Enjoying the weather and the friends at North Padre Island

Hi-dee-O everyone.. Here are some more musings from from North Padre Island. You'd think that this is barren wasteland but actually, there is wildlife, bird-life, trees, shrubs, and flowers.

Some sort of track on the tidal mud flat.  Does anyone know what it is?

We still haven't figured these out completely but the ranger at the Visitor Center things  they are made by a gopher indigenous to this area.

You can see the size of the mound with Sheryl's hand in the picture

When the winds on the Laguna Madre died down, ducks appeared from somewhere.

This Blackbird of some sort kept us entertained with a number of different calls..

We're not sure what these are..

I think these are Plovers.

I looked out a window of the Travel trailer and noticed something scurrying across the ground near the motorcycle.   I went outside to discover this friend:

He or she is a sand crab - about 2 inches wide or long or whatever, from toenail to toenail..

Some new friends who are here on vacation- Mark and Rhonda from the Dallas area are parked next to us.  Mark is an accomplished wind surfer but Rhonda likes to fish.   

They are departing for a fishing excursion via their 12 foot Hobie

Mark is holding the Hobie paddle System which actually propels the boat.  He is holding the top part of the system - a pair of "bicycle pedals" connected to the paddles on the bottom.   The paddles slip through a slot in the bottom of the kayak and are held in.  The person in the front pushes the pedals (like riding a bike) and the motion is translated through some gears to the paddles which push the boat along.  Quite ingenious. 

That's Rhonda up front doing the paddling

The Hobie also has a sail.  They use a regular kayak paddle in real shallow water and then switch to the Hobie paddle system in deeper water.

There was a windsurfing class out behind our trailer one day.

Sheryl and I motorcycled up to the Visitor Center on the Island to enjoy the view of the Gulf of Mexico..

There are always sunsets.. just out our bedroom window....

We aren't going to be here much longer.   We'll probably head for Davis Bayou Campground in Mississippi next.  We'll know for sure when we really get there.  We may find something else along the way.  :)

See ya...