Portuguese Man O'War's, Texas State Aquarium and Magnolia Beach

This morning we got up and tried to drive to shell beach along Padre Island's coast hoping to find some shells and see some Sea Turtles as they are starting to lay their eggs along the shore.

The park flies turtle signs on days when turtle have
been spotted on the beach. Little turtle rovers patrol the beach
too to make sure the turtles are kept safe as they lay their eggs.

A camper on the beach...you can camp for free here if you want...
but a little too close for comfort for me.

We didn't have any luck with either seeing turtles or making it to shell beach. We stopped for a moment to ponder the road conditions as the road was looking more like sand dunes then a road as it hasn't been traveled much lately. We decided that driving to shell beach was not worth the risk of getting stuck. Being stuck this far away with no one on the beach to rescue us this time meant a hefty towing bill which we didn't need, nor did we want the headache. As we tried to turn around...you guessed it, we were already stuck. With some strange streak of luck we managed to get ourselves out and headed off the beach as fast as we could!

Back to the campsite and our own beach for a bit before leaving.

The girls were having a great time until we found a Portuguese Man O'War. To find out more about Man O'Wars click HERE

Then we found a second smaller one and it was time to leave. Finding 2 washed up on the shore within about a 12 foot space was enough for me to say...out of the water girls!

So we packed up and headed to the Texas State Aquarium. Before going in we called Ford in Port Lacava and made an appointment for the morning to see what we can do about the fuel problem.

They are accredited by the Association for Zoo's and Aquariums so our membership we bought at the Living Desert Zoo and Gardens got us in for half price admission and by doing so we got our money back for the extra $30 the membership cost us. Now for future Zoo's and Aqauriums, we will just see the savings!

These jellies were glow in the dark

We spent a lot of time watching the dolphins.

A rare sisterly moment :)

As we were waiting for the dolphin show to begin we spotted some porpoises out in the harbour.

And then it was time for the dolphin show

Enjoying time at the touch pools with the Sting Rays

 The aquarium is bulding a new water park but it doesn't open until next weekend :(

 We head out to a Beach about 12 miles SE of Port Lavaca. Finally we found a beach that was clean, where we will be staying for a few days of gorgeous FREE beach camping.

A beautiful FREE camping beach site...the water is warm, the sand and shells are plenty and the neighbours are few and far between.

Tonights sunset at Magnolia Beach

REVIEW Malaquite Campground at Padre National Seashore

Malaquite campground is located just 1/2 mile North of the Visitors centre at Padre Island National Seashore.

Value 4.5/5
Only $8.00 per night but there are no hook ups.

Site Quality 4/5
Site was level, had barbeque pit, table and shade cover. No hook ups but has an RV dump at the entrance to the campground which is included with your park entrance fees not your campground fees so if you choose to camp for free down on the beach you can still dump. (CHECK beach driving conditions as it wasn't drivable when we were there and we opted to pay the $8)

Facility Fun 3.5/5
This rating is low as the amount of garbage on the beach made it not very enjoyable. It was also very windy, full of seaweed and Portuguese Man O'Wars.

Natural Surroundings 3.5/5
It was unfortunate that there was so much debris lying around the beach. Every foot or so along the shore line you would see a paper plate, empty bottle, netting etc. Turtle patrols went by constantly looking for turtles nesting and would drive over the garbage. It would have been nice to see them cleaning up the beach garbage as they pass. We picked up a bit but there was just too much. Otherwise the beach was beautiful. Nice and warm and shallow. Miles of beach to walk.

Bathrooms ???
Flush toilets and cold showers but I didn't go in to see if they were clean or not.

Staff 4/5
Fee booth guard was pleasant and the staff at the visitors centre were friendly and helpful.

Location 4/5
A bit remote but still fairly close to Corpus Christi which has everything you might need...except for a Costco! Plenty of Walmarts which the one we were at allowed Overnight RV parking. By the visitors centre there is a small store.

