Saturday 9 December 2006

On My Beach Walk

With this sign on the beach and these waves, would you swim here? Some pretty shells though!

It was an interesting walk this morning. I saw a lot of different seashells. It seems that each day the waves bring in different things. I haven’t seen a Portuguese Man O’War since last week and no jellyfish since the beginning of the week but different seashells mostly every day. It’s interesting what nature does. There was even a fish on the beach with no tail and his eyeballs gone. YUCK! Wonder what did that.

This afternoon we watched “Four Weddings and a Funeral” with Hugh Grant. Wasn’t bad, wasn’t great. Then I went for another walk on the beach. Our time here at Mustang Island State Park is drawing to a close (this time we definitely are moving). It was much nicer this afternoon. The wind was almost balmy and I had too many clothes on. There were two surfers out but they were just coming in as I walked by and said the surf wasn’t too good today.

I e-mailed my Christmas letter today. For those of you on my mailing list, although my husband’s given name is Gordon, he is also called David (mostly by my family) and answers to both names, so they are one and the same. I will publish the updated Christmas letter here on my blog at the end of the year.

Friday 8 December 2006

The 'Short Trip' to Aransas Pass


See the sand drifting in the wind!

It was 46F (8C) and very windy this morning but I dressed in layers and went for my usual walk.

Today we headed over to Aransas Pass to do a little WalMart shopping, mostly groceries but as Gordon went with me this time we found him some braces for his pants and some new slippers. I also got a toque for walking in the wind down here. Now that I have it, I probably won’t need it. I usually wear my baseball cap to keep the sun out of my eyes but the last couple of days there hasn’t been any sun but lots of wind so this will help. I didn’t notice that it’s wool when I bought it so it’s itchy but I won’t be wearing it for long periods.

Going to Aransas Pass entails either driving through Corpus Christi which is the long way or taking the ferry from Port Aransas to Aransas Pass which is the short way. We took the short way. There are usually four ferries running – there is no charge and I have no idea why they don’t build a bridge. It takes all of five minutes to cross the channel on the ferry. You’d think in the long run it would be cheaper to have a bridge.

Thursday 7 December 2006

Lots of Wind and Rain Today!

Note re comments: For the last week or so I have been unable to post comments on other people’s blogspot blogs. I have advised them but nothing seems to have been done. I’ve tried with both Firefox and Internet Explorer. Hope they get it fixed soon!

The rain waited until I finished my walk this morning but it was pleasant and mild when I was out.

This morning I got the laundry done. When I left the rain wasn’t too bad but by the time I got back it was very windy and the rain was heavy and it continued that way throughout the afternoon. The forecast had called for ‘light’ rain. HA! Just after dark the wind went down and the rain stopped at least for now.

No photos taken today.

Wednesday 6 December 2006

Another Day at the Beach!

Looks like some weather coming in. Hard to tell the difference between water and sky

Oil rigs in the Gulf
This morning was warm and cloudy. I decided not to take my camera today and wouldn’t you know it, right there on the beach was the great blue heron and hunkered down waiting for some fish to come to him. Oh well, that’s the way it goes. As I walked down the beach he flew down beside me. That would never happen if I had my camera with me.

I had planned to do laundry today but since it was warm and the sun was coming out briefly every now and then, I elected to sit outside and wait till tomorrow to do the laundry as it’s supposed to rain.

We had lots of people come in today. There’s a couple here from Barrie, Ontario and a lady and her dog who have a truck and fifth wheel. She’s planning on selling her house and going full time. That takes guts!

It reached 75F (24C) today and was quite humid but will be much colder tomorrow with 'light' rain. The weather on the radio station that I listen to is saying 57F (14C) for Corpus Christi. It may be a bit warmer here but not much!

Tuesday 5 December 2006

We Found a Campsite for the Holidays!

The first photo is of one of many jellyfish that I found on the beach this morning. Lots of them are huge. When I saw the first one I thought it was just a plastic grocery bag until I got closer so that's about the size it is. The second photo is of a dark blue shell that I saw this morning. There were quite a few of these on the beach too as well as ones like I posted yesterday. The third photo is a sign that you're greeted with just before entering the campground area. I have watched for said snakes and haven't seen any. Sure hope it stays that way!
It was sunny, not so windy and much warmer this morning 63F (16C)! I think our high today was 65F (18C).

This afternoon we had to get propane and I wanted to get some stamps and a few groceries so we drove into Port Aransas. I was quite impressed with the IGA store there so we decided we’d look for our RV park in Port Aransas for over Christmas. We looked at one where the sites were fairly tight and then Gordon spotted one that it seemed that we couldn’t get to. We finally found the entrance to Marina Beach RV Resort and found that it is a new resort only opening last year. There were quite a few empty spots and we liked the looks of the place so we signed up for a month beginning this Sunday. We’re right in town and only a short distance from the ferry that takes us to Aransas Pass so it’s a convenient location and the sites are fairly large and easy to get in and out of. It doesn’t have a swimming pool yet but they do have pot lucks, breakfasts and crafts so I’m happy. We shouldn’t have any problem finding the satellites for the internet and TV either.

Glad that’s out of the way, now we can go about enjoying the area!

Monday 4 December 2006

Beach Stuff


Today was bright and sunny but not very warm when I left for my beach walk. I mentioned yesterday that when the full moon comes, the tides come in farther toward the dunes and you can see from the photo that I took this morning that the tide came in much further last night than it has since we’ve been here at Mustang Island. I also found out that the full moon is this week not next.

I also found a lot of seashells on the beach this morning that were still intact. Some of them were quite large. There were also a lot of little birds (we think, plovers) scurrying around the beach as usual. They are really funny to watch.

Although the day was sunny we only got to about 55F (13C).

We didn’t go out anywhere today, I just walked around the area and the beach looking for the great blue heron which I never did find.

Sunday 3 December 2006

We Didn't Move!


These are photos I took this afternoon. The flowers are sand dune flowers. The heron is at a little viewing pond just across from our campsite and the other one shows the width of the beach as next week during full moon at high tide this will apparently flood.


This morning it was windy again, no sun so we decided to stay where we are this week. I had already gone for my beach walk and thought I was saying good-bye to the beach but as it turned out I got to walk again this afternoon. I sure need the exercise!

We didn't do much else today. Gordon is trying to teach me some Photoshop techniques as you will see above. Wonder if I'll be able to do this by myself next time!