Texas 2023:
Day 15 - Goose Island State Park

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Texas 2023: [Day 1 - Tulsa] [Day 2 - Lawton] [Day 3-4 - Lubbock] [Day 5 - El Paso] [Day 6-7 - Davis Mountains SP] [Day 8 - Big Bend NP] [Day 9 - Seminole Canyon SP] [Day 10 - Falcon SP] [Day 11-14 - South Padre Island] [Day 15-16 - Goose Island SP] [Day 17 - Houston] [Day 18 - Stephen F. Austin SP] [Day 19-20 - McKinney Falls SP] [Day 21 - Arlington] [Day 22 - Cooper Lake SP] [Day 23 - Crater of Diamonds SP] [Day 24 - Nashville] [Day 25 - Heading Home]

	Saturday, February 4, 2023: We woke around 7:30 AM to a completely clear sky with the sun shining. We had almost forgotten what that was like.
	The pelicans had respawned off to the left in the distance, ...
	... and there was one Laughing Gull right on the beach in front of the cabin.
	The king of the thing that only sticks up at low tide ...
	... was also keeping an eye on the activities at SpaceX.
	Look at Booster 7 gleaming in the early morning sun. We can't wait to see it fly.
	There are more boosters and starships waiting for their turn.
	By 9:45 AM, we were all packed up and heading to the new office at the entrance to check out.
	Outside the office, this beautiful iris had withstood the cold weather and was looking lovely in the sunshine.
	This is a very South Padre Island-specific sign, reminding people that they can't take their golf carts off the island. Check out the three umbrella motif at the top of the sign, ...
	... and again on this sign on the boardwalk.
	The island had a much cheerier look in the clear blue sky, ...
	... as did Port Isabel on the other side of the bridge.
	That's a big fish.
	The lighthouse looked even more beautiful in the sunlight.
	This pink dolphin statue may have been from a statues on parade from a long time ago, or it may have been something unique to this bank. We didn't take the time to hunt for more on this trip, but maybe next time.
	What do chicks dig? Seahorses, that's what.
	Here's a much better shot of the Laguna Atascosa National Wildlife Refugesign.
	Watch for sand on road. That's not a sign we see in the Midwest.
	The bridge on Texas Highway 48 had warning signs at either end warning about low flying pelicans. This must be the end of their range before they respawn back near the KOA.
	There were fishing boats in the water near the bridge and lots of people on the shore with fishing poles.
	There were storage tanks near the port that advertised "Buy Texas Gold Shrimp Here." Do they come out of those tanks? Uh. Pass.
	We love the Brownsville town slogan: On the Border by the Sea.
	Debbie made sure our toll transponder was attached to the windshield as we took Texas 550 north out of Brownsville.
	We had planned to stop at the Sonic in Kingsville, about two hours north of Brownsville, but we both decided that we couldn't wait that long to eat. We stopped at a Taco Palenque in Harlingen. It turned out that this was the same one we had stopped at on our last trip here. We made a vow to always come here when we go to see SpaceX.
	Debbie got the Matamoros tacos, which were beef with guacamole and cheese on corn tortillas, ...
	... and Tom got the fajita tacos, which were beef on flour tortillas. Both came with fideo, the soup that we had at the taqueria on South Padre Island, and three flour tortillas. There was a fiery red sauce that came with it, but it was too hot even for Tom.
	The fideo was in a tomato broth this time, and was equally delicious.
	We were still carrying every soda can we'd opened on this trip, so while we ate our lunch, we looked for a place that had recycling. We found that the Harlingen Recycling Center was only a mile or so away, so we headed there. We were able to recycle not only our aluminum cans, but also the plastic bottles and cardboard that we'd accumulated as well.
	About an hour north of Harlingen, we were diverted into a Customs and Border Protection inspection station. They had K-9 units out sniffing vehicles and lots of troopers standing around, but once again, they looked into van and waved us right through.
	We stopped at a rest area where we saw these tiny parasite plants in the trees. We don't think it is mistletoe because it is so small. Nests? We may never know.
	Back in the van, Debbie broke open the tres leches cake that we'd gotten at Taco Palenque. She sighed and moaned with happiness as she at the first few bites. It is one of her favorite desserts and she gets it whenever she can.
