We Made It

We were able to get into the condo a day early so ditched our plans to dawdle in McAllen TX and came right to SPI. The key was under the mat. The Internet works and there's a washer and dryer. The kitchen has been updated with new appliances. We are within walking distance of a couple of bars, the library, and a couple of restaurants. We are all set.

The decor is tacky with lots of cheaply made, heavy Balinese-style furniture and accessories. However, it has everything we need and is 1/2 block from the Gulf of Mexico. We are on the north end of the inhabited part of the island - about 3 km north of the bridge from Port Isabel. We are about 1km from the World Birding Center. The area looks more prosperous than we remembered last time we were here (2012).

On Thursday, we drove to the Aransas National Wildlife Refuge where the endangered whooping cranes nest. They make the annual trip north to Wood Buffalo National Park in northern Alberta. We plan to return in mid-February to do a whooping crane boat tour. During one of our stops on the self-guided automobile tour, we met two women from Texas who had driven all the way from San Antonio and Houston respectively to take the whooping crane boat tour only to be told that not enough people had signed up so it was cancelled. When they saw  my flop flops they remarked that we must be from up north as one of the women had long underwear on. I told her I had quit wearing mine in Indiana. We spent the night in Corpus Christi.

Flip flops on the beach at SPI

This morning we took a walk to the beach. This is one of the reasons we like SPI so much - no traffic.

looking south on Gulf Blvd.

Gulf Blvd. parallels the main street, Padre Blvd. and is more residential. This far up the island, it is pretty quiet at 10am on a Sunday. Yes, those are ample bike and walking lanes.

This is the view to the beach from our closest beach access point, Fantasy Circle, just at the end of our street. There is a wide plastic mat all the way from the parking lot to beyond the dunes.Those folks in the distance are fishing off the shore.

Here is the view of the beach looking south. It runs for 5 miles to the southern tip of the island.

And the view looking the other way - to the north.

It is always very windy here, ergo the jackets, but it was nice and sunny and about 24C.

We are very grateful we have escaped yet another winter in southern Ontario.