We had a good travel day and were glad to arrive in South Padre Island.
TGIF, and that we only have a 2 hour and some change drive today. We finally make it to South Padre Island for the weekend. I had a decent night of sleep, but my back is hurting due to all the driving, so hoping it’ll get back to normal after the weekend. We also had our first night with the AC on since we started the trip 6 months ago! It is 6:44 now, very foggy outside, but should be better later in the morning. We will hit some strong winds when we get to SPI, around 18-20mph, so it will be a bit interesting when we get there, but should be fine, just will need to go slow. We will take our time this morning and make sure the girls can finish school, and finish catching up as well, so when we get to the beach we can just enjoy.
We had a good morning routine today as the wifi was very good. Bia was up and going, and got all her Friday work done, and some catch up work done before we left. Bella did her ELA class online, and got some work done as well, and some catch up. They both did as much as they could before we left, so it was good.
It was kind of cloudy and looked like it was going to rain any time, so we tried to pull the slideout in as soon as possible, so we would not be stuck with it all wet. That was the only thing we kind of rushed to do. Carol made lunch for later, cleaned up inside, cleaned the bathroom, etc. I had a call and did some work, and was able to get yesterday’s post done, and finish a post from last week, and also post something again this morning. We still wanted to leave around 11, so just after 9 I started working on things outside and packing. It was a bit messy to pack things up this time. Between the nastiness of the dirt around the trailer and truck, and the tall grass and bugs around the campground, there was not much that was clean. The back compartment where I keep the hoses, cables, etc is pretty dirty now, I’ll need to clean it up when we are at some spot for a longer period of time. We finished our packing process as usual and were pulling out of our spot by 11am.
The drive to SPI was easy, pretty much one highway all the way down, all flat. The wind gusts were strong at times and really did push us around bit, but it was not to the point of being dangerous at any point. As we were getting closer, google maps showed me an option to avoid tolls, so I took that as we didn’t have any cash in hand :). That just had us drive through Port Isabel, it was easier driving, shorter mileage, but had some local traffic and traffic lights. From Port Isabel we cross a long bridge over the water to get to SPI, and our KOA was less than a mile off the bridge, to the right, with a big sign, so it was super easy to find. As we drove in, the place looked packed, with very few spots open, but we could already tell, this was a nice campground. Nice facilities, nice office, beach, playground, pool, and location.
I checked in, and we have a spot right in front of the office. The lady told me to turn around down the street so I could pass the spot on my right, then back in. I don’t like backing in to my right as I can’t see much, so I scoped out the spot and felt I could back in from my left. We were right by the spot, so I just passed it a bit and backed in. It took two moves forward to get lined up right, but I got in with no stress. The good news at check in… I can wash the vehicles again. hahahaha. The bad news as we were setting up, Carol dropped one of the weight distribution bars onto the trailer frame, and it cut two holes on the black metal sheet that protects the front of the trailer from debris. It looks like a vampire took a bite out of it. We’ll have to tape it up for now, but find a better solution to make sure water does not get in there.
The girls saw an ice cream cart driving around and were going crazy to get ice cream, but they had to wait for it to come back. As we were setting up, the cart came back, and they learned it was free ice cream! Even better. :). Carol later looked it up and they have a bunch of free activities here, something different every day.
I got the minimum setup and connected, and decided I had to wash the trailer and truck, they were nasty dirty. So, while I washed the trailer, Carol and the girls were inside having lunch. When I finished the door side of the trailer, Carol came out and started grooming Maggie. The girls were inside finishing their school work. The wifi here is decent. I finished washing the trailer, then did the truck and was done in 2.5 hours. Yay, everything looking clean again. Just about when I was done, the girls were done too and went to the playground, which is across the street from our spot. I finished setting up the trailer, just had the sewer hose and extra support to setup, and sat outside having a beer.
The girls came back, and we were all outside for a bit, checking out the sunset. Then we walked around a bit to see what they have, they wanted to see the beach, but the beach access is not close here, it’s on the other side of the island (like a mile away).
Oh, and the birds… there are a ton of birds around here, flying around, “singing”, it’s pretty cool. Sometimes they all fly at the same time.
It was getting dark, so we started going in. Bella went in first, showered and went on her computer. Then I showered, turned the TV on and had dinner\lunch. Then Bia came in from the playground and showered and watched some TV, then Youtube. Carol was working on the puzzle through all that and was the last one to shower. We all kind of ate around the same time, just not sitting together as a family meal. I started falling asleep around 9, I was pretty tired, so I just got ready for bed. Soon after Carol had the girls get ready too, and we turned all the electronics off. No-one has to wake up early tomorrow, but we are not staying up too late tonight as the parents are tired hahahaha. We left the AC on at 76F, but it is not running as it is cool in here, so we have some fans running for air circulation and I kind of like the white noise.
It was a good moving day, and I’m glad we are at a nice campground by the beach for a relaxing weekend.