Day 19 - South Padre Island

Social life at an RV park. Yesterday evening, there was an ice cream social. $2 for a large bowl of decent ice cream with a choice of seven flavors. And there was live entertainment. He was actually pretty good and sang a wide variety of music. Maybe there is something to the idea that we all like the music we grew up with. I’m finding that even the canned music at the pool is mostly music that enjoyed while in high school and college. Interesting…

I actually spotted another Mandalay coach here at the park. It is a newer model but many things look similar. Including the location and size of the slides. It is branded as a Presidio but that is the model name used by Thor Industries for the Mandalay from 2006 until around 2009 when the brand was discontinued. Some notable differences are the rear radiator and the kitchen and bedroom slides are on the opposite side. This is the first one we’ve seen since starting this trip.

It’s 74°F and I’m sitting outside in my folding, rocking chair watching the palm trees. Sure couldn’t do that at home today. At -26°F in Fairbanks, there is a 100°F difference.

We drove to South Padre Island to the Birding and Nature Center. It was very slow going due to road construction and way too many signal lights. We stopped for lunch at a very small place called Ceviche. And that is exactly what was on the menu. I had the mahi-mahi and shrimp mixed with jicama, mango, tomatoes, celery, and olives. Finished off with plenty of lime juice. Very tasty…

We then continued on to the Birding Center. Originally, we were going to the Turtle Park, which is next door, but they are closed on Mondays. There was quite a bit to see and they had an observation tower where the last two pictures were taken.

South Padre Island is a pretty touristy location. Tons of hotels and restaurants. They mentioned that with rising sea levels, this island only has another century at the outside. A very cool lace to visit.

Oh yeah, they had plenty of alligators including some “in the wild”. These were a bunch of juveniles in a pen. The largest they had in captivity was around 12’ and named Big Padre.