Corpus Christi, Texas

During October, we hit the road to visit our son, who is attending Corpus Christi A&M, and to explore Corpus Christi.  We arrived on Saturday afternoon and were able to check into our hotel at the Hawthorne Suites off Windward Dr. on Padre Island.   The room was clean, the staff was friendly, but the best part was that it was within walking distance of the Gulf of Mexico (not the bay).   We spent several hours roaming the clean, public beach across from the hotel and enjoyed watching the kite surfers and the fishermen on the pier getting pounded by the surf. 

Public beach on South Padre Island
On Sunday, we drove to the downtown area of Corpus Christi where the U.S.S. Lexington has been docked since 1992.  It was very interesting to see how the sailors aboard the world's oldest air craft carrier would have lived and worked. 

The U.S.S. Lexington
After our tour we drove up Padre Island to Port Aransas where we ate dinner at Virginia's on the Bay.  We had an hour long wait before we were sat at our table.  While waiting, we enjoyed sitting on the upstairs, covered patio that overlooked the marina.   We were a little disappointed in the quality of seafood at Virginia's on the Bay.  We would say it was average to below average for the area.  Next, we found ourselves roaming the back streets of Port Aransas and in a local dive called Shorty's on Tarpon St.  Supposedly, Shorty's is the oldest and friendliest bar in Port Aransas.   We thought it was a great place to enjoy a cold beer on the patio while listening to live music and people watching (locals and tourists).

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Ballard, Washington

Leaving Pike Place Market we headed to the neighborhood of Ballard . Ballard is located in the northwestern part of Seattle. To the north it is bounded by Crown Hill, (N.W. 85th Street); to the east by Greenwood, Phinney Ridge and Fremont (along 8th Avenue N.W.); to the south by the Lake Washington Ship Canal; and to the west by Puget Sound’s Shilshole Bay. The neighborhood’s landmarks include the  Hiram M. Chittenden Locks  (known locally as the "Ballard Locks"), the Nordic Heritage Museum, the Shilshole Bay Marina, and Golden Gardens Park. Entrance to Carl S. English Jr. Botanical Gardens and Hiram M. Chittenden Locks The Hiram M. Chittenden Locks, or Ballard Locks, is a complex of locks at the west end of Salmon Bay, in Seattle, Washington's Lake Washington Ship Canal, between the neighborhoods of Ballard to the north and Magnolia to the south. We wanted to know and followed the fish but didn't realize it was across the locks until we were on our way
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Caddo Lake State Park, Texas

While visiting the historic town of Jefferson we could not pass up the opportunity to make a short visit to Caddo Lake State Park .  The park sits near the small town of Karnack, in east Texas.  The name of this park is a bit deceiving as the park doesn't sit on the shores of Caddo Lake (the only natural, fresh water lake in Texas) but on Big Cypress Bayou. Entrance sign Entrance signs to Caddo Lake State Park Big Cypress Bayou from boat ramp (west) Big Cypress Bayou looking east.  Follow the bayou east to reach Caddo Lake. Like most Texas state parks the structures within Caddo Lake SP were built by the  Civilian Conservation Corps . Company 889 began the work, in June to November of 1933. Company 857 continued construction from October 1934 to March 1937. One of the cabins that can be rented at the park CCC workers converted 15 U.S. Army barracks and an Army mess hall into the nine log cabins and group recreation hall that can be used today.  
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Twilight Eagle Santuary, Oregon

Sadly, we left Astoria and traveled east on the East Columbia Highway (Highway 30) back to Portland to catch the red eye back home.  When we passed the sign, we knew we had found what our trip had been missing so we turned the Blue Devil around and headed to the Twilight Eagle Sanctuary. The Twilight Eagle Sanctuary is located within Cathlamet Bay , 2.5 miles east of Astoria, Oregon , and just downstream from Settler Point.  This wetland Sanctuary was established in 1992, and along with Columbia Land Trust acquisitions in 2009, now totals over 100 acres of old growth forest, tidal wetlands, and shoreline, and stretches nearly a mile along the Columbia River. The Sanctuary is just off of U.S. Highway 30. A viewing platform overlooks acres of mudflats, tidal marshes, open water, and islands. It is an excellent location to observe birds and other wildlife living on the lower Columbia River estuary. The viewing area has several interpretive panels about the wetlands, bald eagles,