2025-5-20 A Trip Over to Port Aransas

 This was a really busy rally for Elaine and I so we didn't get to do anything we usually like to do while we are in this area. We were leaving on Wednesday so Tuesday we decided to head over to Port Aransas via the ferry. We asked Jo if she wanted to tag along since she had never been there. We lucked out and had a very short wait to get on the ferry over.

Taken from the ferry boat pier.

One of the smaller ferries. They have quite a few ferries and put them in use depending on the traffic at the time. The ferry is actually part of the highway system between Aransas Pass and Port Aransas out on the island.

The dolphins like to swim in the bow wave of the big boats.

I had to use the full telescopic range on my phone camera to bring this structure up close enough so that we could tell what it was. From a distance you couldn't tell if it was on land or water or what it was.

There is a really nice park right near the ferry landing on the island.

The dolphins were putting on a show for their audience.

This was the best shot. A mama with her baby in a synchronized swim. Another dophin showed up who was probably the male but I didn't get a good shot of him.

We wanted to have lunch on the island and Elaine loves her seafood. The first place we tried was extremely expensive even at lunch so we beat a hasty retreat. Our second choice which turned out to be great was FINS Grill and Icehouse. We had a nice window view where we could see the pirate ship next door and the food was good. They even had a seafood lunch special that Elaine and Jo wanted.

We will be headed out tomorrow but not early since we can't check in to our next stop before 2. 

2023-02-07 Padre Island National Seashore

Tuesday morning after breakfast we decided to head back to the island and go to the National Seashore. On this trip, we drove through Corpus Christi and made stops at the three T-Heads since Carolyn had never been there. It was not crowded since it was a weekday. Most of the shrimp boats were out but we saw a few and lots of fancy boats at the marina. I should mention that photo are all courtesy of Carolyn Patin. I know she took photos there as she takes photos everywhere. We made numerous stops for photo shots since Carolyn was driving. (I brought my RV on this trip and Carolyn brought her convertible for sightseeing. Yes, we had the top down.) We took the bridge over to the island and headed down island to:

I had my National Park Senior Pass ready for entry.

The first stop was Malaquite Beach Campground.

One day I am going to camp here. There are no hookups but there is a dump station with water right outside the campground. The price is right especially with the senior pass.

There were some openings available and RVs/tents of all kinds enjoying the campground.

You can walk down to the beach easily. The campground has restrooms.

Next up was the visitor's center.

It sits up above the beach with a nice boardwalk going down.

Inside the visitor's center, there are all kinds of exhibits including this touchy/feely one.

Next we headed to the other campground at Bird Island Basin.

Can't beat this bargain. There is a place where you can rent windsurfing boards and take lessons.

Here you park right next to the beach. This is the Laguna Madre side of the park.

We saw some wildlife as we left the park. Carolyn was very surprised. We also saw a large wild pig right after this but he was moving too fast for a photo.

Heading back towards Port Aransas and the ferry, we passed Mustang Island State Park. Both of us have camped here. It's kind of a parking lot but very popular.

We were hungry and decided on pizza for a change. This place is great. We were going to share a pizza but several people waiting to order said we needed to do the buffet. Score! $10/person includes drink, salad bar, pizza bar, and dessert pizza bar and ice cream. It was all great.....very impressed! Great salad bar included broccoli/cheese soup and tomato bisque soup as well as hot pizzas of every kind kept constantly filled.

This is from the salad and soup bar.

 After a late lunch we caught the ferry back to Aransas and then home to Rockport/Fulton. It was a great day.

2022-07-13 Headed to Rockport Texas

Time for another Texas Ramblin' Roses Rally. My sister-in-law Elaine drove down to meet up with me in Schertz TX. This is her first time out in her travel trailer and her first rally. The trailer has been in storage for about three years due to covid so she was very smart and replaced the tires before leaving Abilene. She came to our house for dinner and then spent the night in a nearby RV park to get a feel for RVing on her own. We met up at a nearby Walmart parking lot and headed out together. We didn't have to go through San Antonio at all because we took back roads which is actually the shortest distance. Unfortunately, we ran into about 3 different road construction sites. Other than Texans hard at work repairing/replacing roads, the trip was uneventful.

