Saturday, a "trip" with Gypsy

Well, we survived our first night on the main drive into the KOA and to Pier 19 and the Osprey Fishing Vessel and a restaurant. . . and we didn't hear a thing, fortunately.  We got up and started trying to decide what we wanted to do for the day.  I had 4 things I want to do down here.  One of them is just if we happen to find a flea market I want to go, looking for "hand drills" (at least I think they're called hand drills).  They have a metal tubular handle with one or both ends having a "chuck" to put small drill bits in and tighten up to hold them in place.  The drill then is hand turned and works great for enlarging cord holes in Polymer Clay Pendants.  At the Carol Simmons workshop (see previous post) she had the main 4 sizes of drill bits permanently inserted in the handles so she didn't have to be constantly taking them in and out as she changed sizes.  I thought that was a great idea, but don't want to put a lot of money into it and at home (Illinois) they often have large "tool" areas with small hand tools of all kinds at the flea markets.  I thought while we were out if we happened to find a flea market, we'd look for some of the hand drills.  We saw that there was a flea market in Brownsville (about 20 minutes from South Padre Island) on the weekend.  In fact there were 2, but one was easier to get to.

We also needed to get Diesel Fuel for the truck and some groceries (we plan to cook most of our own meals here in South Padre Island (SPI) as it's called here).  There is also a Golden Corral in Brownsville (there are several within an hour).  So we decided we'd "go to town" today.  We figured the beach might be crowded today with it being the weekend, and that's the only other thing we had planned for today.  So we took off back across the bridge through Port Isabel (which is on the land side of the bridge to SPI).  As we drove over there we passed what looks like a fun time.
A Pirate restaurant and "show" thing.  Mr. C seems to want to do it.  We would for sure if we had the grands with us, but just for us, I'm not so sure.  We'll see, though.

So we drove, following Gypsy's directions and got to Brownsville, after passing huge shrimp places with boats etc., these two pictures below that we don't have a clue what they were, something somebody was building with lots of cranes etc.  There were lots of "tidal flats" for want of a better term with lots of birds of all kinds.  We even saw a Spoonbill, but didn't get a chance to stop and take his picture.

  Gypsy got us to the flea market just fine (with one turn around, as we are having trouble not getting into the far left turn lane to make a turn from one of the frontage roads, when that far left lane is a U turn only lane to go back the other direction).  But we managed and got to the flea market.  First surprise was no fee for parking.  Next surprise was no fee for attending.  Other flea markets we've gone to had a fee for either one or the other or both.  There were 3 "roofed" buildings (no sides, just roofs) and a fourth with a roof and one wall.  There were also lots of people set up not under the roofs at all.  We walked up and down each row and through each building.  The buildings were huge, I'd guess roughly 1/4 mile long each one.  So we certainly got our walking in today and made up for the past couple days we didn't walk as much.  There was just about anything you could want there, from baby red eared slider turtles to huge iguanas to clothes (both new and used) to sun glasses to fresh fruit and veges.  Not too surprisingly, we were definitely odd "man" out, as we didn't speak the language or look Hispanic and EVERYBODY else did, LOL.  Surprisingly, we did not feel at all out of place or threatened in any way.  We felt very comfortable.  I really wanted to get a little canary (I've been wanting a canary for awhile now) and these were very healthy looking birds with very clean and smooth legs (no lice or mites), and if I had heard them singing, we might have gotten one.  But,  it was too noisy and busy for them to be singing, if they were males in the first place and we still had other places to go and it was too hot to leave one in the car.  There was so much food and drinks, foods I wanted to know what they were, but failed to ask, LOL.  The one thing we didn't find/see there was, of course, any hand drills.  That's okay, it wasn't something I immediately needed or anything.  We walked for about an hour and a half with only one stop and that's really a huge thing for me.  Then we went back to the truck and the fun began.

