Camping on the Beach

The rain ended sometime during the night.  I had put the awning partly down in a futile effort to protect the bikes, however the wind started picking up and at 3am I was awaked by a ferocious flapping noise. The awning was flopping up and down furiously in the high wind. I managed to roll it up and went back to bed.  At 4:30am I was awakened again by a low-pitched howling noise which rose and fell.  It took me a bit to figure out that the wind, even stronger now, was causing one of the bike rack straps to vibrate.  Back outside to tie that strap down with a bungee cord then back to bed.  Sleep didn’t come easy after that.

So now the rain is replaced by wind.  At least there was sunshine today.

We took a bike ride this morning, riding six miles south to Indianola, which is mainly a small fishing marina at the end of Ocean Drive.  With the wind at our backs it took zero effort to pedal that distance.  On the way there were several historical markers, detailing the local history.  One that I thought was interesting was the importation of 75 camels in the 1850’s for use as pack animals in the desert southwest.  One of their tasks in 1857, along with traditional livestock, was to survey the great wagon road between Arizona and California, now known as Route 66.

So if you ever drive Route 66, you can thank a camel for its contribution.

The ride back to the RV was directly against the wind and we greatly appreciated electric bikes, without which we would have been walking.

We left our beach parking spot and drove south to the Aransas National Wildlife Refuge.  This refuge is known for its small population of Whooping Cranes.  Although about 800 birds are known to exist worldwide, the population was down to about 15 birds in 1941, all located at this refuge.  So it was a real treat to actually see a couple cranes in the distance.

On our hike we also saw other birds, mostly in the distance and we watched this guy, a reddish egret, do his dance for a while.

We left the RV at the visitor center and took the bikes to the trailhead.  Turns out this was a good choice as there was no good parking for an RV in this refuge.

Aransas is a beautiful place, well worth the visit.  And we were blessed with a beautiful day to visit the refuge.  If you are into birds, it is really a good place to visit.  We talked to a couple avid birders bristling with big cameras and spotting scopes who were telling us all about the whooping cranes.

We also managed to see a javelina (looks like a small pig) grazing right along the main road.  I had stopped about 10 yards away and was getting out my camera when a car passed us and stopped right next to it and scared it away.  The car had arms and cell phone cameras poking out all the windows but I don’t think they got a good picture.  And I didn’t get a picture at all.

We took our bikes down the auto loop road, a 9-mile one-way road that loops through the park.  Because of the high vegetation on both sides of the road, we couldn’t see very far, but it was a very pleasant bike ride as there was only one other car on the road.  We had the whole place to ourselves.

Leaving the Aransas refuge we had quite a bit we wanted to do, but not enough daylight to do it.  We wanted to spend some time in Rockport, but that may have to wait for next time.  We decided to make for Port A Beach, right next to the town of Port Aransas.  This involved taking the causeway and the ferry from Aransas Pass.  The ferries run quite often, so it didn’t take long at all and we managed to park the RV on the Port A beach just as it was getting dark.  We had to stop on the way and purchase a beach pass for $12, and that pass is good for all of 2024, so we should be set if we want to come back here this year.

So now we’re on another beach with the sound of the surf directly behind us.  Hopefully this will be a better night of sleep than last night.