We are back. Road trip time once again. Actually we are kind of piggy-backing on a trip to attend a funeral, but it has been a long time …
So
we headed south-ish. Ultimate goal? Aransas Pass, Texas. That is essentially Corpus Christi. And there is a National Park nearby where
Chris can get a stamp in her book. That’s
the plan for our early departure. We did
think about continuing on down to the Brownsville area where there is a battlefield
national park, but once we got closer we realized that it was still two and a half
hours from Corpus. Just a bit too
far. Next time. At least it gives us an excuse for another trip,
right?
Since
it was a fairly unfamiliar terrain - especially when good ol’ Google Siri took
Chris on a wild goose chase between here and Bay City. You should have heard the two of them
arguing. It got even better when Chris
purposefully took a “wrong” turn so she could stop by the cemetery where her
mom is buried. I had to turn off
Siri. She couldn’t keep up – since it
was a fairly unfamiliar terrain … I kept track of the wildlife we saw. That’s one of my road trip “things.” Ready for this one? Black cow, white cow, brown cow lying down in
a field with a white bird sitting on his back, hawk, donkey, horse, dog,
longhorn cow, vulture, deer, cat, bugs (a delightful assortment created a
marvelous array of design … on our windshield), a company called “Liquid
Rides” (hey, I said “wild life,” didn’t I?
Who wouldn’t want to ride a liquid ride?
Actually it was a place that sold boats), Heffelfinger Memorial Park
(That’s just about the most classic name I have heard in a long time), a
dog riding in a golf cart with a big American flag, the cleanest most socially
distanced Whataburger I’ve ever seen (in Port Lavaca, Texas), and a
great blue heron. Gotta love it.
As
I briefly mentioned before, we took a melancholy detour through the metropolis
of Van Vleck, Texas. That’s where Chris’
Mom is buried (also where we saw the two deer). Then we drove through Bay City, where Chris
grew up. There we drove by the house
where she grew up and the one where she lived for several months taking care of
her Mom during her last days. It was
kind of sad, but then Chris was ready to take on the rest of the trip, with or
without Siri’s help.
We
found a hotel that was in the group we usually stay with. It was on the other side of Corpus Christi from
where the funeral is today, but only by about thirty minutes. We got checked in, and then headed out to the
Padre Island National Seashore. It was …
a beach. We drove for a long time - to
the absolute end of the road, in fact - to get to the visitor’s center. But Chris did get her book stamped, so there was
that. We took a walk to check out the seashells,
but the beach had obviously been scraped before we arrived. It was a nice little walk though, not too far
to be painful. And they did have a gift
shop. That’s where I found a very cool
new stuffed friend. A baby sea turtle
hatching from its egg. Named him
Johannes Kemp Ridley, the Billionth. Chris
looked for a thimble for her collection, but they didn’t have any. The ranger did recommend a gift shop “back at
the north end of the Island.” And Chris
innocently asked, “Where is the north end?”
Sorry, but that struck me as funny.
We had just driven to the bitter end of the road. There was nothing in front of us but sand and
salt water, so it had to be back the way we came. I guess it was kind of like us orienting
everything on Galveston Island as “The West End” or the “East End.” Fortunately, we were all wearing masks. Unfortunately, it struck the ranger and the clerk
as funny as well, which caused my laughter to increase a tiny bit. It may or may not have become audible. Chris took it all in stride, though. She is awesome. In fact she drove right to the gift shop and was
rewarded for her efforts with a souvenir thimble. Then on the way back to the hotel the rewards
kept coming. We found a Luby’s that hadn’t
yet received word that they were all closing.
Chris had liver and onions. I had
chicken fried steak. Good stuff.
We
made it back to the hotel in time to watch the Astros game. Strange.
The only channel carrying the game in this bastion of Astros AA farm
team, the Corpus Christi Hooks? The feed
from the Texas Rangers. Kind of weird to
listen to the home-town announcers, especially when the Rangers had a walk-off
victory in the tenth inning. Fortunately
for the Astros, though, the Dodgers had a come-from-behind victory of their own
over the Angels, so that put the Astros into the post season. Honestly?
Things just don’t look so good for the Houston boys this year.
Well,
Chris is up and in the shower. We are going
to try to sneak in a little tourist activity before the funeral. Here’s hoping we can find a place to change clothes
before the ceremony …
Psalms
147:3 says, “He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.”
Father,
thank you for this chance to do a quick road trip. But please be with April and her family as
they walk through the tough days ahead. Give
them wisdom in the decisions they have to make.
Amen.
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