March 1, 2006 - Padre Island National Seashore

March 1 we drove into Corpus Christi and ended up going all the way to the Padre Island National Seashore.

The first thing we did was look at South Beach.  This is where you can camp for free and take a 4-wheel drive vehicle down the beach 60 miles. 

Notice the brown pelicans flying north, they are coming north at this time from Mexican waters which are clear and they can see the fish better:

The next two pictures are facing north:

Then we went to the visitors center and its beach:

More brown pelicans heading north:

The volunteer complex is visible from the visitors center:

Dune plants including prickly pear cactus:

Lots of gaillardia blooming:

How can you tell the Texans from the non-Texans?  The Texans wear cowboy hats.

There is a viewing platform on top of the visitors center:

We stayed for a nice ranger talk on what you can find on the beach since the currents bring everything to Padre Island.  With all the people looking the pickings are not as good as they were 40 years ago, but still a lot comes on shore.

On the way out we looked at the official campground:

Then we stopped and had some lunch just before the road to Port Aransas.  From there we drove to the free ferry between Port Aransas and Aransas Pass:

Another active day.

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