Bright, warm summer days and a boat ride are the best kind of days to explore Gulf Islands National Seashore Davis Bayou, MS. The barrier islands and their unspoiled beaches are its greatest draw.

The mainland portion is bayou and estuary limiting land exploration but we did a bit of birding and checked out the alligator pond.

Grand Bay NWR has a beautiful research center and visitor building but its bayou and estuary are hard to explore on foot as well. Folks do lots of fishing there and it could be great for kayaking as long as one doesn’t get lost in the twisty channels.

A portion of these wet, swampy floored coastal pine forests are protected Mississippi Sand Hill Crane habitat. This subspecies is at risk from overall habitat loss.  They just released three captive bred adults onto the refuge this past week but we didn’t catch a glimpse.  Here’s hoping they do well.

Ocean Springs MS is a cute little town with lots of fun shops (fun for me anyway, Kent spent a bit of time on the benches in the sun).  Home goods and women’s’ clothing dominate the offering with toy shops, candy shops and sporting goods rounding out the experience.  It is an artsy town so most shops include works of local artists, most notably the (Walter) Andersons.  If you are a jewelry hound, this is a great stop for you.

On a recommendation from the local visitor center we checked out Shearwater Pottery just outside of town. They have a showroom but the experience is mostly about the business itself and the founding artists.  You can order reproductions of their pieces.  I just looked.

We found BBs Poboys and Seafood; a good place to sample some fresh seafood. The gumbo was terrific and seafood poboy, even with fried oysters, delicious.  If you are into that sort of thing, the remoulade was fantastic.  We were too full to try the key lime pie so you’ll have to judge that yourself if you head this way.

Of course we had to try the local donut shop. Tatonuts. Perfect cake donuts!

Bouts of heavy rain and occasional thunder make for a somewhat restless night and I am disappointed to hear the patter of raindrops when the alarm rouses us. We had just backed the whole rig into the site last night so breaking camp is pretty simple. Kent unplugs us and we roll out.

Here we are, my favorite route (not) I-10 and it is raining steadily with times of absolute torrential downpour and fog. Gulf Coast, you aren’t showing your best side today.  We make it to Ocean Springs and The National Seashore in Mississippi.  Sites are small so off we go to the overflow lot to unload the car and drop the trailer and we are met with some of the heaviest rain of the day.  We slog through puddles 4 or 5 inches deep and shiver at the streams of water that run off the umbrella when we bend over to do anything.  I jump at the crack of thunder.

We settle in, change clothes, and have a warm lunch. Things are better.  Tomorrow is to be a sunnier, drier day.

It has been raining for the past two days and continues off and on as we pack up. Yuck.  230 miles and what do you think?  Yeap, still raining.  We pulled in to overnight at a city park in Lafayette….interesting, it is placarded “flash flood area”.  The host assured us that it would have to storm “a lot worse than this” before it was a problem. Kent had to reset the ground fault breaker several times and ultimately switched over to the power post for the vacant site next to us; else, the stay was uneventful.  It is a quiet little creekside park and probably lovely in less soggy conditions.

We are housebound today hiding out from near continuous rain. There are flash flood and flood warnings all around us and puddles are forming in every low spot in camp.  We are keeping an eye on the weather but seem to be on high enough ground to be perfectly safe.  We head out to points east tomorrow.

Day One

It is breezy and a bit cool but sunny as we are head for Lake Livingston.   We have plenty of night crawlers and hope to find out what is biting.  The trip is cut short.  By the time we are trying to launch, the wind is increasing and waves building to whitecaps out on the main part of the lake.  We hide out in the bay here at camp for a couple hours but it’s just too rough to head out any further.  Maybe we will have better luck tomorrow.

Day two is a better weather day

It is not a great fishing day through. Kent caught a couple little catfish (just enough to slim up things) but I never even got a bite.  I enjoyed the relaxing float.  Great Blue Heron and Bald Eagles seem to like the place as well.

Here we are, Livingston, TX our official domicile.  It looks about like last time through.  We are getting a few must dos done: car/trailer/motorhome inspections and physicals plus picking up a packet of mail.  Just routine stuff.

We found them! One pair of Whoopers is searching out tasty morsels on a flat out from the tower at Aransas.  They are far away but the shape and behavior are unmistakable.

Back in Lamar we check out the pond in the pasture by Big Tree. We find two pair just hanging out with some sandhills and egrets.

It is always fun to catch sight of these rare creatures.

From camp we watch the sun set over the bay. Waves lap soothingly against the shore. Goose Island State Park is one of our favorites in Texas.
The campground backs up to restored wetlands and a protected inlet that makes for a pretty good kayak spot. Fish roll in the shallows and herons fish along the shore. Skimmers spend the day on sand bars and move out in little bands as the sun sets.