Serendipity at Goliad

Location: Goliad State Park; Goliad, Texas

This is Stop #8

Yep, you read that right, I'm back at Goliad. I'm here for a couple reasons besides it being conveniently located. I was looking for a place to rest up a little and do laundry. I originally planned to be here only two days but changed that to three so I would leave on a Monday. My next campground is a Passport America campground and the half price is for Monday thru Wednesday. So, Goliad fit the bill.

This was the last drive on the beach at Mustang Island. It's definitely in my top 10 places. Good vibs.

A serendipitous find before leaving Mustang Island State Park. This is the Chapel on the Dune in Port Aransas, Texas. It's been there for awhile and it's history, although hard to find, is available online.

The chapel wasn't open when I dropped by but I was able to get a decent picture through the window. It's a nice stop along the way.

Serendipity? I first ran across that word back in the early 70's when it was part of the name for a folk band, The Serendipity Singers. I was curious at the time and looked the word up and found it to mean "something good that happens by accident". The important word in that definition is "good". Something that is serendipitous can not be a bad, only good. 

As I was checking in to the campground here, I was told about a ranger led guided tour on Saturday of the Mission Espiritu Santo. It is the Spanish church-house/fort located on the grounds of the State Park. The church and the real fort located about a mile away, were built to show the French that this was Spanish territory. The history of this area if very interesting but I won't go into it here. But it is well worth a read on the internet on a rainy day. I didn't know about the tour before deciding to come here so it was a serendipitous event.

The old Spanish Church on the ground of the State Park. The stone wall is the remnants of the original wall that stood 10 feet high.

The main entrance to the sanctuary.

I found a thinking bench and it was very comfortable. 

There are three entrances to the church. The main entrance which I showed in the picture above. This entrance is the "door of death". Notice the skull and cross-bones over the door. This was the entrance for funeral, etc. Highly symbolic.

On the opposite side of the church is the "door of life". Notice the cross over the door symbolizing eternal life through Christ. 

The altar

The window at the top allows direct sunlight to shine on the altar. There is also a place for the choir in the loft above the door and a small confessional on the left. 

The view from the main entrance to the altar. The "door of death" is on the left and the "door of life" on the right. It was nice and interesting to this old Baptist Boy, but I'm sure Catholics would have enjoyed it more. 

The name of the Greyhound is Menlo. I asked if it was from Menlo Park where Edison did his inventing and she said she didn't know. Menlo used to race at a Greyhound Race Track before she was rescued by the lady. I asked if she liked to run when off-leash and the lady said only when other dogs are around. They live on a large plot of land and when other dogs come to visit Menlo likes to run around real fast then come back to the visiting dogs and stop,,,, as if to say, "what do you think of that?". It was a nice serendipitous short visit.

While on the tour, I overheard a couple of the other tour members discussing the Goliad Trade-days in town. I didn't know about that either before showing up here. Apparently it is a very big thing in these parts with lots and lots of vendors. I'm not big on buying things while traveling so I usually avoid places like trade-days. But, I figured I didn't have anything else planned and it would at least be good for people watching and maybe there would be a good food truck. So, after the tour, I headed to downtown Goliad. The trade-days surround the courthouse which is another typical of Texas, architecturally over-the-top courthouse building. Another serendipitous event.

That's the top of the Goliad County Courthouse in the background. Impressive uh?

The entire courthouse square was lined with vendor tents selling anything and everything. 

This was taken from near the courthouse building looking out over the vendors and people.

I serendipitously found one thing to buy. It is a knife for my son, Brandon. Since he lost the use of his right arm with the stroke, he can't cut up food, like steaks, with only one hand. This knife allows him to cut it up with one hand. He bought something similar a year or so ago but his didn't have a sheath. I've been on the look-out for a sheath for his ever since. They wouldn't sell only the sheath, so I bought the whole thing. Great find.  

And some people say I plan too much and should just let things happen. I think I'll stick with the planning and accept serendipity when it shows its beautiful head.

