Day 48: Heading into East Texas

After Kingsville we drove another couple hours north until almost dusk and found a small clean RV park near Victoria, Texas called Gateway To The Gulf.  On Tuesday we got on the road early toward Houston.

Here is where we stopped for gas and lunch.  It is called Buc-ee's and the stores are only found in Texas.  They have unique high-quality merchandise and great gourmet sandwiches.

We had another white-knuckle drive through Houston and then Beaumont, Texas and settled into the Village Creek Texas State Park near Lumberton.  We are roughing it now with no cable TV or swimming pools!

Village Creek turned out to be bigger than we expected.

The creek gets canoe and kayak traffic.

There is one cabin in the park that can be rented.

Our campsite costs $21 per night.  This cabin goes for $80.

Near the creek are many deep gullies that flow into it when it rains.  Down here this is called a slough.

Signs like this make a person watch where they are walking on the trails.

Day 47: We Leave the Rio Grande Valley and Stop at The King Ranch and Museum

On Monday February 17 we said goodbye to San Benito and headed north up Route 77 to Kingsville, Texas.  We stopped at the King Ranch Headquarters for a 1-1/2 hour bus tour to see part of the 825,000 acre ranch which is larger than the state of Rhode Island.

This is the "Flying W" brand for the King Ranch. 

Here are a few of the Long Horn Cattle raised on the dry pastures.

The ranch has its own rodeo barn to have events for its employees.

This sign caught our attention.  Richard King paid $.02 cents per acre for the first 15,500 acres he bought.  His wife later started paying  $.03 cents apiece for each snake rattle brought to her as she hated rattlesnakes.  240,000 we brought in over the years.

Richard King developed the Santa Gertudis breed of cattle.  Here are some of the registered stock.

This is a push gate that can be opened by bumping it with a pickup without having to get out of the cab.

These antlers were in the front yard of one of the ranch employees.

This was an original stone barn from the start of the ranch in 1853.  It was renamed later to the King Ranch.  Ford Motor has a fancy pickup edition named for the ranch.

 

After the ranch tour we drove into Kingsville to see the King Ranch Museum but no pictures were allowed there.

Day 46: The Brownsville 77 Flea Market

On Sunday we drove about 25 miles south to the main Brownsville Flea Market that is only open on weekends.  It was so big it makes Shipshewana,  Indiana look small.  It was so busy that traffic was backed up on the interstate at the entrance.  Here is a sampling of a few things we saw.

Most items for sale were outside on tables and racks.

Need a weed eater?  We saw new washers and dryers for sale as well.

There were beautiful plants.

There were five narrow buildings that had to each be a quarter of a mile long.

How is this for a selection of live birds?   There were large lizards as well.

You do not see stuffed toys like this in Michigan.

Need to replace that lost remote?

 

 

Out of all the many items - Karen admired this puppy that was not for sale.  Go figure!

Day 45: Here and There and This and That in the Bottom of Texas

On a recent drive through the countryside we saw what we thought was a building fire.  When we drove into town a few miles away small pieces of burned plant fiber were falling out of the sky.

We discovered that the smoke was from a sugar cane field that had deliberately been set on fire.  Burning the dry leaves makes harvesting easier on the picking machines.  Burning like this is illegal in California.

Here is a sugar cane field before harvest.

On a recent visit by the Smokers we saw this vehicle for sale.  Here Phil tries it on for size.  Question: Is it a car or motorcycle???

On Saturday Bill and Karen hired Ricardo to wash and wax our trailer.  He brought his eleven-year old son to help and they did a great job.  Edgewater is shining like a new penny now.

On Saturday night we went to a concert here at Sun N' Fun.  It was called "Eagles Tribute" and they played only songs by The Eagles.  The group was very talented and put on a great show for a big audience.

Day 44: A Trip to South Padre Island (Part 2 of 2)

As Michigan residents we have been spoiled by our beautiful Great Lakes and the pristine beaches and sparkling waters they offer us.   Therefore, the beaches and waters of  South Padre Island here in Texas did not impress us much.  However, deep sea fishing is available here.  Also, in Michigan we do not have sea turtle rescue centers like you will see below.

We climbed a sand dune and here is Karen with the western horizion behind her.

This is at the end of the paved road north of town looking east into the Gulf.

The beaches near the water were covered with thousands of small sea shells.

Back in town we stopped at Sea Turtle, Inc.  It is a nonprofit sea turtle rescue center.

This huge old girl Green Turtle had a front flipper bit off by a shark and will never be returned to the wild.  They have built her a removable prothesis so she does not always have to swim in circles.  She will be featured in an upcoming PBS Special about injured animals.

This little guy was waiting to be released.

This male had a rear fin bitten off by a predator.

And here is poor Walter who is in intensive care - really.  On a night when the water was too cold he came ashore and they think a coyote worked him over before giving up

 

All five species of Sea Turtles in the Gulf are endangered or threatened.  The center operates by donations.  We found the center to be the most interesting attraction on the Island.

Day 43: A Day Trip to South Padre Island (Part 1 of 2)

Thursday was another warm beautiful day so we decided to head about 25 miles east to South Padre Island on the Gulf of Mexico.  It is a tourist attraction we had to see for ourselves.

Here we cross the bridge from Port Isabel to the Island.  It reminded us of a miniature Mackinaw Bridge crossing.

But the water was not as clear and bright as the Straights of Mackinaw.  And the bridge had a curve or two.

The town on the Island had many high rise condos overlooking the Ocean.

The area was brimming with restaurants, bars, high rise condos and T-Shirt shops.

As you drive north out of town you soon see the shifting sand of the dunes filling the main road.

Here is how they keep the road open.

 

We walked along the beach.  We did not like the fact that cars and trucks are allowed to drive along the beach as well.   It is hard  to enjoy the ocean when a few hot-rodders are zooming by that might just run over you.

 

More about South Padre Island tomorrow.

Day 42: Fun and Games at Fun N' Sun

Wednesday was a beautiful day in the Valley. Phil and Nancy Smoker came over to San Benito from Mission to get a look at our latest RV park and pay us a visit.  We had a fun afternoon with some exercise mixed in as well.

Here is Karen, Bill, Nancy and Phil getting ready to play Pickle ball.

Here is the "Good Guys" team going for another big point.

Here is that other team trying to score.

After the game we were all friends again.

When we got back to the camper after a park tour it was time for some wine and a couple games of cut-throat "Pegs and Jokers".