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Not too many pictures, too windy and Carl's camera is still out for repair
Day 43 Thursday, January 19, 2006
The wind howled all night and frequently shook the coach. The wind still howled in the morning, with a forecast of gusts to 40 – 45 mph. We relaxed early AM then drove to Parde Island National Seashore. This park protects about 70 miles of wild barrier beach, the longest uninterrupted stretch of barrier beach in the world. We hiked a short nature trail but even behind the dunes it was pretty gusty and all we saw were a few Snow Geese. The Visitor Center had an interesting set of displays and orientation video. We decided it was no fun to either walk or drive on the beach. Exiting the parking lot, Sandy spotted three white tail deer in the grassy dunes about 100 yards away. One was a six point buck. Along the park exit road we spotted several White tailed Hawks and we got to compare adult and juvenile plumage.
After lunch back at the coach we drove into Corpus Christi. We shipped Carl’s camera off to be repaired then visited the USS Lexington, a WWII aircraft carrier turned into a museum. The huge expanse of the flight deck and labyrinth of passageways below decks were interesting but Carl was disappointed that they had no vintage WWII aircraft, just more modern types from the 50’s and 60’s. They also did not allow visitors to go up o the bridge. Still, it was an interesting way to spend a windy afternoon.
By now it was getting close to sunset so we went back to the small park overlooking Osa Bay where we were last night. We found a wide array of ducks, shorebirds and wading birds. At one point a pair of Roseate Spoonbills took off and flew across the bay with their pink wings glowing in the setting sunlight. Suddenly, hundreds of shorebirds burst into the sky. We looked up and, as expected, found a Perigrine Falcon attacking the flock, unsuccessfully this time. We had a pleasant dinner at a local restaurant then caught up on email and journaling in the evening.
Day 44 Friday, January 20, 2006
A little less wind today but very humid. We went to a “trade center that looked, in the brochure, like Sample Road in Pompano, FL. Unfortunately, it was smaller, seedier, and many of the booths were closed. Afterwards, we went to a Dollar General store to get some better quality merchandise. We did some more birding, following the central Texas Coast Birding Trail then returned to the coach for lunch. Mid afternoon, we drove back to Corpus Christi to the movies. We saw Brokeback Mountain, an extraordinary movie. We had dinner at Snoopy’s, a seafood restaurant a lot like Markee’s in Seabrook, NH without the lobster.
Day 45 Saturday, January 21, 2006
We awoke to more wind with rain added in. No big deal; today is a travel and chore day. We packed up and headed south to Brownsville, about 200 miles to the south, right on the Mexican border. Light rain on and off was no problem as we cruised down US-77. It seems that all roads in Texas are posted at 70 mph. Be they Interstates, US highways or Texas FM routes( Farm Road), the signs say 70 MPH/65 Night. These roads are smooth, straight and wide. We arrived at Paul’s RV Park about 1:30. Our site turned out to be a tiny patch of grass and asphalt, so short that we had to remove our tow bar so as not to obstruct the roadway. Oh, well. As compensation for the tiny site, all of the people were very friendly. Shopping, laundry and some coach clean up filled the afternoon and evening.
Day 47 Sunday, January 22, 2006
We spent the morning at Sable Palms Audubon Refuge. We saw 37 species in about two hours, including many we had not yet seen on this trip. In the afternoon we visited Ken and Judy Smith, one of the couples we met on the Mexico/Belize trip last year. The Smith’s, originally from Australia, live in Ontario in Summer and Brownsville in winter. We had a great afternoon catching up with our respective adventures during the past Year. Judy & Ken just returned from a cruise to Panama. Before we left, we planned a few trips together while we are in Brownsville. After a delicious sesame shrimp dinner, we watched TV for a change.
Day 48 Monday, January 23, 2006
We went shopping in Mexico today. We picked up Judy Smith (Ken is still working on a bad cold) and drove to the border crossing at Progresso. Parked on the US side and walked across the bridge paying a 25 cent toll. For some reason it was 30 cents on the way back. In addition to the shops and restaurants, the businesses try to solve two of the biggest problems in the US health care industry, the high cost of drugs and dental care. In the first quarter mile there were at least 25 pharmacies and even more walk in dentists office, all claiming, “US trained, English spoken”.
The shops went on for block after block, all claiming to have the best products and best prices in Mexico. The shelves were brimming with colorful pottery, leather goods, silver jewelry, tequila, copper sculptures in addition to lots of junk. We bought a few gifts and Sandy got a great deal on a chain for her new gold pendant (remember the jewelry shopping on Sanibel Island in FL).
It was early evening by the time we dropped Judy off. Got back to Paul’s RV and made arrangements to have the motorhome washed tomorrow. Another shrimp dinner, then an early bedtime to get ready for our birding day with Ken and Judy tomorrow.
Day 49 Tuesday, January 24, 2006
Up early (6 AM) to go birding with the Smith’s. They met us at our campground but we decided to take both vehicles so we’d have more room (binoculars, spotting scopes, books, lunch and their dog would have made it cramped in one car). We drove to Laguna Atascosa National Wildlife Refuge, another great birding spot with open fields, scrub forests fresh and salt water lagoons and mud flats. We spent about five hours there and given all the different habitats, it was no surprise that we listed 64 species including one life bird (White Tailed Kite) and several other new birds for this trip including Aplomado Falcon, Curve Billed Thrasher and American Oystercatcher. We saw about eight Reddigh Egret during the day and curiously, the majority were White Morphs (the bird is usually slatey blue with a reddish head and neck. The white morph is the same species but completely white.) We stopped in Port Isabel for an early, excellent seafood dinner then back to the campground, making one more stop along a small channel where we found lots of shorebirds.
