Day 2

Mustang Island State Park Port Aransas, Texas

Yet another chilly, grey, and misty day.  We decided that we were going to the beach anyway!  We packed our lunch and headed out.  We stopped at the visitor center.

First we got a tide chart. It isn’t very smart to go driving 20 or 30 miles down the beach, not knowing when the next high tide might be. Sometimes the beach is impassable when the tide is up. We found out that there is a coastal flood advisory…good to know! We also picked up some trash bags.  When we were here last spring, we learned that this particular barrier island is at the confluence of two major water currents.  From the south, the Caribbean and Mexico, the Yucatan current enters the Gulf.  From the north the current comes from the Florida Straits.  As these currents collide, the debris that has been carried from all over the world, is dumped here on Padre Island National Seashore.  There are armies of volunteers that pick up trash here.  However, with every new day, more detritus washes up on the beach.  Things like shoes- mostly flip flops, glow sticks, plastic bottles of every sort, straws, plastic forks and spoons, hard hats, fishing tackle, oil filters, crates, buckets, toothbrushes, string, rope, ribbon, and lots of broken plastic.  When we are here, we want to help!  We filled all four of the bags that we were given and brought back lots of bigger stuff too!

There were dozens of heron fishing in the surf today.

We saw hoof prints all along the beach.  We also saw lots of deer in the dunes.  They were very skittish and didn’t want to be photographed!  We also saw one deer just walking along the surf. It was an odd thing to see…deer on the beach!

An oil rig along visible along the horizon.

We got back to the RV after 2.  I took the laundry and found the nicest laundromat, The Laundry Depot, that I have ever had the pleasure to use. Next, I went to a HEB grocery store.  It was a great store and I found all kinds of things that we had been missing. I did a little Christmas errand for the grandsons and then picked up dinner while I was out.  I got a lot accomplished!

We still don’t know if we will move the RV down to the National Seashore tomorrow…we are liking our hookups here in town…we don’t have to decide tonight!

November Days of Thanksgiving Day #14:  We are grateful that we are able to do a little to help clean up the beach!