Travel Day to Pearland, Texas

When we travelled to Port Aransas from the Valley, since we were coming from the south, we just crossed a bridge from Corpus Christi to get onto Mustang Island.  We could have left the same way, but since we were going north from there, it would have added unnecessary miles to our drive.

Tom wasn’t so sure about putting the motorhome on the ferry, but after we got here and rode across the channel several times in the Jeep, we were more comfortable with it.  Plus, on several trips, we travelled across with motorhomes and RVs, and none of them seemed to have any trouble.

It wasn’t just a simple ferry operations – there were multiple ferries running at all times – 24/7. and they were very well organized.

In good weather and bad . . .

The pelicans and seagulls loved the ferry launch and were always flying around and landing on the roof of the Jeep (I think we only crossed once with the roof off!), and almost every time we saw dolphins swimming around the ferries.  I was afraid they were going to get run over!

On the opposite side of the channel, there were these big structures – we thought they might be oil rigs, but we weren’t really sure.  We often saw ships docked there, and there was always activity going on, but no indication of what . . .

So, as we ended our month in Port Aransas, the day came for us to leave the island . . . we left on the Friday morning, around 9:30am and that turned out to be a really good time.  Every time we’ve travelled across in the Jeep, we’ve had to go around the loop road next to the ferry launch, which is where they have vehicles line up to wait for loading.  On this morning, the gate was open, which meant we were going to be able to drive right up to a line for a ferry.

We did, and we weren’t the only motorhome waiting to board the ferry.  We pulled in behind this Dutch Star.

It was our turn to board – the attendant was signaling for us to straddle the two right lanes and pull up next to the Dutch Star.

We fit!  Tom handed the phone out the window to a guy walking by and asked him to take a few pictures!

And we made it to the other side!

With the most stressful part of the drive behind us, we made our way north on Hwy 35, through a few small towns, and approached Pearland, TX (a suburb of Houston) from the south.  It was an easy 3-hour drive, and we made it to the RV Park with no issue.

We pulled into our site and got set up.  The Park Manager had called while we were on the way, and told us to go ahead and pick one of the two available sites, and settle up with her the next morning.

We chose site 30, across the road and down a few sites from our friends, Tom & Karen, who are spending the winter here to be near their son.  Tom is retired from Ford, the same office where I work.  It’ll be nice to get caught up with them while we’re here, and they promise to share some of the better sights of Houston with us.

It’s a small park – new, and they are still adding more sites and facilities, but very clean and nice.  There’s a nice little pond in the back, with a walking path around it where Casey likes to walk.

It’s nice for sunsets, too!

Port Aransas and Rockport

We travelled up to Rockport one Friday afternoon  to see if Tom could find his “Oysters Rockefeller” at the Oysterfest, but that didn’t work out . . . the festival didn’t open until the evening, and from talking to some people he found out that it’s more of a carnival – with more “fair food” than oysters.  He was bummed, but we got some lunch in town (still not oysters), and walked through the shops along the waterfront.

There’s still quite a bit of post-hurricane re-building going on, but the little downtown area is cute.  If you were furnishing a beach cottage, there were lots of cute options!

The Marina is pretty full, too --

pleasure boats,

and working boats --

but also some that don’t look like they are going to be sea-worthy anytime soon!

Back in Port Aransas, Tom might not have gotten the oysters he was looking for, but he did manage to buy some shrimp,

They were fresh off the boat!  $4/lb. for a medium mix – he just had to pop off the heads and cut off the shells!

Before --

and After!

He also managed to get some tamales from Granny’s Tamales!  This truck drives through the RV Resort every afternoon – playing music like the ice cream truck – and selling hot tamales!  He said they were OK, but it turns out that he’s not really a big fan of tamales.

As our days her on the coast are winding down, we finally got a few warmer days with some sunshine in the afternoon. 

One nice afternoon, we took a bike ride through town and down to the beach.

We stopped in a few of the little shops in town, and picked up a decal for the Jeep.  We checked out the candy store, too, but didn’t buy anything . . . too expensive . . . $9.50/lb. for basic bulk candy!  No way!  They did have Albanese Gummy Bears, though.

Down at the beach, we found this interesting sight . . .in one area of the beach, all of the posts were covered on these crocheted socks – all different.

I have no idea who makes all of them, but they were very interesting and colorful!

It was still pretty quiet at this end of the beach.

So, you can camp anywhere along the beach on Mustang Island.  The weekends can get pretty crowded, but during the week it’s fairly quiet. 

Riding along the beach, we came upon this interesting rig,

We stopped to take a picture, and the owners were sitting outside so we stopped to talk for a bit and ask a few questions.  They were from New Hampshire, and had built this rig themselves.  They bought the truck chassis with almost a million miles on it, and have no idea how many more they’ve added.

Pretty cool!

Almost back to Port A RV Resort!

Another day, we took the Jeep back down to the beach to see what the Spring Break crowd was looking like . . . not much to see at our end of the island!

Driving south along the beach, though, we found the college crowd!

Just look for the Police presence, and that’s where the kids are!  I think I’m glad Bryce went to the Dominican Republic!

I think this guy was keeping watch, too!

Back to the family area of the beach – much calmer and quieter!

It wasn’t until our last week in Port Aransas that we got to know fellow fulltimers, Mike and Kathy, originally from Alabama.  We found that we had a lot in common and really enjoyed each others’ company . . . making the most of our last few days together . . .

hanging out at the beach, going for ice cream, and dinner out,

and a beautiful sunset on our last evening in Port Aransas!

It was great getting to know you guys . . . see you again when our paths cross . . . and who knows, maybe we’ll plan that Alaska trip together!

Oh, yeah, meanwhile up in Michigan, the college kids were getting ready for Spring Break,

It appears that they had lots of fun!