Life's a Beach - Padre Island National Seashore, Tx Pirate treasure?

 

Padre Island National Seashore protects sixty-six miles of wild coastline along the Gulf of Mexico, a narrow barrier island.  Most of the beach is open to vehicles and camping.

 

We've been enjoying our time here, especially the warmer weather, and warm nights!  I think it was a good plan to escape the unseasonably cool temperatures in Arizona, and snow storms in California!

 

Driving on the beach!

 

There is lots of wildlife along the beach, though some spend a lot of their time hiding!

Morning tracks on the freshly swept sand tells the story ...
 

I've also seen quite a few deer tracks on the beach, as well as some 'deer beds' back in the dunes.

Coyotes also patrol the beach at night.

Sometimes, if you are patient, you can watch a local resident doing some morning house cleaning!

 

Or a former resident of the deep washed up on shore.

Sometimes, you might even see the beach cougar out and about in the giant sandbox.

You might even see an Alberta RV attempting to blend in on the beach 😀

One day, blog reader Dale stopped by to say hello and meet Ms Hailey.  He said he's been unable to post comments on the blog.  Anyone else having the same issue I wonder?

Lots of room to spread out on this 50 mile long beach!

An abandoned oil or gas pipeline terminal I discovered hiding back of the beach.  I assume this was related to offshore oil platforms?

Sometimes at high tide, there is not much road left to drive on, as water approaches the rigs.

At low tide, you could run a six-lane freeway by in front.

I thought I might have stumbled onto some long lost, buried pirate treasure. 😀 Overnight winds exposed these coins on the beach.  It could be true - if there were pirates using nickels - in 1984?

Big garbage dumpsters at the beach entry point.  Very handy, as there is always new stuff washing up on the beach.  I see a park truck most days hauling a full load of 'valuables' they've collected on a daily patrol

There is some Border Patrol action here, with occasional trucks and helicopters patrolling the beach, as well as this Coast Guard plane making a low pass down the beach.

That's it for this time ...