Sam Houston Jones State Park

We finally made it out of Texas! We drove 944 miles to get through that state. Not much to see but the seashore was fun. We took a ferry from Padre Island the the mainland. There were several ships and we drove right on one without waiting and got out of the truck to look around. Ambereen asked if she should make sandwiches for the ride and I looked up and we were docking! The whole trip took like 5 minutes. Louisiana was a refreshing change of scenery. The fauna was so different than what we're used to. We stopped at the welcome center and found a nice walkway that meandered through the swamp. Our drive to Sam Houston Jones State Park was easy and we found a nice camp site. There was a river next to the park and a swamp / bayou right next to us. The noise at night was deafening! Who would believe that little green frogs could make such a racket? We cooked the pork tenderloin with spices and veggies and had a great dinner. A camp robber showed up at night and made off with what was left of our loaf of bread. Ate every last crumb. Got up early and packed everything up for the drive to Nawlins.

Padre Island National Seashore

Drove to Padre Island where we stayed at the National Seashore. Our camp site was on a sand dune close to the beach. We saw the nearly full moon rise and it was so bright at night you could almost read by the light. I'm glad we stayed at the campground as they had bathrooms and showers. I must be getting old as those amenities are more and more desirable! Had a fine cigar and a beer to relax.

We went for an early morning drive on the beach but it didn't compare to what we'll have in the Carolina's so we decided to hit the road. Our goal is to get out of Texas.

Texas

Carlsbad caverns-super cool place to visit. I posted pics from my last visit 5 years ago and you can find them in my earlier posting. Not much has changed since my last visit ;) Drove to Ft Stockton TX and camped in a RV park last night. Beautiful sunset and woke to songbirds. It was an oasis in the desert. Met a crazy dude in the campground. Crazy I tell ya! Driving to Padre Island today and we will camp on the beach tonight.

Day 1 of our trip brought us to Brantley State Park

We camped on the edge of a lake just north of carlsbad caverns.It was the most peaceful and quiet campsite.

BMT wildlife

This morning we saw a fox searching for breakfast. He seemed interested in Saki for sure...then we got home from dinner and our neighbor told us to watch out for a moose out back! Super cool..

Riviera Maya - Sandals (November 2011)

We had a wonderful time visiting Mexico last fall right before Thanksgiving. We went to an all-inclusive Sandals resort for a week and enjoyed the beach, pool and swim up bar. We had access to hobie cats with free lessons but when we went there all of the instructors were busy so when they asked if I knew how to sail I said "sure". Next thing I know we were being pushed out to sea. And I had no clue what I was doing. It took me a few minutes to navigate my way a hundred yards off shore but the wind was taking us pretty fast. I managed to turn around and was trying to teach myself how to tack when I saw a boat moored off shore. It was a parasailing boat owned by the resort. As if it was guided by an unseen hand our hobie cat started tracking right towards the other boat. I started yelling and a head popped up inside the boat - his eyes grew quite large as he realized there was going to be an impact soon. BAM! I hit the hull of the boat with both hulls of the hobie....and bounced off. I managed to maneuver around it while yelling "sorry!" and we were off again. All in all it was hilarious. A side note on parasailing - the next day we were on the hobie cat again (yes, they let us take it out again. Apparently an hour sailing means one is certified or something.) and I saw a couple parasailing when the male fell through the harness and was hanging upside down about 100 feet above the water. The captain quickly powered down and they slowly dropped to the water and I tried to get to them to make sure they were OK but another power boat made it first. The beach at Tulum was incredible! We went on an excursion in the area and rappelled into a cenote then swam in an underground river. We went on three zip lines then got on a crazy 4 wheel drive ride. Good times......

4 Pass Loop (July 2011)

Last summer we went on a backpacking trip called the 4 Pass Loop through the Maroon Bells Wilderness area near Aspen. We took 4 days to hike the 4 passes (each over 13,000 feet) and got to experience some great back country hiking. While we didn't see much wildlife, the wildflowers and scenery made up for it. On the first night we camped next to a large beaver den and when I got up around 2 am I heard a beaver slap his tail in the water to warn the rest of the clan of my presence. It was really loud! We were lucky with weather and found some cool camp sites. It was an awesome trip....