Gulf View II South Padre Island

Hello All. We have really enjoyed our stay in Brownsville, TX to visit Jerry's parents. We don't see them often and it is always bittersweet when the visit nears an end.

We went out for a casual dinner with the parents and Jerry's brother, Juan, and wife Vivian. Then it was back to the hotel to begin packing up our belongings.

It is always a must to spend some time on South Padre Island. SPI is located about 20 minutes from Brownsville. Alex now knows about the "beach". He did not want to leave.

This was the girls first visit to the beach. They thought it was okay, but would have ...

... Padre Island to have dinner at Amberjack's. I had a fabulous surf 'n' turf dinner with filet mignon and Alaskan King Crab legs...yummmm!!

Dinner took a long time to arrive at our table, so of course dessert was on management. Don't worry...I did not partake of the sinful decadence.

It was a quick trip to Brownsville, TX from Saint Hedwig. The shortest leg of our journey so far. We stopped at Tacqueria Jaliscos for a lunch break. This is our traditional stop whenever we make the trek between San Antonio and Brownsville. The food is always better than I remember from the previous visit.

As soon as we arrived in Brownsville, we headed straight to Jerry's parents house to say hello before checking into the Residence Inn for our week-long stay.

... the way to the Matamoros bus station - which was far! It took us a few minutes to figure out how to navigate the bus station, but we finally did. We got our visa papers from Mexican Customs, and immediately boarded the first bus to Monterrey! Once on the bus we felt fairly safe, and even dozed off for a few hours! There's no turning back now!

... and oyster basket with onion rings and hushpuppies. Again the portion was huge. There were 5 large pieces of fish and 6 oysters. It was all piled in a plastic basket lined with butcher paper, which is just the way fried foods should be served at a fishing pier. The problem was the food. The oysters were small and had been in the freezer for a while. They looked great, golden brown, but when I took my first bite, I almost ...

... take my money so I got to camp for free. I ended up meeting these kite surfers there and we had a few drinks and ended up making our own little band. 1 you-ka-lay-lee, 2 drums, a dij-ery-doo, and a easter egg with beads in it. What a great time! Oh, I thought this was kinda funny. The last meal I had in the US was at Mc Donalds and the first meal back in the US was at Burger King. 

... room, and a couple of condos. The other one was converted to a gameroom/kitchen/exercise room. I'm assuming they were water tanks and not some sort of chemical storage because the employees looked reasonably healthy. The east side of the island is on the Gulf and the west side is on Laguna Madre, the least popular side but the side where we had the most fun. We could drive out onto the beach and not see anyone else. We were able to let the ...

... Washington. "Put on your suit and bring your documents that show you are an attorney" he told me. Some of my brothers and sisters knew that I was with them and now was the time to make things right. I asked Roberto to have his chief of security call me. He told me everyone was very busy. This was something I needed to do in person. In the end, I decided not to go. The climate of fear and distrust had affected everyone, including me. In this ...

One reason I'm taking the coastal route of course is that I’ve already done the Laredo Route, including police fine for littering, so this is new. Who knows what you’ll find around every bend, right? Also there’s a dirt cheap flight from Harlingen to Houston ...