I'm off to do laundry today or maybe something else will show up. I need to go before these storm roll in so I'll proof read this later, but posting now. 

Tomorrow is moving day and I'll be heading to the coast again. This time it will be Matagorda Beach. Thunderstorms are predicted for tonight through tomorrow evening. I feel like I'm an old hand at dodging storms while towing but we will see tomorrow if my luck still holds true. I'll be taking some farm to market roads so I'm hoping for some serendipitous pictures opportunities along the way. Ok, Ok, I won't use the "S" word again.

Ya'll take care of each other. I'll Cya down the road.       

Goodbye Mustang Island Area (Mostly Pictures)

Location: Mustang Island State Park; Corpus Christi, Texas

Still at Stop #7

Today is the seventh day here at Mustang Island. Seven days are the maximum time I stay at a place when on the road. That amount of time seems about right to do some exploring around the area and to have a lazy day or two. The big draw at this park, for me, is the close access to the beach. Anyone can drive on the majority of Texas beaches. Texas has made a point to keep them as public places instead of semi-owned and controlled by commercial or residential parties. So, when I'm camped here, I can jump in Freedom and be on the beach within minutes. The other day I drove about ten miles on the beach between the State Park and Port Aransas. 

I've enjoyed my time here even though two cold fronts have passed through which brought a little rain and cooler temperatures but mostly wind and haze. I expected as much and was one of the reasons for the seven day stay. I figured maybe three to four decent weather days out of the seven. 

The remainder of this post will be mainly pictures with captions. They aren't in any particular order since they are from different times over the last few days. I won't post the pictures from a massive bridge construction site I visited. In fact, as I started taking the pictures of the site, I thought to myself, I'm the only one that would be interested in this, so I didn't take many. It was hard to whittle the 100's of pictures I've taken around the area to just these, but here goes:

One of the sunrises over the Gulf

The gulls were up early too.

I guess the gulls woke the pelicans up because they were flying somewhere in as a straight a line as they could with the wind.

Freedom at sunrise

A couple pelicans found a smooth spot of water to sit and fish. It was the only smooth spot for miles. I bet they come there regularly.

Another sunrise picture

I'm running out of things to say.

A long drive along the beach.

A combination of surf fishing and sitting/thinking. Either way, he seemed to be enjoying himself.

As I got closer to Port Aransas, the beach widened out a lot. They blade the beach on a regular basis. I saw two graders working on the day I passed through. Imagine this place on a hot summer weekend. I'm glad I'm here in the off-season.

This is near the State Park. Those are picnic tables and are available for use.

There were a few tent campers on the beach within the State Park limits. They definitely should have put up some kind of wind-break. I'm guessing after a while, they will just become part of the dunes unless they leave.

The long open road to Padre Island National Seashore. It's a nice drive but the beach is the same as everywhere else

The City of Corpus Christi seems to have annexed a lot of open land for future development. 

This home-made RV belongs to a guy named Patrick. He is one of the camp hosts at the bay-side campground (Windsurfer). I stopped and talked with him for a little bit. He's from Montana and travels around the country, like a crazy person. He came to Padre Island to camp and after two weeks was ready to leave when they offered him the camp host gig. He will be here a few weeks now. 

Three large off-shore drilling platforms at Port Aransas. It looked like they were getting some repairs done while in port. They are massive and can be seen for miles. Industry and tourism, co-existing. I like it.

I like this picture the most. It sort of sums up why I came here. That is Freedom waiting on me to return after walking up the beach for awhile. No one was around and it was perfect weather for a thinking/exploring walk.

I couldn't remember the last selfie I posted so I figured out how to do it on my new cell phone.

Tomorrow is moving day and I'll be headed back to Goliad. That place seems to be located exactly where I need it to be when I need it. 

Ya'll take care of each other. I'll Cya down the road. 

Mustang Island and the Gulf of Mexico

Location: Mustang Island State Park; Corpus Christi, Texas

Stop #7. I've added future stops
now that I have reservations.

