We're now camped at Padre Balli County Park, right outside of Corpus Christi, Texas. We've got electric hookups, access to hot showers, flush toilets, and a coin-operated laundry. The ocean is just a two-minute walk on a path through the dunes. Our original plan was to head to Mustang Island State Park for the night because we knew it had Verizon cell service, and then head out to Padre Island National Seashore for the weekend, where cell service is reportedly much more sketchy and where we wouldn't have electric hookups. Those plans changed several times. First, we got to Mustang Island on Thanksgiving only to find that their rv sites were full and parking on the beach was not possible, due to abnormally high tides. Not knowing what else to do, we headed out to the National Seashore, which was not ideal, since Mike needed cell service to be on call for work. On the way there, we passed as sign for Padre Balli.
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| Sunflowers at Padre Balli Park |
Since we were in the area, I knew it had cell service, and I did a quick internet search and found out it had electricity. We drove in to the office, hoping the campground wasn't full, and found that the office (duh, it was late afternoon on a holiday) was closed until the next day. Our patience was exhausted (again the dog whined continuously since he knew we might be stopping and he thought he might be abandoned). We parked in the nearby public free parking lot right next to the ocean. Mike fielded a work-related call, and I took the dog out and sat at one of the picnic benches on the beach. I really felt like I was at the end of my rope, so to speak. One of the health problems I've been coping with since I first got sick is an extreme physical, cognitive, and psychological reaction to stress. I was also recently diagnosed with chronic post-traumatic stress disorder and depression, stemming from a long history of psychologically abusive relationships. As a survival strategy I learned, beginning in early childhood, to be closely attuned to other people's emotional states, particularly their stress and anger. I've learned lots of techniques in the last five years to manage my reactions to stress and other people's emotional states, but sometimes I exceed my capacity.
One thing I did not appreciate before we started traveling is just how stressful finding appropriate camp locations would be. It's just too much: two people frazzled from being in the car all day, a dog whining continuously in a high pitched tone, and a situation where it's necessary to make a immediate decision involving multiple variables, insufficient information, and sometimes conflicting goals. It's a recipe for disaster.
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| Pier at Padre Balli Park |
In this situation, it helped to temporarily postpone a decision and to get outside and pay attention to the natural environment around me. As I sat at the picnic table and stared out at the ocean, the dog immediately settled down. He dug himself a sweet little nest in the sand, turned around and around about twenty times, and lay down to take a nap. He was immediately asleep.
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| Much needed respite from the car. |
I just sat there for about an hour. Mike's work call ended and we discussed what to do. We decided we just didn't have it in us to go elsewhere, unless absolutely necessary. We drove into the rv area and since there were quite a few open spots and it was already very late in the day, we decided we'd just squat for the night. If someone came and knocked on the door in the middle of the night and demanded payment or that we get out of their spot, we'd deal with that when it happened. Happily, it didn't happen.
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| Tables at Padre Balli County Park |
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