Spring Break at Mustang Island

Final items were loaded into the RV on Monday morning and we headed out for Spring Break with the grandkids. We had two truckloads since there were three adults, two kids, and four dogs. Steve had to run by the Vet's to get Angus an allergy shot so he caught up to us when we stopped for lunch....hey, I didn't say we started at dawn.  It was raining all day but when Spring Break rolls around and you have the kids for the week, you have to take what you can get and the weather was forecasted to improve for the rest of the week. We were on the road to Mustang Island just off Corpus Christi. The rain was just letting up when we arrived. I had reservations for two days so I headed in to the office to get our site number and tags.  The lady was very nice and quickly got us all set up.

We left Helen at the office using the Internet...she still has to work you know and we pulled on down to our site. What????  There were at least 4 inches of water covering the site. Hmmm.....the front desk never mentioned this situation. A quick look around revealed that the few other empty sites as well as all of the full ones were in a similar situation. We told the kids they had to stay in the truck with the dogs. Steve and I rolled up our pants and put on our flipflops.  I wasn't worried about getting stuck because the parking area is all asphalt.

I told Steve that our plan was going to include getting backed in and leaving my truck hooked up to the RV if it was level enough. We would put down the front legs on the RV and not worry about the back stabilizers since we would still be hooked up.  Easy enough for a quick getaway and we had his truck to get around in. Once we checked out the electric with the Surge Guard and found that it was fine, we hooked up the power and the water, put out the slides and were all set up.  We had the kids take off their shoes and socks and put on their flipflops too. The dogs got a walk on the dry pavement and then we ferried them all inside. Helen finished up with her Internet work and waded in as well.  The dogs got ferried out once more before bedtime. It's a lot easier to ferry dachsies than it is a Staffordshire Terrier, it just takes more trips.

Fortunately, when we got up the next morning, the water had receded and the ground was just wet.  After breakfast, the dogs settled in for a nap and the rest of us hopped in Steve's truck to head down the road to Port Aransas. As you can see, it was still very overcast but NOT raining. We dropped Helen off at the Coffee Waves shop....she had to work again and the Internet at the state park doesn't work in the campground and is pretty darn slow at the office. Fortunately, the coffee shop has blazing wifi and great coffee so she was very happy. We headed to the water and saw...dark spot in the middle of the water....our first dolphin.

Of course, that led to a ride on the vehicle ferry.  Steve and the kids were amazed when they saw trucks pulling big 5th wheels and motorhomes loading onto the ferries too. We were first on so we had a great view although the vehicles were too close together to get out.

We saw several more dolphins as we made the short crossing. The ferries are not large but they have a number of them running, even more when traffic is heavy. And the ride is not long but there is always the possibility of seeing dolphins and the ferry is free.  See the two dolphins?

Other wildlife hangs around the ferry docks too.

After crossing on the ferry, we drove the short distance to Aransas for a look around there.  The kids and Steve were already hungry so we stopped at a little Mexican bakery for a snack.  This is one of the very popular ginger pigs...sorry his front leg didn't make it until photo time.

We rode the ferry back again and checked out the park and marina near the ferry. Then we headed out to the pier and beach area.

This time we saw brown pelicans.  As you can tell, it wasn't warm at least by Texas standards.

We saw some ships come through the channel on their way to the Corpus Christ harbor which is the 4th or 5th busiest in the nation.

We also saw several campers on the beach. I think there were about four or five here as it is very popular with fishermen.  You can get a reasonably priced pass to boondock on the beach from the city RV park which is right behind the dunes. The RV park has hookups and is a little more protected from the gulf wind.  The sand in this area is very firm and there is a sand road running along the beach with entrances through the sand dunes every so often. There are also some port-a-potties at intervals as well as trash cans.

About this time, we headed back for a late lunch. We walked the dogs and relaxed at the camper for a while before heading back to Port Aransas for more sightseeing and to pick up Helen. It is a nice little town, very popular with birders and fishermen as well as tourists in the summer. Lots of RV parks as well as the beach.  The grandkids wanted to stop at one of the tourist beach shops to get a picture in their big shark. They have one taken in a shark from Florida too.

