Our winter adventure continued this week on the Texas Gulf Coast and South Padre Island (SPI). We had envisioned SPI as white sand beaches that go on forever and sunshine all day long. While the beaches didn’t disappoint, the sun certainly did. Considering we had rain and a stiff wind five of the seven days, it didn’t quite live up to our expectations. Nevertheless we made the most of it.
On one of the sunny days we took the bikes out to explore the area. SPI has some beautiful beach boardwalks that allowed us to bike right alongside the sand and surf. 
On another day we took a drive towards Brownsville and stumbled upon the Palo Alto Battlefield National Historic Site, the location of the first major conflict in the Mexican-American War. America’s victory here led to the US invasion of Mexico and eventually the definition of our southern border. Yes, even Mia enjoyed the excursion.
While in SPI we stayed at the KOA. We are becoming KOA regulars and this location had its pros and cons. We enjoyed meeting snowbirds from all the “cold” locations during the campground’s social activities. In the week we were there we attended a sunrise breakfast, ice cream social, and watched water zumba while sitting out by the pool. Even Mia, the camping queen, enjoyed the views.
The KOA was a little cramped and we would have enjoyed a little more space. However, we’re leaning that it’s common to be packed into many of the RV resorts.
We’re now on our way towards the Hill Country, between San Antonio and Austin. Along the way we made a stop at the legendary King Ranch, the 825,000 acre cattle and horse ranch. Two giant Texas Longhorns greeted us as we entered the ranch property and were a reminder of the long history of cattle growing in the region. 
We missed the ranch tour but tried our hand at roping. Clearly we are both novices at this skill and need to leave it to the ranch hands.
Our last stop in Kingsville was at the King Ranch Saddle Shop, which produces and sells luxury leather goods including incredibly made saddles that any horseman would love. We know a few folks who would have been in heaven in this place.
Our adventure continues as we move northward toward the Texas wine country.
The ifly facility was in Oceanside so we hit the beach and pier while we were in the vicinity It was a cool, overcast day though, so we just ate lunch, took pictures, and moved on.
Then, we drove along Lakeshore Road around the lake. The best stop was at the Redstone Trail where we all took the easy hike among incredible sandstone formations. Even Mia loved the hike!
Now it’s a really cool trail perched above the lake that takes you through five tunnels carved through the rocks. It’s just east of the road we’ve driven to Las Vegas for many years and we never knew it was there. We were told to watch for bighorn sheep but had no luck.
Marnie and Steve Travel 