We've moved on down the road.

We've traversed the wondrous roads of Louisiana..  Did we tell you we stayed one night at a Walmart in Sulphur, Louisiana..  That's right - Sulphur.   It was right outside of Lake Charles, which is home to one of the biggest oil refineries in the U.S..  We entered into Texas and stopped at the Texas Welcome Center where we made the decision to head to the Padre Seashore near Corpus Christi.

From the welcome center, our route took us toward Houston.   A stop for gas and a McDonald's gourmet meal prepared us for the long trip from Houston to the Padre Island area.

I think it was Tom Cunningham who told us that in certain areas of Texas, there was a "whole lot of nothing."   We found one of those areas, driving on State Route 59 through Victoria and then getting on route 77.   There's a lot of scrub brush and not much else.  It was dark by the time we arrived in Corpus Christi.  After quite a bit of re-routing ourselves, we finally got on the road to the Padre Island National Seashore and the campground that we wanted - Malaquite Campground.

 
 But when we arrived, we discovered it was full, so we headed back up the road and across the island a bit to Bird Island Basin Campground on Laguna Madre Bay for the night (it was first come first served).   Some helpful folks from upstate New York helped us get parked and we got to bed.   The next morning we left the trailer at Bird Basin and drove the truck back to Malaquite, just in time to see some people pulling out of their parking spot.  We jumped out of the truck, claimed the spot for our very own (just in time 'cause some others had the same idea), wrote out a check for the lot rent, and Sheryl stayed on the lot while I went back to Bird Basin to hook up and bring the trailer over.

The first few days here have been cloudy but warm enough to enjoy.   And there's always a wind.  We stopped at the Visitor Center and got the information about camping on the beach for free.  We drove down the beach to check it out.   After looking at the seaweed and thousands of jellyfish on the beach, we decided to keep paying $4 per night (with our senior pass).   We have restrooms not far way if we need them, and there is water available.  Here's our view of the Gulf of Mexico from our door.

Here are some more pics that will give you and idea about where we are:

These ducks were always hanging out in this pond right by the road in the park.

Notice the Coyote?

Nice Buck - he knows he's safe from hunters as long as he stays in the park.

Something really special we got to enjoy for two nights was bio-luminesence in the breakers as they headed onshore.  The crash of a wave creates a neon blue light effect, and a free light show in the water for spectators.   It is awesome - like an electric light show in the water.

We went down on the beach and watched for awhile.  It was in view out of our back window when we went to bed.   Totally awesome.

People are here from a wide variety of geographic areas:   New Hampshire, Maine, Colorado, Oklahoma, Oregon, Minnesota, Michigan, Texas and other places.   And they come in all sorts of RV's.   While at the visitor center, we talked to a couple from Minnesota who are volunteers for three months at the Visitor Center - They both work 24 hours a week each and get free lot rent including full hookups.  Umm???

We're hoping to tour the WWII aircraft carrier USS Lexington which is docked at Corpus Christi - maybe on Monday.  It's sunny today and we're enjoying the warmth.