Enjoying Coastal Texas

I have been identified....I am a Hispid Cotton Rat.  I originally came from South  America but now I live in Southern Texas.

 

It was a cool night.  We had to use an extra blanket and turn on the space heater.  We were not in a hurry as we had no big plans for the day.  First thing we did was go to the beach to see what shells may have washed up on shore.  This is what the sand looks like in the morning.

It looked like it would be a beautiful day and it was.

We decided to visit a national wildlife refuge and while driving there I saw this purple house.  I have never seen a purple house so I wanted to document it.

The town nearest Sim Rim State Park is Sabine Pass and this is their high school.  It looks like a new building.  What I like about it is the center building in the complex looks like a lighthouse.  It is so appropriate because Sabine Pass sits on the coast of the Gulf of Mexico.

This is the National Wildlife Refuge we visited.

We were hoping to see alligators and we were not disappointed.

This was the largest one we saw.  We think he is probably at least six feet long.

This one was sunning himself on some lake debris.

Another one enjoying the sunshine.  It was a beautiful day to be outside.  Temperatures were in the mid-70's.

Besides alligators we saw lots of ducks like these.

We took a couple of hikes on boardwalk trails.

Saw this large turtle.

We saw lots of blue and while heron.

There are three turtles on this log.

This alligator was camouflaged very well but we still spotted him.

Another boardwalk trail we took.  The trail had several places in it where it bypassed  a tree.

After we left the refuge, we drove to Port Arthur to get an early supper and scout out the routes we will take on Monday through Port Arthur.  It is so much easier to find lanes and turns with the car rather than the motorhome.  We had never eaten at a Saltgrass restaurant.  

Carol ordered the chicken-fried steak and mashed potatoes.  Believe it or not, he had to use a take home box.

The beach in Sea Rim State Park is packed hard sand and can be driven on even if your vehicle is not four-wheel.  Here we are driving on the beach.

We got back to camp around 4:00 and settled into lawn chairs for a nap and rest.  We think site #12 is the best one in this campground.  We have a view from our site of the Gulf.  Our little Cotton Rat friend visited us again.  He must live in the grasses close to our site

About 6:15 we headed for the beach to shell and watch the sunset.  We were not disappointed in the sunset.  It was beautiful.  This blue heron was looking for his supper.

This is the way we both walk on the beach...with our heads down.

We left the beach just in time to avoid those pesky mosquitoes.  We played our usual game of Skip-Bo and relaxed the rest of the evening inside.  We have decided that we will not get in the car tomorrow  We will stay around the campsite and relax.   I don't think there has been a day this whole trip that we did at lest get in the car to go somewhere.  Who knows how many times we will go to the beach.  It doesn't feel as cool as it did last night but it will be cool enough to sleep well.