Galveston Seawall

Hurricane Ike made landfall right on Galveston on September 12, 2008. It smashed into the seawall, destroying piers and buildings along the waterfront before washing over the flat surface of Galveston Island, submerging some areas by as much as eight feet. Little escaped damage and the rebuilding process is still taking place. Here is the remains of one large pier where repairs have not been started.

The seawall has been replaced and the highway built on top of it. It stands 17 feet above the water level, waiting for the next hurricane.

Camera Gear

Doug asked what camera gear I use. It is a Nikon based System as Nikon is what I started with back in the 60's. I have many film bodies in storage at home. These are worth nothing now in the Digital Age..

My move into Digital came with the purchase of a Nikon D70S a couple of years ago. I used this for the first two trips to Mexico and it worked very well. The original "kit" lens became useless after it sucked in tons of dust with it's zoom action. I sent it to Nikon for cleaning and not only is this damage not covered by warranty, they wanted more than the price of a new lens to clean it. While I was searching eBay for a new lens, I decided to upgrade to a Nikon D200 body and this is what I am using now.

My lenses are:

1) Sigma 18-50 Digital Zoom (this is my "normal" lens. Takes nice shots but not expensive and may be replaced)
2) Nikon 70-300 Telephoto Digital Zoom (my "Bird" lens. A good deal on eBay last year)
3) Tokina 12-24 Wide Angle Digital Zoom (expensive lens that I thought I needed but do not use near enough)
4) Tamron 90mm "True" Macro Digital (very expensive "Flower" lens. My favorite purchase)

The D70S will probably get sold this summer on Craigslist with or without the Sigma 18-50 Zoom. If it is sold "with", I will replace the 18-50 Sigma with their new "OS" (Optically Stabilized) model. This is the scenario I am hoping for. I may also sell the wide angle Tokina as it is too much of an investment to just have sitting around unused. Anyone interested? Email me at croftsmexico(at)gmail(dot)com

Galveston!

We pulled in at 6:00 PM after Ms. GPS took us down several Farm Roads to get here. I will have to check the settings in the GPS as it is probably set for the shortest distance instead of fastest route. Sometimes they are not the same.

We arrived at the Bayou Shores RV Park just as the manager was locking up the office. He told us to park anywhere and see him in the morning. We chose a great site 20 feet from the ocean and as far away from the neighboring bar-restaurant as we could get!

The StarChoice setup was very easy once I got the settings from a file on the computer. It only took about five minutes of fine tuning and we ended up with 60, one of the best signal strengths we have ever had.

Next I tried my luck with WIFI. The laptop's built in antenna saw two sources, both password protected. I plugged in the Hawking dish and it picked up about ten sources, four of them open. I picked the strongest and connected. I am on line! Thanks Belkin 236, whoever you are! And thank you Hawking!

it is starting to get dark so our exploring will wait until tomorrow. It is a pleasant 78 degrees with just a little wind. It will be a good night.

And now for the really good news! The Canadian Loonie is worth the same as a US Greenback!

Bayou Shores RV Park:

Changing Plans

Our fluid plans are changing again! After looking at the weather map we have decided to head for El Paso and then head north using a more western route, maybe through Las Vegas. That way we will miss some of the cooler temperatures that are hanging around the Midwest. It is only the 6th and we do not have to cross the border until the 24th so we have lots of time. Galveston and Glen Campbell will have to wait for another year!

OK, after a coffee we have changed the Plan again. We will go to Galveston for a couple of nights then Dallas, TX, Oklahoma City, Albuquerque. NM (to get the transmission serviced) and then west and north. There is is settled and I will get to photograph some more Texas birds! Life is good!

Downtown Corpus Christi

Random Shots.

Tomorrow we are off to Galveston. We decided to check out Texas' sea coast while we are waiting for the weather to improve between here and home. Life is good!

Just Sayin.....

RANT ALERT!

A couple of shark attacks and parents stop letting their kids anywhere near the water. Thousands of kids are raped in the Church and parents keep sending their kids back to Church.

News flash to parents: There are millions more sharks than Priests, so your chances of finding a Priest that rapes are far greater than your chances of finding a shark that bites! Do your kids a favor and take them to the beach on Sunday.

Just sayin....

Birding

On the way out of Port Aransas we drove past a sign pointing to the city park and birding area. We instantly made a u-turn and went to see. I had my 400mm lens with me so I headed out along the short trail to the birding walk and platform. There were about fifteen people with cameras and binoculars. They are a very friendly, helpful group and I got told more names of bird species than I could possibly remember.

 

 

Mustang Island and Port Aransas

East of Padre Island is Mustang Island and the is where we headed next. Mustang Island is a little more populated and has many condo developments. We also saw a nice RV park where you can buy your spot and put it in a rental pool for when you are not there. It is possible to drive the length of the Island, take a ferry to the mainland and complete a nice circle drive of a little under 100 miles. We did not do this but drove to Port Aransas at the end of the Island, had a nice late lunch / early dinner, and returned the way we had come. Port Aransas has many interesting seafood restaurants. We had to choose only one but think we did pretty good.

The top stickpin is Port Aransas and the bottom one is our RV park.

Padre Island

A visit to Corpus Christi is not complete without a drive to Padre Island. It was a little hazy today with a bit of wind but overall quite pleasant. The road does not follow the beach but sticks to the middle of the Island. It is only after you pay the State Park fee of $10 per vehicle that the road goes over to the beaches. We stopped at the Visitor’s Centre where I bought a Bird Book and headed for the beach. The Laughing Gulls had pretty much taken the place over and were happy to stop and pose for photos:

Here is the beach in front of the Visitor’s Centre, a popular surfing area when the wind is up:

The Unsung

Take a few minutes and watch this video on the early Civil Rights Crusade:

The Unsung Pt.1

And Pt. 2

Thank you, Martin!