Coastal Breeze RV Resort, Rockport, Texas
Then the chief cupbearer said to Pharaoh, “Today I am reminded of my shortcomings. Pharaoh was once angry with his servants, and he imprisoned me and the chief baker in the house of the captain of the guard. Each of us had a dream the same night, and each dream had a meaning of its own. Now a young Hebrew was there with us, a servant of the captain of the guard. We told him our dreams, and he interpreted them for us, giving each man the interpretation of his dream. And things turned out exactly as he interpreted them to us… ~ Genesis 41:9-13 Circumstances have brought Joseph to the mind of the cupbearer. Finally! But lest we forget, God’s timing is always perfect. What if the cupbearer had gone to Pharaoh and pleaded for Joseph’s release immediately? Would Pharaoh have become angry and executed the cupbearer and dismissed Joseph? But now, Pharaoh needs Joseph. He doesn’t actually know that yet, but all of his other ‘go to’ people have disappointed him and he desperately wants an explanation for his dream. And the cupbearer has had two years to ingratiate himself to Pharaoh and is now in a position to recommend Joseph. Don’t you just hate waiting for God to act? I think it’s one of the most difficult things He asks of us – especially when we see no reason to. Especially when we feel lives are at risk by waiting (I mean that literally as well as figuratively). And yet, God always knows exactly what He’s doing. And He always answers perfectly. Even if we can’t or won’t see it.
Padre Island National Seashore is a strip of land (a barrier island, actually) that was established in 1962. It holds about 130,000 acres of land and water. It’s width ranges from ½ mile to 3 miles, and at 70 miles long, it’s the longest undeveloped barrier island in the world.
And you can camp on part of it, and drive on all 70 miles. Well, the driving part is actually 60 miles. The other 10 is the rest of the Park, that holds a more traditional campground and actually driving to get to the driving on beach part. Got it? Or did I make it confusing? Aww, you don’t really care anyway, do you?
We set out with the thought of possibly . . . just possibly, driving the entire 60 miles, but that’s just one way, and with a speed limit of 15mph, that would mean four hours of unchanging scenery, plus stops. AND, it was an hour drive to get from our campground in Rockport to the entrance.
Anyway, that’s more than enough about the logistics.
It was a gorgeous day! And the isolation, wrapped in God’s Creation, was just the medicine we needed. It’s not a day we’ll soon forget, and there’s really not much to say about it. Enjoy the pictures, with a few comments scattered here and there.
This flyer is from 1931.
I took a picture of our TV screen.
The only trail in the park, as it turned out. There wasn’t much to see,
but it was a good opportunity for us to stretch our legs after being in the Jeep for just over an hour.
At the bottom, it says they love volunteers to pick up trash, and they’ll provide trash bags! : )
But they don’t appreciate people trying to take their picture. : (
But they are in numbers too high to even consider counting!
We wondered what an entire shell would look like!
It’s actually a mound of sand.
There are thousands, maybe millions of them all over the beach.
Google is a fascinating place where you can search for information in milliseconds
with an abysmal amount of information. Read below!
Ghost shrimp are appropriately named because they are totally transparent. Despite their shrimp-like appearance, they are actually more closely related to crabs. Four distinct species of Ghost shrimp have been identified as inhabiting the waters of the Gulf of Mexico. Found at water’s edge, they burrow down in seafloor sediments, collecting bits of food. Though they are small, reaching up to three to four inches, Ghost shrimp can dig burrows that can be four feet deep. They are an important part of intertidal ecosystems, because they drive oxygen into the sand as they burrow, which helps organic matter to decompose, enriching the sediment, and ultimately providing food for more creatures.
Outside of the National Seashore, fishermen use Ghost shrimp as bait, using a plunger-like sand pump that sucks the shrimp out of their burrows, but are allowed to collect no more than 20 per day. At the park, these shrimp are protected from being used as bait by fishermen, and extracting the shrimp is prohibited in order to provide a healthy food supply to migratory birds. Even though they are close to the bottom of the food chain, Ghost shrimp are hardy animals, and can survive for up to six days without oxygen. At low tide you can often see little volcano-like holes in the sand, which are Ghost shrimp burrows. At the water’s edge, the world underneath your toes is complex and dynamic, and Ghost shrimp are among many other creatures that call this fragile habitat their home. – nps.cov
No wonder Blaine couldn’t find the creature under the sand, no matter how deep he dug with his hands!
I like this picture taken through the Jeep!
deciding we could open a shoe store for one-footed people with all the shoes he saw!
He just picked them up with a piece of palm tree. Ha!!
We crept up on them very slowly – like Elmer Fudd stalking Bugs Bunny!
One more thing. Since we knew we were spending 30 days here, we had looked into doing some volunteer work, even sent out an email to the State Park nearby. But we never got a response – even though I told them Blaine was a former electrician (that usually perks up people’s ears! lol). After our drive today and seeing the trash spewed up on the beach, we’ve decided to return one day next week armed with trash bags. We can’t imagine a more scenic and peaceful place to volunteer!
We had given my mom a personalized puzzle for Christmas, with no indication whatsoever of what was in the box. Today, she sent us a picture of it! Great memories!
