Gulf of Mexico

Four inch wide butterfly in Austin!

February 21

I got in a final Austin stroll while Rudy finished up the plumbing project at Joe's, then we headed south to the Gulf of Mexico. We made it to Freeport, TX just before dark and camped at Bryan Beach. A quick dinner of pasta, then a little Trivial Pursuit, with two wins for Leslie.






February 22
Beach stroll! I went along Quintana Beach and found a nice little fishing pier complete with a portapotty!

Welcome to the Gulf!

Lots of water and industry

We relocated there for a day of sunbathing, more beach strolling, and subsequent sun burning. Lovely, sunny, 70s, but the breeze picked up in the afternoon, actually felt a little cool! I got in a nice little run and Rudy a bike ride, and took the requisite dip in the ocean. Dinner of beans and rice, followed by cribbage, with three wins for Leslie.

February 23
A little breezier morning, nice for me to bike and Rudy to run. Rudy swam after, but I was cool and salty enough already. We headed toward Galveston along the Bluewater Highway, with one little stop for the Kelly Hamburg Nature Trail - a cool spot showcasing the now rare Gulf sand dune landscape.



There is actually a free ferry to get to Galveston Island, a fun little experience.



We continued on to Holly Beach near Cameron, Louisiana. We took a short sunset stroll, then made pearled sorghum with red sauce.

Jellyfish?

Lots of little conches to listen to

Entertainment for the night was Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.

February 24
Cloudy, but still warm! I got in a short run and some good yoga. We spent most of the morning chilling on the beach as the weather became sunnier and windier. Eventually we continued east, stopping in Lake Charles at Steamboat Bills for crawfish boil. The four pounds of crawdads was definitely good, but we weren't blown away, especially since the tray only came a measly little spud and ear of corn.

Fun and tasty lunch

Rudy got to drive in some horrid traffic around Lafayette and Baton Rouge, and we made it to Mississippi later than planned. The Welcome Center was actually pretty nice, larger and more spaced out than most rest stops, so the big truck traffic was a little more muffled. We just put together wraps/sandwiches for dinner and got in one game of Trivial Pursuit - Rudy win!

February 25
A coolish morning. We did more checking out of the rest stop, then continued on our scenic drive along the Gulf.

Spring blooms!

A moon landing 'trainer' used by Apollo 13 crew

Welcome to Mississippi!

There seemed to be more sandy, calm beaches than we saw in Texas and Lousiana.

 

Our destination for the day was Desoto National Forest mountain bike trails out of Bethel trailhead, a bit north of Biloxi. We were pleasantly surprised to find plenty of nicely maintained, relatively easy trails that I enjoyed - Rudy liked them too, he worked on going really fast!

A lot of the area had controlled burns the week before

Surprisingly piney

There were plenty of people out, but it wasn't crazy for a Saturday, and by late afternoon, the area was pretty quiet with just a few other campers around. We decided spending another day at Bethel would be a good idea. Dinner was shells and cheese, which led to the discover we left the ketchup at Joe's! We were still able to choke it down. Then cribbage - two wins for Rudy!

February 26
40F! An extra relaxed morning as we waited for warmer temps to get out on the trails again. I got in a longer run of two hours - no big protests from the feet and legs. A couple good bike rides for Rudy during the day. Other than that, lots of hanging out in the sunshine and some good chatting with our camping neighbors - one group local and another family of Canadians. With no travel, it was easy to have black beans and rice soaking all day for dinner. I need to remember to do that more!!

February 27
Warmer and muggy - supposed to be a stormy day. I got in a nice stroll and we had a little more chatting before heading further east. We stopped at Chickasabogue State Park, north of Mobile, AL for biking. The trails were twisty, rooty, and not too technical, but some nice challenges for me - some were hard to follow though. After the riding there was lots of chatting with the friendly park ranger - pretty quiet at the park with Mardi Gras happening in the nearby cities. We just escaped biking in the afternoon rain. More driving until we hit camp just north of Pensacola, FL at Cotton Lake as it got dark. Sauteed some sweet potatoes and mushrooms to go with the leftover beans and rice, got in some Trivial Pursuit - Leslie won 2/3, and tolerated some increasingly noisy neighbors until they departed just after midnight.