Our stay in Corpus Christi January 6th to January 14th, 2011

January 14 post:  The wind is still blowing steady here at around 25 and today rain was added to the mix.  Our stay here is up as the RV park is full and others have reservations for our space.  We're ready to move on anyway given the weather...we're tired of the wind.  This is really a beautiful place when the wind stops and the sun comes out but we're off this morning for Del Rio, Texas and Laughlin AFB to see if the weather is better and check out the RV park at the base.  On the road again.....


January 11 post:  OK....this is wind is starting to wear on me.  It has been blowing around 25 to 30 for a couple of days now and the temperatures have dropped into the 40s, which really puts a damper on being outside.  Well, its better than the weather conditions in Alaska but....  I called the RV park manager at Laughlin AFB in Del Rio, Tx and reserved a space for a couple of nights starting Friday night so we only have 3 more nights here before hitting the road again.  I would have made arrangements to leave sooner but we're waiting on mail to catch up with us here in Corpus Christi.  We're hoping the weather gets better soon.

Yesterday we toured the USS Lexington (WWII vintage aircraft carrier that was decommissioned in the 80s) that's set up as a museum on the water downtown.  It was a very informative tour (self guided) and a great opportunity to get a glimpse of important history that's not about war but freedom.

                            USS Lexington 

The Lexington's Superstructure

Cool flight deck and static aircraft displays. We also watched a film about Air Force fighter pilot training exercises at Nellis AFB (operation red flag) that was really inspiring.  Oh ya...we tried the flight simulator ride which was bumpy and a little nauseating.  Although the coloring is different than before some of the aircraft on display really took me back to the old days:

          F4 Phantom - my old and deadly friend

The following photo is from another time and place but it's the way I remember the Phantom - plus a couple tons of ordinance:

F4 Phantom in full paint

Cobra - hottest of its kind in Viet Nam

Here's a shot of part of Corpus Christs from the flight deck of the USS Lexington:

               Corpus Christi on a Blustery Day

January 9 post:  WINDY.  The camp host left a storm and wind advisory note on the door when we were out saying that winds around 40 were expected with thunder storms.  Sure enough, just after midnight, after the winds grew all evening, it hit.  The winds initially blew into our nose cap but soon changed to broadside and really slammed the trailer.  Around 3 am the lightening started and really rolled for a couple of hours. The temperature stayed in the lower 60s.  Squatty and Tiger Lilly were pretty upset and Betty thought the trailer was going to blow over on its side.

The neighbors have been here for several months and said that a few weeks ago several trailers blew over when they had hurricane force winds.  The 5th wheeler in the space we're in now blew over and then was blown back onto its wheels again causing bent axles along with other damage.  We are lucky that the winds were only around 40 or so.


January 8 post:  We've been here a couple of full days now and have been pretty busy relaxing and enjoying both the warm weather and some of the local sites as well as taking care of a few necessary tasks.  Being on a military base always provides a sense of quiet safety for us regardless of whether its an Army, Air Force, or Navy base.  At Corpus Christi NAS there are Coast Guard, Navy, and an Army depot of some kind.  Coast Guard and Navy helicopters come and go every day but we're used to the varied sounds of "freedom" and are not really bothered the noise.

We did some shopping at the NAS commissary and exchange to get some needed groceries and other supplies, and visited the fitness center where Betty got the lay of the land for possible use while staying here.  The commissary and exchange are smaller than those at larger bases but are stocked well and provided the same sense of being at "our store" that we always get when on a military base.

Yesterday we took Squatty and Tiger Lilly for a drive over onto Padre Island and the shores to see what it is like.  It's possible to go SW just a few miles across a long bridge to be on Padre Island so we did.  All  of this area seems so flat and low to us - different than the shoreline of Alaska that we're used to.  In Alaska it seems that the mountains come down to meet the sea and there is always high ground to find safety in a storm.  The Texas coast gives us the feeling that a medium sized wave could wash inland for miles unhampered.

Once on Padre Island we drove a few miles south across flat grassland until the road ended at the beach.  Tiger Lilly was terrified when we took her out on the sand not far from the water.  Her first time on a beach was not good for her and she wanted back in the truck.  Squatty, of course, loved every minute of our walk on the beach and sniffed every foul thing he could find.

We  drove north on Padre Island to Aransas which is a tourist/fishing community, judging from its looks.  Stopped at Moby Dick's for a  big plate of grilled Mahi Mahi for our lunch (we won't do much for dinner today) and then went on to the very short ferry ride (operated by Texas DOT) back to the mainland just northwest of Corpus.  No charge for the ferry ride...hmmm, in Alaska the state operated ferry system costs an arm and a leg it seems.