It was still pretty cool but a bit sunnier so we took Helen for a drive along the beach further down from the pier. This RV kind of parked himself in the roadway.

There were also tenters huddled up against the dunes. There were some people wading and even out further in the water but water temps in the 60s are a bit too cold for any but the winter Texans that flock down from the north.

 

The weather was no optimal but much better than the day before and we had a good time anyway. 



Padre Island, Mustang Island, Port Aransas TX

Before we set out on our sightseeing on the Island today, I took a few pictures on NAS-CCAD otherwise known as Corpus Christi Naval Air Station. It's an Army Depot, Coast Guard Station, and also has Homeland Security within its perimeters. This is the fishing pier in Shields RV Park.

Birds along Sunfish beach.

There are also several birding and wildlife areas along the bay near the RV Park.

Once off the station, we headed toward Padre Island.

There is a big bridge across Laguna Madre....remember that from my visit to South Padre Island. Well, it stretches all the way down.  There are no roads from the north end of Padre Island to South Padre.

Couldn't get a good picture of the bridge but here we are on the other side.

There are a lot of beautiful homes on Padre Island close to the bridge area and many people commute into Corpus Christi to work.

Of course, you will also find the areas for tourists.

If you go about 10 miles down the road, you will end up at Padre Island National Seashore. It's very interesting but not on our agenda for today.

Newly developed beach area homes.

Lots of interesting places for people who want to stay on the Island.

We are heading north to Mustang Island.....you can really tell when you leave one Island and are on the other.  The sand dunes are protected by lots of beach vegetation.

You can drive out onto the beach in a number of areas.

It's windy so there is some surf today.

We are definitely not driving out there although a motorcycle and a car whiz past me.

 This is Mustang Island State Park....you can see the RVs. It's almost like a large parking lot with RV sites along two sides. You back in and have a little covered picnic table between each site. There is a bathhouse and access to the beach which is on the other side of the dunes.

There is lots of open area as you drive further north and you will see people pulled off into areas for birding and fishing.  You will also see large hotels/resorts every once in a while. This is the Mayan Princess.

As you get closer to the north end of the Island, you will see more beach housing before you reach the town of Port Aransas.

I didn't take any pictures in the town area of Port Aransas this time but you will find everything you need there including lots of RV parks and places where you can go out on the ocean on a charter to fish.  Lots of interesting restaurants, a grocery store, etc. There are also some birding areas.

There is also camping in a county park on the beach.

This is where you check in for camping, the bath house, etc.

The is camping in more of a park like area behind the building and behind the dunes. There are hookups here.

Some people prefer to boondock right on the beach.  This end of the beach is pretty hard packed sand.

You will find others parked here to fish or just walk out on the jetty or on the beach.

Next we headed down to the park by the ferry.

We saw several boats pushing big barges through the canal.

This is a good size boat pushing the barge. To the left, you can see one of the ferries.

It's a very nice park with a playground and picnic tables.

And people fishing......

Or watching a sightseeing cruise boat go by.

We are getting lined up to go on one of the ferries.

Since we just had the truck, we were loaded onto one of the smaller ferries. But these ferries also haul motorhomes, big 5th wheels, and semi-trucks across to the mainland as well.

We had to wait for this big ocean freighter to go past into Corpus Christi Bay.

Another one of the smaller ferries going across at the same time we did.  I think there are four or five ferries that go back and forth. The crews working the ferry lines know exactly what they are doing and keep things moving right along. This is a highway that uses ferry crossing rather than a bridge so there is no charge. If you are lucky, you can sometimes see dolphins swimming along. Alas, this was not our lucky day.

More harbor traffic.

Once we were across the water, we saw people fishing along the bay.

Some were in boats and some were in waders standing in the water.

We went through Ingleside and passed the U.S.S. Lexington as we came back across another bridge into Corpus Christi. You can tour the ship. The Texas Aquarium is in the same area.

We had a great day and arrived back home in time for a walk around the park before dinner.