E.R. (We were trying to figure out why we never watched that when it was on in what – the 90’s (?) and we decided it was because our kids were still at home and we simply didn’t watch much TV at all during those years.  But we’re enjoying it now.  Most nights we still read into the wee hours, a luxury we love.

We biked over to Dirty Al's one day for lunch.  (I realized how they got their name when I saw the slogans on all the server's shirts!! Yikes!)  But have you ever seen a cheeseburger this big?  Gracious, we should have shared!  Earl managed to clean his off,  I barely ate half of mine. Yummy though and the view of water on all sides was great.

We never tired of watching all the activity on the Bay.  From beautiful sail boats, to the pirate ship's tours and this platform for drilling oil that they moved down the Bay to join several others.

 awwww 

 Oleanders bloom in profusion here.  They do in Florida as well, but I tried twice to grow them and they got these yucky orange caterpillars on them and they'd strip the plant in a matter of days.  I don't do too well with yucky things, even though I love gardening.  I prefer plants resistant to wormy things. 

 These are the cabins available for rent in the RV Resort here - nice!!  Talk about a view!  I kept wishing for my family!!!

The last day or two the weather got quite hot, felt more like a Florida summer with higher than normal humidity and  temperatures in the low 90’s.  Early mornings and late evenings were still nice to enjoy the outdoors, but the final full day we were there, it was just too hot to be outside, so we decided to go to a movie.  We saw “Woman in Gold”, which we really enjoyed!  I’ve always been fascinated with stories around the Holocaust and this was the true story of a woman who sued the Austrian government for their illegal theft of her family’s artwork during the Nazi takeover.   Really excellent movie.   We got the motor on the rear slideout replaced on Thursday afternoon.  That might have just been a divine appointment.  He somehow recognized that we might be people of faith, and he stayed and stayed and talked about spiritual things.  He seemed so blessed by our conversation with him.  Nice man.  We then walked over to Pier 19 and enjoyed our last meal on South Padre Island.  Yummy coconut shrimp.

Friday we set out through the wastelands of Texas I’d say.  Earl found a rare RV park named Stinson RV Park and Storage.  Haha the name had me wondering, but it was actually very tidy and neat – only $20 so perfect for an overnighter.   Cement pads and gravel everywhere else, very “western” looking.

Saturday we saw endless miles of nothing but scrub brush and cactus.  I’m sure the only occupants were rattlesnakes, armadillo and scorpions, maybe iguanas, or various other unattractive species.  Let’s just say this would NOT be appealing to me as a place to live.  We were going along the border – passed over the Rio Grande at one point and you could see Mexico.  If it’s anything like this side of the border, I have no desire to go.  We’re ready to head north to some cooler weather!   

 You can't tell too much from this photo but there was an entire field of yellow flowers, really pretty, a nice break from nothing like below

 We arrived in Crystal City at Triple R RV Resort about 1:00.  It’s a working ranch, and huge in size.  They have big spacious lots (ours is a pull through) and a cute gazebo right beside us.  Just across the way is the rec center with a nice work out area, and huge rec room with pool table, ping pong, etc. even darts.  Nice leather furniture and an enormous TV.  Outside is an oversized covered area with various grills and generous seating areas, all overlooking the river.  Very peaceful, serene views.  So for our RV enthusiasts this would be one we'd recommend if you're ever here in this area.  Only $28 night.

 If it was only cooler, it would be lovely.  So much of the enjoyment of RVing is spending time outdoors and in this heat, there is no desire to be outdoors.  Thank God for a wonderful A/C that will freeze you out in a minute.  We had thought since tomorrow was Sunday we might just stay a couple days and relax and see this area, but there’s been nothing that attracted us, really, so we’ll be heading out again in the morning.

Tomorrow is Mother's Day - boy am I missing my family now.  I want to hug my kids and squeeze my grandkids!  Sigh....  Hope all you wonderful mothers out there have a joyful, relaxing day.  I'll be thinking of you as we journey on.