PADRE ISLAND NATIONAL SEASHORE

PADRE ISLAND NATIONAL SEASHORE

The day before going to to Padre Island National Seashore, Corpus Christi was hit by 28 MPH winds most of the day. The waves rolled in going over the pier and splashing over the wave wall. Our RV was rock n' rolling. The wind blew our tire covers off and I was chasing them down all over the park. Our slideout cover was taking a beating, so we put the slide in. We lost some valuable space to move around, but it's better than having to replace the cover.

28 MPH wind inside and out

After the winds and back to normal

Also, take a look at the video as the waves were rolling in on my YouTube page or CLICK HERE.


The sun was out and winds were low for a perfect day to make a trip to Padre Island.

Only a 20 minute drive from the base and over the bridge we passed the town of Padre Island. Soon we were pass the town and on the road leading to the front gate of the National Park. Once again our National Park pass got us in for free. I think it's $10 a car if you don't have a pass.

We stopped at the visitors center to watch the video of Padre Island, then we walked the beach behind the visitor center.

We saw the campground and went over to check it out. It's parking lot camping with no hookups. There are showers and bathrooms on site. The cost is $8 a night. We returned to the visitor center to have our lunch, before heading onward to see the rest of the Seashore. There is a stretch of 65 miles of beach coast that you can drive or walk. We wanted to find sand dollars, so we decide to walk the beach. Just have to keep your eyes open for the cars as the speed limit on the beach is 15, but just like on the road anywhere else in America most of the drivers refused to drive the speed limit.

We were shocked to see three RV camping on the beach road. I don't know when high tide time schedule was, but I sure hope they did. That would suck if the tide rolled in and their RV got stuck. I don't know if roadside service would cover that. Sadly, we had no luck at finding any sand dollars that was whole, just a lot of broken ones as they got washed up to the beach.

 On our way back to the base we stopped at a large sandcastle building that is a gift shop just to see what they had. We found whole sand dollars for only a quarter, so we got a few.

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USS LEXINGTON

NAS CORPUS CHRISTI, TX & CORPUS CHRISTI HOOKS

NAS CORPUS CHRISTI, TX & CORPUS CHRISTI HOOKS

We arrived at NAS Corpus Christi  FAMCAMP and picked out our first come first serve site for the next 39 days to unwind and relax. What better spot then right on the waterfront for $18 a night.

Most nights so far have been good, while a few the RV rocked with the heavy winds coming off Corpus Christi Bay from the Gulf of Mexico. We are right next to the shower house and laundry room. There is a recreation room with cable TV, foosball table and full kitchen that campers can use. The shower house is clean and the laundry is free. My relaxing is not really relaxing. I said I need to workout out more this year, and every other day I have went to the base gym. I'm starting off slow running 3 miles a day. After the first day I was sour, but now I look forward to waking up and going to the gym to start my days. I do have to say I'm disappointed of the NAS base as a whole. I thought this base was one of the biggest for the Navy. I thought wrong. The gym, exchange and commissary are all small. There is no sushi bar in the commissary (like almost every other base), there is only a Subway and base club to get any kind of food on the go. I guess that a good thing, I'm making my own food trying to keep it somewhat healthy while keeping my wallet phat. For a Naval Air Station it is pretty quite. The flight line is on the other side of the base. Not like other bases we stayed at where the flight line is beside the FAMCAMP. Not a bad view at the end of a day either.

For some reason any state or city I'm in I find something to do with baseball. This time is no different as we visited Corpus Christi Hooks the AA Houston Astros at Whataburger Field. The stadium was completed in 2005 on land that once was cotton warehouses in the Port of Corpus Christi. The team even left some of the warehouse structures and cotton presses to keep the history intact. 

I stopped at the team store and picked up some team set cards from the past three years and mini bats at discounted prices along with my military discount.

We were walking around taking pictures as a worker was returning from lunch and asked if we wanted a tour of the stadium. Of course, we took him up on his offer.

The Hooks are doing some upgrades to the stadium by putting in new grass and new seats behind home plate. The field's new grass was already in, but still waiting of the seats to arrive. The stadium hosted the 2015 Texas League All Star game and they still had the art work displayed in the teams dugout.

In right field there is a swimming pool that will run $1,500 a game for a group of 50 with food and one beer keg. That's $30 a person with free food and beer. That's about how much one person will spend for a ticket, food and drink. This way you get to keep cool in the sun for free.

The Hooks last and only Texas League Championship can in the 2006 season. The team will celebrate their ten year anniversary of that championship this season. With the tour we got, we were even able to walk in the back offices and the trophy was on display.

For anyone who might be asking how I find baseball related history in almost every city we stop? Of course I use the internet, along with two key books that I refer to often. Roadside Baseball by Chris Epting and Baseball Vacations by Bruce Adams & Margaret Engel. Both books I got on Amazon for a penny each. Some times it out dated as minor league teams might have changed their major league affiliation, but the history remains. The books are full of locations, museums, must see attractions and list of Hall of Famers final resting spot. For anyone who love baseball as much as I do these books are a must in your RV or your glove compartment in your car. If you know of any other such books I could add to my collection, please put in the comment below.

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Padre Island National Seashore.

MARSHALL, WACO & AUSTIN, TX

MARSHALL, WACO & AUSTIN, TX

Because of the issues we had with the slideout and ice it took us longer than we expected to get packed and out of Tinker AFB. Once we hit Dallas with all the construction turning the highways to two lanes, arriving before night fall did not look good. After getting pass Dallas the sun started to set and we still had two hours drive ahead of us. We decided to spend the night at a rest stop. In the morning it was COLD. We sat up front with the heater on high with the stove on make hot water for our morning coffee and tea (just in case you did not know, I HATE coffee).

A tornado hit North Texas a few day earlier and this is what we saw when we woke up. Or it could have been a big rig that hit the light pole and it has never been fixed yet.

Before heading to Austin, TX we were invited to meet friends we made at Amazon this season in their home in Marshall, TX. We spent three days with Paul & Penny bringing in the new year. We had a good time while eating out and visited Marshall's annual Wonderland of Lights. We took a horse and buggy ride around town. Hiromi and Penny made owl ornaments from alpaca hair. Had a great home cook dinner. We did not want to out stay our welcome so after a good breakfast we where back on the road and headed to Austin, TX. Thank you Paul and Penny for your hospitality and looking forward to seeing you on the road or the next time we are in your area.

We made it to Waco and visited my favorite soft drink museum... Dr Pepper!

I have never seen any gas station like Buc-ee's before. I'm guessing they are a local Texas company as I have only seen them in Dallas, San Antonio and Huston areas. They are a travels dream stop. There is over 100 pumps with the lowest gas price anywhere. Parking spaces for over 1,000 cars. The store is the size of a Wal Mart with clean bathrooms and showers. When you see a sign board for Buc-ees's gas station, even if you don't need gas make the stop and check one out for yourself.

We drove straight to Austin in the dark of the night in a downpour rain until we arrived at the Wal Mart in Austin just ten minutes from the Capitol Building to spend the night. The Capitol Building has a free parking garage for two hours, but meter street parking. Our RV and tow car took up three parking spots, but luckily for us street parking is free on Sundays. The Capitol Building website stated that they open at noon on Sundays, but that must have been for the visitors building. We were walking around the Capitol Building waiting for noon, but saw other people walking in so we followed and got in.

We still had plenty of daylight left and arrived at LBJ National Park to see the exhibit and his childhood home. Unfortunately, time was not on our side to drive down the road to see the LBJ Ranch without a rush tour. Next time!

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NAS Corpus Christi, TX.