It was quite windy and so I elected to continue my walk on the Audubon Trails.
I saw an osprey.
A heron.
A great egret.
A toad.
A turtle.
The sky was looking ominous.
When I got back, we prepared the RV and got ready to go. Just as we got to Mobile, it started to rain. The forecast was for thunderstorms and potentially severe weather with heavy rain. The rain became so intense that we stopped for about an hour at the next rest area to wait out the storm.
David had called this morning. Oliver is sick with a stomach bug. He wondered if we might alter our schedule so that we could help him with childcare tomorrow afternoon. So, Tim drove. We entered Georgia at almost 5pm.
I found a Cracker Barrel in LaGrange near 85N where we could get dinner and spend the night. Tomorrow we will go to Stone Mountain and set up the RV. Then we can go help take care of Ollie. We hope to spend this weekend camping with the boys at Stone Mountain. We hope everyone is well enough to make it work! We will post a blog on Monday about our adventures with Ollie and Austin.
I walked this morning along the top of the levee along the Mississippi River. I saw two eagles.
Ships on the river.
A snowy egret hunting in the marshy area below the levee.
There are so many houses with blue tarp on the roof. When we came through here after Hurricane Laura, there were lots of houses with damage and lots of blue tarps. We wonder if these houses still have not been repaired or if they have sustained damage from subsequent storms. This area is at such extraordinary risk. When traveling through on elevated highways with so much water below, you can appreciate how easily this area could be affected by flooding. Lake Pontchartrain, rivers, the Gulf of Mexico and so much marsh. The land masses sit at or below sea level. Add wind and rain and rising tides and it has been devastating. Large piles of debris still sit awaiting removal.
Today Tim drove past New Orleans.
Into Mississippi, and then Alabama.
We decided to dip down south of 10 and visit Dauphin Island. This a barrier island in the Mississippi Sound. Tim rode my bike and I went for a walk to explore the island. I walked to Fort Gaines.
Then out on the boardwalk at the Alabama Aquarium.
NOAA has weather observation equipment here on the coast.
Most coastal towns have a Coast Guard Station. We saw the helicopters out and about this afternoon.
This evening we went back to the boardwalk at the aquarium for our dinner. While we were there Tim decided to try the Hurricane Machine. We couldn’t get our credit card to work and so we were looking for cash. Another couple was there watching and they donated a dollar to watch Tim experience hurricane force winds. The machine registered wind speeds of 78mph…but it looked fairly tame. The interesting part of the evening was talking to Hillary and Rob. They have recently completed a school bus conversion and have been traveling fulltime for the past 7 weeks or so. It was fun talking to like minded people albeit much younger and more adventuresome than us! We wish them well as they embark on this new path. We just might see them in Wyoming this summer!
I began the day with a beautiful walk in Palmetto State Park. The mist on the pond, the cypress trees and knees in the swamp, and wild blue flag irises lending bursts of purple to the dense green marsh.
Tim drove until lunchtime. We got the last site at the New Orleans KOA. We didn’t venture into the city or go to the French Quarter but we will someday!
We did go out to dinner at the Big EZ Seafood House. Tim ordered crawfish. Eddie, our server, gave us a quick lesson and we went to work. The crawfish were sweet and seasoned with Cajun spices and citrus and the steamed corn was delicious as well.
After dinner, we parked at the Levee at the Mississippi River and took a walk.
Friday morning, we took the time to complete our morning routines. We then went to the sanitation station and while we were there, refilled our tires with air…no more beach driving. We were on the road by 10am. Tim drove all day. At one point we came to an area of nearly stopped traffic. Other drivers were exiting to detour around the traffic obstacle. We followed. We ended up on a dirt farm road bumping along until we made our way back to the highway. We saw a group of pronghorns on our little offroad expedition. We aren’t sure how much time we saved but we weren’t sitting still!
We had debated stopping before Houston but then decided to go on through. We stayed Friday night at Winnie-Sowell County Park. We have stayed there on other cross-country trips. It is a little further from the highway and it was nice and quiet. Tim took my bike for a ride just to move a little and I took an evening walk.
Saturday morning, I walked in the town of Winnie. The grass is green here, the wildflowers are blooming and the trees are budding with tiny green leaves.
When I got back, Tim was talking to a young man, Isaiah, who had camped in a tent. Tim offered him food and coffee both of which he politely declined. Tim is so much better about talking with people and learning their stories. Isaiah left Utah last May to walk across the country. He walked to the Olympic Peninsula in Washington state and then to Montana and then to Texas and now he is on his was to Louisiana. From there he plans to walk to Maine and then to Florida. He is doing this because he wants to! He has a series of YouTube videos where he talks about his journey. I have only listened to a couple but he is quite compelling. He speaks about how he feels so connected to the Earth since he started his adventure. He observes that we have become so adept at controlling our environment with temperatures carefully controlled by air-conditioning and heat and we stay dry and we stay inside! Tim and I have always said that one of the best parts of what we do is how much time we get to spend outside in nature. It is grounding. We both feel that food is more enjoyable when we picnic outside. Don’t get us wrong…a nice restaurant meal with a glass of wine is really super nice too…we just don’t want to be limited to only that. It’s not always heathy and we become complacent and think about how much we would miss!
