Padre Island National Seashore

I arrived at the National Park entrance on Thursday at  just about 1:00 and asked the ranger if Malaquite Campground was open. He replied he had not heard otherwise, so assumed there were still spaces. I drove the five miles in and lucked out. I got the last vacant space in the campground! After getting set up, Hanna and I walked down to the beach. I pulled her close enough to the surf to get her feet wet, but she fought against it so hard, I decided she is just not a water dog. From then on, I let her stay in the sand away from the waves while I walked along the water’s edge. Twice a day, we would walk a mile down the beach and a mile back up, getting over four miles a day.

On day two, I left Hanna in Minnie and drove up the road to the Visitors Center. I wandered around and got my passport stamp, but there was really not much there.  Each day, we drove back down toward the park entrance or over to Bird Island boat launch to get a bar or two of cell phone signal so I could catch up on messages and touch base with family.

On Saturday, I left Hanna in Minnie again, and drove into Corpus Christi. I headed to the Science and Natural History Museum, but it was closed! I had read in Mom’s journals about a mansion they had visited, and I googled Fulton Mansion, about 30 miles north in Rockport. I drove up there and toured the site. It was very interesting, and reminded me a little of Wrigley Mansion in Phoenix that Glenda and I went through last spring. Both were from the same era, and included many innovative and progressive elements. The Fulton Mansion in particular, was built with a rare wood technique with 2x6’s stacked flat on each other to give added strength against hurricane winds. Turns out, it was a very effective structure, because it withstood Hurricane Harvey last fall. Rockport was the hardest hit area along the Texas coast. The Mansion did sustain roof and flood damage, and it is under renovations, but still open during construction. I stopped at Walmart on my way back and came home to a happy puppy.

Front of house facing the ocean

Interesting “jack & jill” bath. 

Shared tub/toilet area, with double doors leading to 

sink alcoves in each of the two bedrooms. 

Wood construction

Back of house

Sunday was another lazy day. I walked on the beach three times, read a couple books, watched TV (I picked up all the network channels plus a few independent cable stations) and chatted with other campers.

The wind whistled every evening and all night long, but would quiet by dawn and was pretty nice each morning. I had heard wind was typical for the Texas Gulf coast, but locals said it has been worse this month than normal. I’ve seen the sun most days, but never had a cloudless sky. The temperatures were nice, but very humid. I put a hat on my head each time I went out just to keep my hair out of my face, but never once styled it. That would have been wasted effort!

Monday, I packed up and drove north toward Galveston. I’m in a county RV park in Freeport. Tomorrow I will drive into SugarLand and spend a day and a half with my cousin, Cindy. I haven’t seen her since 1998. We have some catching up to do. Until next time, see you down the road.