This morning we got up and went to breakfast at the South Hall.  We had no plans to do anything afterwards.  Well just like we do sometimes, we changed our mind.  We got in the truck and decided to go for a ride.  Today was to be the last nice day.  Rain is in the forecast for the next several days….Another small cold wave…..sigh…sigh…..We wanted to see where a certain road went that we had never been on……So we headed out of town, and ended up  in Rio Hondo.  We kept driving through the countryside.  We were always on black top but the roads were rather bad in some places.   The roads don’t seem to have the drainage ditches that we have back home.  The water level is high and the black tops seem to fall apart because of the rain water.  Well we ended up at Port Isabella, coming in the back way.  We crossed the Causeway Bridge to South Padre Island.  We decided to go down to the Public Beach for a Walk…

It was such a Beautiful day….

I took off my shoes and enjoyed walking the sand barefoot….

So Many people were walking going both ways…..Up and down the Beach…There are hotels and Condos each way as you look in the distance.  Reminds me of Cancun…..lol…but without the waiter in his white tux and black tie that served us on the beach….The Waves just kept splashing on my ankles.  I was cool but not cold….Really a great feeling with the Sun shinning brightly in the sky..

We seen a couple coming with their dog.   It was a Golden Doodle.  That is the kind of dog Tina just got.  Dexter is just 9 weeks old.   So we talked with them awhile.

They were very friendly and just loved their puppy.  He was 4 years old and very good natured.   He just wanted to play….

We also seen a fisherman.  He said they probably weren’t biting today.  The waves were to rough….This guy had everything he needed on his cart…lol…fishing pole, tackle box and bait, chair and of course cooler…..so just go stick your pole out in the sand on the beach, sit down in your chair, take out a beer, and just relax in the sun….Now that’s the way to fish….lol…or at least relax….

We collected some shells and finally decided to walk back…..When we got back to the boardwalk up to the parking lot, we noticed some kites across the road…In fact…..LOTS OF BIG KITES….

So we drove over to the beach on the otherside.  They were having a Kite Festival….It was so cool…

Beautiful kites flying all over the beach…..Teams had came from all over, even Canada to participate.  We had stumbled across the Annual Kite Festival that takes place the first weekend in February…..It was so awesome to see these guys fly these kites.  It took so much strength and talent….

We walked all over the beach and enjoyed all the music and the gorgeous weather….The teams were showing off there talents of flying their kites to choreographed music.  I think the one that impressed me the most was the one by Lee Greenwood….God Bless the USA….That will forever bring back memories.  That was the song that they played over and over when the Space Shuttle Columbia blew up and the 7 crew members were killed.  By the reactions of the crowd, everyone was overwhelmed with emotion also…………………Now after looking up the Space Shuttle disaster, I found out that it happened Feb 1 2003…..exactly 12 years ago this weekend….. “We will never forget will we”………

Eventually we left, drove back over the Causeway to Port Isabella.  We took some of the back streets to just see the non touresty part of town….lol….We ended up at one of the back inlets…..

Some working fishing boats and residents boat docks, lined the water.

Some really cool sea gulls just sat on the roofs.  Probably looking for food…

We finally headed for home…..Oh gees….We didn’t take any cash….lol…..I didn’t even have my purse….All I had was my bag with my dirty dishes from breakfast.  Rich had the bank card in his pocket (and his drivers liscense)…..lol….So when we got back to Harlingen, we stopped at Mr Gattis …….They have a buffet of pizza and pasta, potato, and salad bar.  All for 12.99  for 2 seniors….Cheap……..

That’s all the Money  we spent for the day……$12.99…..lol….