IT'S A BOOK!

A friend we met on the beach here on North Padre Island delivered the shipment of books to our campsite Monday afternoon, 7 November 2011.  Thanks Jay!

When we opened the two boxes we were delighted to see that the publisher in Florida (BlueNoteBooks.com) had done a really good job.

For those of you who don't know … it's our second book.  We went first class all the way and went with a hard cover.  The book is titled, "The Chief Human Shepherd Under Jesus" and is a sequel to our first book.

Our Second Book

Those of you who want to obtain copies … there's a few left and may be obtained direct from the publisher by tel:  1-800-624-0401 or via BlueNoteBooks.com.  Just so you know in advance, the price is $30. (US).

Both Books

Note:  Our first book titled, "Why Die If You Don't Have To Die?" was also published this year and may also be obtained from BlueNoteBooks.com … price $50 (US).

RECOVERY OF A MYSTERY UNDERWATER PACKAGE

About 4 PM on October 23, 2011 while “playing in our sandbox” we noticed a hefty little unmarked grey tug-like boat pulling a mystery underwater package supported by two flotation bags towards shore.  Strangely, whit miles of open beach the mystery package was dropped directly behind our van.  It appears that somebody was using our van to mark their mysterious drop … What could it be?

Two men jumped overboard and disconnected the tow line from the mystery package and swam to shore landing a little way north down the beach while the sleek boat disappeared to the northeast.  The mystery package remained anchored behind our van.

Later, a white government SUV pulled up alongside the two frogmen followed by a large green US Navy salvage truck with 10 wheels, a flatbed, and a double cab.  As it turned out, it appears that a US Navy salvage team was recovering the controls of a test drone aircraft that had been ditched into the Gulf.

As nightfall was now enveloping Padre Island, the leader of the several Navy Seals now on the scene decided to recover the wreckage the next morning.  The job was finished by noon and provided a rather entertaining interlude.

Two junk pieces washed ashore two days later.  One looks like the vertical wingtip.

Note In A Bottle

On Monday morning (17 October 2011) while taking a stroll on the beach Dana found a bottle with a note in it.  Dana didn't open his exciting find right away but set it on our make-shift table for a few hours.  After curiosity and the pressure of excitement had built Dana opened the bottle and used a pair of tweezers to extract the note.

Humm … flabbergassed … no date, no address, just the words:  "Daniel Loves Leah Forever".

TRAPPED BY STORM TIDES

Sand Castles:  Remember digging castles in the sand as a kid?  We'll the weekend before last we did the same except we built a seawall around our van to stay dry.  And we did it.

Bad News:  On Friday, October 7, 2011, Dana went for his now 6 mile round trip run past the pier and back.  He had seen the Gulf touching the asphalt roadways providing access to the beach.  The exits from the beach leading to the asphalt roadways had become flooded with salt water (only good for 4 wheel drive).  Back at camp, localites who were out for 4 wheel adventure stopped to inquire and allowed us to listen to the National Seashore Weather Report for Friday and the weekend.  Nothing unusual or out of the ordinary was reported.  So, we stayed put as high tide had not overtaken us.  We could see the Gulf of Mexico had become fierce and watched Saturday as high tide kept getting higher and higher.

Nothing To Worry About? 

Taking Precautions:  On Sunday, Dad moved the van up 5 feet and we put two planks under the rear tires and two short boards under the front tires.  Dana also began building a sand & seaweed berm around the rear of the van using a 5 gal. bucket as a precaution.

Battered By The Powerful Gulf Water:  Eventually, our berm was breached by a rogue wave.  Therefore, more sand was hauled in.  Monday afternoon was the worst as we were hit again, and again, and it looked like our berm was going to be washed away.  But, we didn't give up and spend the rest of the day repairing and strengthening our sand wall.  For a while the tide was coming in on all sides and was against the dunes up and down the beach.  Even the hole (12 feet across and 4 feet deep) we had dug to get our supply of sand filled with water with each wave and helped take the pressure off of us.  When nightfall arrived we didn't know what to expect Tuesday morning.  However, the onshore wind had changed and was now blowing a gale out of the north.  Dana, worn out and cold, went right to sleep.  Dad, didn't get much sleep, he kept an eye on the tide.

Keeping An Eye On The Gulf

If It's Not The Tide It's The Fish:  During the night the tide had come up on both sides and had come over the berm only on a small section without damaging it.  As the day progressed we could see the Gulf become less fierce and knew we were now "in the clear".  But, now there are thousands of dead fish on the beach and many more are expected.  Red Tide had moved in stretching at least from Galveston, Texas to somewhere down along the Mexican Gulf coast.

Night Fall

All Clear Again

PICTURES OF HORSES ON THE BEACH

Here is a few photos of the almost daily parade of horses that pass our campsite on North Padre Island:

Horses And More Horses

People In The Saddle

Horse And Owner Smiling

TURTLE PATROL

Brooke and Calrenda said their goodbyes … they are headed to Colorado for winter snowboarding.  They'll be back next year.  They spent all summer patrolling Padre Island Beaches looking for turtle eggs.  Because of cars, trucks, etc. driving up and down the beach the turtles don't stand a chance.  So, the eggs are moved for safeguarding and later the hatchlings are released into the ocean.

Brooke

Clarenda

Describing Summer:

"… the voice of the turtle is heard in our land;"

Song Of Solomon 2:12

HOW DID THE PETRIFIED ALIEN GET TO PADRE ISLAND?

Jay from Corpus Christi holding his trophy we nicknamed "Petrified Alien".  Jay said he may mount it on a slab of polished marble before letting it go for maybe $250,000.  What a trophy!  Does anyone have a better name for it?

Front View

Back View

Interested buyers may contact us:

The "Petrified Alien" will look spectacular in a luxury hotel lobby in New York, Paris, London, or even Dubai.  That is, if a quick thinking corporate executive doesn't see it beforehand, because it just might end up in his wife's private collection.