We asked Gypsy to take us to Golden Corral and checked and the address Gypsy has was the same address we had gotten on the Golden Corral website.  We followed Gypsy's directions to the letter and ended up in a housing area, and then further back into a new area of the housing area when suddenly Gypsy says, "Navigate OFF-ROAD for 300 ft".  HUH!!!???!!!  We've never had her do that before.  She's tried to drop us off a bridge (in the Smokies, at the Cherokee end where a road crosses the Blue Ridge Parkway our last 2 and our son's GPSs have all told us to take a left or right off that bridge at one time or another (and I mean directly off that bridge onto the road below), but I digress. . . No, we weren't going through a fence into somebody's field to please Gypsy, so we turned her off and back tracked until we got back into the business area.  Low and behold, when we turned her back on, she told us to get back on 77 South and then proceeded to take us exactly where she should have taken us in the first place.  We'll never figure it out, but it sure gave us a frustrated laugh or two.  Apparently Gypsy just doesn't like Texas or something.  Our son says his GPS does not like Texas, either and they think it's because there are so many frontage roads and so many roads close together (in cities) that the satellite can't pick up the correct car or road???

Anyway, we made it to Golden Corral, finally and had the pleasure of hearing an older Hispanic woman serenaded by two older Hispanic gentlemen.  We weren't sure if they were actual employees of Golden Corral or something set up by her family (3 young women and children were with the older woman).  We think it was her birthday, but it wasn't Happy Birthday they were singing.  It was quite beautiful and the guitar playing was really good.  This Golden Corral is an older GC and we would probably only rate it about a 3-4 in our personal rating system (I've told you before, we LOVE Golden Corral and have been to them everywhere we go.  So far, Springfield, IL, Albuquerque, NM, and Branson, MO have the best we've been to.  I wish they'd use us as "secret shoppers", LOL.  I know our eating habits are boring and are indeed HABITS.  I read other people's blogs about all the places they try but we just aren't adventurous eaters, we like what we like and in general, it's plain old "home style" cooking and we find that at Golden Corral (at least most of the time).

Then we went across the street to Walmart, got fuel and some groceries and I got a present. . . I love my big Sony camera, especially for taking "action" shots as it has a sports mode, but. . . it's so big and heavy, you can't just slip it into your pocket and take it along.  It's cumbersome, and not good for places like the beach etc.  Yes, we do have a water tight camera for places where we plan to get ourselves and the camera wet, but for quick walks along the beach or other places,

I really wanted a smaller camera.  So. . . this is the result:

Here are the first three pictures, right out of the box before I bothered to read the instructions, of course:

No, he wasn't after me with the knife, he was cutting up a watermelon we had just purchased.

Followed by Snuffles our 3-year-old Shih-Chon "puppy".  She's such a good traveler and so happy to go anywhere with us.  She's also potty trained to use a box with a puppy pad in it, so we don't have to go out early or late to "take her out".

"Huh, what's cha want?" Snuffles says.

The next picture is of our Snot Cat Coco Puff.  She is a straight haired variant of a Selkirk Rex and is a long haired chocolate brown cat and she is a snot.  In the dark in bed she'll come cuddle us, but other wise doesn't want anything to do with anybody.  All she wants is to look beautiful and disdainful of any body or anything else.  Then there's one last picture of Snuffy doing what she does best, looking cute while watching out her favorite window.

Tomorrow, after a morning at the beach, we have planned to take a Dolphin Watch/Sea Life Safari from Pier 19, here at the KOA.  It's 2 hours, hope we see lots and have a great day.  We're also planning to visit the South Padre Island Birding and Nature Center one day (weather permitting) and plan to visit the Sea Turtle's.  I'm sorry that we're here too early to see any Sea Turtle releases.  They say we might see turtles on the beach laying eggs but by the time they hatch, it will be June or later.  That's okay, we'll just go see the facility and see what it's all about.  That's all for tonight, I'm off to take a shower and then head to bed.  Hopefully I'll get tomorrow's post up before Monday.  Have a great night/day.  Smiles, Sue C

Friday, to South Padre Island

Hi, I know it's been awhile, but not much happened last week in Galveston, other than chilly, windy, rainy, grey, stormy, and cloudy days.  We did have a couple of interesting (to us, but then you have to realize, we're easily entertained, LOL) things happen, for example: being able to only find one Post Office on Galveston, Island, which was "DownTown" and a huge building that was Post Office, Customs Office, and Homeland Security all rolled into one with NO parking places to speak of (unless you managed to find one on the street and then the big butt truck barely fit).

