Malaquite Beach at High Tide

Malaquite Beach last time I was there

Same place this time but high tide

Me in my happy place

very little place to drive when the tide comes in

Tents go up in the bluffs to stay out of water

High tide at 5:36 pm this was around 2 p.m.

This was my first time at the beach close to high tide. This was on Sunday.   By 5pm  I went down to the other beach in the Padre town and you couldn't get on at all...no beach left.  I left the beach with the car at three and parked at the welcome centre and then walked back down so that I didn't get stuck with the car in water.  There were some large campers parking as close to the bluffs as they could get but I think that they would be in water before it was done.  One camper had 3 pushouts on one side and 2 on the other.  6 jacks set out to balance it.  When the sand under the jacks gets wet it must have tipped I am sure.  Pretty expensive rig to risk there just to have free camping.  Nice experience on low tide but not too sure about high tide.  I like the tent's idea to go up on the bluffs but the trailers can't do that.

Thanksgiving Pot Luck

We had a pot luck dinner today for Thanksgiving.  It was just the IT department so just around 100 people.  Tons of food!!!  Most people take all next week off so we had it this week.  The top person in the Co was pouring our drinks for us and he remembers me... he asked if I was more comfortable down here now that it is a little cooler.  With a few thousand employees... I guess I am the only Canadian that they had to import so he remembers but still a nice skill to have.  There are other Canadians here but are all now Americans...
We have next Thurs and Fri off and I have the Monday after off in lieu of having to work last weekend for a go live.  I will get more time later but that day will be to take Jim to the Soc Sec office etc and show him around.  He needs a number to be on my benefit plan at work.  They do not do anything here without a soc sec number.  I fly home Wed night.  Thurs we have to go to the bank to straighten out a mess up that Payroll at Hydro did on my pension so I have to change some of my RRSP money into Jim's name.  We will then go see Jim's folks and Mom and pack the truck and start the drive... only 30 hour drive so not sure if we are leaving Fri or Sat... depends on when we are ready.  Having Monday off relieves the rush to get here.  We are driving straight through since our stuff will just be tarped down.  Lets hope we do not have a snow storm to drive through.
It is getting warmer down here.  We had a cold snap so it was no big deal that I had to work last weekend.  It has been down to 30 to 32 in the mornings.  Back to the 70's this weekend so back to the beach on Sunday.  A week from today I will be home.

North Padre Island

Went back to North Padre Island on Sunday this weekend... just can't stay away.  This time I remembered to take a picture of the Beware of Snakes sign at the rest area that I stop at half way down there.  There wasn't a cloud in the sky the whole time I was there.  Tried out La Playa Restaurant that was recommended to me... AWESOME mexican food.  Has seafood too but I do not like seafood.  Walked the opposite way this time up to where they surf.  There were only 4 surfers there and really not enough waves for them... a lot of them on the beach didn't even go out in the water.  Went up on the sea wall to check it out.  They say you can roller blade up there but I wouldn't want to try it... could bike it but you can bike on the sand...  Neat container which is filled with bags for you to collect garbage as you walk the beach which is a cool idea.  Got some seashells to start a new collection down here.  Hope everyone else had a great weekend.

Just makes you want to jump out to see if you can see a snake... NOT

My hair was all dried out so I cut it to start over

I am not happy here at all ; )

No Clouds or wind but still waves

These birds are cool.  Red and black.  They have long beaks that dig deep in the sand and pull out something that they eat.  One of them ate a little of a dead fish on the beach and then went back to digging in the sand for whatever.

I can sit or walk and stare at this all day

This is from the Sea Wall looking down.  That white truck in the middle is the ice cream truck... has the little tune going to attract all the little kids so the parents have to buy them ice cream when he drives by.

This is the box that contains the garbage bags that you can use to collect garbage when you walk the beach

This is the sea wall  There is about a 10 foot drop from the cement wall down to the sand.  There are steps and ramps to get up and down every few hundred feet or so.

Went out to the Alamo Quarry mall for dinner at 29 with friends from work

... it is a wine meal kinda place... learned about flights that at this place are called road trips.  You order a road trip and you get three kind of wines and they give you a write up on each of them... one glass would be 6 ounces so a road trip is 3 glassed with 2 ounces each so it it like ordering one glass of wine but you get to taste three.  I used to drink wine but not so much any more but a neat concept.  Had the pork ribs which were awesome.  Before we went into the restaurant, the parking lot was FULL of birds .... really weird  These pictures just show some of them.... very bizarre.  Maybe all the cdn birds have reached here all at once so they are all hanging out at the mall.

One more weekend over... No kids came trick or treating Friday night.  Saturday I went to Padre Island again.  This time I went further south to Malaquite Beach which is in the National Park in the area of the National Seashore.  I paid 20 to get into the Park which gave me an annual pass.  I could pay $10 for one day or $20 for a year from the day that I entered. They had a seniors rate but you have to first be a US citizen and then 62 years old so I paid the 20.  There is no parking on Malaquite beach.  1 mile past the beach you can park but they recommend 4 wheel drives.  I only went a little bit in on it.  First though I went to the welcome center right at Malaquite area.  Took lots of pictures towards the Gulf and then the other way to show how barren the land is there.  Lots of dunes etc.  They have lots of nature lessons going on at the center even bird watching hikes etc.  The campground is 1 mile the opposite way on the beach... paved area for you to park on.  For $8 a night you get washrooms and cold showers.  You can camp on the beach for free.  There are out houses on the entrance to where you can drive on the beach.  At the welcome center there are free showers and change rooms etc when it is open.
Curled again on Sunday.  Much more keen today.  They said the ice was faster because it was colder outside.  One lady said we were curling with Porcelain stones instead of granite.  I think that was my first time with that too  - at least I think all the ones that I curled with in Canada were granite.  They are supposed to run the same according to the internet but these definitely were faster today.  The ice was still 100% negative ice both directions but after awhile you start to think backwards.  When the rock falls sweeping has the opposite affect in that it made it fall more instead of trying to keep it straight... just have to think opposite to what you are used to.  Instead of hockey there was a birthday party on the ice before us.  Three times when the music played a particular song the girls started to dance... yes in texas they line dance on skates....  I really do have to learn those line dances... they even did it at our quarterly meeting at work waiting for the meeting to start....
Heres the pics of the beach... Very few people at Malaquite... lots of seaweed too.

lots of seaweed but very few people

Campground just off the beach

Campground looking the other direction

Blue heron on the bluff. ck out the vines everywhere

Hard to see but zoom in - a dead tree branches in the water with lots of Pelicans using it to roost

Camping on the beach has its challenges when it is so windy.  They have lots of stuff in the tent so it didn't blow away but it definitely collapsed.  They parked the tent right on the roadway where it was packed so all the cars driving along had to detour around them to get by and hope to not get stuck in the loose sand around them

View of the gulf from the welcome center

View out the back of the welcome center

View the other direction from the center

Even big trailers go on the beach.  Saw a big truck pulling a huge trailer. Hope he doesn't get stuck.  He drove way down the beach.

Back to North beach.  This is back in the beach I went to the first time.   I stopped there on my way back.  just wanted to see if it had as much seaweed as the other one.  This one has a lot more people and easier to drive on.  All three beaches have their pluses and minuses but they all have the Gulf and you can't beat that.  I could sit and listen to the water for hours on end.