A Trip Down South

March 20 we left on a road trip to south Texas. Our destination was SeaWind RV Resort in Riviera, close to Padre Island and south of Kingsville. It's a Passport America park, which means you pay half price for your campsite if you have the pass.  We had full hookups and 50 amp service. Lots of things blooming down here. The corn is already a foot high in the fields. And the mosquitoes are small and in high numbers here.  Oh well.....

Lots of wind made for tough fishing.

I loved how the sand was baby sea shells.

We brought our baby trailer on this extended camping trip. We haven't had the opportunity to make sure it is road ready for our upcoming Alaska trip.  It's quite cozy and comfortable. Glad it has the 2 a/c's as this is a really warm afternoon.

We have never spent time in Kingsville, home of the King Ranch.  This ranch is 825,000 acres making it one of the largest in the world. In comparison, it's a little bit larger than the state of Rhode Island.  It was founded in 1853 by Captain Richard King.  I know you're familiar with Ford truck's King Ranch trim package. Yep - this is the same King Ranch. (The Ranch needed a LOT of trucks and Ford was looking for a good brand opportunity.) The "running W" brand has been used on the King Ranch since the 1860's. 

They have a great museum in the town of Kingsville.

In 1852, Capt. King bought a 15,000 acre Spanish Land Grant for $300.  He continued buying contiguous land along the only fresh water creek around the area, the Santa Gertrudis Creek.  The foundation of the ranch would be longhorn steers. They also had up to 2,900 quarter horses. There were hard times in the 1920's and 1930's, like most of America was experiencing. But they completed an active oil well in 1939. The Borregas oil field was discovered shortly after.  And the rest is history.

Longhorns

Oh, for those of you interested in cattle.  They developed the Santa Gertrudis breed, the first American cattle breed. They are comprised of 5/8 Shorthorn (my favorite breed) and 3/8 Brahman breed.

They also farm cotton (one of the biggest producers in America according to our tour guide), milo and corn. They own grass farms not only in Texas but also in Florida. Also sugar cane.

The best part of the day?  A trip to the famous King's Inn for dinner.  There are no menus here. Everything is served family style. They have an awesome house salad (tomatoes and avocados sliced over lettuce) served with their famous tarter sauce, which is out of this world.  You can drool over the pictures!

Everything is served family style.

The next day we took a drive to Padre Island National Seashore and to also check out Mustang Island State Park which is on the north end of the island outside of Corpus Christi.  Believe it or not, we have never visited either of these areas. That tends to happen when you live close to something - you don't do it because of tourists, or some other excuse, or just not enough time because you have to get back to work.  It was a great day for a walk and a picnic on the beach.  These beaches are much nicer than those around Surfside and Freeport, where we grew up.  The campgrounds at both parks are on the beach.  The state park does have electric but we didn't like their setup. The National Seashore has great sites, but no hookups, unless you are the camp host. They are also first come, first serve. We will explore applying for a volunteer job here, although I am sure they are already booked up for the cooler months.  And of course as in so many of the parks in the national park system, you will learn that President Lyndon Johnson had a hand in getting the park established.  There were pictures of Lady Bird at the dedication of Padre Island National Seashore. The rangers told us a story that LBJ wasn't interested in making this a National Seashore, but as soon as he left on a trip out of the country, Lady Bird and Stuart Udall make it happen. Thanks Lady Bird!

Do you see the bird feeding?

Loved the guy playing his guitar on the beach,

You can almost imagine a sunken pirate ship!

Next up we are meeting up with friends at a Polka Fest in Hallettsville, followed by some hill country time at Pedernales Falls State Park, and then a Sausage Festival in Schulenburg.  It's gonna be fun!