Wednesday, July 24, 2013

Right Across The Ferry

Exploring the area around us is one of our favorite things to do.  I become bored with the familiar and am always looking over the horizon for something new to discover.  Cruising will feed this passion but until we cut the docklines for good, we entertain ourselves by trying to find new places in our own back yard.

We took a time-out between (endless) boat projects and set out on our folding bikes to see what we could find on the other side of the Ship Channel.

We walked our bikes onto the ferry with only a few cars as company.    Bruce had noticed a dirt road that led off to our left just after leaving the ferry landing area.  We wanted to take it and see if it would get us to one of the white sand beaches alongside the Ship Channel.

We found it easily and took off down the sand trail!  It was very quiet out there on the salt flats.

Roseate Spoonbill aka Texas Flamingo!














Nothing but the sound of the animals going about their business. I love seeing the birds and other critters in their natural habitat.  I could even hear a swarm of bees off the road at one point, but I never actually saw them as we sped hastily away...

There had been no recent rain, but the flats were still muddy from the last downpour in spots.  We had to pick our way through the swamp-bottom mud.  I'm pretty sure I didn't wear the right shoes for this!

It seemed like we had been traveling for a LONG time and we still saw no sign of our intended destination, the elusive white sand beach...  Bruce went up to get a better view but saw nothing but bushes for miles...  No worries, we were having an adventure!

We came across an unexpected camp site.  Unusual... I didn't take any pictures out of respect but it looked like this wasn't a weekend thing.

He's red, white, and BLUE!














We continued on and came across a snake, and a cute little patriotic crab.  He skittered across my path and dove into the bushes before I could get the camera ready to snap. (I've never seen a crab like this before and would love to know what kind his is so please leave a comment if you know.)

We began to think that we were on the wrong trail for the beach and it was getting WARM!  We left the boat before having breakfast and I was STARVING!  Never fear!  Bruce is here... with some snack bars and water!  Yay!

We had our meager breakfast and went over one more rise before we called it a day.

We turned and semi-backtracked through the mire.  We made one big mistake in riding through the cute little tree tunnel we found...  As it turns out... ALL of the mosquitos we had been missing were hiding in there!  I think I woke them up as they buzzed around us until we were well away from there.  Lesson learned.










Dolphin feeding along the bulkhead
We made our way back across the ferry with tired and aching muscles but a new attitude!  I can feel my body getting stronger as we do these little jaunts on our bikes.  Each time, it's easier to do and I love it!  We had our little fun for the day and, after a short pause to watch the dolphin, it was time to return to...

you guessed it!  MORE BOAT PROJECTS!

2 comments:

  1. Reads like fun times - don't you love exploring ? Gives some energy to the boat projects right?

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    1. Yes some days we get bogged down in the boat projects. We just have to make time to have some fun. We remind ourselves that we still have two months until we head out! What's the RUSH!?

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