2017 CROSS-COUNTRY ROAD TRIP - FRIDAY, APRIL 14TH, 2017

Friday, April 14th, 2017

9. 29 a.m. and the odometer reads 49924.  We are leaving our hotel in Wharton, TX at 9.29 a.m., heading to the Gulf just East of Corpus Christi.  Getting back on 59 south now.

As you leave the road our hotel is on, right across the road is a plastics factory.  We saw thousands of pipes in the back.  

4.47 a.m. we passed a farm with a huge building and a very large silo.  The sign said it was for rice.  There are fields of what we think are rice, as far as the eyes can see, on both side of the freeway.

The speed limit has been 75 mph for most of our journey.

10.14 a.m. and we are now 1800 miles away from home.

10.53 a.m. and we have just passed the small town of Tivoli, now on Texas 35 South.  

11.36 a.m. stopping at Whataburger.  This is a new one to me but our son remembers it from his trip a few years ago. The fries were excellent.  My burger was a bit too vinegary for my taste but Gregg enjoyed his.

1.01 p.m. we are on a ferry. We joined the line of cars waiting to get on, and for a while we were next to three giant oil rigs.  

We studied them. and the wait to get down to the ferry seemed not so long.  It was a short trip across to the other side, a five minute ride.

1.40 p.m.  We have walked on the beach overlooking Corpus Christi Bay.  To get to our parking spot we drove over a wide expanse of sand.  It was firm enough.  We saw RV's on here and watched as other cars made their way without sinking into the sand.  We figured it was safe!

There were several beachgoers and I talked with one lady who was strolling with her dog.  She said she lived in Texas, about a four hour drive.  

She apologized if her dog had scared the birds, but I assured her she had given me a few good shots of them in flight.  

Gregg walked along the breakwater....

as I took photos of Black-headed Gulls....

(This beach had a lot of scrubby looking brush.  Not sure what kind of plant it was but no one seemed to mind, including the birds.)

Common Terns.....

and Sanderlings.

The beach is part of Port Oasis Park.  

I had a nap in the car for about half an hour.  All that walking on the beach I guess.  Gregg said we will stop early and true to his word, it was about five when we pulled into the hotel's parking lot.  But first we found a Walmart close by.  There are days when we don't feel like finding another restaurant, especially when we feel tired.  Walmart has pretty good pick-up foods.  

Gregg chose a roast beef sub and I a protein pack with a hard boiled egg, cubes of cheese, miniature sized Dorito-type chips, apple slices and grapes.  We also picked up a small veggie snack tray for that evening if we needed it, or snacking tomorrow.  For dessert, an individual cherry pie which we shared.  These relaxed dinners in a hotel room are very nice.