On the Beach!

Prior to leaving San Antonio, we traveled by car up to Fredericksburg in the hill country north of San Antonio. Fredericksburg is a very "artsy" town and is also home to the National Museum of the Pacific War. Lou visited the shops and I visited the museum. They have a PT boat on display in a "mission prep" environment complete with the full armament of torpedos, depth charges and guns. They also have a TBM Torpedo Bomber on display plus a "Fat Boy" atomic bomb that was the backup for the Nagasaki A-Bomb. Supposedly, it does not have the explosives or plutonium installed:) The museum also includes a Japanese Garden of Peace, Veterans Walk of Honor and memorial walls. Very moving exhibits.

Fredericksburg is near the Enchanted Rock Natural area. The Enchanted Rock is a REALLY LARGE pink rock some 47 acres in size . It is a very pretty area but we were not prepared to take the hike up to the top of the rock on a warm day. We just did not have enough time for the trek.

We have now departed San Antonio with all the Texas Hospitality so generously afforded us and headed South to the Corpus Christi area. We spent the first foggy night here on the beach at Port Aransas. Yes! We actually took the RV on the beach to get to the campsite:) Very pleasant listening to the surf until the front came through in the early AM hours with high, gusty winds. We still slept very well. While there, we visited the Univ of Texas Marine Institute and saw all the displays and aquariums they had. Very impressive and informative. We took a drive down North Padre Island past the Mustang Island State Park. We had expected the State Park to be a little larger but it was a fairly compact camping area for RV's. Plus, there is a $4/day/person entry fee that would be added to the camping fee. Texas is the only place we know of that charges a daily entry fee to campers. It is usually included in the site fees.

We are now at our campsite in Rockport and the weather is beautiful. Very cool the last 2 mornings (around 40) but is near 70 today and sunny. I tried my hand at fishing in the 2 lakes here at the park but with no luck so far. Weather permitting, we will try to stay on the beach again before we head out to the Rio Grande Valley. If what we have heard from so many RV'rs, Mission is the place to go for many of the "Winter Texans". The consesus so far is that the economy has kept many of the regulars home this year. This park is usually full but still has a fair number of spaces available. Hopefully that bodes well for us in finding a comfortable and affordable site in the Mission area.

Very slow internet connection so no pictures on this entry. We hope that everyone had a safe New Years.