JCSC

(Some of you have told me that you never realized that there are additional photos on most all the blogs. You must click on the first picture, it will enlarge , and the you will be able to click on the arrow under the picture pointing to the right to go to the next photo. There are 34 photos in this posting. ENJOY!) We've been here at Corpus Christi, Texas, for 6 weeks and we have 2 to go. I am making one blog to cover these last 6 weeks. It covers some of the main things I've seen , or see regularly. Every day I start out with a nice walk about sunrise. This walk is usually from 2 1/2 miles up to 6 miles. I always have a camera with me and many of ... read more

So here we are in South Padre Island (SPI) and paradise. I had read about SPI for months and all they say is true. The island is 113 miles long and the longest sand island in the US...maybe the world. We are out in the Gulf of Mexico just west of Brownsville. You have to go across a 3 mile bridge to get from the mainland of S. TX to SPI. Our motel. for 15 days, is right in the middle (east to west) of the small city of SPI which is on the very southern tip of the island of SPI. From our motel, we can walk 5 minutes west and be at the Gulf and 5 minutes east and be at the Laguna Madre. The water is beautiful and warm. The weather is great. ... read more

We have finally entered into the part of our trip that is new to us. Leaving Carlsbad, NM, we headed south into TX staying the night (Nov 28)in Fort Stockton. The next day we drove to Alpine, then straight south to the very small community of Terlingua. Since BBNP has but one place for lodgeing, we stayed right out of the park in this very interesting little settlement. To live down here one has to have a certain kinship with loneliness, nature, the lack of many accepted necessities of life, the convenience of most stores, and the knowledge that your closest neighbor may enjoy these qualities of life and not care too much about being your buddy. It is very beautiful in a very natural, quiet sort of way. Stop the car, step out-side, and you ... read more

Just SW of Alamogordo is White Sands National Monument. This is at the SW corner of what was at one time a large lake. This lake today is part of the White Sands bombing range and way up north on this lake is where the first nuclear bomb was detonated (see photo of replica of bomb in Nuclear museum blog). But today people come to enjoy the beautiful pure white sand. Many bring their snow platters and use the dunes to go "scooting" down. This another "must see", if you are traveling this highway.... read more

This year our Thanksgiving will be celebrated in Albuquerque. This will be our last day here and we have enjoyed our visit very much. Alb. is a busy growing city with much to offer. We started our day with a drive through a deserted (remember..Thanksgiving) downtown to Old Town. Many of the downtown buildings have murals painted on them representing some important aspect of the area. Old Town was fun to walk around because most tourists were gone to "grandma's house" and that made for an uncrowded walk-around. We then went out and found a place we could walk across and along the Rio Grande River. By then we were ready for our TG meal at the Golden Corral (with the rest of Albuquerque!).....lots and lots of food...TOO MUCH FOOD.... read more