Life's a Beach

Life around the old RV park has been mostly slow and easy the past few days. Since the hospital census continues to be low, Dar is working fewer hours than a month ago. More of our Winter Texan friends have left Sandollar to return to their northern homes, and others are preparing to do so in the next couple weeks. By the first part of April when we're planning to depart, the only ones left will be those from the most northerly parts of the USA, or Canada.

We did have one burst of adrenalin-pumping excitement a few nights ago when four of our neighbors, returning from a shopping trip to Corpus Christi, were rear-ended by a pickup truck as they (the neighbors) were turning off the highway and coming into the RV park. The impact created a sickening series of squeals, bangs, skids, and shattering glass, and sent the car spinning before it came to rest against a tree just a couple hundred feet from where I was sitting and reading just outside the bus-house door. I couldn't see anything from my vantage point, but immediately ran to the scene to help out. It turns out that no one was injured enough to be hauled away by the responding EMS... they were all very fortunate in that regard. It was quite a hoo-ha with police cars, flashing lights, gawkers, and more. The car, needless to say, was a mess and needed to be trucked away. All in all, a traumatic hour or so... not the kind of excitement we crave in our travels.

Yesterday Dar and I headed over to the beach on Mustang Island, trying to take advantage of some light dry northerly winds (off-shore breezes) and probably the last quiet day over there before the spring break crowds start showing up in earnest this weekend. It turned into one of the best days we've ever experienced at that beach, with ideal weather and no crowds or hassle at all. We traversed the beach on Mustang from North to South before crossing onto North Padre Island (the next barrier island to the south) and continuing all the way to the Padre Island National Seashore. Along the way we stopped a number of times... for morning coffee... for lunch... for afternoon high-tea. We read, listened to the surf, watched shore-birds flapping around for lunch, and caught more than a few rays of sun on some still-white (now reddish) body parts.

Among the larger tasks I've yet to complete before leaving in April is giving the bus-house a scrub-down... top to bottom, with soap and elbow-grease. Camping this close to the Gulf leaves a layer of salty residue on everything that really should be removed before things start to rust and finishes become dull.

A general plan for our 5 week trek back to Wisconsin is taking shape and it looks like we'll be swinging by South Carolina friends Tim and Chris for a visit before beelining it to Beaver Dam in early May.