Today ends day three of my seven day stay here at Mustang Island. As I've said before, when I travel, I pick a destination and head in that direction. I'll make as many stops along the way as I feel are needed, but the destination is always there in my head. Well, this was the destination for this trip. I camped here about five years ago and always wanted to return. The campground is mainly a parking lot with electric and water, but that is all I need for my stay of seven days. I like it because it is just minutes away from the beach with an access road right from the campground. Within five minutes of shutting Liberty's door, I can be driving on the beach finding a nice spot to stop. Once stopped, I can sit and watch the waves come in while pondering my past, present and future life. On a clear morning, the sun comes up over the gulf and I can watch it from the warmth of Freedom since the nighttime temperatures are still a little bit nippy at mid-40's. Walking the beach is another nice way to spend the afternoon.

Our campsite at Mustang Island State Park. The little window at the very top is the window I use to take some pictures. I call it the upstairs window. 

Access road to the beach from the campground. You can drive for miles along the beach. 

You can drive until you find a spot with nobody around for miles. During the week, the beaches are mostly deserted this time of year. 

From that paragraph, a person would think I've just been lounging around on the beach all day. Nope, I went into Corpus Christi in search of the "La Nina". It is a replica of Christopher Columbus' ship. At one time, all three ships, The Nina, The Pinta and The Santa Maria were here in Corpus. The Santa Maria and Pinta were hit by a barge and suffered major damage. They were eventually disassembled. The Nina has sank at least twice and is looking for a home. According to the internet, she was supposed to have been berthed at a pier in Corpus Christi. I went there and she wasn't there. I tried to find out what happened to her but I couldn't find anything. Then today, as I was crossing the Port Aransas Ferry, I spotted what looked like the Nina traveling in the bay. She wasn't under sail, but it looked like she was underway. I'm not sure if it was her or not but I grabbed my new cell phone to take a picture. The camera on my new phone isn't as good as my old cell phone so the picture didn't turn out too good. I have to get back into the habit of using my old phone for my pictures.
 

I think that is the "La Nina". At least it is the same appearance. Can you imagine crossing the Atlantic Ocean in a ship like that. I'm sorry for the quality of the picture. I grabbed my new phone instead of my old one. I'm not sure where she was headed but she appeared to be underway.

As a comparison in size to the Nina, I also took a picture of the aircraft carrier, U.S.S. Lexington, which is permanently docked in Corpus. She is almost 80 years old but still looks good. You can take a tour of her for a little less than a twenty dollar bill. I've seen an active carrier back in the 70's so I saved my money today to use for bribing the maitre d' at Taco Bell to find me a table without a reservation. We've come a long way in shipbuilding since 1492.

The U.S.S. Lexington. 

 Seeing the Lexington reminded me of a story I once heard. I have no idea if the event actually happened, but I do know the facts about the carrier are true and that one was sent to aid in tsunami relief. I'm posting it here, so it will be something my grandbabies will be able to read in the future.

There was a conference in France where a number of international engineers were taking part, including French and American. During a break, one of the French engineers came back into the room saying, "Have you heard the latest dumb stunt Bush has done? He has sent an aircraft carrier to Indonesia to help the tsunami victims. What does he intend to do, bomb them?"

A Boeing engineer stood up and replied quietly: "Our carriers have three hospitals on board that can treat several hundred people; they are Nuclear powered and can supply emergency electrical power to shore facilities; they have three cafeterias with the capacity to feed 3,000 people three meals a day, they can produce several thousand gallons of fresh water from sea water each day, and they carry half a dozen helicopters for use in transporting victims and injured to and from their flight deck. We have eleven such ships; how many does France have?"

You could have heard a pin drop.

How about a nice sunset as seen through the upstairs window of Liberty.

Ya'll take care of each other. I'll Cya down the road.  

