Hanging Out in Jamaica Beach

Hi Blog! Today is Thursday.  Last night some really big thunderstorms rolled through camp.  We actually heard hail hitting the roof.  We woke up this morning and the weather wasn't much better.  We could still hear some rumbles of thunder off in the distance.  It's ok; we had no plans to go anywhere special this morning.  After touring the Johnson Space Center yesterday, we were looking forward to having a little sleep in and a nice relaxing day just hanging out.  However, it didn't take long for the storm to pass.  Here is camp at around 10:00 a.m.

Here's what it looked like at 1:00 p.m., as we walked around to say hi to the alpacas.  As you can see, not a cloud in the sky.

After visiting with the alpacas, we then went over to visit the horses.  Right next to the campground is S-n-G Horseback Riding. They taking you riding either on the beach or the bay.  We haven't decided yet if we'll give it a try.

After lunch, we put a crockpot chili on to simmer while we took the bikes for a spin around Jamaica Beach.  We wandered up and down the streets and canals looking at all the fancy (and not so fancy) beach houses and boats.  Right next to Jamaica Beach is Galveston State Park.  The prairie stretched for miles before hitting the bay.

There are tons of birds in the park.  This is one of our favorite - the roseate spoonbill. It is a shame he was so far away because he really was very bright pink!

We also caught this Great White Egret in flight.

Once he landed on the other side of the bayou, he just glared at us.

We got back into camp just in time to have a quick beer before taking the crockpot of chili over to the camp-wide potluck. You know that expression, everything is bigger in Texas - well, it is.  There were about 35 people and enough food to feed 135.  Two hours later, we consumed way too much food - steak, shrimp, chili, loaded potatoes, chicken pie, fajitas (with all the fixings, including homemade guacamole), swedish meatballs, corn salad, baked beans, string beans, salad - there was more, but that's all I could fit on my plate.  Oh, and desserts - lots of desserts! The homemade strawberry ice cream was Dave's favorite.  Kathy went for the double chocolate fudge brownies with buttercream frosting.  We left the community room just in time to catch sunset from the back deck.

Tomorrow, we hope to get into downtown Galveston and ride our bikes around and see all the tourist stuff.