2/2/23- Travel Log: Corpus Christi

-visiting the free art center of Corpus Christi, right along the marina
-a friendly man who seems to run the clay studio shows us the inner workings and some baskets of rejected pottery that we can take for a donation. We’re admiring the pieces to choose one and he walks back through and puts $5 in the jar “get something for yourself for Valentine’s Day!” We settle on a beautiful glazed plate that reminds us of the ocean at Boca Chica and a small blue saucer to use as a spoon rest.
-visiting the original Whataburger across the road for lunch- Levi gets a free burger from the app and I order a chicken tender sandwich, slathered in bbq sauce
-sipping vats of coke zero while we cruise back towards Padre Island and spend the rest of the day driving the length of the islands to end at Port Aransas near the ferry
-parking in a small sand lot next to the harbor and finding boogie boards in the dumpster when we went to toss a Sam baggie
-grouchy and tired, deciding to drive in to Moby Dick’s for crab stuffed jalapeno poppers, clam chowder, and crab and shrimp gumbo
-we play the quarter machine and run up the rd for a box of wine while we’re waiting for our table
-it’s a night for indulgence and we buy a volcano bowl to share, a flaming vat of rum, pineapple juice, and plastic alligators…

2/1/23- Travel Log: Boca Chica to Corpus Christi, TX

-waking up to mist and rain again.
-while we’re having coffee Levi starts talking about finding something to do further inland, or heading to a different spot- we’re feeling done with rainy Boca Chica and the constant sand and mist
-cleaning up the chairs and mats from outside takes me the better part of an hour, but finally we are stowed and ready to go. When I put the van into gear, the tires creak against the sand they’ve been pressing into for three days and on with my light acceleration they give a hesitant spin. I jump out, since I’m already wearing sandy shoes, and Levi takes the wheel. After a few attempts to dig out a ramp directly in front of the back wheels I go fetch some grippy odds and ends from the trash can to put in front of the tire and a fellow in a jeep pulls up just as I finish. He helps dig and cajole and push from with me from the back and pretty soon we’re back in business
-waving goodbye to Starbase and SpaceX for the last time and one last drive down the bumpy road
-our moods are about as drizzly as the rain, which doesn’t let up.
-turning up the heat and putting on the Climbing Gold episodes about Dope Lake while we drive to Corpus Christi.
-there’s free camping on the beach at Padre Island National Seashore but as we’re pulling off the access road and greeted by the familiar sight of grey waves rolling under mist onto a stretch of wet sand Levi says “no, forget this, I’m done with sand”
-so we head back across the sloping bridge and the causeway to the Walmart in Corpus Christi
-scavenging the Walmart clearance shelves for some food supplies and then hunkering down at a dark corner of the parking lot to make and devour a delicious pot of Spanish Rice with freeze dried salsa and onions in corn tortillas that Levi managed to toast over the jetboil