Padre Island Texas

Dec. 18- Jan. 1 2018
The ocean, sand dunes and warm temps- or so we hoped—what a way to spend Christmas!

We are at Malaquite Campground, right in the dunes on the Gulf side. We can watch the surf from our camper and we have 60 miles of beach to walk! We can only stay here 14 days and then have to be out for 14 more days and then can try to get back in…it is first come, first serve…there are no services here, so long as we have a sunny day every other day we are good! Plus we have a generator if we need it, but we so dislike hearing others’ generators that we try not to run ours.

Our View from our camper and Rhylee’s Christmas:

People here at the campground are friendly, but not too, and from all over the country- some here for vacation, some for the winter and some full-timers like us. Shopkeepers and park staff are super friendly, too! Finding businesses has been tricky for such a touristy area- many are not on the web, or the info is wrong. And the traffic and roads are busy enough, and a bit complicated with bridges and causeways onto the island at this section, that it is taking a while to get our bearings. We did finally find a fresh seafood place- gulf shrimp and drum- YUMMY! And a great bakery- brick over breads and pastries!
Just north of us, Port Aransas and Rockport took a beating from Hurricane Harvey- the two state park campgrounds are still closed, as other businesses. We did find a RV Park on the beach in Port Aransas to stay for January.
The cold snap all of you up north are suffering through? Well, we got it, too. Out of the past 14 days we saw the sun for small parts on only FOUR days. And the past few days have been highs in the 40s and very windy! So, although we are not laying in the sun on the beach, we are also not in the teens or below as much of the country is.