Brazo's Bend S P on the Brazo River

We made camp here for five nights. It's a big park south west of Houston with several small lakes and lots of trails. We took a walk through the nature area yesterday and saw lots of small alligators. The biggest was only about four feet long, but most of them were last year's babies. They are about eighteen inches long and so cute! I'd like to catch one to bring home for the grand kids, but I'd get in big trouble for being an alligator rustler.
Then weather has improved dramatically with temperatures back to the seventies, but we are still sun challenged. Oh well, I guess we can live with tat for now. We have some storms moving through north of us and it looks like the Midwest might be getting battered again. Hope all bodes well for Michigan.

Camp at Brazo's Bend State Park. Warm weather returns! 

Hunkering in the Cold

It's been a cold couple of days here at Lake Corpus Christi State Park. We've had two nights in the low thirties and yesterday didn't even hit 40 degrees. I realize that's not cold by Michigan standards but we didn't drive this far for Michigan temperatures.
We met a nice couple from Steamboat Springs, Colorado and have been spending time visiting with them. They have quite a story after having been touring for the past few winters in a trawler that they keep at Lake Okeechobee in Florida. They travel to the coast then to the Bahamas or Key West for their winters. This year they are traveling in a vintage motor home they bought last year. They told us about doing a circle tour on their boat from New York, through Lake Champlain, to the St Lawrence Seaway to the Great Lakes, then down through the Ohio River and south to Mobile Bay back into the Gulf of Mexico. Quite an adventure!
Tomorrow we move south east to Brazo's Bend near Houston.

A CCC Rec hall used for socializing at Lake Corpus Christi

A view of the lake. This was another huge reservoir. 

A roadrunner at the park

Picnic shelters at North Padre Island

A restaurant at the Bob Hall pier at North Padre

Why would they call this a spoonbill?

The seagulls hunkered down in the wind at North Padre Island on Sunday

Corpus Christi State Park

We are now at Lake Corpus Christi at a new campground for 5 nights. This is a nice park on a large reservoir. We still haven't gotten away from the damp foggy weather, but it looks like they are getting it everywhere in this part of Texas.
We are northwest of the town of Corpus Christi and are planning a day trip to North Padre Island to see how it looks there. We haven't camped on North Padre for several years.
We are hoping for a bit of fishing here at the park since the crappie fishing is supposed to be good. Hoping for a fish fry!

A last look across the causeway at South Padre Isalnd

Most of our days there had fog lingering through out the day

The channel at the south end of the island brought some large ships into the Inter coastal waterway.

This one was being towed and trailed by tug boats. It looked like it was being brought in for renovation or salvage.

Still at South Padre Island

We've been enjoying South Padre and exploring the surrounding areas. Yesterday we drove over to Brownsville to see what is there. It's a nice town, probably just a bit bigger than Traverse City. Lots of shopping and a busy downtown area just on this side of the border with Mexico. We drove past the border crossing and it is a busy area. The downtown here is bustling and looks well kept up and prosperous. The neighborhoods just out of town had very nice homes. This must be quite a retirement and resort destination.

We're at South Padre for two more days and the weather looks really nice going forward, until at least through the weekend.

Fisherfolk out on the jetty at the south end of South Padre Isalnd. This is just outside our campground and a short walk.

Camping at the County Park.

Out of the Fog

We were starting to think the fog never ends here, but today it's clear and sunny. Wed had a great beach day yesterday for about two hours before the fog came back in.
Today we went to the Padre Island Birding center and walked the boardwalks. Later to the convention center to the market. It was a huge vendor market with lots of crafts and flea market type vendors. Then we went to the beach outside of town and parked at a beach access site where people were driving their cars onto the beach. Several didn't make it and got buried in the sand. We had about an hours worth of entertainment watching other trucks try to pull them out. Eventually all were out and aon their way.
We are starting to like this place and can see spending a month here at some later time.

Sand castles on main street on South Padre Island

We had dinner at Pier 19 Friday. It's a restaurant built on a long pier over the bay. All seats are on the water!

The boardwalks at the birding center.

Roseate spoonbills in the marsh

A common galinule. Bright red beak!

A heron sunning itself.

Northern pintail ducks. They were gorgeous. 

Black bellied whistling ducks. New to me!

Lots of folks driving on the beach. There are over thirty miles of beach on the gulf side of the island

South Padre Island

We made it to the South Padre yesterday and are impressed with the county park campground and the island. The campground is huge, but the sites are adequate and we have full hook-up including cable TV. We are right next to the beach with the Laguna Madre on the other side. There is a long causeway connecting Point Isabel to South Padre Island and both sides have a touristy feel to them with resorts and restaurants and shops.
We can ride our bikes to town and on toward the north end of the island where the road ends after about twelve miles. Nothing but dunes and water just outside of town. This place is reminiscent of the Florida panhandle or certain parts of the keys.

Driving the causeway to South Padre

Arriving at the Island

A monument dedicated to the fishermaen who were lost at sea over the decades

Walking the South Padre Gulf beach on a misty morning

We drove to the end of the highway north on the Island. About twelve miles from our campground. Nothing but sand and water

Another view driving to the end of the road

Point Isabel light house

The shopping district at Point Isabel

The causeway in the background

My new bud "Blacky"

A Cloudy and Bleak Morning

We woke this morning to a misty, cloudy sky. It's cool, about sixty and the light spray just won't give up.
On Sunday we took a ride south as far as Rio Grand City. It's the bigger town in the area and had HEB and Walmart. We stopped also at Roma a little closer to the campground and walked around the town square and the Rio Grand. There was a lookout over the river here and we met some folks from Holland, Michigan, and we talked with them for awhile. Mexico just over the river, had us talking about the Trump Wall and what they might do here to put it along the river. There were people sunning and fishing on the shore on the Mexican side.
Yesterday we stayed at the park and took our chairs and lunch and spent the day by the lake. I did some fishing, but the fish wouldn't show themselves.
Last night was weird. In the evening there was a helicopter flying along the lake shore with a spotlight looking for someone or something. It flew all around and at one point over the campground. After hovering for about fifteen minutes it finally headed north and back toward Laredo. Yesterday on the lake shore we found a new baby bugy and some drinks lined up on the shore. All abandoned as if someone left in a big hurry.
Tomorrow we are moving on to South Padre Island and back to the coast. We're hoping the weather will cooperate with us and we can enjoy the Gulf and do some fishing and kayaking. This will be a new area for us so there will be a lot of exploring to do there.

Looking across the river from Roma Texas. Where will the well go here?

Another view from the Roma lookouit

An osprey and a great egret at Falcon Lake

Another egret

What else?  A Greater Yellowlegs