Port Aransas and Paddlefest

On Wednesday we left Austin and headed for the Aquarena in San Marcos, a natural spring, previously a theme park, but now an environmental education center. We took the glass bottom boat ride, seeing the fish and the springs. The low pressure springs were like a mini sand geyser, while the high presure springs were more like a fire hose. A very pleasant stop.

However, it did put us somewhat late arriving at the beach in Port Aransas. We usually stop around 4 PM, but ended up driving almost to 6 PM. The I.B.MaGee beach park was pretty basic, but really OK. We were there because the paddlefest is there.

Thursday was a relaxing day, doing laundry and visiting the University of Texas Marine Science Institute.

The paddlefest started Friday with an 8:30 AM meeting. We headed out to the old lighthouse, in what turned out to be a long paddle, about eight miles round trip. Richard was lagging behind, but did get some tips that helped him keep up on the following days. Richard and his sister Diane went out to dinner in the evening. Saturday we paddled out to Shamrock Island, a bird sanctuary, a shorter trip. Sunday we did a variation on the Saturday trip. Richard enjoyed taking demo rides in various kayaks.

Sunday evening we went to mass with Diane, and then went out to dinner with Diane and Patrick. We had a nice visit.