El Paso to San Antonio to Corpus Christi....

It's been awhile since I posted anything. We left El Paso, traveled across west Texas for two days. Finally on 3rd day we saw a tree and hills and a couple cows with nothing to eat but dirt! Gene and Charlene Thompson, from Cascade MT, are in Castroville, west of San Antonio about 5 miles. They winter there with their daughter (Julie) and family. It is a very pretty area and part of the "Hill Country" of Texas. We had so much fun with all of them......truly miss them as the neighbors we had for almost 30 years. The four of us went into San Antonio and visited the Mexican Market and, of course, had to eat Mexican food. Then Gene drove us around the area of rolling hills and small towns. George Strait's roping arena is in Leon Springs and it is bigger than HUGE! We wondered where he lives....did not see him anywhere! :( A couple days later Buster and I went back to San Antonio and took the boat ride along the Riverwalk. It is a beautiful area with alot of small shops and restaurants. We again had to eat ..... Buster was hungry for a hamburger so we shared a double Texas burger. Each half was almost more than we could eat! Texas definitely has the biggest! We so enjoyed our visit with all of them and sure do appreciate their hospitality. After being there for almost a week we loaded up Ethel, hooked up Hilda the Honda, and headed to Corpus Christi. Corpus Christi is a big city! We were so surprised to read that the population is over 350,000 and the metropolitan area is over 600,000. We expected a smaller town, maybe 50,000. Since being here we have found out this area is windier than Chicago. In fact, windier than Great Falls, MT! Is that possible? YES. We are parked out in the middle of nowhere (again) on Mustang Island in the State Park. The water (Gulf of Mexico) is very close but with the wind being so strong we haven't spent much time on the beach. One evening we rode our bicycles to the beach looking for the fishing pier and I tipped over in the sand. End of ride. We came home. Buster hasn't gotten to fish yet.....one of the reasons we came here. This island is divided by a small waterway.....Padre Island to the south and Mustang Island the north. The folks who winter here are called "Winter Texans", not "Snowbirds". Yesterday we went to a boat show in Corpus. It was not nearly as large as our Seattle or Tacoma shows but we did see plenty of gorgeous boats. I think that's next on our list .... a new boat....Buster has the itch!We will be moving to an RV Park in Port Aransas on Monday, about 10 miles north. It is located at north end of Mustang Island. Across the ferry is Aransas Pass. Both towns are small but have all the amenities of a larger area. Hopefully Buster can fish next week. On Wednesday,the 25th Jeff (our son) will be arriving from Great Falls. He will be with us a week. We are looking forward to him coming. Thompson's are planning to also join us for a few days and hopefully Julie, Scott and girls and son Rob can be here too. We will have our own "Spring Break". College spring break starts here the next week! We can whoop it up early and be long-gone by the time the 400,000+ college students arrive! Oh my, to be young again!! Tomorrow Buster and I are going to another town (Fulton) to a large Winter Flea Market. There is always something to do, no matter where we are! We have met other RV'ers here and also in Castroville. Not much excitement in our lives right now....just enjoying doing nothing. Soon it'll be time to head towards home....we have stops ahead in Austin, Dallas, Mineral Wells and Las Vegas to visit friends/relatives. Time is flying by much too quickly!