Tuesday, April 8, 2014

New Orleans Louisiana

Our our trip home at the end of March, We toured the Gulf coast all the way from Corpus Christi to Panama City Florida. Unfortunately we were face with 5 days of torrential rain. So although we drove through all these Gulf Coast cities, we only managed to stop and tour New Orleans, as we got a reprieve from the rains. We left New Orleans to get to Biloxi Mississippi, and the rain was still holding off, so we took a chance and stopped at Shepard State Park to set up our tent in . Boy was that a mistake. The skies opened up again overnight, and we woke up with 2 inches of water in the tent. It made us reflect a bit on this area. It was a part of the area hit hard by Katrina a few years ago. We did go through a variety of Gulf coast cities along the way. The likes of Galveston, Baton Rouge, Lafayette, Gulfport, Biloxi, Mobile, Pensacola Beach, and Panama City Beach. In New Orleans we toured the French Quarter, http://www.neworleansonline.com/tools/streets/bourbonstreet.html, the downtown market, along with a Bourbon Street bar. It is a beautiful city that has had a remarkable recovery from Katrina. Here are some of our photos from New Orleans:

Rio Grande City

In February, we visited the City of Rio Grande with our good friend Doris. This is the home of General Robert E. Lee. We also stopped by the Our Lady Of Lourdes Grotto. We stopped at a local Mexican bakery to sample some of the best Mexican pastries. The city borders the Rio Grande river, and you can view Mexico from the shoreline. It was a very nice day. Here are some of the photos from our day:

South Padre Island Texas

In late February we visited South Padre Island. Our Winter so far had been pretty cold, but we managed to get a good day to visit the island. We were there with our good friends Doris, and her son and daughter in law, Donny and Debbie. We spent a few hours on the beach. We took pictures of the The statue El Cristo de los Pescadores, as you enter the beach area. We also visited the Port Isabel Lighthouse
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Bentsen State Park Birding Centre

In February, we visited the Bentsen State Park Birding Centre. This is a beautiful park along the Rio Grande. We got to see the rare Green Jay. View some of the photos below: