A visual journey on the Texas/Mexico Coastline.
It was time to recalibrate and reset my mind, body and soul and take a vacation. Having been denied a trip to the Chihuahuan desert plains near Terlingqua and Big Bend National park twice, once to COVID and the second time due to wildfire, I had to think of another destination. The idea being somewhere I haven’t been, remote and less people. So let’s head down to the Boca Chica Beach on the Mexican border.
Along with MissAdventure, we drove down all the way through Texas with visits to Dallas, Austin, San Antonio, Corpus Christi, Brownsville, South Padre Island and finally, Boca Chica.
Beaches are considered as highways in Texas so of course I decided to do just that and ended up stuck in the sand for ten minutes until we wedged it out. Next time, go for the compacted sand closer to the water. Later on we did just that. Rolling down the windows, beers in hand while driving the maximum speed allowed of 15 mph. I enjoyed every minute of it but was mindful of the rising tides and driving up closer to the deeper bits of sand on the beach so we turned back.
Having parked our little mule on the tarmac we then set foot south for three miles towards the Mexican border and the confluence of the Rio Grande and the Gulf of Mexico. Along the way we were treated to the most concentrated collection of sea shells I have ever seen dumped onto the shores. We even discovered five washed up Portuguese Man O’ War jellyfish, er, hydrozoan, excuse me, and catfish. Did you know that there were PMOWs and catfish in the Gulf of Mexico? I didn’t, and this added to the adventure. Finally we reached the river that divides two countries and waved to the vacationing Mexicans on the other side. Life is different when you see it from this perspective. What are boundaries? Why are they needed? Why do we still use the term “foreigners” and who the hell wants to put up a wall that prevents us from being proper neighbors?
After time spent on the border we decided to trek the three mile stroll back. At one point we had the whole beach to ourselves and it was glorious.
Due to the high winds and rising tide we decided not to set up the tent on the beach or start a fire, opting instead to spend the night in the SUV. We were treated to views of the Space-X launch facility and workers assembling the Starship overnight.
The next morning I woke up early to see the crews still maintaining the spacecraft in preparation for a test launch. After finding suitable restroom facilities in the dark and behind a sand dune, we treated ourselves to the sunrise coming in over the ocean and then fed the seagulls and grackles their bread breakfast and decided it was time to head back before Space-X had the road closed for two days. Too bad we weren’t allowed to stay on the beach any longer.
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