The Campground is at the southern tip of Galveston Island away from the hub bub of the "Spring Break " activities that will be simmering down next week. Some of the colleges (and High Schools I am told) come down here to spend their spring break days. The campground being 17.5 miles from the city of Galveston will help diminish the noise and traffic. Ocassionally a group of motorcyclist will go by on their way to the lower Texas Coast.
Geographically the Texas Coast os divided into three regions . The Upper Coast from Louisiana to a point just south of Galveston Island; the Middle Coast , from that point to about Corpus Christi, and the Lower Coast from there to McAllen the Rio Grande River and the Mexican Border. In the birding world the Texans have developed a map system of those coastal areas and four other areas in the northern parts of the state to identify where good birding areas are located, Each of these 7 maps has about 125 sites that can be observed and they have a "loop" that can be followed, each containg about 8-10 stops for observation. This is a great system and we have used it three times before. We try to get to new birding areas each time.
Today's trip from Lufkin, TX to Galveston and the south end of the Island, was quite smooth except for coming off the Houston freeway (US 59) and its 5 lanes of traffic, when at the bottom of the long ramp leading to I-45 (4 lanes) there was a traffic accident involving three vehicles. (The ramp drops abut 300 feet vertically.) You have to think that this is a highway that has no shoulder, high walls on both sides as a sort of "canal" of traffic. So those 4 lanes had to funnel down to one in order to get by a fire truck on I-45 that was guarding the wreckage and emergency workers. We were in the right lane which was the "through" traffic lane eventually, so we moved a bit faster than the other three lanes. After about 30 minutes (not really that much of a wait) we were on our way into Galveston and beginning to feel the joy of "arriving" at our destination. Traveling less than 300 miles each day , Ruth stated was"...really a great idea as we could unwind easily in the afternoon".
We found our campgrund at the southern end of the Island, but the Island was not as busy as later times in the year when we happened to be here. The campground was brand spanking new and they were still working to expand it as it already had 200 sites, some not ready to use this spring. The office was merely a steel box where the manager sat at a very small table. No maps of the campground nor then usual "do and don't's" were printed as yet, to follow.The "Office" sign was on a free standing "sandwich"board at the entrance.
The bridge at Houston over "Buffalo Bayou"
In the evening we thought that a dinner out would be a treat, so we headed to "Nate's Seafood", just up the road a few miles. It was recommended by the RV folks and we were not disappointed. Jim had the Combination seafood plate of a fillet of catfish, shrimp, oysters, and crab cakes with baked potato and fresh green beans,along with a local Texas beer named "Shiner" made in Shiner TX. Ruth devoured her catfish (deep fried, with potato and vegges). It is a locallly run place with litle decor, but great food.
So that is the day as it spelled out. Tomorrow we start the hunt to secure the birds that are here and coming more each day. Hopefully the rain holds off as it looks like it
Our camping site at Gaveston. The Gulf of Mexico is just beyond the houses on stilts.
Our "Token" bird today. A Northern Mockingbird.
Our Camping site looking to the Gulf of Mexico behind those houses on stilts.
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