From Port "A" to Winnie,TX

Last night we decided it was time to move on. Port "A" was a wonderful stop, but there are lots of places we've yet to see and we only have three weeks left on this trip. Should our travels bring us back this way, Port "A" will be on the list of places to stop.
As I looked south on the beach last night, I could see the red/blue flashing lights of the police. They must have been having a field day where all the kids are camped out.
We dumped our tanks & filled with water at the County RV Park in Port "A", $4.00, then we headed to the free TX State ferry that crosses the inlet. This is the shortest ferry ride we've ever been on. Couldn't have taken five minutes or so from loading to exit. As we drove East, there were lots of RV's heading West; probably to Port "A".
We stopped at the HEB grocery store and WalMart in Aransas Pass. Filled up with gas at $3.36/gallon. Decent as current gas prices go.
Lunch time found us in Palacios. We found a nice place to park near the city marina. Lots of shrimp boats. Reminded us of Cayo Weso.
As we were driving along TX 521, we crossed the Colorado River and noticed a sign saying "FM 521 River Park". In we went. Turns out this is a free camping park of Matagora County. What a great find. We're here for the night. It's us an one travel trailer full of children & parents on a weekend camping trip.
We've camped on the Colorado River several times over the years. It begins in the Rocky Mountain National Park then flows south to the Gulf of Mexico. By the time it gets this far south, the water is pretty disgusting. I wouldn't let Gopher to swimming.

We've stumbled onto some of the neatest camping areas over the years. Frequently when we set out, like today, we only have a general destination in mind. Quite often some real discovery just pops up. Like right now for instance.

SUNDAY:
We drove to Brazoria for the 11:00 mass. I've endured some miserable sermons over the years but this might have been the worst. The sermon was both disjointed and rambling. I thought it would never end. If the priest was trying to make a point, it eluded me.
The Garmin GPS identified a Krogers grocery store in Freeport so we headed there being a bit tired of WalMart. The Krogers simply wasn't there. That's not the first time that's happened to us.
We continued south to the Gulf Coast at Quintana Pass. The plan was to boondock on the jetty for the night. The place was just littered with trash. Some blowing around on the ground; some holding fishing poles. Instead I decided to take the coast road towards Galveston. North of Freeport/Surfside Beach, I spotted some beach access roads. After looking at two, I found one that looked nice and solid so we parked on the beach once again. There were lots of Spring Breakers but no other RV's in sight. I asked a patrolling sheriff deputy if it was OK to stay overnight. He said camping for up to 15 days is allowed. No fee. So here we are, all alone once again. I can see a car each way along the beach perhaps a mile from us. It just doesn't get much better. I sure wish Florida had some camping areas like this. We've driven the Lazy Daze on the beach near Daytona and again north of Jacksonville, but you're not allowed to camp overnight.

MONDAY:
We drove to Galveston this morning. Did the laundry and stopped by WalMart. Again.
After Galveston, we continued north to the city campground in Winnie, TX. There is a free TX state ferry that takes you across the harbor from Galveston to the Bolivor Peninsula. The ferry goes right past the Seawolf park where there are two submarines and a Destroyer Escort. The USS Cavala is very similar to the submarines I served on many years ago.
Today, we got the heavy rain I was hoping for. Our beach camping days are over for this trip and I wanted a good rain to wash all the sand & salt spray off.
We spent the night at the Winnie-Stowell County Park in Winnie, TX. No one here but us.
Tomorrow we go on to Louisiana. We've really enjoyed the Texas part of our trip, especially all the beautiful beach camping.
We spent ten days camping in Texas. Our total "campground" cost was $12. That was for the annual beach parking permit at Port Aransas.
I didn't feel like cooking tonight so I used the internet to find a good Cajun restaurant just five minutes from the campground. The place was packed with locals; always a good sign.