One of the tricky things about this adventure is making sure we have a good place to stay. We bought a camping pass that allows us to stay for free at a number of places – it paid for itself on our first stay in Williamsburg back in December. This time, we were supposed to stay at one of these RV resorts in Harlingen, Texas. The website said it was a 55+ community, but we were able to make reservations. I called to confirm and was told that yes, we could stay there. However, the children were not allowed to use the pool due to covid – it was only for adults. Hmmmm. So let’s get this straight, it will be 85 degrees and sunny in the desert, and my children will be standing with their faces pressed against a fence watching white hairs sit in a cool pool? No, thank you. I had to find a new place to stay and fast. Not easy, so many places in south Texas do not allow children. The one that did would not accept our boxer, apparently they are an aggressive breed. Picture some expletives here.
We were heading to that area to spend time with my niece who had just transferred to University of Texas Rio Grand Valley from the University of Kentucky. There were no other RV parks that would allow our family to stay near her. Moving further and further away from her campus, I found a KOA on South Padre Island. I was nervous to head to South Padre Island. After watching the news coverage of the Spring Break hot spot last spring during Covid, I was very nervous it would be a chaos filled cess pool. Luckily, we were hitting it a week before the Texas School Spring Break began. It was mostly a ghost town. Yay! This was our first KOA stay and I wasn’t happy to pay for another place when I thought we had 5 days free, but a playground and pool near the beach were much more enticing than occupying the kids with crafts at a hot picnic table while Ben worked inside the RV.
It had been over a year since we had seen Cameron. We were all so excited. I was in college when she was born and was able to spoil her with love and attention from day 1. Cami has a great energy and she has the ability to make anyone around her feel good, so, of course, everyone likes to be around her. UTRGV campus is in Edinburg, TX – about an hour from SPI. She drove to see us twice that week. The weather wasn’t fantastic at the beach, a little misty and windy but warm enough. We still had fun going to the beach and just hanging out. The kids loved playing with her – she has a great ability to focus her attention entirely on them. I know that she wanted more time with me – before I became a mom I had a lot more of it. Unfortunately, a walk was all the alone time we really got. I had to promise that after Covid we will get time, I want it too.
Facing the wind Attempting a sand man Bikes on the boardwalk Loving their cousin King of the beach!
The biggest highlight of our time in South Padre (other than Cami) was watching a rocket launch! Growing up on the East Coast, the focus is always on launches from Florida. But not too far away from South Padre Island, Spacex is launching rockets. The launch was rescheduled several times while we were there, so we stood and waited a few times. Late morning, it started to go, we could see the smoke and then nada. It was cancelled. That afternoon we were in the pool and Ben heard a loud noise and shouted, “Rocket!” We all shot out of the pool like rockets and ran to the viewing area. Standing in our bathing suits with a crowd of people in front of us, we watched the rocket successfully go up and come back to land with grace. The entire point of the mission was to be able to land the rocket after sending it into the air. We witnessed history! A little bit later, the rocket fell over and blew up (don’t worry, no passengers) but that is beside the point, we still saw success!
Watching the rocket from the playground Hard to see…but the rocket is in the sky
Jackson and Ben also got to do some fishing. Jackson loves fishing and has had a goal of bringing home a meal for us. Ben and I did not grow up fishing regularly – this is something we are learning for him, so this goal hasn’t been easy for us to help him achieve. They did bring home crabs for us this summer, but never enough fish for a real meal. Well, this time he did it! For the first time, Jackson was able to bring home a fish to feed the family. He was so happy, he caught it, helped filet it and cooked it up for lunch. We sat out in the sun and enjoyed his delicious fish tacos. Yum!
Fishing with Dad Jackson’s big catch!
Cameron is a soccer player. Brag moment, she’s good enough to get a full ride! The night before we left we went to one of Cami’s games. It was fun to be back on a college campus and visiting a college stadium. Very different, there were restrictions on the amount of people that could enter and we all wore face masks, but it was fun to be at a sporting event again. We were in the desert, so the heat of the day was gone, the winds came in and it was cold! We sat and rooted her on, so very proud. Then, she got hurt. She was out. I’m a wimp, so I watched the rest of the game from the warmth of the car. Sloan wanted to be there for her big cousin – I can not believe she wasn’t complaining about the cold. She is typically worse than me. Without Cami, the Vaquero’s lost the game. We gathered her up at the end of the game in an air cast and went to get some food. She took us to her favorite Tex Mex spot – she didn’t realize that it was a food truck with an open air pavilion attached. Smartest girl with no common sense I know! But, she was right, the food was great and we laughed along with her some more before dropping her off at her apartment. That was the end of our time in South Florida. We were off to West Texas the next morning. No more beaches for a very long time!
Cami’s Game Post Game Food Truck Patio Cami’s giant quesadilla
