Mosquitoes, Fire Ants and Winds From Ida

We are now in Rockport, Texas (on the Gulf Coast) and I am not liking it as much as the Hill Country! First of all, our Western Horizon Resort here is a dump! The roads are in dire need of pothole repair and the fire ants and mosquitoes are everywhere; you really can't be out at night unless you spray the area. This is worse than Northern Minnesota in a wet year! And to top it all off, Hurricane Ida didn't hit here, but it did blow up very high tides and washed ashore all kinds of debris on the beaches. Oh yea, and while I am complaining, let me just add that all the fishing piers have a "fee per line" or they are private and the humidity is more than uncomfortable. OK, now I have that out of my system; feels good to complain once in awhile!

On a positive note, the days have been in the 70's or low 80's and sunny and we are seeing some new areas. When we were in Victoria this past weekend, Craig and Rosann took us to Galveston and then to Houston. We met up with other workampers from Hickory Farms days for lunch and checked out the town.

It is hard to believe that just a little over a year ago, the water was this high in the downtown area. They even have a seawall and it still got this high from Hurricane Ike. The buildings are very old, many dating from the mid 1800's, and they have accentuated the old in the downtown area. It was easy to see what it might have looked like a hundred years ago.

This spot got a lot of attention during the Hurricane coverage in 2008 on TV and it was interesting to see it for ourselves.

And we have explored some of the local beaches, wonderful to be near the water even if the debris makes the beaches kinda messy. Ok, so I guess it isn't too bad, I have found plenty birds and such on which to focus... this guy seems a little confused...

More from the Gulf Beaches in days to come... and I promise to be a bit more positive!