Author: Mary Ann

There is a boat channel at the northern end of the Mustang Island – an entry into Corpus Christi bay.  There is a free ferry run by Texas DOT to cross the channel. One day we  took the ferry and then drove up the coast a bit to Rockport, TX. Rockport is a cute little coastal town with an ‘artsy’ flavor.

 

 

 

 

 

We left Mustang Island in Port Aransas on the Gulf Coast of Texas a few days ago. We were in Port Aransas for two months and took many trips in the Jeep down to Padre Island National Seashore. The National Seashore has 62 miles of 4-wheel drive beach.

On one of our first trips in the National Seashore we were flagged down by the owner of a motorhome. He had gotten himself stuck in the sand and Bill pulled him out with the Jeep. There are actually very many RVs on the beach. It’s amazing we there are not more of them stuck in the sand.

 

We often saw many people surf casting on the beach. One day we saw a couple of fisherman pull in a shark!!

 

The currents in the Gulf of Mexico cause lots of interesting items to wash up onto the Padre Island beach.

 

 

We found a deserted cabin at around mile 40.

 

And many pelicans !!

 

Our home for the next 2 months is Mustang Island in Port Aransas, TX. Mustang Island is a barrier island on the gulf coast of Texas close to the more well known Padre Island. This is a really beautiful area. We are staying in a campground that just over the dunes from the beach.  A short walk on a boardwalk gets us to the water.

 

Padre National Seashore

Padre National Seashore is nearby. We took the jeep there today. The park has 62 miles of beach only accessible via 4-wheel drive vehicles. We went 30 miles!

 

 

 

 

 

 

When we first started planning this trip we spent some time deciding where to spend Christmas. Our first thought was Disney World but even though it was almost a year ago we could not get reservations at Disney’s campground, Fort Wilderness. The alternate plan was to celebrate Christmas in Myrtle Beach. A week before Christmas, Bill had the idea to try once more to get reservations at Disney. By some miracle they had an open site and we changed our plans. We celebrated Christmas with Mickey and the gang.

 

Our first stop was in Myrtle Beach for the month of December. We have been to Myrtle Beach many times now and always enjoy it.

Brookgreen Gardens

One of our favorite attractions near Myrtle Beach is Brookgreen Gardens in Murrells Inlet.  It is an sculpture garden and zoo on beautiful property in the South Carolina lowlands that once was several rice plantations.  The sculpture gardens are over 500 acres. It is open to the public all year but during the Christmas season they string lights on all the trees for a beautiful display.

 

 

 

The Beach

We stayed at Myrtle Beach Travel Park (a campground we have enjoyed on previous trips). It’s right on the beach.   Several months ago Hurricane Matthew washed over and damaged many of the dunes on the South Carolina coast.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ripley’s Aquarium

On a day when the weather kept us away from the beach we went to the Ripley’s Aquarium.  It’s small but interesting. This year they displayed Christmas trees all around the building, one for each state.

 

 

 

I have not posted anything since we arrived home in October, 2015 from our first long trip. Over a year later I am now starting to blog another long trip that will take us back to some of our favorite places from before and also some new places. The broad brush plan is to travel down the east coast during December (already did that part and will post some pics). Then head west to spend several months in Texas, a month in Arizona and then visit numerous National Parks in Arizona, Colorado, Utah, Wyoming, and Montanna. We plan to stop in Duluth, MN in July to visit our daughter, Kathy and her adorable dog, Siena. After that we’ll wander home by August.