Many of the things that Isaiah talks about resonate with us. He says that many people sit inside doing a job they dislike and that they believe that they could never just leave to do something different. He believes that you can…because you can choose. He says that there are definitely consequences to every choice you make but that once you take the first step…everything else becomes solvable. If you want to hear him speak, check out his videos at YouTube You Do You.
Tim drove again today. We were looking for a place off the highway to camp overnight. We passed a bunch of crawfish farms. Crawfish are harvested in the same flooded fields where rice is planted.
I may have chosen something a little too far off the beaten path. It was a long ride on narrow roads to get to Palmetto Island State Park in Abbeville, Louisiana.
We both got out to see the park, Tim on the bike and I walked. We packed dinner and took it to the picnic area along the Vermillion River.
The sign says not to feed the alligators. We looked but didn’t see any…except for the large likeness outside the park gate.
Wednesday was a weird weather day. During the night it had been really windy. With the dawn it was cloudy and still. I tried a walk and when I was 1 mile away from the campsite, it began to rain. Tim came with the Jeep to rescue me. I waited a while and then went out again. It was sunny but it was quite windy again.
In the end, I walked even further than usual just in 2 parts. I saw three deer near the road.
Beach blanket flower.
We wanted to go out on the beach and camp again. We were waiting for the winds to abate. We watched the windsurfers in Laguna Madre. Most of our neighbors here at Bird Island have all the gear. They wait for optimal conditions and when the winds are just right…out they go! People with smaller sails and boards like it windier. People who have larger sails like less wind.
We left in late afternoon. We stopped at the pond to check on the turtles.
We traveled 22 miles on the beach and found a great spot. Just as we arrived at 3:38, it was high tide. We knew if we set up the tent above the high-water mark, we would be just fine with the next high tide at 1:21am.
We passed a pleasant evening watching the birds and the waves. We enjoyed our dinner and a fire.
Sunset.
When we settled for bed, the ocean waves sounded very loud but they proved to be very soothing and we were soon asleep. Tim was awake at midnight and he checked the tide line. It was far enough away from the Jeep. In the morning though, he realized that the tide had come all the way to the ladder. The water had wrapped itself around the large log we had used for our fireplace. Ocean water had flooded the firepit. Shew…that was close!
Sunrise.
On the way out this morning, we passed this stuck truck. The owner had tried to dig his way out with a shovel. We saw this same guy stuck in the sand yesterday at about MM10. We stopped then to see if we could help. A guy with a pickup truck had tried to use a tow strap to pull him out but was not successful. A young man with a Winnebago Campervan used his winch to pull the box truck out. Tim suggested that the box truck turn around and go back. Only high clearance 4WD vehicles are advised beyond MM5. So, the driver of the white truck must have decided to continue on his way down the beach. The tires were mired in deep soft sand. There was nothing we could do for him…we are too light…even so, you would think after being stuck yesterday, he might have made another choice! Who knows just how many times he had been stuck in between! Maybe he relies on the kindness of strangers to help him out. Maybe he drives along for awhile until he gets stuck and then waits for someone to yank him out before he drives on again…
Tim discovered a couple of cracks in the Jeep rack the holds the tent. We aren’t sure yet what the permanent fix will be. A new part takes 12-16 weeks to fabricate and ship. In the meantime, Tim propped the rack with piece of wood and fastened it with wire. We hope that should hold until we get home.
It took us an hour to drive the 22 miles back to the RV. We unpacked and rested for a short time. We went to Corpus Christi for supplies. We also found a carwash.
We got some exercise in this afternoon. I took a walk to the boat ramp. These white pelicans were hanging around, waiting for the castoffs from the fishermen coming in.
Paddleboarder with dog.
Tim had another flat tire and had to use my bike.
This is our last evening on Padre Island. One last sunset on the bay.
I walked the park road this morning. I saw this deer standing in the road and startled another as I passed by.
Bright yellow splashes of wild indigo among the tall beach grasses.
We packed a picnic lunch and took the Jeep to the beach.
We gathered some more litter…combs and razors and shampoo bottles and spoons and forks and flip flops and bags and mylar balloons and ribbon and ropes and fishing line and loads of bottle caps and all manner of other plastic stuff. We have written before about how the gulf current brings trash from the Mississippi and as far away as the Amazon to the shore at Padre Island. It is a continuous battle to clean the beach.
