Sand in everything

September 28/09 - Port Aransas, Texas
IB Magee Campground
Mileage: 33 km
Total mileage: 4,079 km

We are camped tonight in a beautiful campground in Port Aransas, nice little town. We are camped behind some large dunes and on grass.

We learned last night that beach camping sucks and it is far less romantic than it may seem. Woke up this morning with sand in the tent, sand in our sleeping bags, sand in our packs and sand in our dishes. Put on our sandy clothes and cycled north, spitting out sand all the while. Stopped for a bite to eat just before Port Aransas and as I ate my prepackaged deep fried apple pie I was still crunching down on sand. Tonight we were smarter due to experience, and I hope and pray that those poor tenters on the beach won't be blown away or become dunes themselves.

It was a short ride today. Port Aransas is to pretty a spot to cycle through without stopping. We toured the town on our bikes and went to the marina to look at the boats.

At the marina we met Joe and his brother Mark. We talked with them for a long, long time. Mostly Joe did the talking, Mark knowing better than to try and get a word in edgewise.

Joe told us that he didn't like cycling because when he was 6 years old Mark ambushed him and shot him off his bicycle with a pellet gun. Joe said he was riding from their mailbox back to the house when Mark and another brother jumped out from behind the water trough and 'Bam', shot him in the gut. Joe had a lot more stories, most of which I can't even remember. Information overload, but amusing and entertaining.

Joe and his wife live on their boat in a slip in the marina. They have lived in the boat for the past 13 years. $165/month. Now, the 40 foot semi-ocean going houseboat was nothing like you would see in a yachting magazine, but they appeared very comfortable and Joe obviously loved his life. It's interesting to see how different people live in so many different ways.

We enjoyed the dolphins putting on a show for us today in the inter coastal waterway. We swam in the Gulf and walked the beach for a long time. Ah, life is good!!