Our first trip of 2020 was short but sweet! We decided to play it safe this year and cut back on our chances of exposure to COVID 19. We made it all the way to October without venturing away from our abode. It was miserable for someone that loves to travel. Last week we had finally had enough. We decided to take a small 4-day vacation to the Gulf Coast of Texas, weaving it in between the ever-existent tropical storms and hurricanes. My husband had been itching to check out Bolivar Peninsula and it’s 27 miles of driveable beaches.
Our first business of order was to get State tags for our UTV. Then we began packing. Of course, we went way overboard, half of what we packed was never even touched. Why do we always make things so difficult? We could of packed half as many clothes and have done just fine. Of course, it is always more difficult when you are disabled and have to pack for any medical emergencies that could possibly arise. The one thing that made this trip unique is that we decided to take our two pups along with us. This added a whole new element of difficulty to our trip because we had to find a dog-friendly motel, manage their potty breaks, and eat in our motel room or inside the truck. Overall it wasn’t too bad, it just took a little more work. Since there really wasn’t anything else planned but riding on the beach, taking the dogs was a no-brainer.
Once we got to the beach, we were a little disappointed to see lots of trash washed up into the sand dunes. Having been to beaches all over the US from Florida to Hawaii, I had never seen so much human garbage. We assume it was because of the recent hurricanes and that the County had just not had time to clean them up yet, at least we hope so. There are bound to be local Church and School groups who could help keep the beaches cleaner. Of course the sand is not like the beautiful white sand of Florida but we weren’t there for beachcombing, we had come to ride up and down the beach.
We got onto the beach at the community of Crystal Beach. There were lots of access roads leading to the water. Most people drive out onto the beach in their vehicles and park. We wanted to cruise the entire length in our side by side. This required a special beach access pass because we were driving a UTV. If we had been in a Golf Cart like most of the locals were driving, there wouldn’t have been a usage fee.
Once again the water wasn’t as nice as the water in Gulf Shores or Panama City but we didn’t plan on swimming anyway. We really enjoyed driving up and down the beach, waving at others out doing the same. Something you just can’t do anywhere else in Texas.
Of course, our trip was anything but uneventful. We had our customary mishaps along the way, including the GPS sending us an hour out of our way and having to backtrack for what seemed like an eternity, a dead battery on our UTV, requiring us to get on the Ferry to find a replacement battery in Galveston, and a complimentary killer migraine on the road home.
But we made it, and even with all of the setbacks, it felt wonderful to get out of the house once again.
