Padre Island National Seashore

Today we took a drive to this local state park. Dad's home is in a neighborhood of closely spaced homes, but on the other side of the street is 65 miles of open land. It is absolutely beautiful. I keep trying to capture the essence of how big and open everything is, but I just can't do it justice.

I was very disheartened to drive into the park and see all these security cameras. I almost wanted to leave.

This cabin is part of the old line camp where cowboys used to bring their cattle on the cattledrives. Maggie really wanted to walk the 1/2-mile down there, but we weren't dressed for the occasion, and we had no water bottles. Hopefully we will go back prepared.

The park has a wonderful indoor education center. We learned that the three most common animals to be aware of on the beach are these crabs,

these mice, and most dreaded of all,

these rattlers. Rattlesnakes are a very real threat around here. The schools are having major problems with them being nearby.

There are 65 miles of beach that you can drive on or camp on. That seems to be a very popular thing around here. Right now the beaches are full of smelly seaweed. We saw the annual seaweed cleanup begin this morning.

The wildflowers are beautiful.

This park is very cheap. Dad pays $10 for a yearly pass. We drove past a few dozen RVs and campers today. Most were from Ontario and Quebec, Canada. I guess the warm weather draws them. Dad says that during the summer months when the water temp is 88 degrees (F), the beach will be packed with RVs for miles and miles. This is prime beachfront property!

On Sunday, we went went to this tiny church in Corpus Christi called Lighthouse Baptist Church. There were 65 people in attendance, counting every child and adult.
I felt like we were in a small mission church on some faraway island. The pastor preached a good sermon for the service, and his father preached a good sermon for the Sunday School.

We are looking for ways to serve in this church while we are here. Tonight Dad went to help install the new bathroom while I am going through the pantry looking for any items to give to their food pantry.

It feels different to live in a county where we are a minority. The breakdown for this county is Hispanics-54.5%, Caucasian-34.5%, Native American-2.5%, African American-4.7%, and of course, other. I looked up my own county back home in Maryland, and the breakdown is 81.6%-Caucasian, 13.9%-African American, and the rest, other. Some difference!

Thank you, everyone, for your many emails letting us know you are praying for us. We are so thankful for many, many answers to prayer. Maggie is doing well. Her Doctor says this week we should start to see the first signs of improvement. We are all hopeful and prayerful. We will keep you updated.

Many blessings ~ Kathie