Port Aransas

We’re finishing up in Port Aransas and will be leaving on Sunday. One of the upcoming events, here in Port Aransas, is Sandfest. It’s happening April 20 – 22 this year and usually attracts around 100,000 people. It’s a qualifying contest for the World championships. Last year 24 master sculptors attended and the event has become the largest master sand sculpting competition in the U.S.In addition to the master sculptors, there are over 200 amateur sculptors that also attend. Here are some pictures from the Sandfest website. I would think it tough to sculpt in this sand since it’s so fluffy but apparently it makes for a great medium. If you want to see some amazing work, go to the link above and see some more of the photos. This event is completely free to the public and certainly would be an awesome thing to witness. Might be something to put on a future “to do” list.
One of the restaurants downtown, has a sand sculpture outside that is pretty neat. It’s to promote a nearby development. What an amazing amount of detail in this piece !





As I’ve mentioned in a previous post, the birds that winter here are pretty spectacular. We saw this  one at a nearby RV park and the blue color was so pretty. Last weekend we took the bike out on Saturday but Sunday was so windy and chilly that we took the car out. Went to the channel to see if the dolphins were playing. Sometimes, while we’re crossing on the ferry, we can see them jumping alongside the boat. We thought we’d take time to sit and watch for them but there was no sign. They must have taken the day off. We did sit, in the park near the channel (in our new camping chairs), and watch the ferries cross. Each captain seems to have their own little routine on how they cross and line up with the opposing dock. It was fun to watch. Here they are lined up at the dock waiting for some passengers.
We took our usual drive on the beach to get back to the park at day’s end. The wind is really whipping today (17 – 27 m.p.h.) and look how strong the surf is. We can’t drive up the beach without Boomer getting a little run in. Look at this happy guy ! While we were driving up the beach, we saw a grader plowing sand on the beach. We’ve seen this a couple times, since we’ve been here. Not sure if it’s a regular thing….to move sand back that’s gotten pushed up onto shore or just a prep thing prior to the season kicking off. Love our daily drive and gonna miss that when we pull out next week.