Feb 19-22 Breaux Bridge LA

We left Galveston in heavy fog...

and arrived 4 hours later at Poche’s Fish and Camp. We had a waterfront site...

with a great view out the rear window.

When we came and left the campground we were greeted by turtles and an egret...

and when we explored Breaux Bridge, we encountered plenty of crawfish.
(It's the crawfish capital of the world. )

The highlight of our stay was a swamp tour. Cajun Country Tours showed us alligators, ibis, egrets, herons, cormorants, anhingas, nutria, turtles, cardinals and snakes, and taught us about cypress and tupolo trees and the swamp in general.

Easy to see alligator

Not quite as easy to see alligator

Not at all easy to see alligator

Nutria, a large rodent, to right of tree in middle of photo (click to enlarge)

The only snake we saw--a water moccasin

Ibis in a tree

An anhinga drying its wings

Flocks of birds were everywhere and the sunset was lovely.

Feb 15-19 Galveston TX

On the drive to Galveston we were amazed by the works of both man and mother nature. There were numerous refineries and many surprising views of the Gulf.

We turned left just after the orange sign and drove along the coast for 30 miles.

The houses we passed ranged from shacks to mansions, all on stilts to protect them from possible flood waters.


We arrived at our campground, Galveston Island State Park, to find it 100 yards from the Gulf and half a mile from the bay.

If you look hard, you can see the gulf on the horizon line

The bay is behind the camper

The gulf side was often too windy or too foggy,

The people in this photo are about 100 feet from us.

So we spent most of our time on the bay side—finding whelks or watching hawks, herons, egrets and spoonbills.

A live whelk

A hawk searching for prey

A great blue heron during breeding season

A great egret and a roseate spoonbill

When we ventured into the city of Galveston, we drove down Broadway Ave to see the mansions of yesteryear.

We also drove to Pier 21 and watched The Great Storm. It chronicled America’s worst natural disaster—the 1900 hurricane which claimed an estimated 6000 lives.

In the five years following the hurricane homes were raised up to 8 feet and a 17 foot seawall was erected to protect the town.

The wall is in the foreground.

That didn’t entirely stop Hurricane Ike in 2008, but it helped.

This building houses the visitor center. There is a little sign just above the railing that notes the 2008 high water mark.

Feb 8 - 15 Corpus Christi TX

We drove 260 miles to Mustang Island State Park, just outside Corpus Christi TX.

Our campground is full! 28 degree weather expected, no sewer, and it is full! The gulf is a ¼ mile away. We took numerous walks on the often deserted beach.
(The wind was cold.)

We did encounter some wildlife and other flying objects.

Ray found a catfish...

which a gull quickly claimed as its own.

We enjoyed watching the plovers along the shore

and other creatures of the air.

We drove into Corpus Christi to see the USS Lexington, the aircraft carrier that was reported sunk 4 times in WWII--wishful thinking on Japan's part.


Ray sat on the bridge and saw views of the deck and Corpus Christi beyond.

Our next excursion was to South Padre Island National Seashore and the nearby pier.

We returned to that area when we learned that 270 sea turtles who had washed ashore due to cold weather were scheduled for release back into the water.

The next day we drove to Port Aransas along the beach (the sand is quited packed).

We visited the jetty area (note the dolphin just below the boat)


and watched the birds, there on the gulf side and also on the bay.

A variety of shorebirds

A pelican with a fish.


A roseated spoonbill.

Our last day in the Corpus area was Valentines Day. In celebration we went out for a lobster and scallop dinner at Port Royal resort.


It was delicious.