We stayed in San Antonio until New Year's Eve and then moved to Corpus Christi. That got a bit complicated. When we had been incoming to San Antonio the ABS (brake) light had come on. While at the park there we could not get any repair initiated due to a combination of park rules and lack of enthusiasm by potential repairers likely due to it being just before Christmas and very cold. In any event, when we got Corpus we made contact with a place that said they could handle the repair but it was raining and we booked the repair for a few days later because it looked like we had better weather on the way and we were going to move out of the park on that day anyway. We ended up staying in the parking lot for the shop for two nights, while it continued to rain, and they ordered then later installed the part needed. We were extremely lucky in the cost department at a mere $252.00!!
So, we pushed on all of twenty or thirty minutes from the repair to a small RV park in Rockport/Fulton. It was quiet and secluded. This allowed us to catch up with ourselves and do a bit more of what we like to do... be tourists.
While in Corpus we had visited a botanical garden where we learned a little more about the sorts of things that can grow comfortably in the area. We also went to the Museum of Natural History and went aboard the Pinta replica and saw what remains of the Santa Maria replica. The Niña was in the water just a hop across the channel (near the aircraft carrier Lexington) but we did not end up going there. These ships were built in Spain from original materials and, like wooden boats everywhere, were in sad shape after little more than twenty years. They had ended up in the hands of the city of Corpus Christi after an original group had gone bankrupt trying to keep up with maintenance! This, according to our guide was a very contentious tax issue.
The rest of the museum was full of fascinating displays so we learned quite a few new facts from that visit.
We also had time to see the Texas State Aquarium. It would be difficult to compete with some aquariums we have been to but this one did a credible job of displaying lots of the sorts of fish and marine creatures from the Gulf of Mexico. What we noticed the most was that the displays tended to be very kid friendly.
When we got to Rockport/Fulton we took a day to ride on a boat out to the wildlife refuge to see if we could do some birding. The Skimmer is an aluminum boat with a not-too-deep draft... the perfect boat for this adventure. Here is where we got to see and photograph Whooping Cranes!! They are a lot larger than I had imagined and set up in pairs rather than flocks. One of the pairs had a story attached about when the young male had been bitten by a water moccasin in his youth and his head had swollen up so much that he could not make the migration back to Canada that year. He stayed inthe area for a season (or perhaps it was two) before making the trip. You can still see a scar on the back of his neck were the bite was. That sort of snake is a favorite food by the way!!
After all this touristing we pulled up stakes again and headed for Galveston, Texas. It was a rainy ride and as I write this we have our bow pointed out toward the Gulf just across the road from the park and can see and hear waves breaking. There is so much to do here that we are not sure if we will be one week or two!!
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