Christmas Vacation - Travel Day and Day 1
In the midst of all my previous hawk-related posts, now that I am hawk-less, I might as well share my thoughts regarding a much-anticipated vacation we had planned over the holidays. This is, after all, my blog . . . and not necessarily just falconry only. So, I'll abuse everyone with tales of my trip.
Saturday, December 25, 2004
We came to live in Wisconsin almost 10 years ago, in February 1995. Since that time we have not taken a vacation together anywhere other than visiting family . . . which does not count! When we were living in Dallas, we needed to get away from the city from time to time, to reconnect with each other . . . with nature . . . with peace and quiet. But when we came to live in Wisconsin, we found that all in our back yard. However, I have been making it rather clear to my husband that I have missed the beach, and have longed to visit.
My parents both had family living in the Texas lower valley, and we would spend our family vacations there. This usually always included going to the beach on South Padre Island . . . and getting sun burned, and having my Great Aunt Vera treat us with aloe vera she grew in her home. I have many fond memories of time spent on the beach, combing it for shells and sand dollars, and watching the crabs, and the sea birds. I still frequently dream of walking the beach, and it is an aspect of childhood innocence and wonder, and returning to my roots.
Shawn acquiesced to my requests, and surprised me earlier this year by announcing he had made reservations for us to visit Corpus Christi, Texas over the Christmas vacation, when he had time off . . . and I could take time off. Corpus is located north of where my family used to visit. We have visited here before, but just a little further north, at Port Aransas. The area of Corpus itself is not so nice, a bit run down, and being located in a bay, but it is nearby many National Parks and nature reserves, one of which is the location of the last remaining wild whooping crane wintering grounds. With our home near Necedah, Wisconsin being the location of the introduced flock, I find it interestingly ironic.
We were very busy on the day before we flew out, so did not get a whole lot of sleep that night (about 1 hour). We only had to make it to the first flight. The pilots would do all the rest of the work. We flew out of La Crosse, Wisconsin around 6:00 am, Christmas Eve. It was about 11 degrees below zero, with a wind chill of –25 or so. Yes . . . Texas is going to feel really nice!!
Our flights were not memorable . . . which is how you want flights to be. We connected in Chicago, caught a plane there to Dallas, Texas, and from there a small flight into Corpus. Get off the plane, get a rental car, find your hotel, check in. We then searched out a grocery store, and stocked up on picnic supplies, coffee and snacks. It was certainly confirmed to me that we were indeed in Texas, as the grocery store had a booth where a woman was making fresh tortillas. If you have never tasted fresh tortillas hot off the griddle, you are missing something quite nice. We bought a dozen, and began eating them on the trip back to our hotel. So good they are, you do not need anything on them!
We did walk on the beach by our hotel for a few minutes, if you want to call it a beach. Corpus Christi is located inside the Corpus Bay. So there is no tidal action, and it is more like being on a large lake. For anyone that has never been to a true beach on the ocean, they may be fooled. But I knew better. Besides, it was also quite cold, even for this Wisconsinite. A winter storm was moving into the area, and a very cold wind preceded it. This was to prove significant. Settling into our room, we did notice a few snowflakes falling from the sky.
We decided to come to Corpus Christi in December to escape the cold of the upper Mid West. This is why we were incredibly surprised to wake up to 4 inches of snow. All the locals we met looked shocked . . . and the weather stations confirmed there has not been this amount of snow in Corpus over the last 70 years, all put together!! We plan a trip to an otherwise warm location . . . and the snow follows us! We walked around the area and took pictures, to document this momentous event. The sky was clear now, with the storm having passed, and the snow was already beginning to melt. It was forecast to get into the mid 40s that day, and up to the high 60s the next day. The winter storm will be a memory very soon.
We lounged in our room, letting the roads clear, as we KNOW the locals do not have snow plowing equipment, nor any experience driving on icy roads. We enjoyed the Christmas morning together, calling family, and regaling them about the incredibly amusing situation we found ourselves in. When we did finally venture out, we had to reroute a bit, as a few of the bridges were still closed. We were able to drive north of the area, and took a route up to Port Aransas, taking a ferry to get to the island, and then driving out onto the beach in several locations. We then drove south on the island from Port Aransas, down into Padre Island, and then looped back onto the Corpus mainland.
How to describe the emotion I feel when returning to the beach? I am not one of the “beautiful people”, who want to be seen lounging in the sun. And certainly not at this time of the year. I come to feel the energy, the raw power of the location. It is a meeting place between wind, water and land. There is life here, many shore birds snatching up bits of food, fish leaping in the waves, dolphins and other sea life. But there is also death. Shells cast up. Broken bits of plants. Jellies washed up. It is a dynamic confluence of powers, and particularly intoxicating to my spirit. It is a coming home! Even though it was not particularly warm (mid 40’s), and the water was pretty cool, I shed my shoes anyway and touched the ocean.
I am, of course, very raptor-oriented. There are some kind of hawk here that I have not yet identified, as I have not gotten a good look at them . . . yet. We did see a harrier (or marsh hawk) dive down on something in the grass. And as we were leaving the island I saw a falcon on the power line. What kind . . . I don’t know, again, not a really good look to notice field marks, but it was, most definitely, a falcon. And there are deer here. White-tail deer to be specific. Imagine that! We saw a small group of them on the side of the road. We joked with each other, my husband and I, that we needed to make sure we didn’t hit a deer while we were away from Wisconsin. We already brought the snow here. Don’t need to hit a deer in our rental car, so far away from the deer-infested woods of our home up north.
We ended our first full day here in South Texas having dinner out of our little refrigerator, calling a few more family members that we missed this morning, and watching a movie on our laptop. It is a very relaxing experience, and what a vacation should be. We plan to sleep in tomorrow . . . as the wet roads today are to freeze up tonight. There is still some winter weather to deal with. We plan to watch the sun come up one of these mornings . . . but it will not be tomorrow!
