Friday, February 19, 2010
We were just ready to go out for a walk when a gentlemen from the park rode by on his bike. As is normal campground courtesy we waved at each other and in a couple of moments he was turning around and coming back. He introduced himself as Bill McMillan, from Sandy Hook, Manitoba. Bill and his wife came down to Corpus Christi in November and avoided the Christmas hub-bub. They will be returning in early April in time for his taxes. I noticed that he worked at Wescan. (Wescan is a large plumbing, heating, electrical and mechanical firm in Winnipeg.) I told him that Wescan had done all the electrical and network cabling in the Canadian Blood Services building. His boss had given him dispensation to be away from work for an extended period as long as he checked-in periodically. I told him that he must have a good boss. He agreed. I then asked him if he might know my cousin who has worked for Wescan for some time. It turns out that his boss is my cousin, Larry Lewis. Small world.
Janet and I , then went for a walk in the cemetery next door to our campground. A nice quiet place to walk. After a quick lunch we were off to Mustang Island State Park and South Padre Island. 
We drove south along Oceanside Drive in Corpus Christi. As it’s name suggests the drive follows the shoreline of the ocean southward. We had turned off the GPS as we figured that the drive would just lead us right around the city to South Padre Island. We passed by Texas A&M University at Corpus Christi and then crossed a long single lane causeway. We noticed that there was a great deal of traffic coming in the opposite direction and thought that this was kind of curious. As we travelled further along we could see a gated entranceway ahead of us. As we drove up a heavily armed guard approached our truck. We told him that we were trying to get to South Padre Island. He told us that this was Naval Air Station, Corpus Christi, a federal installation and there was no public access. He gave us directions and told us he would stop the opposing traffic to allow us to turn around. He walked out into the stream of speeding traffic, holding up his hand and he got an immediate response. We were around in a few minutes and back on track.
South Padre Island wasn’t quite what I had expected. There are numerous birding sites on the island, but there is also a surprisingly large amount of human habitation, condos and hotels along the length of the island. Mustang Island State Park has an un-serviced campground fairly close to the ocean. The area is covered with hummocky, sand dunes which are in turn covered by swamp grasses and cacti. The dunes are interrupted by marshy areas and large bays. As I walked out to the ocean I saw one abandoned building that appeared as if it would soon be totally swallowed up by the sand and the surf. The waves were crashing on the beach and in the distance I could see the off-shore oil platforms.
We continued northward up the island towards Port Aransas. This is a fairly large community that caters to snowbirds, birders and fishermen. There is a free ferry service that crosses a narrow channel that returned us back to the mainland. It was a short trip down the highway and back to our campsite in Corpus Christi.
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