Padre Island National Seashore a beautiful place to visit.

Padre Island N.S. Night two

This is our campsite on evening two, the winds were gusting up to 40mph  from the south changing to the north sometime in the middle of the night.  If you look closely you can see the tent bowing in due to the wind, don't worry Matt had the tent staked down real well.  The chairs have not blown away because we have them up against the pole with the winds pushing them into the pole.

Dinner that night was difficult.  Due to the high winds everything was blown by the high winds.  You would set something down and woosh!  There it goes across the sand.  Matt tried the stove on the table but the wind kept pushing it, sooo we moved it to underneath the table to shield the wind.  

Remember how I said we were the talk of the neighborhood   He was cooking dinner just like this, a truck pulls up and they told Matt "Only a real man goes tent camping in 40 mph winds"

Went back to Paul's Seafood Market and got shrimp for tacos again with zucchini  onions, and red beans and rice.  This was the freshest shrimp we have ever eaten   Due to the high winds this meal took two hours to make.  

He's so happy with his shrimp tacos.

This is our tea system every morning.  Heat the water in the jet boil (that's the  tall thing in the center) pour into Matt's and my mugs.

During the day we went into town to have a nail removed from one of the tires.  On the way back to the park we stopped to buy the shrimp then decided to stop at a German bakery.  We bought this blueberry strudel, Oh it was so good.  It was so yummy the next morning we stopped on our way out of the area.  Strudel to go!

These are pictures of the campground from the dunes separating us from the beach.  To the right is a little theater for presentations on Wed. nights.  On the upper picture we are straight ahead in the center; Look for the little blue tent.

We had no cell signal, so Matt would climb this sand dune to catch 1-2 bars to call Michael or check the weather.  This was a nice park, beautiful.  The people were friendly and helpful.  We would have stayed longer but the wind was hard to manage.

Padre Island N. S. Night One

Padre Island National Seashore

The Longest Stretch of Undeveloped Barrier Island in The World

This is our campsite, we were the only tent at the campground and the talk of the neighborhood.
Can you see me?

We found Paul's Seafood Market and bought some Mahi Mahi for fish tacos.  The bowel to the left is zucchini and onions.  The fish was fresh and tasty.  

Mmm, fish tacos.

This is the sand dune between our campsite and the beach.

We went walking on the beach in the afternoon, but because of the high winds it was cold.  That evening the wind gusts got up to 30 mph.

Portuguese Man-O-War

Canopy Challenge

On Monday January 28th after spending some time at the laundry, we packed up and headed to Hill Country about one hour north of San Antonio.  We found a place that had a Canopy Challenge and zip-line   We zipped across two towers and back for a exhilarating ride.  Then we spent time walking on different bridges some wood or thin ropes, but always high in the sky.  This was defiantly a fear I conquered today.

Opps!  slipped here.
Don't worry the harness kept us safe.

San Antonio Texas

This road trip had one main goal, to see our son Michael graduate from the Air Force's Basic Training.  We arrived in San Antonio on Wednesday and met our parents at the Hyatt Place Hotel.  We enjoyed a whirlwind of activities, but mostly enjoyed spending time with Michael.  It was a pleasure to see that Michael has grown into a fine man, making his own decisions.  We are very proud of you Michael.

The city of New Orleans

 When we first arrived in New Orleans, our first stop was lunch.  We had just started walking down a street and this restaurant Johnny's Po-Boys was busy so we thought we would check it out.  We ordered one shrimp po-boy and it was huge along with Jambalaya   The po-boy was really good, and the shrimp was fried but the breading was different, kind of light.

 In front is Jackson square the large park in the city with St Louis Cathedral behind.  Jackson square has a lot of activity and they were getting a stage ready for the super bowel   On the right hand side and between the square and the cathedral it is only a walking mall.

 This is one of many street performers on the side of Jackson square.  She is a mime holding a picture frame.

 Inside the St Louis Cathedral the Louisiana philharmonic orchestra was practicing for a concert that evening.  We stayed for a portion and listened, there was a women who sung opera beautifully.

 This is the famous cafe that serves beignets (french doughnut) and coffee (no hot tea).  People can sit down at a table and order or stand in line for carry out.  The picture below Matt is standing in the line for beignets. Left of the picture the servers sit on chairs waiting for customers   This cafe like most in this area has two sides open with no walls, due to the warm climate.

                                                        More music street performers.

                                                                       Beignets.
                      We decided they are like small light funnel cakes with lots of powdered sugar.

 Went through the French Market which is a collection of small food stands and people selling souvenirs.

                                           Houses with balcony's lining the streets

                                                         Bourbon Street

                                               These hot dog stands were all over the city.

                                            Seafood cheesecake (aka seafood flat cheese ball)

                                                                    Shrimp and grits

 We ate dinner at a brewery which brews its own beer on the premises   We enjoyed a beer flight, which was  five different beers to sample.  It was a nice evening of seafood, beer, and live jazz music.

                                                                   Crab stuffed shrimp

                                                              Louisiana Superdome