Another Day in Paradise

I hope your day was as peaceful as mine.  We shared a savory communal lunch with Mom, D, and a tableful of new friends at 4 Seasons RV Resort.  I love potluck dinners, so many choices and new things to try.  I particularly liked the butter tarts made by my favorite Canadian.  

After satisfying our appetite, it was all about the dogs.  Christmas Eve was Annie's tenth birthday and today we celebrated.  First stop, dog park, of course.  I have no complaints about three dogs in a trailer; the pups are as compliant as they know how to be.  And, if I'm being completely honest, we didn't ask their opinion before embarking on this new life.  We take them out walking multiple times during the day, and when we're sitting outside, the dogs are out, too, but there's really nothing that fulfills their desire like running off leash.  And that's exactly what they did.  The three mangy mongrels ran and dug holes, they rolled and played chase.  Bella executed the agility course like a pro.  It was a great way to start the outing.

Next we took the dogs to Boca Chica Beach. They were thrilled.  There are lots of interesting and unusual smells on the beach.  Bella, our adventurous Westiepoo, loves to swim in open water, but she didn't know what to make of the rolling waves, the salty foam.  She chased the waves as they backwashed into the ocean, then turned tail and ran as they uprushed the shore.  During our walk, Bella saw the protruding stump of a pier very near the water's edge.  Her curiosity got the best of her and she dove in.  Once she realized the salty wetness was nothing more than water, it was game on.  She chased the tide as it washed out, then jumped the waves as it came rolling back in.  Consort tried to get a pic, but she was much too quick.  Here are a few posed shots.  

We walked up and down the beach for about an hour.  There were lots of people out fishing and, as is always the case, we were stopped and questioned about the Pulik.  These are unusual dogs and people are always inquisitive.  It is commonplace for people to ask permission to pet them.  D.O.G., vain canine that he is, is always happy to oblige.

On the way to the beach, we saw what appeared to be a space rocket ready for launch on the side of the road.  Now, that's something you don't see every day.  As we retraced our route home, without the aid of Waze, we stopped for a few photographs.  The sign said, SpaceX, but held no further explanation, so we Googled it.  What we learned is that SpaceX is the South Texas launch site for commercial launches and is owned by Elon Musk, the inventor of the Tesla.  The intent is to launch the company's Mars rocket, Starship.  They have, in fact, had three successful launches of their Falcon Heavy rocket in 2019.  It was an impressive sight.

No day in my world is complete without a bird sighting, so here they are, the silent sentinels of the sea.