This time the Roses are meeting in Rockport Texas at Wilderness Oaks RV Resort. I'm hosting and this is my fourth or fifth rally here. It's a great park and they treat us really well. We arrived to see this sign on the front of the office. We checked in and, while I was unhooking my toad, a camphost escorted Elaine to her site and spotted her while she backed in. He came back to escort me and Elaine was already unhooking her trailer. We both hooked up electric right away for A/C to cool things down and left the water and cable for later in the evening.

We took a little drive to see a few sites nearby once we were settled in.

Wednesday morning, four of us arrivals headed out along the coast. We took the ferry between Aransas Pass and Port Aransas. A lot of people don't realize that this is actually part of the highway system. I have taken my last RV, a 31' fifth wheel across several times and it isn't unusual to see semi-trucks on the ferries. We had a little wait to get on but it wasn't too bad. We headed over to the channel first.

A ship was on the way into the bay and on to Corpus Christi.

Elaine and Mary couldn;t wait to get their feet into the ocean.

That ship was coming in faster than you would expect.

Next we headed on down the island past the Mustang Island State Park and on to Padre Island National Seashore. Both Elaine and Barb got their one year America the Beautiful Senior pass. If you buy an annual senior pass for 3 years, the fourth year you will get the lifetime senior pass. It is a great deal which allows you to spread the cost of the lifetime pass over a four year period.

I think it was a first visit to the national seashore for everyone but me but I always enjoy it. I thought there used to be a place to get something to eat here but there isn't now. 

We had to take a couple tourist shots.

The beach looked so inviting but it was really, really hot and we were short on time so we had to settle for taking some pictures.

We checked out some exhibits inside the center. Almost looks like live doesn't it?

This is a ridley turtle nest. They were having a turtle release the next morning at 6:30AM which would have been wonderful to see but we were staying too far away to make it there on time.

We had a great day but we had to hustle back so a late lunch ended up being a Whataburger because we had 3 dogs waiting for us at home. Harley is a seasoned RVer and used to staying on his own for a reasonable amount of time. The other two dogs are new to staying alone and their "moms" are new to leaving them for very long. They were all just fine when we got back.
 

Ferrying Over to Port Aransas

Tuesday morning, Carolyn, Mary Jane, and I were planning to move to another Passport America park and enjoy a few more days together. Wilderness Oaks manager Diana said she didn't want us moving on down the road and offered to let us continue for more days under their Passport rate. Can't beat an offer like that and it's a great park.

We decided to head over to Port Aransas after Sharon and Claudia got on the road. While we were waiting for the ferry, we saw these oil rigs lined up along the dock. Apparently they were headed over the ocean but problems came up in Africa and the move was on hold. These big platforms float.

Lined up for the ferry.

Here we are ready to head out. Yes. the ferry from Aransas Pass to Port Aransas does carry RVs of all sizes, semi trucks and trailers, etc.....and it is free, just an extension of the highway.

Okay, everyone is off the ferry on the other side except for this motorhome and us behind him. We all felt really bad for him as he kept apologizing. Hey, we have RVs too and stuff happens. They had to get a truck and tow him off.

We checked out the park near the ferry where one of these fishermen pulled in a big one.

He had to measure it and apparently it wasn't big enough.

You can see the big old derricks floating on the other side of the channel.

We picked out Irie's for lunch based on their Yelp ratings and comments that they served Island food.

We almost left as their was a line at the door and it was very small inside but we were very happy that we hung on and grabbed a table when it emptied.

Of course, the pink flamingo at the counter was a good omen.

Lots of different kinds of sauces all ready to go with the different meal choices.

Specials on the board plus a menu.

I think I chose the island taco and it was delicious.

Yes, we were all very happy with our choice.

Sage ordered beignets to share for dessert.

Oh, yes!

We also drove down to Mustang Island State Park since Sage had never been there. And we spent time at the beach by the channel where we saw some boats on the gulf and a couple that came in. Sorry.....no pictures.

Before we headed back, we stopped for coffee at Coffee Waves.