Thanksgiving at Goose Island

Everyone knows that Memorial Day, 4^th of July, and Labor Day are big weekends for camping. What we didn’t know was that Thanksgiving is a big weekend for camping in the South. According to a ranger, one of Big Bend’s biggest weekends is Thanksgiving. In our case, we’re at Goose Island in Texas (north of Corpus Christi). The campground is full and we were lucky to get one of the last sites available. BTW, we rode a ferry to get here from Padre Island. It’s neat to drive the RV and car right on the ferry.

We were unlucky, though, in that John came down with a bad cold and sore throat. So, we added a couple of days to our stay so he could sleep and recover. John was feeling bad enough that he wasn’t hungry on Thanksgiving, so we just moved our holiday to Friday. While others were shopping at the mall, we were celebrating Thanksgiving. We ate inside since it was a bit cool and windy that day (which doesn’t help if you are feeling sick). Still, it was a good traditional holiday meal.

I found the time relaxing. There were several hikes for me to take in the mornings. The weather was a bit windy, but nice in the 60’s and 70’s. I could read, do some work, do some volunteer work (TMS), and watch old movies. Not bad!

One strange thing was watching all the fishermen take off in their boats every day. For some reason, most of them wore camouflage (not pictured). Why would fish care if they were wearing camouflage in a boat?

In this picture, I’m picturing Nigel and his friends from “Finding Nemo” watching for fish on the dock.

Saturday, John was feeling well enough for a short drive. This is “The Big Tree”. It’s interesting that it’s the biggest live oak tree in Texas, over 35’ in circumference, and over 1000 years old. But I just love seeing all us tourists taking pictures of the tree and of family members in front of the tree. Paris may have the Eiffel Tower, but Rockport has “The Big Tree”!

Padre Island

Our first night at Padre Island was ‘interesting’. The rangers questioned whether we should camp here at all. They were considering closing the campground since there was a forecast of 70 mph winds, hail, and possible tornedoes. We camped anyhow and it turned out OK. Waves were high. It rained hard and the thunderstorm lasted awhile, but nothing really terrible.

The next few days varied with sun, clouds, wind, and calm.

 We saw lots of birds like herons. Herons aren’t shy. They always seem to pose for pictures.

Brown pelicans.

Long-billed curlew

I expected to see birds on the beach, but not deer. This one was between the beach and the first dunes. We saw quite a few deer prints in the sand.

  

We saw a lot of debris on the beach from the storm or just normal beach trash. We saw lots of plastic bottles, gloves, syringes, dead jellyfish, and even this big pole and ladder.

Mornings are gorgeous.

Surprisingly, while the beach seemed to change every day with waves moving everything, we saw a branched tree in the water that was here 3 years ago when we visited last. Island Life

Seminole Canyon and Cell Phone Service

It’s been interesting. We had no cell phone service in Davis Mountains unless we drove up a mountain a mile. Big Bend had a small area with cell phone service that was 20 miles from the campground. Seminole Canyon just doesn’t have cell phone service. It makes it interesting when you need to make a call but otherwise it was relaxing.

I’m not sure how often it’s foggy here in Seminole Canyon, but both mornings were incredibly foggy. Later in the morning we could see the birds near the RV, but it was still foggy.

What makes this park interesting is the rock art. The art was drawn around 4,000 years ago. It was much larger and more complicated that anything we’ve seen before. Here are some samples including “Mothman”, a giant caterpillar, and a ghost (OK, that’s my interpretation).

 

Law West of the Pecos

We left Big Bend and are heading east. A neat stop was Langtry Texas where there is a free museum on Judge Roy Bean. His interpretation of the law was so unique that he became a legend during his life. Since the town didn’t have a jail, he would fine the perpetrator and then keep the money.  Court was on the porch of his bar and he might stop proceedings to serve his customers.

We loved the cactus garden at the same stop. We’re still learning the plants in the desert. This was a different type of cactus. I wouldn’t have thought these were cactus in the stones.

Big Bend National Park – More hikes and drives

There are all types of hikes available in this park. Some are short ½ mile paved trails while others are miles long and require camping on the way. While Lost Mine was our favorite, we both liked Santa Elena Canyon Trail. This trail is along the Rio Grande for a while and takes you back into a canyon in this long humongous mountainous wall 1,500’ above the Rio Grande.

There were nature trails and trails to hidden canyons.

 

Some trails took you to old ranches which serve as an oasis for plant and animal life.

Finally, the Window View Trail takes you to this view.

Big Bend National Park – The Border

The border with Mexico seems more fluid here, literally. At the hot springs, a couple of guys crossed the border by just walking across the river and then back. We saw several boats along the river edge so that people could cross. This guy seems to regularly cross the river on horseback to check on his sales.

Along several of the hikes (in the U.S.) you can see a small collection of trinkets and walking sticks for sale along with a cup to put your money. I guess they are put out by Mexicans like the guy on the horse every morning and brought back in the evening.

  

On one hike we heard the “Singing Mexican”. He stands on the Mexican side of Boquillas Canyon and sings so his music reverberates in the canyon singing America versions of Mexican traditional songs like “La Cucaracha”. He leaves a bowl on the U.S. side for donations. Seems like a lot of work to cross the river twice plus sit in the sun all day waiting for hikers to come along and then sing.

We realized that Rio Grande isn’t really so big. Nothing seemed dangerous on these border crossings. There are border checks as you leave the park so it’s not like someone drives a bus of illegal aliens from the park every day. It seems to work.

Big Bend National Park – Creatures

We didn’t see the bears or mountain lions that are in the park. We saw lots of birds that we can’t identify (though a fellow camper told us one was a vermillion flycatcher). We did see a javalina but no picture.

There were lots of road runners.

This beetle has adapted to hot deserts by elevating his body above the ground. John thought he looked like the VW bug we saw earlier 

I was surprised by how many tarantulas there were. John kept seeing them on the road and stopped to let me take this picture. Remember the size of the center lines on a road as you look at this picture.

Big Bend National Park – Lost Mine

John’s favorite hike is the Lost Mine Trail. There’s a legend about a mine that involves silver, slave labor, an uprising, the mine closure, and spirits of the dead. But the spectacular scenery is the reason to hike this trail.

Maybe this is what is left of the lost mine.

I’m scared of heights, but John enjoyed going to the edge to get some of these shots. Just an amazing hike!