Saturday, December 25, 2004
We came to live in Wisconsin almost 10 years ago, in February 1995. Since that time we have not taken a vacation together anywhere other than visiting family . . . which does not count! When we were living in Dallas, we needed to get away from the city from time to time, to reconnect with each other . . . with nature . . . with peace and quiet. But when we came to live in Wisconsin, we found that all in our back yard. However, I have been making it rather clear to my husband that I have missed the beach, and have longed to visit.
My parents both had family living in the Texas lower valley, and we would spend our family vacations there. This usually always included going to the beach on South Padre Island . . . and getting sun burned, and having my Great Aunt Vera treat us with aloe vera she grew in her home. I have many fond memories of time spent on the beach, combing it for shells and sand dollars, and watching the crabs, and the sea birds. I still frequently dream of walking the beach, and it is an aspect of childhood innocence and wonder, and returning to my roots.
Shawn acquiesced to my requests, and surprised me earlier this year by announcing he had made reservations for us to visit Corpus Christi, Texas over the Christmas vacation, when he had time off . . . and I could take time off. Corpus is located north of where my family used to visit. We have visited here before, but just a little further north, at Port Aransas. The area of Corpus itself is not so nice, a bit run down, and being located in a bay, but it is nearby many National Parks and nature reserves, one of which is the location of the last remaining wild whooping crane wintering grounds. With our home near Necedah, Wisconsin being the location of the introduced flock, I find it interestingly ironic.
We were very busy on the day before we flew out, so did not get a whole lot of sleep that night (about 1 hour). We only had to make it to the first flight. The pilots would do all the rest of the work. We flew out of La Crosse, Wisconsin around 6:00 am, Christmas Eve. It was about 11 degrees below zero, with a wind chill of –25 or so. Yes . . . Texas is going to feel really nice!!
Our flights were not memorable . . . which is how you want flights to be. We connected in Chicago, caught a plane there to Dallas, Texas, and from there a small flight into Corpus. Get off the plane, get a rental car, find your hotel, check in. We then searched out a grocery store, and stocked up on picnic supplies, coffee and snacks. It was certainly confirmed to me that we were indeed in Texas, as the grocery store had a booth where a woman was making fresh tortillas. If you have never tasted fresh tortillas hot off the griddle, you are missing something quite nice. We bought a dozen, and began eating them on the trip back to our hotel. So good they are, you do not need anything on them!
We did walk on the beach by our hotel for a few minutes, if you want to call it a beach. Corpus Christi is located inside the Corpus Bay. So there is no tidal action, and it is more like being on a large lake. For anyone that has never been to a true beach on the ocean, they may be fooled. But I knew better. Besides, it was also quite cold, even for this Wisconsinite. A winter storm was moving into the area, and a very cold wind preceded it. This was to prove significant. Settling into our room, we did notice a few snowflakes falling from the sky.
We decided to come to Corpus Christi in December to escape the cold of the upper Mid West. This is why we were incredibly surprised to wake up to 4 inches of snow. All the locals we met looked shocked . . . and the weather stations confirmed there has not been this amount of snow in Corpus over the last 70 years, all put together!! We plan a trip to an otherwise warm location . . . and the snow follows us! We walked around the area and took pictures, to document this momentous event. The sky was clear now, with the storm having passed, and the snow was already beginning to melt. It was forecast to get into the mid 40s that day, and up to the high 60s the next day. The winter storm will be a memory very soon.
We lounged in our room, letting the roads clear, as we KNOW the locals do not have snow plowing equipment, nor any experience driving on icy roads. We enjoyed the Christmas morning together, calling family, and regaling them about the incredibly amusing situation we found ourselves in. When we did finally venture out, we had to reroute a bit, as a few of the bridges were still closed. We were able to drive north of the area, and took a route up to Port Aransas, taking a ferry to get to the island, and then driving out onto the beach in several locations. We then drove south on the island from Port Aransas, down into Padre Island, and then looped back onto the Corpus mainland.
How to describe the emotion I feel when returning to the beach? I am not one of the “beautiful people”, who want to be seen lounging in the sun. And certainly not at this time of the year. I come to feel the energy, the raw power of the location. It is a meeting place between wind, water and land. There is life here, many shore birds snatching up bits of food, fish leaping in the waves, dolphins and other sea life. But there is also death. Shells cast up. Broken bits of plants. Jellies washed up. It is a dynamic confluence of powers, and particularly intoxicating to my spirit. It is a coming home! Even though it was not particularly warm (mid 40’s), and the water was pretty cool, I shed my shoes anyway and touched the ocean.
I am, of course, very raptor-oriented. There are some kind of hawk here that I have not yet identified, as I have not gotten a good look at them . . . yet. We did see a harrier (or marsh hawk) dive down on something in the grass. And as we were leaving the island I saw a falcon on the power line. What kind . . . I don’t know, again, not a really good look to notice field marks, but it was, most definitely, a falcon. And there are deer here. White-tail deer to be specific. Imagine that! We saw a small group of them on the side of the road. We joked with each other, my husband and I, that we needed to make sure we didn’t hit a deer while we were away from Wisconsin. We already brought the snow here. Don’t need to hit a deer in our rental car, so far away from the deer-infested woods of our home up north.
We ended our first full day here in South Texas having dinner out of our little refrigerator, calling a few more family members that we missed this morning, and watching a movie on our laptop. It is a very relaxing experience, and what a vacation should be. We plan to sleep in tomorrow . . . as the wet roads today are to freeze up tonight. There is still some winter weather to deal with. We plan to watch the sun come up one of these mornings . . . but it will not be tomorrow!
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