We are spending the whole of December here on the Gulf of Mexico and leave on the 3rd of January for Port Isobel near Brownsville, still on the gulf of Mexico about 150 miles southwest. It is nice to get our "feet" down for a long rest after our hectic, but extremely enjoyable, trip to the Canadian Rockies and back. There are plenty of attractions in the area to keep us occupied, many miles of beach, numerous birdwatching areas, boat trips, Texas State Aquarium, USS Lexington (aircraft carrier/museum), the King Ranch (over 800,000 acres), seafood restaurants galore. We know by now you all feel sorry for us but we bravely grin and bear our load and try to believe the poster on the truck which says "Retirement is Underrated". We brought many happy memories back with us from our trip home, unfortunately Linda also brought a "cold" back. Being an unselfish sort of person she passed it on to Wullie and as a result we have taken turns at coughing & sneezing for a couple of weeks.
Lone Star State Registration
Late November we received a letter from the DMV (Department of Motor Vehicles) office in Oregon advising us that we no longer qualified to register our vehicles in that State, so our first task for December is to register both truck and 5th Wheel in Texas. Texas law requires that you have all vehicles (includes RV's) checked for roadworthiness (less stringent version of MOT in Britain) by a state inspection agency. This entailed taking the 5th Wheel & truck into town for inspection at a local garage and both passed inspection. Visited City Hall in Port Aransas with all the necessary paperwork and took delivery of the Number plates for both truck & 5th Wheel. The lady in City hall who deals with licensing, Barbara, was a wonderfully helpful person and made the whole exercise a good experience by removing all the hassle & stress normally associated with such matters. It transpires that she lived in Prestwick, Scotland for over a year when she was a child. She still has very fond memories of Scotland and on a recent visit to Prestwick was impressed by the Scottish hospitality. She took her family to see the house she lived in when she was a child and was disappointed nobody was at home. However the lady next door just happened to be looking out? and after hearing her story invited them in to see her house which was a replica of next door (semi-detached).
The Title deeds (Log Book) would take 2 - 3 weeks to come in the post and then we would be able to change our mailing address to Oregon so that any future correspondence would reach us. The next task is to obtain a Texas drivers license. Although Oregon DMV hasn't caught up with us yet they probably will in the future so we may as well take care of this now. In any case it is better if vehicles & license are issued in the same state. The License authority in Aransas Pass couldn't help us without a letter from the Social Security office verifying that we did not have a Social Security number, so it's off to Corpus Christi (what problems will we have with government officers?). The person we dealt with in Corpus Christi Social Security office was as pleasant and helpful as anyone could wish. He completed a form of "Waiver" for both of us and FAX'ed it to the local Licensing office such that it was waiting when we arrived. Fill in a simple form, answer a few questions, get our photo's taken and receive our temporary version of the license. The final version will take about 4 - 6 weeks and is valid until 2007. Now that we are Texan's we have to find some sports team to support and since NBA Basketball (Portland Trailblazers), NFL Football (Miami Dolphins & Green Bay Packers) Baseball (Toronto Blue Jays) & NHL Ice Hockey (Toronto Maple Leafs) are already spoken for it will have to be something connected with the "College" games. We may even have to buy "Bigger" Western (Cowboy) hats! Stetsons maybe? We have already taken to the local custom of calling our Pick-up truck a "Texas Cadillac".
Weather
The weather has been mixed during our stay from 70's and very humid to 50 and sunny, brilliant sunshine to grey rainy (dreich) to violent thunderstorms to high winds. Boxing day weather was as changeable a day as we have witnessed anywhere. We walked along the beach in a hazy, slightly humid 70+ in the morning and early afternoon. On the way home we remarked how grey it was becoming although still warm. Within 1 hour the temperature had dropped 25 degree's and violent thunderstorms occurred as the warm air from the Gulf was assaulted by the cold front from the north. A tornado even touched down about 40 miles north of us but no real damage was done. The locals say this is the worst winter for quite a few years, which seems to be true for all of North America. Many places in the north are reporting record snowfalls in December so watch out Scotland! We are quite happy to put up with temperatures in the 50's at times in December even although this means we can't build a snowman? will just have to make do with a sandcastle!
Beaches
There are numerous beaches around, the main two being the local one on Mustang Island and the nearby National Seashore (protected) on South Padre Island. We have spent a lot of time walking (even driving) in the surf picking up shells, watching birds and generally relaxing. The beaches in the Rockport/Fulton area and in Corpus Christi are smaller but have more facilities (sun shelters, picnic tables etc.). Wherever you drive in the area water/beach is a constant feature, lots of bridges & causeways. Fishermen both human and feathered are seen all around achieving various levels of success.
Bird Watching
Due to the mild climate, and the coastal wetland's rich feeding, this area attracts many migratory birds as well as the numerous local residents. The "Birding" center at Port Aransas also features a few Alligators! which are visible most days alongside/underneath the catwalk. You are advised to keep away from these fellows and most people seem to follow that advice. There is a Baseball cap floating alongside the Alligator's favourite sunning spot, the question is did it fall off the head of someone on the catwalk? or did some person ignore the warning and the cap is all that remains? The whole area is included in what they call the South Texas Coastal Birding Path.
The largest area for wildlife watching is the Aransas National Wildlife Refuge about 35 miles away. As well as many different species of birds, Alligators, Deer, Javelina's and wild Hogs are resident. On our visit we were fortunate enough to encounter some Deer and wild Hogs. A local guy told us that the wild Hogs taste really good, just like pork used to before modern farming methods took over - free range pork? The Refuge is home at this time of year to the "Whooping Cranes" an endangered species, only a few hundred left in the world. During our visit they were not in evidence but we are sure to run into them sometime soon.
Another good spot for birdwatching is at Mustang Island State Park on the sheltered side of the island around the many inlets. A few varieties of Herons, White & Grey Pelicans, Roseate Spoonbill's, two types of Cormorant, four varities of Egret's, two varieties of Ibis, numerous Ducks & Teals, Vultures, Osprey, White tailed Hawks, Kite's, Merlin's & many other raptors, numerous wading birds and gulls/terns. The Texas State bird "Northern Mockingbird' is often seen and now we are further east Red Cardinals (so bright red) are present. The foregoing list is only the highlights of the many birds we have spotted during our time here.
Seafood Restuarants
It has been nice being so close to town as we are able to walk in to the shops and restuarants. We have taken advantage of the availability of all the fresh seafood by eating lunch or dinner out on quite a few occasions. We are spoilt for choice but our favourites include Landry's Seafood House in Corpus Christi, Trout Street Bar & Grill in Port Aransas and for value for money the Big Fisherman on the way to Rockport. As always the helpings everywhere are huge in British terms so if we eat lunch out an evening snack is all that's required.
Conclusion
We have really enjoyed our stay here in Port Aransas and have tentatively reserved space here for 3 months next winter. This will give us time to visit San Antonio, Dallas/Fort Wort, Galveston area and maybe even New Orleans next door in Louisianna.
For all of you car drivers back home we received a great Christmas present this year, Gas (petrol) is now $1.12 a US gallon (0.8 imperial gallon). This approximates to 98p per imperial gallon, and as we said before it's the same petrol bought in the worldwide markeplace! There are ripoffs & there are ripoffs but the Euopean one must be the biggest of all?
WE WOULD LIKE TO WISH ALL OUR READERS A VERY HAPPY NEW YEAR, AND HOPE YOU WILL FOLLOW US ON OUR TRAVELS IN 2001.
Miles travelled this month: 827
Accumulative miles: 39,447
Interesting Hyperlinks:
Padre Island National Seashore
Aransas National Wildlife Refuge
