Near Aransas National Wildlife Refuge

Thursday we left the Beaumont area, heading south to the Texas gulf coast.  Just past Houston, the radio started in with “The National Weather Service has issued….”---warnings about severe thunderstorms.  We did indeed run into them, though in the heaviest part of the wind and rain, we pulled off the highway and parked under the road.  When it settled down into just heavy rain, we continued, arriving at Goose Island State Park, north of Corpus Christi in mid-afternoon.  As the rain continued throughout the evening, we were extremely glad to be in our comfortable RV and not setting up a tent in the downpour!

And yesterday we found still another reason to be happy about our RV---MOSQUITOES!  When I walked Ranger early in the morning, I was just about eaten up with them.  They are discouraged, but not totally defeated by heavy doses of bug spray.  Since the park is in a marshy area along three bays, I guess we should expect them.  (But the scenery is great.)  Apparently this park is much used by fishermen, as yesterday morning there was a steady stream of towed boats, mostly those airboats with the big fans on the back, into the boat launch area up the way.

We took a day trip south, went through Rockport and Aransas Pass, and ended up, via ferry, at Port Aransas.  It reminded us of the Outer Banks---lots of motels, hotels, rental cottages, t-shirt shops, and so forth.  It’s also the location of the University of Texas Marine Science Institute, which must be one of the hottest places in the country to do such work----not a tree in sight, just lots of sand dunes.  Just by luck, we ended up at the Leonabelle Turnbull Birding Center, which was the highlight of our day.  After seeing several new birds within the first few minutes, we went back to the RV, fired up the generator and turned on the AC, and left the dog for the next two hours.  The gardens were home to a number of warblers and other small birds, while the boardwalk took us out over the water, to where we saw lots of ducks and other water birds.  Dan’s greatest find of the day: a pair of least bitterns.  He got some great pictures with his new camera.

Then back to the park, where we stayed inside, hiding from all those bugs!

Very little phone service, so no Internet----posting this on Sunday as we prepare to continue south toward the Rio Grande.