 This pretty little fellow was kind enough to pose for his picture while I waited for Mr. C to come back to the truck after delivering a box into the post office.  I'm not sure what he is, perhaps a catbird, but his head isn't quite as dark as described.  He's about the size of a slim robin.

It was pretty funny, especially, the 3rd day we went there and as usual driving "home" a different way (whatever way Susie--yes, that's me--says to turn) and finding a fairly modern post office with parking and everything only a couple miles from the campground, LOLOL.  During our meanders to and from the Post Office we did find some interesting sights to photograph and if the weather had been agreeable we decided we would have taken a "Duck" tour to get the lay of the land so to speak, but the weather just wouldn't cooperate.

So, on the way to and from the Post Office (thanks to those lovely new customers who purchased some of my canes and wish dragons) we saw some pretty flowers by a pretty house, a fantastically colored/painted house, some interesting statues and other houses and a Church we thought were all pretty or interesting.

Here are a couple great examples of what the wind was like the entire time we were on Galveston Island:  Really cool windsocks and kites, but look at them blow and it was like this the entire time we were there.

So the last couple days we were in Galveston, since it got chilly and nasty again, we spent mostly indoors, me working on Polymer Clay Canes and Mr. C doing computer stuff.

Then, Thursday evening, we packed up the Big Sky and prepared to move on to South Padre Island, TX.  We knew it would be a long day of driving (6-7 hours) but just how long, we had no clue. . . read on. . .


To start out, we left Galveston in this: solid grey skies, wind and mist/light rain, at 5 a.m., with fairly high surf, at least the highest we had seen it while we were in Galveston.

Just so you understand, Mr. C is almost OCD about planning our trips, we have the most comprehensive trip guides ever thought of.  There are maps, marks for where possible rest stop or other places to stop (he's always been a bit of a list maker--alright, those of you who know him, he's MORE than a BIT of a list maker) but pulling the Big Sky behind us has made him almost fanatical for preparing (I'm not complaining, I don't have to worry about a thing, although I have control of all that paperwork--a 3" binder full, for this trip, LOL).   On top of all this paperwork, we have our GPS (Gypsy).  However, we have discovered through the past week or so that our GPS does not appear to like or be compatible with the State of Texas.  She keeps changing her mind and getting us lost, LOL (remember the debacle of arriving on Galveston and she couldn't decide where we were actually supposed to turn?)

