Texas

We got the guidance to head west to Texas, so we said a fond farewell to Florida and made our way quickly though Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana. Once we hit the Texas border, more magical adventures occurred. We thoroughly enjoyed being “accidentally stranded” in Yoakum, Texas. We also visited Austin and the McKinney Falls State Park. Be sure to check the journal entries for details and look for the book! Click on the pictures for a large version.

Pond in Lake Charles, LA	Lillies in Lake Charles	Our friend, Wanda Lewis, in Houston with Licia
Country music night in Yoakum	Yoakum Wildflowers	Evening Sky in Yoakum
Yoakum Wildflowers	Sunrise at the City RV Park in Yoakum	More Sunrise
Sun in the Live Oaks in Yoakum	Fields at Sunrise, Yoakum	Field of Wildflowers in Yoakum

We had a chance to go into Austin and meet with River Guerguerian for Jess to have a drumming lesson. What a great treat! Here are the photos from the Austin Area:

Conquistador at the Bob Bullock Texas State Museum	Horse armor at Bob Bullock	Sunset at McKinney Falls State Park
Bluebells	More Bluebells	Cactus Blossom
Cactus and Bluebells	Cactus	Bluebell Stalk
Trees at our campsite	Upper McKinney Falls	River before the Falls
Secondary Falls	The Main Falls	River Guerguerian and Jess in Austin

Padre Island

We were guided to go to Padre Island, a beautiful, wild beach with an undeveloped coastline almost 70 miles long. There we “fell into” a campground hosting opportunity that enabled us to stay there for 5 months. Our duties included orienting campers, fending off coyotes, wrangling rattlesnakes, dodging lightning and rescuing sea turtles. What an amazing chapter in our journey! Click on the pictures for a large version.

Aidan on a calm day at Padre	Flowers in the grasslands	Pond in the grasslands
Our Camping Site!	View from the dunes towards our campsite	Dragon's Back
Jude in the distance	Sunset from the top of the dunes	More sunset
Sunrise from the Dining Room Table	Jess and Aidan on a calm day	Sunset over the Dunes
Sunrise over the Gulf	Sunrise over the Gulf	Sunrise over the Gulf
Sunrise over the Gulf	Sunrise over the Gulf	Yep! another sunrise
ditto	and another!	Massagua Rattlesnake in the Parking Lot!
Afternoon storm over the Campground	Sunrise with rainbow	Sunrise with rainbow
A doe in the front yard	Sunrise	Coyote on the sand dunes
Sunrise	Storm over the gulf	Storm over the dunes

The Marshes behind the dunes	ditto	ditto
Flowers in the marsh	Cattails	The Tucker Girls as "Charlie's Angels"!
Rainbow over the gulf	Jess, Aidan, Julia, Sarah and Melissa	Jess, Sarah, Aidan, Melissa and Julia
Full Moon rising over the Gulf	Full Moon

Here are some pictures from Aidan’s 7th Birthday here on Padre Island. We went up to Mustang Island just north of Padre for a Horse-riding on the beach! It was a blast for the kids and we had a great time watching!

Aidan in his cowboy outfit	Ready for riding in his boots	Aidan and Jess ready to ride
Aidan mounting Mouse	Jess mounting Clyde	Aidan looking tall in the saddle
On the Beach	All four Riders	Looking comfortable!

Here are final images from Padre Island. We completed our Hosting on September 14th, 2004 and left early on the morning of the 15th just as the hurricane was coming ashore, heading to Albuquerque, New Mexico to visit new friends there.

Sunrise reflections in the sand	Another Padre sunrise	More reflections with birds
Sun on the Gulf	Again	Jess and Aidan at the Mexico-USA border on the Rio Grande
Entering Nuevo Progresso Mexico	Jess in front of a Mural in a Shopping Plaza	Beautiful Colors!

Padre Island

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