	Just before 1:30 PM, we arrived on the outskirts of Corpus Christi, ...
	... where they were building a huge new overpass. Lucky for us, there was almost no traffic even though the road was down to one lane through the construction.
	We passed the Art Museum of South Texas, which is right on the bay, ...
	... and then the USS Lexington, ...
	... before crossing the bridge between Nueces Bay and Corpus Christi Bay.
	The shelter on Indian Point Pier at Sunset Lake Park was gorgeous.
	That is a giant pile of oyster shells. Whew.
	As we crossed the Lyndon B. Johnson Memorial Bridge, we could see our campground on the waterfront.
	That's our campground right in the middle of these five.
	We arrived at Goose Island State Park just after 2 PM.
	It's apparently on the Great Texas Coastal Birding Trail.
	We checked in at the entrance, and drove to site 28, which would be our home for the next two nights.
	We set the tent footprint out to dry for a bit before setting up the tent. We'd dried out the tent at South Padre Island, but the footprint would have blown away if we'd tried to put it out. We got out the camp chairs and enjoyed the beautiful warm sunny day while we waited for it to dry.
	Debbie put the window shades in the van to keep it from overheating inside, something we hadn't needed to do yet on this trip.
	After just a few minutes, the footprint was completely dry. We picked a nice flat area on our site and set up the tent. There was no rain forecast, and no clouds to be seen, so we decided to leave off the rainfly.
	Isn't that a lovely sight? This is one of our favorite camping spots, and one of the few that we've ever stayed at a second time. We had last been here almost exactly two years earlier.
	We took a stroll along the seawall to see if there was anything to see in the water.
	The seawall was covered with oysters, and there were grasses visible in the shallow water just beyond it.
	Debbie spotted this jellyfish caught among the grasses, ...
	... and another one nearby. They look so beautiful, with their delicate outer layers billowing in the currents.
	Check out this view. This was everything we had hoped for and more. We had the roof off and all of the windows and doors open. It was magical.
	We made hot chocolate, and added a tiny bottle of Largo Bay caramel spiced rum to it. Cheers!
	We watched as the sun went down over the bay.
	While the sun was setting, we made dinner. Tonight was Instant Lunch-brand cup of noodles, chili lime chicken for Debbie and hot and spicy chicken for Tom, and we added some of our diced ham to it to make it a little more substantial.
	Going, going, ...
	... gone.
	There was a full moon out, just like the last time we were here. Funny how that works out, isn't it?
	After it was well and truly dark, Debbie stepped outside to take some pictures of our tent lit up from inside. Olana Prime doesn't look sad anymore.
	We passed the time surfing on our phones, and then settled in for some Scrabble. Tom played "unjudged" at one point for a whopping 88 points. Woo hoo!
	We rearranged the tent for bedtime, which involves collapsing the camp chairs, moving the table, and setting up the second cot. We turn off three of the lights, move the last one to the floor between the cots, and then settle into our sleeping bags. Here's a very happy Debbie, already in bed, waiting for the last light to be turned off so that we can look at the stars through the open top of our tent.

	Sunday, February 5, 2023: We awoke to another clear blue sky.
	After breakfast, Tom spread out the rainfly on the picnic table and re-coated it with waterproofing spray. It was just a precaution. We hadn't had any leaks, but we'd seen a lot of rain on the early part of the trip, and there was possible rain forecast for a few days from now. We were going to be here all day, so why not re-spray it now?
	We watched as the pelicans dived for fish just offshore. We laughed each time one of the big birds hit the water. It made such a fun-sounding splash.
	Here's the water at the seawall. It is quite shallow, only appearing to be about a foot deep. Where we were, there were sea grasses right up to the wall, ...
	... with the occasional jellyfish stuck in the grass.
	Here's the view looking northward from our site, number 28. The dark line along the seawall is the grasses, and you can see where it ends the next site up from ours.
	We had three bungee cords running between the legs of the cot that allowed us to store stuff above the tent and the cots, but occasionally our gear snagged one of the bungee's hooks and it would come undone. Let's see if Tom can put his knot tying skills to use and make a cargo net.
	Tom completed his cargo net, and it turned out great. With the additonal structure provided by the net, we were able to store our snow traction pads here as well. Bonus!