So, the night before our trip to South Padre Island from Galveston Island, Mr. C brings Gypsy in to program our route into her and low and behold she says, "No you're messing up, you should take Rt. 6 so you can bypass Houston" (which sounds good to me, I hate us having to drive through big cities).  Of course, Gypsy didn't actually SAY to do this, but it was the route she showed we SHOULD take.  Mr. C asks my opinion and I say I'm all for it, but did you look at it on Streets and Trips to be sure it's appropriate for big rig driving.  He checks it out, at least as far as "Alvin, TX", and says, yep, it looks good, so we decide to let Gypsy have her way for once and will follow her instructions.  So we get up, finish packing up and closing up the Big Sky, put the cat and dog (and me--yes, I'm actually on his list to not forget to put me in the truck, LOL).  It's still mostly dark (I used a special setting on my camera to manage to get these last two "leaving" photos).  We manage to get where Gypsy tells us to go and we're driving merrily along Rt 6 congratulating ourselves on skipping out around Houston when we get almost to Alvin, TX.  Gypsy says take the Alvin Bypass, "Okay, we discuss, that makes sense."  So we take the Alvin Bypass, but the road signs say Rt 35 and Rt 6 (which we were supposed to stay on until we reached our main highway again Rt 59) has headed off straight into Alvin.  Our careful planning and paperwork is useless at this point, as the maps only cover the roads we expect to be ON, not the wrong road we're on.  It's still mostly dark, we're both tired and a tiny bit grumpy and I keep turning on the light to try to figure out where this new Alvin Bypass which is really Rt 35 goes.  It appears to go straight South and we want to go South West (actually a bit North West to catch the main highway we're watching for--remember US Rt 59?  We're supposed to meet up with US Rt 59.)  Also, Rt 35 is a tiny little 2 lane highway and Rt 6 had been a nice divided 4 lane.  We keep saying, let's take the next road to the right, but they're all just "county roads" who knows where they go or how "big" they are or if they go under any low overpasses etc. and they aren't on our map at all.  It finally gets light enough we can see and I finally have Mr. C pull over and tell him I have figured out we can either take Rt 36 (which we're about to cross) up to 59, but that will take us about a half hour out of our way, OR we can stay on 35 until we hit 71 and take that up to 59.  We're already about an hour behind our planned schedule, with 35s southward direction.  That keeps us more on track, but keeps us on 35 which is a nasty road.  We decide to go to 71 as we're now about an hour behind schedule on an already long scheduled day.  Shortly there after, we hit 36 and Mr. C suddenly says, I'm taking it and gets in the right turn lane.  I say ok, whatever and we head off up 36, which about 15 miles further on rejoins 35!!!!!!!

We are really flummoxed and frustrated, but finally 35 takes off again and we do finally manage to reach US 59, which is what we wanted, in the first place.  We're not happy campers, but. . . what can you do, except to stop at that little donut shop at the corner of 35 and 36 with home made donuts and breakfast sandwiches?  Yes, we did, and yes, I enjoyed my forbidden donuts (until about an hour later when they just sat like a stone in my stomach and made me sick for the rest of the trip).
After that, basically things went well, route wise, until we started into cloudy skies again, although it did get progressively warmer.  We passed interesting scenery lots of scrub and desert.  There were also prickly pear cactus that were blooming (according to the field guide, it's a "Fragile Prickly Pear").  I've never seen blooming cactus before, so I talked Mr. C into stopping and taking a couple pictures for me.  We also saw some hawk type birds with white tummies and dark wing bottoms and tips.  There were also 2 of what we think were Ospreys in a tree.

 We finally got to Victoria, where we turned off on Rt 77, which would take us right to South Padre Island.  The weather was looking a bit threating, but held off.  Some lovely truck passed us (I'm not sure Texans believe the speed limits are posted for their use. . .) and threw a rock up that hit our windshield hard enough to chip it.  Fortunately, it is very low and on the driver's side and isn't really part of the visual field.  We'll wait to get home and have it "filled" so it doesn't crack worse.  If it starts to spread while we're in TX, we'll have it done here, but Mr. C doesn't think it will be needed.

We saw a flock of some little bright but dark blue birds suddenly take wing from a ditch, but I wasn't fast enough with the camera.  I believe they were Indigo buntings.  We began seeing water and then saw the bridge.  I don't know what on earth is wrong with me that it never dawned on me that going to both Galveston ISLAND and South Padre ISLAND (notice that magic word ISLAND) would require going across rather LONG and HIGH bridges (neither of which I am incredibly fond of, especially pulling the Big Sky on windy days).

One funny side note, was the sign as we pulled up on the bridge, about watching for Pelicans.  We saw tons of pelicans in Galveston, but no signs about them.  This bridge had a flashing lighted sign saying to be careful of them and not a pelican have we seen since we've been here.

Oh well, it really wasn't too bad and the water was so pretty and blues and greens, so unlike Galveston's waters.

