Feb 3 - Law abiding icicles

This photo makes us laugh.  It is nice that we can still laugh after no electricity for 20 hours during the coldest weather in Texas in 15 years.  It was in the mid 70s here just a few days ago and last night and part of today we were trapped on the island because the bridge was closed due to ice. No worries though.  We had plenty of propane (thanks to one man who came out in freezing and rainy weather to fill tanks all over the park), food, water, and four 6V batteries to keep the furnace and lights running.  And my Kindle was fully charged so what more could we want?  Well, maybe one thing - our heated mattress pad!  The sun came out around noon today, the wind that has been beating us up for three days subsided, and the ice began to melt, but freezing temps are still possible tonight.  Saturday and Sunday should be better. 

Jan 21 - Overview

This overview of the Birding Center, taken from the observation tower, shows only one corner of the boardwalk area.   It was warm while we were there, but less than an hour after we got home, a norther blew in rocking our "house" and lowering the temperature.  It is sunny today but about 20 degrees cooler than yesterday, with a high only in the 50s.  Chilly for us, but I expect 50s sounds pretty good up in the frozen north where winter has hit hard this year.

Jan 7, 2011 - Beach photos

Galen and friends, friends until the bread runs out.

See the little pile of sand to the left of the couple on the left side of the photo?  That big piece of machinery was moving sand from the other side of the beach to the waters edge and we figured it would take them a while to build up the beach that way.  LOL!  Not really.  We knew what was coming and come it did.  A few days later dredging operations were underway and huge pipes were laid along the beach making walking on the beach impossible at high tide and unpleasant all the time.  I understand the channel between the Laguna Madre and the Gulf of Mexico must be dredged so boats can get through and so we can still have an RV park here, but I still don't like it.  The good news is that dredging operations need to be completed by February 1, so we'll have a whole month of pleasant beach walking.

 

Jan 20, 2011 - The Birds

Greater Yellowlegs

Greater Yellowlegs

Great Blue Heron

Black Necked Stilt with fish in its mouth

Black Necked Stilt

Bairds Sandpiper (I think)

Great Blue Heron

Roseate Spoonbill

Roseate Spoonbill

Jan 10 - Galen and Gulls

Galen feeding the gulls. It was funny to hear him telling the gulls not to get so close.

Jan 9, 2010 - SPI beach

I took these three photos on the beach this morning. The starfish, like so many have lately, washed up on the beach. I've never seen the sanderlings bunched up like this before but I've never been here when it has been so cold before either. Usually the jetty is full of people and pelicans, but no pelicans today and only a few hardy souls out there today. High temp was only in the 40s, but it was less windy.

Jan 5, 2010 - The Bridge

This is the bridge that runs between Port Isabel and South Padre Island. The lighthouse in the distance is in Port Isabel, TX

Jan 5, 2010 - Dirty Al's Seafood

Although this restaurant is right outside of our RV park, we never made it there last year so we went early this year before the rest of the snowbirds get down here and it gets really crowded.


The grilled shrimp was yummy!