NIRVANA! THE WHOOPING CRAINES ARE HERE!

Port Aransas, Texas - January 19th, 2013

On 1/17 we saw 61 degrees, bugs on the windshield and an hour and 5 minutes more of sunshine each day!  Not too bad!  We roared through Houston in one of the 7 lanes of traffic without a hitch.  As we neared Victoria, TX, my heart tugged and I called my parents because this is where I was born some 67 years ago, while my dad was in the service.  I haven't been back since that eventful day,  so now I can check this off my bucket list.  Since we've unhooked, we may head back to take a closer look around.  The small hospital, Detar Memorial where I was born, is now a huge medical center.  The air base where Dad was stationed is still active! 

As we headed south to the coast, I made  reservation only to find the place was a train wreck with narrow roads and scary people.  We promptly cancelled this reservation and headed to the Pioneer Beach RV Resort in Mustang Island, TX just outside Port Aransas.  We booked one week being somewhat skittish.  However, after watching a magnificant sunset on a beach that goes on forever in 70 degrees, we decided we had reached Nirvana.

The ocean, salty air, warm breezes and friendly people (lots from MN!) established we needed to extend our stay.  We dined on fresh shrimp and fish at Moby Dick's and loved the quaintness of this fishing village on the Gulf Coast.

We are on an island so have to take the ferry to get here.  We are in a birding reserve and have seen dolphins, whooping cranes, pelicans and are told alligators and fire ants aren't too far away.

On 1/19 we extended our stay for a month and headed to Corpus Christie for a fabulous walk along Ocean Drive.  Houses are painted purple, green, pink and yellow.  It feels like we are in FL.  We've donned our flip flops and sunscreen and spent an hour today driving the hard, sugar sand beach trying desperately to find a 'road' off the beach. It's the weekend, so camping on the beach is free and lots of fishermen are settled in for the weekend along with lots of families. 

We will go back to Corpus Christie to tour the USS Lexington aircraft carrier next week and visit the charming artsy shops along the ocean front.

We've settled in and the temps of -30 below at home are far behind our thoughts ``` all for $20 a day!  No wonder people become fjull timers!