Day 13 - 11 Jan - South Padre Island, TX

Odometer: 123,021 Weather: Sunny, about 65 degrees

Photo for Claire: He went, he saw, he ate!

We packed up and got back on the road. We've reserved a site at the KOA on South Padre Island, just south of Corpus Christi. I have to admit, I enjoyed being 'on the road' again. Part of this adventure is to see lots of different things and places, as well as enjoying them and we start to get antsy after 3 days. We certainly enjoyed San Antonio but saw what we wanted and it was time to move on. That whole experience tells me we made the right decision in buying this small van, although I can see a newer one, perhaps a couple (but not much more) feet longer.
The drive here was interesting. From San Antonio we swung onto I410 South, which is in the 'Texas Plains' area. I've never found the landscape in Texas to be 'beautiful'...it's not very diverse but seems to be mostly grass, scrub brush, and some gnarly trees. The plains area we went through today was flat, and mostly agriculture but none of it green. When we stopped at Kingsville, I asked the guy at the tourist centre what they grew in all those gazillion acres, and acres of flat land. Apparently they grow corn, soy grains, and cotton and all of it is done with no irrigation. Whatever moisture nature provides, that's what the crops get and nothing more. Those crops are really the only thing that can be grow here with the low rain and extreme heat. Kingsville was founded by 'Somebody' King who pioneered agriculture in this area and his home (which we didn't go to) is now a museum and still stands on the 825,000...that's right....acres of land (like, how big is PEI?). We are starting to see cactus and 'Watch For Snakes' signs so we know we are definitely in the west. Wayne laughs because every time I step out of the van I'm looking around, obeying that sign! I saw a big billboard advertising 'snake-proof boots' so I'm crossing the cowboy boots off my list and going straight to the snake-proof ones! I know one thing...there are more RVs here than cows....at least in this part of Texas!
One of the picnic areas we stopped at...in the middle of nowhere, advertised 'internet wireless' so we tried it and sure enough, it worked! We were so damn frustrated in San Antonio and complained at the KOA...if you don't have a working system, don't advertise that you have one.
We pulled in to the KOA at South Padre and it was love at first sight. We are right on the bay, surrounded by palm trees and there are lots, and lots of amenities here. It's not cheap ($36), the KOAs generally aren't but we don't mind paying for something as lovely as this. Wayne is happy, there is a fitness centre here plus a swimming pool, fishing pier and lovely washrooms/showers. We had reserved for 2 nights and have already put an extra 2 nights on hold. There's a free shuttle service that runs up and down the island so we'll try that out tomorrow for some sightseeing and find the beach and then make the decision whether or not to stay.
From here, it is right to Mexico I think. The list of things we want to see and do is growing and while I don't expect we'll be rushed, we have to remember we have to be in Puerto Vallarta on the 29th.
I am disappointed in the Skype telephone service....we tried to call Colin tonight and it was less than great. When I've used it previously, it wasn't bad for the most part but we'll check it out and keep trying.