Brownsville to Houston
This south western coastal area reminds me of the flatness of the Free State and the Western Transvaal with, ploughed fields ready for the planting season, with cattle ranches, and then the well known Texas scenery of scattered oil pumps and tanks.
Corpus Christi means “Body of Christ” and it is one of those cities which always had a certain fascination for me. Why? I don’t know, maybe because it is a name one often hears amongst the Christian churches and faith. So I was looking forward to this visit.
The Padre Island which runs from Brownsville to Corpus Christi for 113 miles forms a barrier between the Gulf of Mexico and the mainland and the lee side of this barrier island opens into placid lagoons and shallow bays in between. These barrier islands are an interesting natural phenomenon and one finds then on +- 13% of the world’s coastlines. This narrow sand dune islands are formed when the waves are not too high, the coast line is relatively flat with a tide that is fairly stable, and then there should be sufficient sediment flowing into the sea. The Texas coast line is protected for most of the way by such barrier islands, creating excellent birding, boating and fishing opportunities. When we arrived the weather was very nice and hot and we found a RV park on the western side of town which is the newer development, also the major business corridor and it was also close to the Gulf of Mexico. The park was on the expensive side so we were looking for an alternative, so in late afternoon we drove over the causeway to the barrier island.
North Padre Island Bridge and town.
Sand castle at the visitor center.
We turned left towards Mustang Island State Park on the way to Port Aransas.
This was a 60 mile round trip and it was getting late. At Port Aransas there is a narrow shipping route to the Corpus Christi ports and for some reason a proper bridge was never build over this narrow channel. The only way to cross from the island to the mainland is by ferry, and it is free.
It was already late when we arrived back into Corpus Christi but the Technicolor Harbor Bridge showed its splendor as it continuously changes colors through out the year.
The next morning we moved to the Padre Island National Seashore, which is to the right of the causeway over the La Guna Madre. It is the longest undeveloped stretch of barrier island in the world. On our arrival the weather changed for the worst literally within an hour. There we were on the Padre Island in the rain and cold, right on the beach with a wind spraying surf all over us. Miserable indeed so we decided to make the best of it and just cuddle up and rest for the next 2 days.
For New Years Eve we moved to Portland on the other side of the Corpus Christi / Neuces bay. The Park offered a karioke in the recreation hall and midnight fire works on the beach. We decided the bed was warmer. On New year the weather cleared a little so we explored Corpus Christi which was deserted due to the holiday but it suited us fine. Besides the marina area, the old town is not very attractive with lots of construction work everywhere. I was not too impressed with the city and unless you are a serious yachting, boating, sailing, fishing enthusiast or birder there is not much to offer. There is an aircraft carrier museum and an aquarium which we also have seen before.
The downtown area is home to skyscrapers and offices, various shops, as seen from the very popular center of marinas.
Next stop was the towns of Rockport and Fulton and we stayed at the Bay view RV Resort.
Rockport is home to one of the 57 “Science on a Sphere” facilities in the world. Remarkably it is for free and the shows are very impressive and informative. Every day a different show covers themes like solar system, and mother earth which clearly show how minute we are in the great creation and the effects humans have on this planet.
Next door is a small but also free Aquarium which is funded by donations and volunteers.
Aransas National Wildlife refuse with its tidal marshes is where over 400 species of migratory birds settle for the winter. The endangered Whooping crane visits for the winter
White Tail Deer and Oak trees shaped by strong coastal winds
I thought Indianola will be a nice place to stay over for one day, but arriving on the beach the place was deserted and the wife just refused to stay even when it was for free. It was a pity and I guess any ones dream beach camping if it is your thing.
Blessing was our next best choice so I turned away some 40 miles inland through the flat farmlands. This very small town’s name was previously “Thank God” but when the post office came to town the name was changed to Blessing. At the sports complex we found this little lake which is treated with chemicals to show this very artificial looking color.
By now we have traveled extensively along the western and southern borders of Texas and quite frankly we are still looking for the WOW factor in Texas. Texas one hears about so much back home, but besides the Bend National Park it is just a very ordinary place. The Padre Island / Barrier Island are interesting and unique but once you have seen it, it is the same all along the Gulf of Mexico. We did not venture into the Texas Hill county because we avoid the cold and snow so hopefully in spring Texas still has some surprises in store for us.
We need to stay in the southern part of Texas till we fly home in February so we have time to kill. On our way to Houston we decided to stay 2 days at Bay City. Bay City has no Bay or port and is not much of a tourist destination. When we hooked the CRV on the day of departure we went through the normal triple checks to ensure everything is properly connected. As our luck had it, the checks somehow failed to ensure the CRV is properly secured and the one arm of the tow hinge came loose as we hit the main road. Luckily I noticed the swaying CRV as we took a corner and stopped just to find the tow hinge is bend and it needs to be straightened. 2 days became 3 days in Bay City to have it repaired. Luckily the repair shop did the work for free indeed a nice gesture from the shop owner.
Campgrounds in Houston are very expensive so we were heading to Richmond some 38 miles west of Houston. Traveling into Houston was easy and we went there without any pre conceived ideas as we simply did not know what to expect. We soon learned that Houston is a deep water inland port city, also called a Global City, and the most populous in the USA. It is the largest city in the USA with a GDP bigger than SA’s and only 26 countries in the world have larger GDP’s. It is only 50 ft above sea level build on sand, miles deep, and marshes and swamps and although it is not in the hurricane belt, flooding and hurricanes do happen. In 2006 2.5 million people had to evacuate this city which was the largest urban evacuation in the history of the USA. It is also the "most air-conditioned” place on earth. The odd thing about the down town area of the city was that it was not so busy, almost as if deserted with very little traffics and virtually no shops on the streets. The corporate skyscrapers added to an atmosphere that appears to be sterile and clinical. When we traveled the Rockies we wondered where all the erosion ended up and over milinia the thick sand in Houston comes from the Rockies. It covered very rich organic material and the weight of the sand is the reason for the very rich oil fields in this area. We learned about underground tunnels which sounded like something out of WWII. These tunnels are passages that connects the buildings with each other with some scattered shops and restaurants in these tunnels. At peak hour we got the traffic shock of our lives. Peak hour traffic from all the Houston’s business areas chocked the extensive highways with 6 bridge / story high interchanges to a 2.5 hour drive back to camp.
Our impression is to stay clear of Houston and so we moved towards Galveston.
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