 Here is a picture of our campground from the bridge.  We were glad to arrive (at first, anyway).  We're staying at the South Padre Island KOA.  It appears to be the usual, clean, nice, fairly well set up KOA.  We checked in and they gave us site 8 (right on the main road coming in and on part of Madre Lagoon, which bothered us a bit, as our bedroom is on that end of the trailer, but didn't even hear the vehicular traffic at all the first night).  As usual, they have someone escort you to your site.  Usually this escort is very aware of just how much room it takes to maneuver the big rigs, but this guy wanted us first to back up aways to take the road he wanted us to take.  We said, no, we'd rather drive around the whole park, if needed.  So he took us that way, but the very first turn he took us on he misjudged how much room we need to turn a very tight turn and had to have some people come out and move their car so we could make the turn.  We managed that and got to "our assigned site".  The guy hops out of his golf cart and starts motioning Mr. C where to go and where to turn and how etc.  The only problem was he didn't have a clue and was getting incredibly frustrated and so were we and he'd stand right in front of Mr. C (and our truck and rig motioning us to come forward LOTS and FAST) and he was RIGHT IN FRONT OF US, if Mr. C's foot slipped or the brakes failed or any number of other things we would have run right over this poor man.  So, we finally got in our site, I thought we were too close to a short palm tree on the back slide, but the guy told us to stop there, we were fine, so we did, and he left.  We connected everything , and as we hooked up the Electricity, Mr. C asks me, aren't we supposed to be in site 8?  The electric box we were hooking up to was for site 7, the "escort" had put us on the wrong site.  We called and told the office and since the person who was to have had site 8 wasn't here yet, they decided to put them in site 8 and leave us in site 7.  So as you can, see, the day hasn't gone the best for us.  It was very hot and humid here (there appears to be a constant haze on the island and we think it's just plain salt spray and humidity).  So, we extended the slides and Mr. C says, I'm going to go park the truck. . . The world about ended.  This well intended idiot had insisted we stop and were fine but failed to leave any room to park the truck, neither in front of nor behind the Big Sky.   We take some big deep breaths and try to recoup without cussing too much.  Mr. C asks, if we just back it up, will the slide open where the palm tree is?  I say, no, there is no way.  We're so tired, and so hot and frustrated, I'm surprised we managed to be civil to one another, but we knew it wasn't our fault.  I suggest that we pull the slides back in, disconnect everything, back way up (into the site behind us that is empty) and pull back forward trying to move it to the right a few feet so we can open the slide where the palm tree is.  It took Mr. C about 4 tries to get it maneuvered back and forward again to get it lined up just where we felt it was best located.  Once again, not a good start for our stay at South Padre Island. . .

We reconnected everything and reopened the slides and just as Mr. C comes to the door I hear a huge thwap and ask, what was that.  Mr. C comes on up to the door and says, that poor bird just flew into the trailer.  Awww, poor birdie, he was so pretty and he lay there, on his back, gasping with his head to one side.  Another strike against our trip here.  I wanted his
picture, anyway, because he was so pretty and was planning to move him into the shade of the picnic table if I could, but when I came back with my camera he had moved himself onto his tummy.  He was still gasping, but at least it was obvious  his neck was not broken.

  I took his picture, then I tried to take him some water, but he finally flew away under the trailer.  I'm so glad he wasn't killed.  I'm not sure what he was, he was much larger than the little "gold finch" under our bush I missed a picture of.  There are a lot of different kinds of warblers etc. passing through this area right now, we're told it's a birder's paradise right now.  

So, we finally got settled, went to Denny's to get something to eat, took a drive to see the sights.    It was interesting driving around, comparing Galveston to South Padre.  On Galveston, the whole beach side of the Island has area after area after area that is open to the public, easy access, easy driving and parking.  You could see nearly every foot of the Gulf front as you drove down the island.  Here in South Padre, it's huge motel, after huge hotel, after huge condominium, one right after the other and you can't even catch a glimpse of the water.  At first I was so disappointed.  

But then Mr. C "reminded me" (is it a reminder if I don't remember him ever even mentioning it? LOL) of the beaches down by our campground (but our campground is on the "bay" side I pouted), LOL.  I should have had more faith, Mr. C almost NEVER lets me down:  So we got a pass to use Isla Blanca Park, which is at the South West end of South Padre Island (and just a very short drive or a slightly long walk) from the KOA.  It's a very nice park with the best parking for us (remember, the big butt, oversized pick-up we have).  Isla Blanca Park has 3 beaches plus a picnic area and a fishing area.

