27 Apr 2023 - Storms, Shopping and Walks

 

We woke this morning to another round of storms including heavy rain, hail and winds. This is becoming the norm down here.  The storms today extended from Texas all along the Gulf Coast into Florida.  With cell phones it is much easier to stay in tuned with the weather, but we still carry a battery-powered portable weather radio with us when we have to "bug-out" and take shelter.

Because it is naturally windy here, everything outside was already secured (or we never got it out).  Before the storm hit we powered down our Winegard satellite dish that is mounted on the roof.  This causes it to fold down into the stowed position and protects it from damage in the high winds.  

Then came the storm along with very heavy rains and some small hail.  The winds picked up substantially.  I am thankful we purchased our Weatherflow Tempest device as it allows me to actually measure wind speed right here in the campground.  So this was this morning!

Gusts to 45 mph!

So Doreen and I hunkered down and did some work around here.  No sense in trying to do any touring in this kind of weather.  Later in the day the storm passed and the sun emerged.  We all enjoyed a couple walks around the park.  The rain accumulated but it did not take it too long to soak in.

Low lands next to the shore become a pond

After our walks Liberty was ready for a nap, so Doreen and I headed up to the Commissary (food store) and the Naval Exchange (NEX).  We replenished a few fresh items in the fridge and picked up some other items in the NEX.  

After dinner we headed out on another walk, this time down to the boat harbor.  This area appears to have been a sea plane port and there are tie downs imbedded in the concrete in a pattern.  There is also a couple ramps where sea planes would transition from the water to land. 

One of the many aircraft tie-downs on the old seaplane ramp

The ramp extends down into the water.

We walked out onto a jetty to an old fishing pier and there were some folks fishing there.  They hoped to catch some flounder, black trout and drum.  

They pointed out a dolphin cruising the area and we watched it surface several times.  

Before we left the area Doreen selected a few sea shells to bring back.  Nothing spectacular here as far as shells.

Back at the campground we met our neighbors from Gardiner Maine.  Paul is a retired Navy Veteran and his son is stationed here training pilots.  We talked a lot about Maine and our time in "the County" (Aroostook County) and our Maine trip in 2016.  Gardiner is not too far from the campground we stayed in 2016.  As we talked the sun set over the base.

Tomorrow we will hopefully visit Padre Island again and have a look around.  Since we spent quite a bit of time here in 2019, we've seen the Texas State Aquarium, the USS Lexington, the Astro's minor league baseball field and many other local attractions.  We will see what tomorrow brings.  The forecast is for improving weather.