Saturday, 31 Mar 2012 - SPI

Roseate Spoonbill

White Ibis

Jeff - the best waiter on South Padre Island

This is our last night on the island and as sad as we are about leaving the sun and sand, we are anxious to get on the road and get home. We both miss our kids...big and little ones...our own beds, and 'home'.

We've spent as much time this week at the beach as possible. The weather has been idyllic, perfect for sitting in a beach chair with a book and absolutely no motivation to do anything else. I was so happy that we actually got to swim in the Gulf..the water had warmed up enough that after a couple of hours in the sun, the water was deliciously refreshing. I have to admit that I made Wayne walk out in front of me...I told him that if there were any sharks in the vicinity he had more meat on him than I did and was therefore much more edible. The only thing we saw was a larger fish chasing a smaller fish through the crest of a wave..but nothing that resembled a shark.

We spent the better part of the day packing. Wayne took the van over to vacuum a few pounds of sand from the interior. The sand here is best described as 'sticky' and clings to everything. This condo isn't huge but over two months, we have spread out everywhere so collecting it all and sorting it into what's needed over the next 10 days vice what isn't needed at all took some time. I'm convinced that in another life I was a bag lady as we have an incredible number of small suitcasey bags absolutely jammed with stuff. We both know that we over packed...we always do...but this time we outdid ourselves. Being the geeky pair that we are, the USB and re-charging cords, manuals and books, and other stuff filled one (or more) bags. Add to that all the stuff I've bought and it means some creative packing was the order of the day. That 7 ft artificial palm tree will be amazing on the pool deck though!

One of our most favourite restaurants on the the island is Yummies Bistro. It's only opened for breakfast and lunch and I often stopped there to eat after taking pictures at the boardwalk and Wayne would sometimes bike up from the gym and meet me. Their food was unbelievably good and they had some amazing salads (my muffin-top says I didn't eat those) and the home-made soup was to die for. I stopped in there yesterday to say goodbye as we had gotten to know the owners and staff quite well. I'll try to make a couple of their specialities when I get home but will sure miss those friendly faces. There were a few restaurants on the island that we really enjoyed.

We will stay in San Antonio tomorrow night and I'm looking forward to strolling along the Riverwalk and enjoying a nice dinner there. It's a beautiful city and as often as we've been there, I always look forward to the next time. It's like San Diego...you always want to go back one more time. Our trip home this time will take us through Oklahoma, Indiana, and Illinois...3 States we haven't been to before...although I have been to Chicago (and would go back in a minute). One of these days I'm going to get a map of the US and mark all the place we've been to. We aren't meandering much as we are going to Tim & Kim's for Easter, but we are going to try and get off the Interstate every once in awhile so that we can see some countryside and small towns and get a feel for the areas we are driving through. The Texas Bluebells are in bloom as well as other wildflowers so I'll be keeping an eye out for some of those big colourful fields. The cactus is also coming into flower and barring any interference from rattlesnakes...shudder...I may have to make a few stops along the way.

That's how we spent our final few days on SPI. I already have a list of things to do when I get home and expect to be a tad busy for the next 6 weeks. Should be interesting! Hope everyone is well at home and we are excited to see all. Until next time, love and hugs to all.