Day 10

This morning we went to breakfast at the local IHOP with Stephanie and Jillian. Jilli was a little under the weather with a cold or allergy’s, but she is such a happy little thing it didn’t seem to bother her. She ordered a big smiley face pancake, but when it got o the table, decided it wasn’t what she wanted after all. Instead she had French fries. Later, we stopped by Wal Mart to say hello to Kelly. They are right in the middle of inventory and had just had a power failure, so she was scrambling, but we had a brief visit. Always good to see her. She looks good and Texas seems to agree with her.

When we said goodbye, Jill was surprised and started to cry. My visits are usually longer and I’m afraid such a short stay upset her. She is such a delight to her old grandpa, I hope she is feeling better now.

From Copperas Cove, we drove straight to Corpus Christi with one stop for lunch at a bar-b-que place. Texas is not noted for fine dining and this place proved why. Not bad food, just mediocre so I guess we were lucky. I’ve always been a fan of mystery meat and was pleased with the unrecognizable stuff on the bar-b-que sandwich. It had sort of a meaty texture and appeared to be spread able. No identifiable meat flavor, but what the hell, better living through chemistry.

A brief word of apology to the families of the insects we slaughtered on our drive through Texas. They grow ‘em big and juicy down here and the van cuts quite a swath. From the front, it appears to have taken on a different color, a kind of brownish yellow with occasional streaks of red and orange. Very attractive. I will leave out a description of the texture out of respect for your delicate sensibilities. Dear reader.

Tonight we camped on Padre Island, near Corpus Christi Texas. Padre Island is a barrier island (the longest in the world. We camped at the National Seashore on the Gulf of Mexico side. Nice campground, but cold showers. Weather is warm with a steady breeze blowing in off the Gulf. No fire ring, so we just sat up and talked for a while, played some cards and toddled off to bed. Spent a restful night.

The National Seashore is on and undeveloped part of the Island. It is pretty large and not particularly crowded. Home to many different species of birds. There have been almost 400 different species spotted this year. The drought has dried up most of the wetlands. Tomorrow we head for Galveston.