Sunday, February 11 - Yesterday started out cool and foggy, but by early afternoon, the sun finally showed its face, and the temp zoomed up to 70something. We headed over the causeway across the Inland Waterway, to North Padre Island, and despite the crush of vehicles, managed to find a place to park. The Beach Mardi Gras parade had taken place in the morning, but there were still loads of people wandering about an enclosure featuring food trucks and craft stalls. So we grabbed a bite, then headed over to the beach.

To our surprise, the beach is a drive-on. Lining the strand as far as you could see were cars, trucks, jeeps, and beach buggies, their owners set up for an afternoon/evening of partying. We wandered along in both directions, went to the fishing pier for a drink, and decided to do the beach thing ourselves. Hence the three pictures, the first a group of Mardi Gras celebrants, the second a shot of the beach from the pier, showing the extent of the party crowd, and the third our rig on the beach. It was warm and such a nice change from what we've had for the last few days, so we really enjoyed the afternoon.

Today, we have a cold front that came in overnight, so temps will stay in the mid-50s. There's an aircraft carrier museum at the harbour, so we may go down for a tour. Gotta do something on these gloomy overcast days. Tomorrow we're thinking we'll head to Brownsville, and South Padre Island, and decide whether to stay for awhile, or head west.

Just a note or two about a couple of people we met in Galveston. One was our server in the Hilton bar along the waterfront where we stopped during our walk for a libation. Bouncy, cheerful, in her 40s, as it turned out, full of optimism. She's entering her final year of medical school next semester. She served as a medic in the military for a number of years, has raised a family, and now is on to her next stage of career development. Quite a woman.

The other person we met was an artist, who has a beautiful gallery downtown. His name is Robert Peterson. His work is land and sea animals and land/sea scapes. Realism, a la Robert Bateman. As soon as I saw his paintings, I thought of Bateman, and the first  name that he mentioned as an influence was Bateman. Wish I had a bucketful of money, as his paintings are fairly expensive. Turned out he's a former Art teacher who moved to Galveston from California, where he found the pace of life and the conditions there unsatisfactory. Happy as a lark doing what he does in Galveston. He has four kids, all doing amazingly well, so if you want an example of a happy retired teacher, there he is. Really nice guy. His website is VacationOnCanvas.com. Look him up. His acrylics are amazing.

Gail is stirring, so time to get Sunday breakfast going. We may go crazy and have pancakes. Stay happy, everyone. And healthy!! Thinking of our friend Sandy Taylor and her fight to get better, as well as  Ron Harris and Noreen MacKay, both of whom came home from Mexico not feeling well. Also former Lahr Colleague Jim Gollert, who got a staff infection in Cuba, and succumbed to it during open-heart surgery last week. Travel doesn't always end well, so be mindful, friends.

All for now. More later. Stay tuned.