Beach ~ Corpus Christi

We had a nice family trip to Corpus and Port A in July.

We headed straight to the city beach in CC. And rejoiced to be on the seashore again.

Kinda deep in the water, Gloria started screaming, we had been stung by nettles before and they are mild, as we were helping her we thought she was being dramatic until one got me on the arm as well and WOW it hurt. She only got a spot on the leg and we got back to the beach in one piece. Might have been a tentacle of a Portuguese man of war.

After lunch and lots of playing we headed to our fancy hotel on the sea wall. We swam in the indoor/outdoor pool and then up to our room to clean up. 

View from our room!

Also in the garage there were bats near our truck.

We walked down the sea wall, past the Selena Memorial and to Joe's crab shack to meet Lari Jo and Taylor for dinner.

Selfie!

Next morning we stopped at the flagship Whataburger for breakfast. The girls said they didn't like the fancy hotel because there is no breakfast like LQs :)

We drove over the bridge to Mustang Island to spend the day...fishing...

playing and floating in the way...

catching crabs and little fish with the net and even finding a mermaid!

We then went into a very crowded Port A for shark pictures, and a drive past Lydia's birth home.
Then dinner at Virginia's with a view of the Lydia Ann Lighthouse.

We watched birds (no alligator this time) at the Birding Center, then back to the beach for a walk down the jetty and a few more splashes in the waves. 

Sunday Caleb had a workshop so he dropped us off at the Aquarium. We had a great long day of dolphin watching, seeing all the tanks 3 times, other shows, touching everything we were allowed, lunch, dipping dots, standing on the pier and seeing wild dolphins and explaining to a family from Kansas that the bay is part of the ocean so they aren't in captivity and what a jetty is. Caleb got us and we journey back to the interior of Texas, thankful for another great trip to the beach!

Medina River Tubing - Lydia trip, part 1

 Friday morning Caleb and Gloria headed to San Antonio for their weekend, and Lydia and I headed out of Austin and to Bandera. First stop, Twin Elm Ranch which rents tubes and runs a shuttle. We chose the 1 hour trip and were dropped off at the Medina River.

 There were a couple of families also there.

 We got in and started floating.

The first part was slow. The water was so clear and cool and we were the only ones on it. 

There were a few fast places so I was glad to have a dry bag for our snacks and camera. And the end of our run, we swam for a few minutes before we got picked up at the next bridge and taken back to our car.

We had a little time before checking in, so we partook of small town Texas culture and got a Dairy Queen blizzard (Lydia liked how they turned it upside down) and ate it by the river in town.  

Lydia trip - Dixie Dude Ranch - Day 1

I'm in love with everything about our trip so I am posting almost every picture! We arrived in our swim suits and hopped straight into their pool after checking in and before our first ride. 

It was hot but we were wet and there was a breeze. We joined other families and were put on horses for the ride.  

Lydia was on Cash and I was on Geronimo.  We left the building area and went up through the hill country. There were several climbs and once went by a gorge with about a 30 feet drop (camera was in my pocket for that and two hands on the saddle horn, the wrangle said a horse or rider had never fallen but some had freaked out!). Each ride was about an hour. 

After our ride, we swam again. Then back to our room. I thought this was a fun picture: swimming stuff and boots and hat, perfect summer day!

The Apache room had a big room and bathroom,

big windows and a nice porch.

After a yummy dinner of chicken fried steak served family style in the dinning room there was nightly entertainment. Tonight was a world famous trick roper and his assistant son.

It was super fun and impressive and the kids got to be a part. Here is Lydia trying to tie a knot.

Then we relaxed some on the porch,

had a few marshmallows at the bonfire and played on the playground with other kids.

We posed and headed to bed.

Dixie Dude Ranch - Day 2, part 1

We woke up on Saturday and said hi to the horses before breakfast-pancakes, fruit and more. I'm a snacker and I never ate besides during the meals here.

For this morning ride, a professional photographer came and took some photos of us. Lydia had Custard,

and I was on Blue. The cowboy in the picture with me is Bubba, one of the wranglers that helped us out and took us on the rides. They were fun.

Lead wrangler Rachel with our friends following.

Beautiful morning and beautiful place.

Back to my camera-breakfast.

I love this picture.

Everybody up and getting ready to ride.

Off we go.

We rode beside longhorns, saw jack rabbits and deer and lots of pretty birds. I was impressed there were still wildflowers including Mexican hats and the prettiest little purple touch me nots.

Red/pink shirt day. My horse decided to take a short cut down the hill, so I waited to get back into proper line (some horses don't get along and can't be beside each other) and got to get a photo of Lydia.

Bubba again with a longhorn and our line of riders.

After our ride, it was still relatively cool so we went on a walk and found the pond. They provide gear for catch and release fishing. We found frogs! And named this area Froggie Peninsula and visited it several more times.

The ranch dogs came to visit too and cooled off.

These are the official ranch greeters.

We waited for lunch sitting on the front porch and watched baby birds being fed by their mom.
Lunch was chicken spaghetti, fried zucchini, salad, potato chip cookies and more.  Lydia fed herself :)