Padre Island, Feb. 2000

I've included a couple of Padre links to highlight the unique quality of the island.

A picto-map of the 60 mile long national seashore.

Fly over showing the multiple cuts made when hurricane Brett came ashore last year.
All of the cuts had been filled in by natural processes within a year.

We got to the island early and didn't see anyone at the camping area so we went on down the beach. Here's Sophia in her winter beachwear, wishing she had on another layer, sitting on a large buoy float. One of my favorite things about Padre is the large debris.

This is an even larger buoy float that was pushed up against the dunes along with another piece of large debris when hurricane Brett came ashore in the area last year. Sophia was too cold to act as an object of known size for the purpose of adding perspective to the photo...

After the first night camping we got the bright idea that if we left the air mattress and sleeping bags in the tent we could just pull out the poles and throw the whole thing on the truck. Then, when we were ready to pitch camp that evening, we could just drag the whole thing off, slip in the poles and we'd be ready to sleep! It worked out well but looked like we were carrying a hot air balloon or something...

Frankentaco cautiously approaches a piece of large debris...

This is a still from the upcoming independent film; The Padre Witch Project. I don't know about y'all but that weird construction with the hard hats is much scarier than a bundle of twigs tied with a scrap of flannel! Oohhh! Spooky!

This is TTORA's fearless leader, Shannon Brookshire, TTORA National President & Central Regional Director. His tall Taco is on the jetty at the Mansfield cut that separates North Padre from South Padre. We were treated to a pod (gaggle? herd? flock? bunch?) of dolphins playing in the waters of the cut. I think they just wanted to get a better look at Shannon's Taco!

Here Todd and Miriam join Shannon on the jetty. Later that evening, around the camp fire, Miriam assembled smores while Todd took orders for the roasted marshmallow component ranging from "burnt black" to "lightly toasted to a golden brown with a warm, soft center".

The cold, forbidding ocean and desolate beach...

After he got through playing on the jetty Shannon pulled along side my truck for a photo op. This pic doesn't do justice to the extent that his rig towered over FT...

This is Rich Caldwell's Toy350. It's an '85 extended cab with a built bow tie 350 conversion. It may look a little rough on the outside but the engine compartment was immaculate! He said that with recent carb work he went from a 1st to 2nd tire bark to completely breaking them loose on pavement. Like he says "more horsepower than truck"!

The FT beside some large debris...

Did I mention that I like the large debris?
The long boards on the over head rack are our contribution to the camp fire that evening.

Another piece of, all together now, large debris...

Todd and I parked between pieces of, you guessed it, large debris!

This isn't large debris, but it could be if the next hurricane lands just right! There are scores of off shore oil production platforms in the gulf. This is the closest one along the island and allowed a reasonably clear picture. At night the lights from many more are visible.

Here is a feeding frenzy of gulls we attracted with the left over tortillas from the breakfast tacos Todd and Miriam bartered for fuel. Todd initially offered Miriam in barter for the fuel but after surviving a wicked punch to the kidney and a short lived plot to bury his body in the dunes, he thought better of the idea.

These sea gulls are waiting for more tortillas. Those were some GOOD breakfast tacos, Miriam.

We let them warm up slowly on the stove while we sat in the warm truck. Much better than being out in the wind and cold pouring and watching pancakes...
These little guys are looking for scraps of tortilla left by the larger gulls...

"I know there is a bit of tortilla here somewhere..."

"Did someone say 'breakfast tacos'?"

We got to the island early and didn't see anyone at the camping area so we went on down the beach. Here's Sophia in her winter beachwear, wishing she had on another layer, sitting on a large buoy float. One of my favorite things about Padre is the large debris.
This is an even larger buoy float that was pushed up against the dunes along with another piece of large debris when hurricane Brett came ashore in the area last year. Sophia was too cold to act as an object of known size for the purpose of adding perspective to the photo...
After the first night camping we got the bright idea that if we left the air mattress and sleeping bags in the tent we could just pull out the poles and throw the whole thing on the truck. Then, when we were ready to pitch camp that evening, we could just drag the whole thing off, slip in the poles and we'd be ready to sleep! It worked out well but looked like we were carrying a hot air balloon or something...
Frankentaco cautiously approaches a piece of large debris...
This is a still from the upcoming independent film; The Padre Witch Project. I don't know about y'all but that weird construction with the hard hats is much scarier than a bundle of twigs tied with a scrap of flannel! Oohhh! Spooky!
This is TTORA's fearless leader, Shannon Brookshire, TTORA National President & Central Regional Director. His tall Taco is on the jetty at the Mansfield cut that separates North Padre from South Padre. We were treated to a pod (gaggle? herd? flock? bunch?) of dolphins playing in the waters of the cut. I think they just wanted to get a better look at Shannon's Taco!
Here Todd and Miriam join Shannon on the jetty. Later that evening, around the camp fire, Miriam assembled smores while Todd took orders for the roasted marshmallow component ranging from "burnt black" to "lightly toasted to a golden brown with a warm, soft center".
The cold, forbidding ocean and desolate beach...
After he got through playing on the jetty Shannon pulled along side my truck for a photo op. This pic doesn't do justice to the extent that his rig towered over FT...
This is Rich Caldwell's Toy350. It's an '85 extended cab with a built bow tie 350 conversion. It may look a little rough on the outside but the engine compartment was immaculate! He said that with recent carb work he went from a 1st to 2nd tire bark to completely breaking them loose on pavement. Like he says "more horsepower than truck"!
The FT beside some large debris...
Did I mention that I like the large debris? The long boards on the over head rack are our contribution to the camp fire that evening.
Another piece of, all together now, large debris...
Todd and I parked between pieces of, you guessed it, large debris!
This isn't large debris, but it could be if the next hurricane lands just right! There are scores of off shore oil production platforms in the gulf. This is the closest one along the island and allowed a reasonably clear picture. At night the lights from many more are visible.
Here is a feeding frenzy of gulls we attracted with the left over tortillas from the breakfast tacos Todd and Miriam bartered for fuel. Todd initially offered Miriam in barter for the fuel but after surviving a wicked punch to the kidney and a short lived plot to bury his body in the dunes, he thought better of the idea.
These sea gulls are waiting for more tortillas. Those were some GOOD breakfast tacos, Miriam.
We let them warm up slowly on the stove while we sat in the warm truck. Much better than being out in the wind and cold pouring and watching pancakes... These little guys are looking for scraps of tortilla left by the larger gulls...
"I know there is a bit of tortilla here somewhere..."
"Did someone say 'breakfast tacos'?"