Exploring Sea Rim

What a strange feeling to be back to our normal rhythms.  We spent a few days in Houston, picking up our Jeep and motorhome and cats, getting things stocked and organized, but it wasn't really our normal camping lifestyle.

Yesterday we moved to Sea Rim State Park.  After a night of loud thunderstorms, wind and rain, we woke to a restless sea, dappled in clouds and sunlight:

We took our traditional coffee walk down the beach - just a few steps from our RV.  The beach was empty and welcoming, and the blue sky looked like it was going to burst through the clouds:

Sea birds were everywhere, feasting on fish and shellfish stirred up by the storm:

Because of the storm, we found more beautiful shells than we could collect.  We kept only the most interesting, some of which we photographed:

Having collected shells, we returned to our campsite and ate a hearty breakfast.  Both of us are struggling to get over a drippy cough, but we felt strong enough to venture out onto the boardwalk nature trail, here named the "Gambusia Nature Trail."  Gambusia are small fish, from 1" to 2" long, that feed on mosquito larvae in the marshes and estuaries.  The little fish were everywhere, and we could see them as we gazed down into the dark waters.

We noted that complaining is not permitted on this trail, and we observed that restriction.  As for the alligators, luckily we saw none, so there was nothing for us to tease.

The boardwalk stretched nearly a mile around the salt marsh:

The waters were filled with all sorts of wading and other birds:  egrets, great blue heron, ducks, coots, sandhill cranes, plovers and others.  Here are an egret, an ibis and a third, unidentified crony, all making some sort of conspiracy on the boardwalk ahead of us:

Pelicans soared above us, dove, and retrieved fish from the murky marsh waters:

This great white egret (second from left), two white adult ibis (to the right) and one immature ibis (on the far left) entertained us as we circled around them:

Not being overly ambitious today, we headed back to our rig after the boardwalk hike, had a nutritious chicken salad for lunch, and spent the afternoon making some campground reservations and chatting about our plans for 2018.

Before we knew it, it was Happy Hour.  Baxter asked to come outside, so we watched him chase birds and mice through the phragmites and around the dumpster.  Eventually, the sun set behind the waving phragmites and it was time to go in for dinner:

We're eagerly anticipating the next several days, when we'll have a chance to explore this special, quiet environment more extensively.  With some luck, the weather will be calm and warm enough that we'll be able to paddle our kayaks through the nearby estuaries.  Stay tuned!