Ya’ll … everyone talks like this. It’s the authentic southern accent we all know and love. And it’s real! So real that Ann is now speaking like a Texan. She’s taking on the accent! Not only that, she’s excited by bayous and gaters, and I swear she was even openly musing about getting a pink-handled gun. Calling all Canadians … she may need a deprogramming session when we get back up north 😉
Anywhoo… We left Cotulla and drove the rest of the way down to Corpus Christi and Padre Island. We finally said goodbye to the deserts that 
have been our home for the past months, and headed to the Gulf. As a parting gift I saw one final saguaro, and we also caught sight of signs for some local cultural activities.
Our route took us through parts of Corpus, and unfortunately this meant we had to run on the Interstates … at 80 MPH!! But we made it, and pulled up to our new home at Malaquite Beach on Padre Island. This is the furthest south we’ve yet been, and likely the furthest we’ll go on this journey. All roads point north from here.
Malaquite campground is very popular and busy, and like most of the sites we’ve been, is geared towards motorhomes and RVs. Tenters are definitely the odd-ball “campers.” Luckily though, they reserve specific sites for us second-class campers, so despite the campground being perpetually busy and usually full, we were able to find a site without any problems.
At 70 miles long, Padre Island National Seashore beach is apparently the longest stretch of undeveloped barrier island in the world. There are a couple of organized campgrounds, but you can also set up anywhere on the beach for free. Unfortunately we found the sand too soft for our small bikes, so we pitched our tent 
in at the main organized site and settled into life on the wet and windy coast.
Part of the wonder of this journey has been experiencing the various weathers and climates across the continent. These past few weeks we’ve gone from dry desert to humid, windy and HOT here on the Gulf coast. In Big Bend Park the temperatures were warm and dry during the day, but often around freezing overnight. Most nights here on the Gulf stayed in the mid-teens, with daytime temperatures reaching 30ºC sometimes!
And did I mention wind …? It was windy almost all the time. We often feared for our little tent, which is not really designed for high winds. One day it was so windy (blowin’ a gale!) that Ann had to cook under our table just so our little stove would stay lit. And being on a dune, we soon learned to live with sand getting everywhere (“Be one with the sand”). The floor was sandy, my sheet and sleeping bag were sandy, my clothes in my case were sandy. Heck, one morning I had to dump the sand out of my shoes.
NOTE: I was gallant of course, and took the windy/sandy side. My side was wayyyy worse than Ann's ;-)
Padre Island is an environmental treasure along the coast. It’s not only the longest undeveloped stretch of beach on the Gulf, but it is also home to an incredible amount of bird, dune, and sea life. The squadrons of brown pelicans were often overhead, along with the laughing gulls, herons, long-billed curlew, various terns and the ever-present grackle. It’s a birders’ Mecca; something that Dan, a fellow camper from Ontario, explained to us.
Along with the birds we also caught sight of many small dune lizards 
, as well as the skittish ghost crab 
. The dunes are also home to various snakes, including rattle snakes. Ann caught sight of one, but doesn’t think it was 
a rattler. Of course we learned later that it is unwise to hang out in the dunes, mainly due to the rattlers. Oops 😉
Unfortunately for Padre Island, it also seems to be the foci of many Gulf currents. This, along with the massive human developments all around, including offshore oil rigs 
, means the beach is often caked in human garbage 
. We went for a short walk one day and Ann filled a garbage bag in no time. 
. Despite this, it was a stunningly beautiful place to spend close to two weeks at.
Of course, the other great thing about travelling is all the wonderful people we are meeting. During our 11 day stay at Padre Island we got to know some great folks, including another Mike who was down from Phoenix camping in his fancy teepee tent. He shared his company and his beer with us, and we taught him that it’s not a woollen hat, it’s a toque! He also owns a motorcycle, and hearing about our crazy journey seemed to inspire him to try a trip on his own two-wheeler.
There was also a fellow Ontarian named Kathy who took pity on us, er…, I mean invited us for a lovely warm breakfast over at her trailer. And then there was our RV neighbours: Joe and Jody and their wonderful Golden Retriever Bella, who not only let us use their 
generator to charge our storage battery, but became fast-friends of the lasting kind.
Like us, they were first-timers at Padre Island, and also like us, they were embraced by the many campers who spend months at a time here, some returning year after year. The whole group took pity on us, er… I mean began inviting us to the various group events, and even started to give us food (fresh fish, Texas grapefruit and a full fish-fry). What great people!
Jody and Joe invited us over to their palatial wheeled home for two delicious dinners, which also included copious amounts of libations. On our final day at Padre they invited us to go with them on a drive down the beach in their four-wheeler. We readily agreed, and spent the whole afternoon driving and exploring the semi-wild beach some 20 miles south of the campground.
Gonna miss you guys!
BTW, we’ve had great luck so far with our bikes and camping equipment, some of which is going on two decades old. Ann’s had a few minor issues with her bike, and the stove is suffering from first dry air, and now salty moist air 
. But sadly one piece of equipment has given up the ghost: Ann’s sleeping pad. Her much-used therm-a-rest started to delaminate a few weeks ago, 
and is rapidly turning itself into a beach ball. We’re going to have to get her a new one, probably at an REI store (similar to our MEC).
Our time at Padre finally came to an end with the looming threat of the plague called Spring Breakers. So we packed up and headed off to spend a few nights in a cheap motel. Laundry and a warm shower was on the agenda, so we found a place in Port Lavaca, which is NE of Padre. It was a two hour drive along the shore, which included a short ferry ride, all the way to our three day Motel 6 home.
The motel is right next to a great bar/restaurant that serves local seafood and good beer. We’ve been indulging ourselves with fresh oysters, good IPA, and a warm, dry bed.
One thing that has been on my “hope to see” list is alligator. We’d decided to head for a state park near Houston just to see these critters. But there is a bayou right next to our motel in back of the restaurant. We were walking there yesterday and Ann kinda sputters and spittles, and points down to the water. OUR FIRST GATER!
Tomorrow we plan to head towards Brazos Bend State Park so we can see more alligators, and also get back into our tent. State parks are expensive here in Texas, but are still cheaper than most motels. More than that though, I really miss not sleeping outdoors. We’ve also got a big storm coming our way, with heavy rains and big winds predicted. We’ll likely hunker down at the Park till Thursday or Friday.
All roads now lead north, but we’ll be watching the weather to make sure we avoid any of the white stuff. We’re planning to take the Natchez Trace, which is a historic route through Mississippi all the way to Nashville Tennessee. But that is days away. In the meantime, there’s still more Texan IPA to explore, or as they call it here: TPA.