There are also seabeans here. These are seeds that drop from trees on tropical shores and in forests all over the world. The seeds either fall or are washed into rivers and then they find their way to the ocean where they are washed onto islands and beaches. Most of the seabeans on Padre Island acome from South and Central America and the Carribbean. Today we found a hamburger bean, a sea purse, a tropical almond, and a sea-coconut.
We sat for a while at the seashore, using the Jeep as wind protection. Tonight, the forecast is for sustained high winds with gusts to 50mph.
Tomorrow the wind is supposed to lay down and if it does, we want to have one last beach camping trip.
I took one last walk at Isla Blanca this morning. It was 10:30 before we got on the road. If you look at a map, it looks like a short distance from South Padre Island to Padre Island National Seashore. We drove 200 miles and it took a little more than 4 hours to get here. We traveled first on highway and then onto farm roads.
We went through Corpus Christi and then we entered the park.
After we were settled at Bird Island Bay, we drove to the visitor center. Our first order of business was to get a tide chart. You can camp on the beach and you can drive for 60 miles to the end of the island. It is very useful and important to be aware of the rising water! We also did some shopping for the grandchildren. The national parks always have great nature related books and things for kids. We also picked up some trash bags so that we could do our part out on the beach. I was happy to see that the park has switched to biodegradable bags in lieu of plastic.
We drove onto the beach.
We stopped to gather debris…so much plastic!
This caracara sat on the dune supervising our work effort.
Oh buoy…this doesn’t belong here!
We decided on a vegetarian meal; squash with basil pesto, baked grape tomatoes, garlic, and feta. Cooking at the water’s edge with mild temperatures and a gentle breeze while the fish jump…it’s a pretty sweet gig!
I watched this heron feeding in the shallow water of the bay or Laguna Madre. It carried off a long thing, an eel or maybe a snake.
One more walk in the park and another dolphin sighting.
After Tim finished his exercises, we went to pick up his bike from Native Island Surf Shop. $10.00 for a new inner tube…what a deal!
Next, we went to the South Padre Island Farmers Market. We got some organic, vegan, gluten free spelt bread. We found a nice wheat sourdough loaf. We got granola with toasted coconut and pecans. We found some local coffee. We got some mangoes. Our best find of the day was from Christa’s Kitchen; homemade guava butter and a cherry amaretto chocolate jam. Both were amazing!
Tim watched NASCAR. We both took bike rides. I worked on a project and did some cleaning.
We watched one last sunset on South Padre Island. Tomorrow is moving day. We are planning to go north and we want to visit Padre Island National Seashore for a day or two. The campgrounds there are first come first serve with no hookups. We aren’t certain that we will have service but we will post again when we do.
I walked the loop around Isla Blanca and Tim did his yoga and stretching and then he headed to the gym. We try to hold the morning exercise time as sacrosanct. It is so much harder to get it done later in the day. This has become our routine and it works.
We took Tim’s bike and went across the bridge to Port Isabel. We went to find This Little Bike Shop. It was no longer there! Boo!!!
We got groceries and filled our water bottles. We went to the seafood market and bought some more red snapper.
I took my bike for a ride this afternoon and then Tim took my bike for a ride.
We had one more possibility for bike tire repair. Island Native Surf House. We stopped and they had the correct inner tube and they will have Tim’s tire fixed tomorrow morning. YAY!
We went to Berry divine Acai Bowls for our dinner. Acai berries have all kinds of antioxidants and have lots of proven health benefits. We had seen lots of acai bowl places in California and our interest was piqued. Tim chose a Volcano Bowl. His acai was topped with kiwi and strawberries and granola and blueberries and coconut oil. I had a Maui Waui Bowl which was topped with granola and pineapple and cashews and cocoa nibs and bee pollen and honey. The yummy bowls were loaded with fiber and protein and we were satisfied.
We walked to the water’s edge to watch the sunset. It was a quiet day but it was a very good day!
We spent Thursday morning walking and exercising and biking and taking care of business.
We packed the Jeep and left for an overnight beach roof top tent camping trip.
We spent the early evening just sitting on the beach, enjoying the sunshine. We saw lines of pelican traveling along the breaking waves in search of supper.
We saw strings of brilliant white snow geese flying north in a beautifully executed zipper-like ballet.
The surf was much calmer but it was pretty breezy. Tim found a spot tucked among the dunes and out of the wind where we set up our home for the night.
I made omelets and we sat by the fire. We stood on the tops of the dunes watching the sun go down over the bay. We watched the stars pop out. Such a nice night. We are so fortunate to be doing this together.
Morning coffee on the beach…nothing better!!
We had a quiet “recovery” day on Friday. I walked to Isla Blanca.
Tim biked into town and walked his bike back with a flat rear tire.
We went to dinner at Sea Ranch. We had delicious mussels and then salads with blackened tuna and big Gulf shrimp for our dinner. We watched the pelicans feeding in the marina.
