Beachcombing

Gayle and I had nothing planned for today beyond enjoying the beach of Padre Island.  We put on our shorts in hopes of warmer weather and went in search of brunch.  With our bellies full we headed back to the beach near our rental.

Of all the things we are doing on this vacation, Gayle did her most in-depth research about Padre Island.  I I already shared that she learned that she was allowed to take home a 5 gallon bucket of shells from the Padre Island National Seashore.  She knew that you are requested to pick up trash while you enjoy the beach here, bringing out twice as much trash as you take in.  She knew we couldn't drive directly down to South Padre Island from North Padre Island.  Gayle loves beachcombing.  It is one of her favorite things to do.

We started near our rental.  It was so cold that we wore coats with our shorts. But it was beautiful.

Then we headed south to Padre Island National Seashore.  We stopped to watch windsurfers.  There were only four of them and no waves.  We didn't stay very long.

Padre Island National Seashore is covered in wildflowers, even at this time of year.

We felt like we had the place to ourselves, well except for the deer...

...and the birds that were unafraid of our presence.

In this place, blue jellyfish drift close to the shore in search of plankton.  They are enough of a nuisance that a sign next to the beach explains what to do if you get stung.  Consider this your public service announcement.

We got out at every beach we found in North Padre Island.  The seashells here are the biggest ones I have ever found on a beach.  I guess the saying that everything is larger in Texas might be true.  I put a quarter next to the shells we found to give perspective of how large they are.  I guess filling up a 5 gallon bucket isn't that impossible here.

We rested before we headed out for a dinner of sushi.  We topped off our meal with strawberry key lime pie.  Back at our rental we watched theTexas Rangers win the World Series.  We could hear cheering from the other units around us.  Texans are going to be happy tomorrow.