Overal 3.5/5
We weren't impressed with the garbage and the amounts of sea weed on the beach and in the waves. I was disappointed with the condition of the beach road which was supposed to be driveable for the first 5 miles with a regular 2 wheel drive. Due to present beach conditions we barely made it 1.5 miles. Of course the park can't help the natural occurances at the beach but it was still disappointng. Too many Man O'Wars to feel safe with the girls in the water.

Looking from the beach to te campsites, covered tables present on beach

View from our site to the beach

Our site in front of the beach. Tent sites on the Right and Rv sites on the left. Small Rv's on other side of lot

Portuguese Man O'War

End of the pavement just past the Visitors camping where there is FREE camping
if the beach conditions are suitable

The worst 24 hours EVER!!! and we arrive at Padre Island National Seashore

Ok Time to vent....we have had the worst luck in the past 24 hours...time to get our air conditioning fixed. The part cost $550 so we were expecting about 3 hours for the labour. As it turns out when they took out the AC pump they discovered a piston shattered which took out the accumulator. 8 hours of labour later, $900 in parts and a $2000 bill we are nice and cool.  Lucky us...of course this all happened 5000 miles after the warranty expired!

During the AC fiasco, we were shuttled by Ford to The Alamo.  Then Ian lost his iPhone 4. He left it in the shuttle van and they of course can't find it.

We came home to confirm the time of tomorrows hockey game and the menu says it wasn't playing...we try to call Dish network but our majicjack isn't working so we spend a couple hours on web chat trying to figure out what is going on. Apparently Versus switches networks when racing is on and doesn't carry the games. Hockey is the only thing we watch on the satelitte! Supposidly we can get "Distant Networks" from Dish Network which allows us to get the local channels across the country, but it is a 14 day waiting period... provided you can get the form.  We try to arrange to get a form...but it's against policy to email it, and they can't figure out where we get it off of the net (4 different operators in 4 different departments cannot find it)... connection was lost and we gave up for the night.

In the morning we tried to call the number they gave us and our majicjack isn't registering on the computer  but will allow us to make a 30 minute free call so Ian calls them, talks to them and they still can't figure out how to get us a form...then 30 minutes is up and the phone dies... and we know nothing more then we did last night...ARGGG! During this both Sierra and Aayla stepped in an ant hill and were both bit numerous times by the ants which was a screaming fit for both of them...poor girls...those ants were nasty little biters!

We decide to just leave and drive and head out to Padre Island National Seashore. We stop and fill up the diesel and off we go...

But we are burning fuel like crazy...like literally twice as much as we were burning for all the driving we did so far. If it continues this way we will run out of money and not make it home, let alone continue the trip. We look at our bill from Ford and see they performed a recall on the Engine Control Module...we look out the window and see this

That white stuff is fuel spilling out our exhaust pipes...diesel fuel that isn't burnt, actual fuel being spit down the pipes...money litterally being thrown out the window. We have gone from 16 litres per 100 km's to 30 litres per 100 km's.  Turns out, the recalled software from Ford is not compatable with the aftermarket tuner on the truck.  We pulled over at Walmart and updated software.  Good to go.

Discouraged and grumpy we arrive at Padre Island National Seashore Entrance fees here are $10 per vechicle but that cost was covered by our America the Beautiful Pass. No cell service so no internet and no phone...we try to enjoy the beach.

Sierra chasing Sea gulls in the parking lot

You can camp for FREE on the beach if you continue past the Visitors Centre and hit the end of the paved road. The first 5 miles are supposed to be safe to drive but with the trailer on...no way right now, the beach conditions were not safe for that right now.

We headed North again, past the Visitors centre and shortly after there is Malaquite Campground on your left (After pulling in from the road there is a dump station on your right before you enter the campground).



Our site #36 with the beach behind us. Sites are $8 a night, no hook ups



Sierra enjoying the waves

Aayla wants to enjoy the waves but she is a bit timid.

Ian isn't impressed with the sea weed and the garbage all over the beach

LOVING the warm gulf water

Between the two shelters you can see our trailer parked as Aayla
 runs from the waves. Behind her are mounds of seaweed and garbage washed ashore.

Digging for baby colourful clams

The view from our campsite to the beach

As we settle for the night all we can do is hope that with tomorrows sun, a better day will come.