From Buzzards to Seagulls

I can't believe 9 days have passed since I last posted.

After leaving Fort Stockton a day ahead of  schedule we spent a few days in Llano River State Park in Junction TX. They have tubes to float down the river but the water was a bit cold, "mountain stream" cold, so we passed on the tubing. Good hiking trails though.

This rig pulled in on our second night.  He said it towed just fine. A Subaru pulling a 20 foot Airstream.

This park is abundant in three kinds of wildlife. Turkeys, deer and armadillos. Armadillos have poor eyesight and hearing and since their sensitive noses are usually in the ground, you can get quite close to them.

Tara wasn't sure what to make of this armour clad beast.

Our next stop was Port O’Connor, between Galveston and Corpus Christi, on the gulf. It was nice to see some seagulls and pelicans again instead of just buzzards. We stayed here for 3 days.

Last August, Hurricane Harvey made landfall about 80 miles southwest of  Port O’Connor at Port Aransas, as a Category 4. Port Aransas was levelled and is still recovering. On it’s way back out to the gulf Harvey came within a few miles of Port O’Connor but as a category 1. There are a lot of new roofs here but damage was minimal in comparison.

Port O'Connor is a serious fishing destination.  Every morning I watched hundreds of pick-ups towing all kinds of fishing boats to the boat launches. Being on a protected bay most boats have very little freeboard and flat bottoms. There are some interesting setups. Here’s one that is both airboat and outboard (why didn't I think of that?). A nautical ATV.

We actually coaxed Tara to get her feet wet at the public beach in town. It took a bag full of treats to get her in this far. Definitely not a water dog.

For the past few days we have been on Galveston Island at Jamaica Beach. The weather has been cool but we finally got to spend a few hours on the beach today,using the beach umbrella as a windbreak, of course. Incidentally, today was only our third "beach day" of the entire trip. It is crowded in Galveston, march break. 

For the next few days we will be at a State Park in Louisianna. No beach, but quiet!