So we got our month long pass (the best buy rather than daily) with a discount because Mr. C is a veteran.  We drove in and checked it out.  I wish we had had more faith in "chance", as Isla Blanca has a fantastic HUGE campground with full hook-ups right there, by the beaches.  However (and this is a BIG thing for Mr. C) the camping is first come first served.  He just isn't willing to take a chance on there not being a place for us, he likes reservations.  It turns out there are TONS of spaces available.  This probably isn't the case during the winter when the snow birds are here,
or maybe in the summer when families are out of school and able to be here, but right now, I wish we were staying there.  I suspect we'd be seeing lots more birds etc.  We checked out the picnic area and finally pulled into the first beach parking lot and the first thing I saw was these wonderful parachute type kites flying over the water.  As we got closer, I realized those kites were attached to people and the people were holding a handle and their feet were on short surf boards and these people are doing flips and turns and jumps and slides on and over and around the small waves.

They may not have big enough waves for surfing, but if I were lots younger and lots more althletic and more fit, I'd be trying this, it looked like so much fun.  But when I happened to mention this to Mr. C, he kindly asked me if even when I was young, more fit, thin and a teeny tiny bit athletic, could I  balance a bicycle very well? NO, skate? NO, do gymnastics? NO. . . but it sure looked like fun.  So, while watching the "Kite Boarders" I believe they call them we also started walking down the beach;  like Galveston, very hard packed sand (although it was soft silky sand near the parking lot).
The first thing I noticed was. . . yep, hooray, lots and lots of shells.  
 Then we started walking down the beach and I saw THIS:

This is a Portuguese Man O War (a jelly fish like creature whose tentacles can sting the daylights out of you).  They can be deadly, but for most people, they aren't, they're just a bad thing like Brown Recluse spiders.  They aren't always deadly, only to people who are allergic or sensitive to them or get too badly stung.  This wasn't really very big, I was surprised. The "inflated" part was only about as big as my palm and the tentacles (which can sting even if no longer attached to the "body") were a handful all curled up.  No, I didn't put them in my hand to look, that's just about the size they looked.  So, as a final note, a day that was basically a nasty, wash out and a very negative start to our time in South Padre ended up fun and interesting, between the sand, sun, beach, kite boarders, shells, and Man o War sighting.  It is only in the mid 70s to low 80s here, and is so humid, there is a constant haze in the air and the truck and trailer windows are always "wet".  I'd imagine it is horrid in the deep summer.  But maybe the ocean breeze makes up for it a little bit.  Oh, I've saved my best find for last, for today's blog post.  I already have another lined up for tomorrow, and then Sunday we have a really special activity planned.  I hope you'll come join me for some more adventures, but hope you enjoy the photo of these two unbroken sand dollar shells we found this first afternoon on the beach at South Padre Island.  Smiles, Sue C

Monday, Monday, Not much to say today.

Delanera RV Park
Galveston Island, TX
1:15 p.m. 74* F, sunny but still slightly windy

It's Monday, here in Galveston, TX and it's sunny and beautiful with just a slight breeze.  Enough that we still don't need to turn on our air (unheard of for Mr. C who hates humidity).  We've opened the windows wide and have the ceiling exhaust fans going and it's just beautiful.

I feel a need for a slight explanation for this trip.  I try to let people know where we are located, where we are staying and our opinion on the RV park and/or sight seeing activities we engage in.  However, we do not travel for the sight seeing activities, we mainly travel to just relax and see our beautiful USA.  So I don't have many stories or pictures of special sight seeing or touristy places to see.  We're just relaxing, enjoying the sun and sea and letting nature takes its course.

