Out of San Antonio we head to the coast, along Padre Island. Just a random selection on the map brought us to Port Aransas, neither of us realized when making reservations at Pioneer RV Resort that this was where the eye of Hurricane Harvey made landfall, just months earlier. After spending about a week there we were continually reminded just how devastating Harvey must have been.
Everywhere there were signs: missing roofs and walls, huge piles of debris that has been collected and being loaded into trucks to be hauled away. Although the rebuilding is clearly evident and ongoing – lots of new roofs and fences – there remains a huge amount of work to recover. It appears that most services are back, gas stations, grocery stores and (maybe) half of the restaurants are open for business.
What a tough bunch of people living through this! A good time to be in construction for sure!
Not all was devastation though. It is quite evident what brings people to Port A, and why there are so many “Winter Texans” there! So many out of state license plates, mostly northern states, many from Canada, too. A beautiful, small town, beach city – completely understandable. The weather during our week was always windy, but temperatures ranged from cool to warm – never uncomfortable.
With a little negotiating by Laura, we secured a great location within the RV park, close to the beach and dog park and not in the middle of all of the other (more permanent) Winter Texans. Almost like being there with our own dunes, lagoons and sunrises!
The Padre Island chain is about 90 miles long, most of the beach is drive-able. Of course we took our Jeep onto the beach, and sometimes through the water. A couple of donuts slipped – oops 🙂
All in all, a very enjoyable part of Texas! Now on to Waco.