	Meanwhile, Debbie processed the photos from the previous day and worked on her laptop in the tent, which now had all of the windows and doors open for maximum airflow.
	There was a custom class B RV in the spot next to us, and the occupants opened their back doors and could sit on the bed looking out at the sea. Debbie snuck a photo out of one of our windows.
	There was a family with two small children staying in a tent two spots up from us. They were adorable, and we watched as they tried to fly a kite while their parents took down their tent.
	A unique looking boat went by. There were a lot of railings on it, and it was oddly shaped.
	With the waterproofing spray now dry, we put the rainfly on the tent to provide some shade. The sun was now high in the sky, so it was shining directly into the tent making it uncomfortably warm in there.
	With the rainfly on and the tent cooling down, we decided to check out the nature walks around the state park. There is a marsh surrounding this part of the park, with private homes outside of the park just on the other side of the water.
	We walked to the north end of the campground where there is a short boardwalk out into the marsh.
	There is a gate at one end of the walkway, with a sign saying that it is closed during Whooping Crane breeding season between November 1st and the end of April unless you were with a tour guide.
	We looked around and saw this great blue heron standing tall among the reeds.
	There were great egrets off in the distance as well. No whooping cranes, though. Probably hidden on their nests in the marsh.
	Off the boardwalk, we walked to the very end of the campground, where a breakwater formed a small lagoon. There was an informational sign there identifying the kinds of fish that might be in the waters nearby.
	As we walked up to the seawall, there was a jet of water released from this cluster of oyster shells. A few seconds later, there was a second jet, and then no more for as long as we stood there.
	Just before noon, we headed back past our site, headed back toward the entrance to the park. Doesn't Septimus look good there? At this point, many of our neighbors had left for the day.
	As we walked past the boat landing, there was an airboat in the water, with its operators waiting for its customers to arrive.
	There was a convention of brown pelicans currently in session on the lamppost near the fish cleaning station.
	As we got to the far side of the bridge, the airboat started up and the driver expertly drove it up onto its trailer. It was a pretty boat, but oh so loud. Even from our campground we could hear them every time they left and came back.
	This solitary brown pelican swam in the inlet leading to the boat ramp, ...
	... near this larger group of American white pelicans.
	We walked to the recreation hall, where we saw this notice about alligators in the area. We wondered if the warning about not approaching them or feeding them was really necessary, but then agreed there had probably been an incident that resulted in this sign.
	There was another raised boardwalk in this area of the park, so we headed up to look at the marshland nearby.
	This marsh was quite a bit larger than the other area, but we didn't see any signs of life. We could see new houses being built on the land abutting the park and wondered what they thought about the noise from the airboats.
	Heading back toward the campground, we looked at this canal for signs of 'gators, but didn't see any.
	We watched this great blue heron stalk through this pond for a while. It came up with several fish while we watched.
	Back in camp, we set up our chairs in the shaded part of the shelter and had lunch outside. We ate sandwiches with the last of the deli turkey that we'd bought at the H-E-B in Port Isabel, the last of the Pringles that we'd brought with us, and washed it down with two Diet Dr. Peppers. Delicious.
	A flotilla, or maybe small armada, of redhead ducks swam by until they reached a point just north of our campground, and then they all tucked their heads down and took naps. They didn't appear to be at all interested in the pelicans diving for lunch near by.
	This female great-tailed grackle came by our campsite for a quick look.
	Debbie used the fantastic zoom on her camera to take a look at the other campground on the south end of the peninsula that forms Goose Island State Park. It looked more paved and less beach-y. We were definitely at the best campground.
	As the sun was setting, the water near the seawall looked a little foamy, which we hadn't seen before.
	Another glorious sunset.
	And it's gone.
	After reading the reviews of our next day's planned campsite which involved recent campers complaining about the huge numbers of mosquitos, we spent the evening replanning the next few days of our trip. Luckily, we had great cell service from this campground, which allowed us to book a hotel room in place of the mosquito camp, and a different campground to replace the one with an "apocalyptic" ant problem. We relaxed after the replanning with our nightly games of Scrabble. Despite her use of the word "masting" in a highly suspect sentence, Debbie was still able to open with a whopping 76 points. Well played! Day 17 >