Lake Corpus Christi

Our latest stop was at Lake Corpus Christi State Park, about 45 minutes north of Corpus Christi, Texas.  This state park had full hookups!  We had a pull through site here (meaning we didn't have to back in), and it was pretty cool that all spots on our loop were pull through parallel to the road, so that each RV received a pretty private view of the woods.  Getting out of course you could see your neighbors' fire pits, but looking through the windows we only saw our own personal patch of grass and trees.  The fire pits and picnic tables were very oddly aligned here - some sites had the two right next to where you would park your RV, but most sites (including ours) had the pair offset to be at the joint entrance/exit driveway between sites.  Aaron and I had different hypotheses on this...Aaron thinks the area used to be a day use/picnic area, and they kept the concrete slabs with picnic tables as they were when they added the campsites.  I think maybe they used to have shorter sites and expanded the site lengths to allow longer RVs (which are more common now than historically) but did not reposition the tables.  I guess we should have asked a ranger!

Our campsite at Lake Corpus Christi - our private 'party' area
as I call it was on the opposite side of the RV

We drove down into Corpus Christi and did something we thought was pretty unique...an escape room on the USS Lexington!  It is still pretty new and they're working out the kinks (we paid an 'introductory price'), but it was pretty cool to get into rooms on the aircraft carrier that aren't normally open to the public.  Due to COVID we got to do the room all by ourselves...sadly we did NOT win, partially due to a couple of those kinks and I'm sure largely due to having only 2 people in a 10 person room....but still, very fun!

Immediately after our failure

We enjoyed touring the rest of the USS Lexington.  We learned that the ship was used for most of the ship-based scenes in the movie Pearl Harbor.  Additionally, they had the actual plane used in Top Gun up on the flight deck!

Zoom in and read the seat labels if
you need to - it's the real thing!!  My 
matching shirt was a happy coincidence

Another day we drove down to the Padre Island National Seashore - another stamp in my national park passport!  We hiked their one short trail through the dunes and visited the beach.  Most uniquely though, we actually drove on the beach!  They have over 60 miles of beach you can drive on with a 4x4...the first 5 miles are suitable for most vehicles and RVs that want to camp there.  Camping there sounded a little too ambitious to me...I was too afraid of getting stuck in the sand...but it was fun to drive!

Walking in the Gulf

Driving on the beach!

On our way to the national seashore, we stopped by the flagship restaurant for the Whataburger chain, which started in Corpus Christi.  This restaurant had two stories and - big bonus during COVID - outdoor rooftop seating with a view of the Gulf.  Burgers were as delicious as advertised, and Aaron enjoyed their signature Dr. Pepper Milkshake.

Flagship Whataburger "by the bay"

Rooftop dining on the water!

The rest of our time we spent hanging around the state park.  The original facilities at the park were built by the Civilian Conservation Corps in the 1930s, and at least one of the original (main) buildings still stands.  There were several great places to look at the large lake, and one little clearing in the forest where they had a bird blind set up.  Cardinals were VERY common throughout the park.

Cardinal as viewed from the bird blind

Hiking on Lake Corpus Christi

Sunset on the lake

Oh yes...and on the ongoing engine saga...it seems to be over!  We had NO problem driving to this park - no power loss on the hills, and the check engine light stayed off.  Hooray!!  I'm very thankful to have a handy husband who can fix these problems even when we're camping away from everything we're familiar with.