Goliad, Texas is an Anagram

Location: Goliad State Park; Goliad, Texas

Stop #6

This is going to be a short post since it's a moving day. Today is the second day to be in Goliad. I've been here twice before back in late 2014 and again in early 2015. I stopped here to break up the trip to Corpus Christi and to do some chores. Those chores were laundry and a new tire to replace Liberty's spare. The replacement is needed simply due to the existing tire being almost eight years old. I called around and one was available in Victoria which is about 30 minutes away. This would work out great since I was thinking about staying in a city RV park in Victoria so I would be able to check it out after getting the tire mounted. I'm glad I did because I didn't care for the looks of the RV park. Pictures can be deceiving, especially pictures online. I also got a "bad vib" about Victoria, in general, as I was driving around downtown. I've learned to trust my vibs so I'll pass on staying at the city RV park or any other RV campground in the town. 

I will probably stay here in Goliad on my way back to Louisiana after leaving Corpus. That will make the fourth time I've camped here and I've yet to tour the church-house located right in the State Park. Maybe I'll get to it on my way back through.

My campsite here at Goliad. I'll have trouble with that green tree in front of Liberty. It will either require some fancy jockeying to miss the overhanging branches or I may just back out of the campsite. I noticed them before I set up camp and probably could have changed sites, but it isn't that big of a deal to avoid them.

This is my view out Liberty's door. I really liked the cloud formation after a small dry line passed through.

Goliad is rumored to be an anagram of the name, Hildago, which the "H" removed since it is silent. Hildago is the last name of the patriot priest, Miquel Hildago, who came to fame in the Mexican War of Independence from Spain. The people renamed the existing town of La Bahia in his honor but were afraid of pay-back from the Spanish if they came back into power. So to hide the name they removed the H and scrambled the remaining letters to form "Goliad". 

Goliad also became famous during the Texas War of Independence with the Goliad Massacre. I wrote about it during my previous stay and it is easier (on me), to just put a link to that post. https://gozatravels.blogspot.com/2015/01/from-goose-to-goliad-and-worse-than.html

This picture is in tribute to Francisca Alavez, The Angel of Goliad. She helped many, many Texans who had been captured by the Mexicans during the Texas War of Independence. In the background is the Fanin Memorial dedicated to the 300+ prisoners that were massacred at the order of General Santa Anna. See, the Alamo is not the only thing to remember.

Today's tow will only be about 100 miles so I can leave around 11:00 and still make it to Mustang Island by 1:00 or so. I'll be there for seven days. The weather is a little chilly but clear after a small front passed through. 

Well, I need to finish getting ready.

Ya'll take care of each other. I'll Cya down the road.  

Time to Head Towards the Gulf

Location: Potter's Creek Campground (Corps of Engineers); Canyon Lake, Texas

Still at stop #5

This will be the last COE campground for a while. Tomorrow is moving day and I'll be headed towards the Gulf of Mexico. After a two day stop in Goliad State Park, I'll be spending a week on Mustang Island just outside of Corpus Christi.

These four days on Canyon Lake have been pretty good. Yesterday I took another drive to see something that has been on my to-see list for a little while. It is Jacob's Well. It is basically an artesian well in the middle of a creek. It is an entrance to some underground caves filled with water. The well has been in use for a long time with times of slow and fast flow. It is definitely not a destination point but if you're in the area, it is worth a look-see.

Don't think of Hansel and Gretel when walking the path to Jacob's Well

Maybe, it would be better if there were some people around.

The darker blue hole on the right side of the creek is Jacob's Well.

A little bit better view. I got down on the concrete weir but the sun was reflecting off the water too bright for a good up close picture.

On the way back to the campground, I stopped at the dam to see what it looked like from the top. It is a pretty dam and lake. I really liked the benches under the sprawling tree with the view out to the lake.

Nice view from the top of the dam. You can walk the entire width of the dam if want,,,, I didn't want.

A great view from some "thinking benches". I sat and thought for a little while but nothing major was decided. Maybe the Gulf coast will answer all of my questions.

 Oh well, time to move on tomorrow, so I need to get a few things taken care of before going to bed.

Ya'll take care of each other. I'll Cya down the road.