Since we were so close (220 miles) to Corpus Christi from Galveston, we decided to go there for a few days and take a looky look. It has been years since we were there and maybe that might be a place we would consider and want to retire to someday.
We stayed in Rockport but that looked rundown and old. We took the ferry to Aransas Pass. We liked that town but it looks to pricey for us. Corpus had really grown. Do we want that big of a city (over 277,000)? We need to research prices and such before we really make up our mind.
While we were in CC we drove to the Padre Island (not South Padre) National Seashore Park. At the entrance they had a big sign with fees posted. We read them and it said Lifetime Pass for Seniors-$10.00. We turned around and went to the free beach nearby and walked around. We were going to go home and research the fee. How old do you have to be to be a Senior? After going downtown CC and eating at Water St. Seafood Co., we headed back to the 5th wheel to research the pass. Well, it does help to be old sometimes!!!!!!!! For $10 if you are 62 or older you can get a LIFETIME pass into any national park, national forest and national seashores.. And ½ price off any camping fees and things like that. Well, guess who is old enough to buy a Sr. Pass?, Tinka. There was not a long line at the entrance of the park. In fact, no one was in line when we were there. So to avoid the lines at another National Park we went back to the entrance and Tinka purchased a pass. And now she can take 3 people in with her for free (Rick). That is such a bargain. There are a lot of National Parks that have camping sites so we know we will use it a lot traveling around. Most of the National parks are not properly updated to handle the newer, larger RV’s.
(We opted for a few more amenities)
After entering the park, we took our chairs and cooler, sat and enjoyed the beach for the day. We kept seeing 1 or 2 people in golf type vehicles riding up and down the beach about every 30 minutes. They were obviously workers but what kind of work were they doing? All we noticed is that they were just riding up and down the beach. Finally, a local explained they were the Turtle Patrol. They were looking for turtle or turtle tracks coming from the sea. The turtles come up on the beach to lie their eggs. The Turtle Patrol is then supposed to gather the eggs and take them to an incubator somewhere to hatch and then put the baby turtles back in the ocean. More information about the turtles is available at
After dinner and showers every night, the girls would pick out a movie to watch. It was fun for them to lie on the hide-a-bed and watch DVD movies. The TV would be set to turn off and then it was sleepytime.
Thursday we drove by the Carnival Cruise Line and saw the Ecstasy in port. Then we headed to the free ferry. We drove our truck on and rode the ferry to Bolivar Peninsula. Papa with a casting net.
