Day 56-Mon, 23 Feb 09-S.Padre Island

It was a tremendously, gorgeous day here and we enjoyed it to the hilt. There wasn't a cloud in the sky, the temp was 70-something degrees with a slight breeze.

I slept quite late this morning...I'd fell asleep in front of the television late in the afternoon so even after staying up to watch the Oscars, I had a hard time staying asleep after I went to bed. Once I got mobile, we went off to pick up a few groceries. Now that we've got this big fridge we can get more veggies and frozen stuff but at some point, we've got to eat most of it instead of just re-packing it in the fridge.

It was such a beautiful day that we picked up our chairs and new umbrella and headed for the beach. Not only did we have perfect weather, we had entertainment. The county is trying to correct the erosion problem that seems to be plaguing one area of the beach. They have brough in a new ordnance that will prevent any more building closer thatn 350 ft to the beach. There's some resistance to the new law but officials are telling people that it won't be too many years before their houses wash out to sea if they continue to build so close to the ocean. They have brought in huge bulldozers to fix the grade of the beach which I'm assuming needed to be done after the hurricane. They were still moving sand when we left after 3 hrs and we could hear them working well after supper. One of the workers said they'd be moving sand for another 5 or 6 days so we'll have lots to watch the rest of the week.

After supper, I went back to the nature walk. There were a couple of herons but once the sun started to go down, it went fast so I took a few photos of a guy fishing and came home. The bay is very shallow and some of the kite surfers end up on their backside because they get within 25 ft of the shore and hit sand. Unfortunately, it's a mucky sand and no good for swimming. It's a shame because the ocean is still very cool where the bay is like a bathtub. When you see someone fishing really far out in the bay, the water is usually only up to his thighs.

There's lots of Mardi Gras entertainment on the island this week. I'm not sure if it's because Texas borders Louisianna or it's just an excuse to party but there's music, fireworks, special food etc. This weekend there is a show/sale of local artists so we're going to try and partake of some of the festivities. The island is really gearing up for March Break and there are a couple of new bars & restaurants that are opening this week.

Until next time, love and hugs to all. xx