Spaced Out

We spent a couple of nights on Galveston Island at the state park and did a quick day trip up towards Houston to see the NASA Johnson Space Center. With the space shuttle no longer in service this place has slowed a little, but they have a very interesting museum and tram tour into the campus to see behind the scenes. We also got some time wandering around the new Saturn Rocket on display. Very astonishing how very complex and incredible it is. Like the the shirts say "It's not rocket science, well, actually, it is"
Also had a film presentation on the International Space Station, and another on Curiosity's Mars exploration. Lots of hands on displays, visit to cockpits, chances to try to land the space shuttle in flight simulators, much more. Mission control here is still monitoring the space station 24/7 and in the main work area there are working on new rovers and equipment for more missions. Very exciting stuff and we wish there was more funding for all the space programs. So glad we took the time to do this.

Beached

Yeah, kinda like the whales. I can understand why they just want to lay there on the warm soft sand. We have gotten another dose of the big sand suck. Still on Padre Island and it is warm, the waves are hypnotic. The beaches are nearly deserted. The water is 67 degrees. The temp is 84 and a light breeze. Shore birds are everywhere. We can do a lot of this. Eat, read, sleep, repeat. Sorry for all of you suffering the wind and heavy rain at home. It is just a distant memory for us.

We have noticed that our bikes are getting a little rusty with all the salt air so we decided that we don't care about trying to protect them as much anymore, and took a long ride up the beach. A good 8-9 miles round trip. All on the hard packed sand near the waves. We rinse our bikes in the outdoor shower when we return and spray the chains and gears with some good quality product we got at the bike shop. We are glad that we bought less expensive bikes so that we can use them, and even use them up if that is what has to happen. After all, isn't that why we have them? It was great fun and we got to go a lot farther than we ever could have on foot. We ride the 3/4 mile to the visitor center some days to use our phones, as service is better there, but mostly we are doing nothing. And yet we still seem to be busy. How is that?

We are working on some of our neighbors to get solar panels and have some interest now that we have a demo up and running, but it is hard to get these non-conservation minded, oil rich resource Texans to think about it, and also hard to compete with the cheap Chinese imports that you can get on ebay. We hope to find more willing folks when more snowbirds arrive.

It is time for us to do our two days out of the park every 14 days, so we decide to head east and see some more of the coast. We feel like Padre island is our 'home base' and will be back for more soon.

Back to the Beach

After our work getting done (including a windshield replacement ... the crack was growing) we spent a lovely afternoon with Nel's parents at their beautiful house in San Antonio.

I wish I had taken a picture of the fabulous meal ... but Sherry is an expert at brisket, and a November lunch on the deck in the shade was such a treat. We are liking this Texas climate, off season, but don't think we could do a summer.

So we headed back south to the heat and beach again with a quick overnight at Choke Canyon State Park, were we are definitely NOT ever going swimming. Then back to Padre for a few days, but we bailed out of there when the winds whipped up with another cold front (60). We are getting to e wimps. We had a lot of internet service need to deal with upcoming health care changes and tenant issues, so a couple of days at Mustang Island State Park, just a few miles from Padre, with its free wifi and good cell service was just what we needed. Tides have been high with this last storm so it was good to be off the beach and behind a dune for a couple of days. And it gave us a chance to catch up the blog and check 
in with folks at home.

We are now dealers for Zamp Solar, in addition to AM Solar, and we have a couple of portable suitcase systems to pick up from UPS on Monday. Looks like we have two buyers back on Padre and Steve already spent a few hours doing a consultation for another camper who made a DIY mess out of his rig. It is good to stay put for a while and do a little business.

 We plan on spending the Thanksgiving weekend on the beach and will gladly exchange our turkey dinner for some more grilled fresh shrimp or tamales.
We hope you all enjoy the Holiday too!

Texas BBQ

Heading back north again on our way to get our repairs completed and we are ready to try some of the famous BBQ's. And boy are we happy. We go to Lockhart and camp for a night or two and hit some of the most famous places for lunch. First is Black's, been there since 1932. Oh my god, this brisket is delicious, melt in your mouth, fall apart, smokey good. Fresh homemade sausages, smoked over the same hardwood coals. Pork ribs that fall off the bone. You buy it by the pound and they put it on butcher paper and then get some side dishes if you wish (beans, cole slaw, etc.) and go find a table to sit at.  But it is really all about the meats. We filled up and then needed to skip dinner. Actually needed a nap, and still didn't want dinner.
We walked around Lockhart a little to help settle our big meal and were impressed with the pretty courthouse and all the really beautiful old homes that were built long ago in this small town. Some really spectacular places of brick and stone and big wide porches on pretty tree lined streets. Other than the 105 degree summers, this would be a nice place to live.

Two days later we were heading out of town and stopped again at Kruez's BBQ (since 1902) for another try. Still good, but we like Blacks better. So,we will continue to screen these places for any of you that plan on coming this way. It is our civic duty to be sure you don't waste your time and money on second place establishments. You can thank us by sending your donations to our "Eat the Meat" fund.

Lockhart Texas Courthouse

Padre Island

South of Corpus Christi and about 150 miles from San Antonio lies the longest undeveloped stretch of barrier island in the world. This national seashore is 70 miles of sandy beaches, flower covered grasslands, and tidelands. It is one of the most important US nesting beaches for endangered Kemp's ridley sea turtles, and is globally important for migrating birds. On one side is the Gulf of Mexico and the other side is Laguna Madre, one of only six hypersaline lagoons in the world. All this and a beachside campground with cool water showers, flush toilets, and only $4/night. And if we want the real beach camping, on the sand, it is free. So we have settled in. But, it is not quite paradise for the first few days. The temperature is 94, and the wind is blowing, feels like the fan is on the furnace and you are standing in front of it. Oh, and did I mention the humidity? That is a literal wet slap in the face.

Full moon rising over the gulf

Since a  cold front was coming into the Texas Hills our escape to here was to avoid the really cool temps, but as it approaches out first night the pressure gradients are getting squeezed and it is close to 95% humidity. We are sticky. Our clothes are damp. It is hot. We sleep fitfully on top of our blankets with all windows open and a wind blowing about 20 mph through our van and we are still too hot. I wake at midnight and it is down to 89. I wake at 2 and it is 84. I wake at 4 and it is 79. That is the low of the night. We stagger up in the morning and I say OK. I can do one more of these nights and then we will need some air conditioning if this continues or we need to leave here. But the next day the weather turns and cools off and by afternoon it is 65 and has a wind chill that sends me looking for my jacket buried somewhere in a closet. Two days of clouds and then it really is a paradise.

Back to 85-90 during the day and 65-70 at night. We are in shorts and t's and sandals morning til night. We spend 10 days here laying in the sun, reading, walking the miles of beaches and visiting with other campers. Got our hammock (thanks Jennine!) set up under a shade shelter on the beach during the day and take our chairs out to the water's edge. We are here for the rising of the harvest moon over the water, the meteor showers, and a fly over of the space station. Night skies are dark and it is warm outside. What a treat!
Town is only about 18 miles up the island where the causeway comes in and there is a HEB store (like a  Whole Foods/QFC like superstore) and a few miles farther away is everything else a person could need. We stock up on fresh shrimp, meat to BBQ, fresh tamales, veggies and cool drinks every few days. Only downside is the blue man of war jelly fish that keep us wading only and not swimming, and the very poor cell service. Even with our new booster antenna it is still spotty. But we did manage to get a call out to the truck repair shop and re-schedule our installation date so that we could stay on the beach longer.