South Padre Island Dolphin Tour

The Activity Committee at the campground had arranged a group outing with a Dolphin Tour company at South Padre Island, and it sounded like fun, so Tom and I signed up to go.  There ended up being about 30 of us in the group.
Of course, when the day of the tour arrived, we had the highest winds we’ve had all season – up to 5o mph!  We were worried that our tour would get cancelled (8-10 ft. surf on the Gulf), but it was still on, and we all headed out after lunch.  At least it was a warm and sunny day, well into the 70s.
Travelling over the bridge to South Padre Island, the water in the Bay looked pretty rough – I was hoping we had a big enough boat!  We arrived at the dock, and waited for tour time.  It was a little  chilly waiting on the dock, I was glad I brought a sweatshirt.

Our boat looks big enough to handle the rough water.

None of the fishermen were going out though . . . too rough for fishing!

Tom and I snagged a couple of seats on the upper deck, out in the sun – it felt really good!  Even with the high winds, the sun was nice and warm!

As soon as we pulled out of the channel, we got busy searching for dolphins.



We spotted a few out in front of us right away, but they were too quick for me to get any pictures.  We continued towards the bridge, and since we weren’t seeing any dolphins, some people kept themselves entertained with the seagulls following the boat.

Tom was trying to get them to land on his hand . . . he thought he could lure them in with bits of crackers!  They were too smart for that!

As we turned away from the bridge and headed out towards the jetty, the crew threw out a net to gather marine life for the “Eco Tour” portion of the trip. 

We were going into the wind now, and the water was a little rougher.  We spotted a few more dolphins, though, and a Coast Guard boat.



I

t was still difficult to catch pictures of them, but this little group was really active!

About halfway to the jetty, we slowed down for a bit and one of the crew members, Isaiah, showed us what was collected in the net.  Tom and I went down to the lower level to watch the presentation.

There were a few little bait fish, and squid (which I had never seen before),

and a few bigger fish – the first one was a spiney something (that liked to spit water out at people),

and a puffer fish.

That one was pretty cool looking,
and so were the starfish.

With the science demonstration over, the captain picked up speed again, and Tom & I went back to the upper deck.

We passed by the Coast Guard Station,

and the Border Control blimp.

It was on the ground because of the high winds that day, but normally it’s tethered over the jetty, keeping watch over the shipping lane in and out of Brownsville, and the waters off Boca Chica Beach.  We saw it in the air the day we went to Boca Chica, but didn’t know what it was.

As we got closer to the jetty, we could see the state park at Boca Chica, where there are several houses on the cliff overlooking the water.  They were there before it became a state park, and the owners were allowed to stay in them, although they don’t have any electricity or water.  They can’t ever sell the property, though, and if the home is destroyed, they can’t rebuild.

Fishing, or Scuba-diving?

We spotted a few more dolphins, and these were close to the boat.

We could see the surf on the other side of the jetty, and it looked really rough.  Not too many people fishing today!

Not the best beach day, either!

We could see the city campground as we turned around at the jetty – it looked pretty nice, really close to the water, though.

We were on our way back to the channel, and spotted another dolphin . . . and I was finally able to catch a picture!  It’s not quite clear, but still a decent picture!

The pelicans waiting on the dock as we pulled back into the channel,

and one more coming in for a landing!

Even with the high winds, it turned out to be a beautiful day for a boat tour, and it was fun – we spotted dolphins, saw some interesting sea life, and had fun with the seagulls.

From there, most of the group headed over to Port Isabel for dinner at Pirate’s Landing.




Lots of photo ops . . .Tom  is always willing to take a silly photo,

and sometimes he gets a little help from a couple of photo-bombers!

It was a fun day!  We were definitely glad we participated!

Relaxed, but full, Weekend

After our trip to the beach on Friday, we didn’t have too much else planned for the weekend.  It had gotten pretty windy on Saturday, but still sunny and warm, so we decided to check out one of the local Flea Markets.  We also needed to put a care package together for Nick, so figured we’d go ahead and pick up his cowboy boots to put in the same box.  We’ve looked at quite a few, but had decided on a pair we saw back before Christmas, in Mercedes.

The Don-Wes Flea Market is on the border between the valley towns of Donna and Weslaco, and a fairly small flea market, but nice.  We got there around noon, so we started out with getting a quesadilla for lunch.  They have a little cafe, with live entertainment, and decent food.  We met a couple from Mission (formerly from Wisconsin) and shared a table with them while we all enjoyed our lunch.

The inside area is pretty typical, but I did find a booth selling fabric and quilting supplies (that’s a new one!) . . , didn’t buy anything, though.  I was looking for flannel, and she didn’t have any.  We did pick up a cool swiss vegetable grater, though!

The outside area was fun, with lots of interesting collections!

Nice looking produce

We went in a couple of booths that were just jam-packed full of stuff!  Almost anything you could possibly want was sure to be in there!

Tools

Toys

Even ice skates, or a Sherriff’s Badge!

We found this little shop that sold their own nuts, dried fruits, seasoned pistachios, and chocolates . . . we spent a bunch of $$ in there . . . lots of treats for Nick’s care package!

You should have been there Danny – we found a whole flamingo family for you!!

There’s an ice cream shop at the flea market, too – Blue Bell Ice Cream – so we had a cone as we left.  Mmm . . .

The boot shop was just down Business 83 in Mercedes, and we got there about a half hour before they closed.  We picked out the boots we wanted, and they darkened the heels and soles for us as we waited.  They had been left natural, but we thought they would look better brown.

While the guys in the shop took care of that, we chatted with the saleswoman, and another woman who turned out to be the owner’s daughter.

It’s a good-sized family-owned shop, still run by the father, who had started out as a bootmaker in Mexico, then came to Texas and worked for a local bootmaker before opening his own shop in 1972.  Now they make custom-ordered boots and exotic leather boots in this shop (see that huge snake skin above!?!), and have a small factory in Mexico that makes the rest of their boots – the father still buys all the leathers used in the boots, and every pair of boots is made to his specification.  The factory exclusively makes their boots, and you can’t buy them anywhere else.

We liked the shop, the personal service, and the boots are very nice quality!

Nicolas got them this week, and he said they fit perfectly, and were very comfortable.  He likes them!

On Sunday, we went to church and grocery shopping, and then just hung out at the RV.  Tom visited with some of the neighbors, and I sat in the sun and read on my Kindle.  A nice, relaxing day!

Monday was the Martin Luther King holiday, and I didn’t have to work.  There was a Winter Texan Appreciation Fiesta in Harlingen, and Tom wanted to check it out, so we took a drive up there after lunch.  It was pretty much a disappointment (mostly local businesses catering to older people that spend the whole winter down here – not us!)

There was a Mariachi Band,

but we only listened for a couple minutes (too loud!)

There was a SMALL car show, too, but that only took a few minutes to walk through!

This was a pretty cool truck!!

We were done there quick, so we stopped at Walmart on the way home to pick up a few things, then went back to the RV to enjoy the sunny afternoon.

Monday night was the Lunar Eclipse, and we joined a few others outside after 11pm to watch the progression.

My pictures weren’t great (I was having a hard time keeping the camera steady), and we were freezing (it was in the 40s that night!) . . . so we didn’t stay out long enough to watch it go really red.

Not a bad way to wrap up a nice weekend!