Monday, January 7, 2008

Padre Island Visit on Saturday

Out on Padre Island it is mostly commercialized. Big high rise hotels are on the beach without any way to even see the water from the roads. It is exclusive unless you are staying at one of the hotels. There are many beach wear shops and tourist related businesses.
On the way out of the tourist town to the north it becomes a road thru the sand dunes.

After about 10 miles we reached the end of the road. There were many cars parked here using the beach which is on both sides of the road. The ocean was on the right and the bay to the left.
The sand blows just like it was snow. They bale up some of the vegetation from the area and place the bales as a sand block to keep the roads clear. The ocean is beyond in the distance.
We tried to drive out to the beach but found the sand to be mostly too fluffy and deep to drive in. We came upon a jeep cj that was in 4 wheel drive and had dug himself in down to his axles. Another Dodge pickup with big sand dune tires was hooked to him with a tow strap. They were both spinning at high throttle. Finally they both lurched backward all at once toward more solid sand.

That was enough for me, so I headed back to the pavement. It was 80 degrees in the valley, but out on the island, next to the sea, it is still winter here. It was about 68 with the wind blowing in from the sea.

Speaking of wind, today there is still a gale wind blowing from the South. But it is, very warm. We slept with the windows cracked and the roof vents open. Our small fan ran all night to keep the air from being so stale. It is humid this far South.

The air conditioner is running as I write this.

5:00 PM How much wind does it take to bend the flag pole and palm trees like this?

The ladies at the laundromat said that strong wind is quite normal, in the winter, down here. Bummer!

2 comments:

  1. We get the same winds here in SA. There is nothing to stop them as they come up from the Gulf over the flat brush country of south Texas. Let them blow you up here to visit!

    Cousin Jay

    ReplyDelete
  2. Cousin Jay,
    We'll be up your way on the way home. The wind will blow us North without a problem. We like SA a bunch!

    ReplyDelete

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