I have a fascination with sea shells etc.  This isn't the best place we've ever been for cool sea shells, although as previously reported, we have found some to add to the collection.  I had read that the Bolivar Peninsula (across the Galveston Bay from Galveston) had an area that was great for sea shell and sea glass collection, so we decided to check it out today.  There is a ferry service from Galveston Island across the Bay to the Bolivar Pensula.  You can take your car (or truck, semi, trailer, motorhome, motorcycle) on the ferry, or you can park your vehicle and walk onto the ferry to go across.

We knew we were only planning to visit one particular place, called No Name Beach in an article I found on-line.  We really were uncomfortable taking our big butt truck on the Ferry, but after seeing it loaded for trips in each direction, we wouldn't hesitate to take it if we went again.  This stretch of travel (TX Highway 87) is actually considered a "road" by our Streets and Trips program--using the ferry.  The less than 3 mile trip across the bay takes about 20 minutes, plus time for loading and unloading vechicles.  At least one ferry operates 24/7 and others are put in service as needed.
We were warned that the trip back might take up to 2 hours just to get on the ferry and if we didn't need our truck, to just walk on and ride across, which is what we did.  Although, for the record, the cars, trucks, motorhomes, motorcycles, and trailers waiting to get on for the trip back all got on the first ferry and there was no 2 hour wait for anyone.

We passed "Sea Wolf" Park, where an old WWII submarine and a battleship are located for tours and a historical park is set up.

This was a fun trip.  The sun and slight breeze made it a bit chilly (light sweater/jacket weather) but being out in the open enjoying the fresh air and sun and sea were wonderful.  There was also an area inside you could ride if the weather were inclement.

We saw all kinds of sea birds, tankers, pilot boats, other various and sundry boats

 and best of all some dolphins (or porpoises, as I believe they are rightly called).  They were so quickly in and out of the water that there was no way to get a picture of them, but it was so much fun to see one dark colored one on the way TO Bolivar Peninsula and a small pod in front of a tourist type dolphin cruise boat on the way back to Galveston.    



I could have gladly spent the day riding back and forth across the bay, and the best part about it is that it was FREE.  It's actually considered "part" of TX 87, and as such it's a 'free'way so to speak.




Once on the Bolivar Peninsula, we followed a small path just off the Ferry to the beach and indeed, there were tons of sea shells.  Unfortunately, we weren't there at the optimal low tide, or I'm sure it would have been even better, but we did make some interesting finds.

  Most were broken, but lots of "mother of pearl" type shell pieces, a small crab claw (minus the crab, not a clue where he was, probably in some creature's belly), a couple nice shells, but nothing really out of this world wonderful.  I did find one conch type shell, I was so excited, I picked it up, just to see the hermit crab scuttle deep inside the shell.  There was a tiny cone type shell "caught" on the hermit crab shell and I went to pick it off and realized it had a resident snail, so both those shells went back into the Gulf.  We walked the length of this beach 4 times for a total of over 1 mile. Although it was a fairly slow pace, most of the time I was walking in the water and/or bending over picking things up, so I feel I got my exercise today.  It was great.  I would recommend anyone going here to be sure to wear shoes with sturdy soles, as there are lots of broken shells, and trash, including broken bottles strewn along this beach.  Whether transient people live here or it's partyers, or just trash washed up from elsewhere, I do not know, but there was LOTS of trash.

Once back on board the Ferry headed, back to Galveston, we saw people feeding the gulls at the back of the Ferry, boy was that an interesting sight.

We saw a few other interesting sights as we drove back and forth between our RV park and the Ferry.

Pleasure Pier Amusement Park

and a huge beautiful Hotel Resort.

On the way back to the RV park, we stopped for lunch, and then returned to the trailer for the rest of the day, probably.  This is the life, no demands, nothing we have to do or any time schedule to keep, it's just relaxing.

I'm a tiny bit sun burned, in the face, and full of both fun and food and feel like a nice nap would be in order, but don't want to miss a minute of this lovely sunshine.  So, I'll close for now and hope you'll join me as we continue to enjoy our relaxing journey.  Back to the clay table now.  Smiles, Sue C