South Padre Island and a Quick Trip to Mexico

So Monday arrived and it was time forus  to head to Mexico. I had lost a filling and I knew it meant a crown. Now we lost our insurance this year so it had to be cheap and that meant crossing the border as the price is one hundred and seventy bucks verses seven hundred or so in the states. I can buy a lot of rocks with that kind of difference.

The trip from Harlingen was quick and we paid our quarter to get into Mexico. We were the first into the dentist’s office and in no time I was in the seat and getting comfortable. Without going into any details it actually went ok and in about an hour I had a temporary crown and an appointment for the permanent replacement.

Walking up and down the street I bought some chocolate candy and we decided to head back home as it was way to early for lunch. Not much of a trip to Mexico but we got what we came for and next time we will actually do some shopping.

The next day was a day of rest and then it was time to check out Port Isabel and South Padre Island. As  we approached the bridge to South Padre I looked at all the condos and shuddered as the development is everything I hate along the Gulf Coast.

Then we both saw the sign for the South Padre Island Birding Center and maybe, just maybe there was hope?  We parked and entered the tall building and were greeted by a very knoledgable volunteer who showed us the map of the trails and talked about all the things there were to see, and it was good.

Stepping outside we started along the boardwalk and right away we got a new life bird, a least sandpiper. A little further and we took an image of a red knot. Or at least that’s what we think it is, and so now we had another new bird for our list.

We didn’t see any more new birds but we had a delightful time at the birding center. Redheads, pintails, snow egrets and three different types of herons all entertained us on our stroll. Least grebes and pied bill grebes along with common marsh hens were abundant and completely unconcerned by our nearness.

After lunch we drove north, where sand dunes threatened to close the road and a little further they actually did!  Parking, we ignored the private property signs and walked to the gulf where I waded into the surf, and it felt so good to be back in the warm waters. The island is really little more than a sand spit at this point and I wonder who would ever build here?

Latter we drove back to town and climbed the stairs of the historic lighthouse. I had to laugh as the stair well was pretty claustrophobic and the outside platform was quite acrophobic. To have two different fears in the space of a few steps…..

All in all it was a fun day, birding, wading in the surf, a little bit of history and almost getting run off the road by a couple of idiot Texas drivers. In other words it was a typical day on the Texas Coastal Bend.  Clear skies.