Morning today - Not one but two flat tires and we were very lucky....
Gosh we were sad to leave Port Aransas this morning.
There was no sunshine but a light drizzle. We had a really good time here at the Festival. Boat rides which I enjoyed (meaning pretty calm waters) and Barbr loves being on a boat in any weather. She has a good constitution when it comes to boats. A visit to King Ranch and Island Birding were both were excellent.
We got logistics figured out that in the event someone wants to come to stay for a bit in Port Aransas, one does not have to rent a car for a stay on Port Aransas. The size of Port Aransas and the pace is just perfect for a beach buggy and one can go everywhere on one. A shuttle to and from Corpus Christi airport is all that is needed.
We were sorry to leave but tick tick tick, time moves on and we had to go. We loaded up the car and we lined up for the ferry and we got on within minutes. We then took the road to head to San Antonio, or so we thought. We found after several miles that we had to back track.
Yesterday the rental car computer registered a tire with low air pressure. So yesterday I stopped at the gas station and put air in and it was at the right pressure and the light was still on saying put air in. I consulted the owner's manual and it said this indicator would go off after the car was driven at over 30 mph. Well the whole of Port Aransas is under 30 mph and everyone follows the speed limit in town. So we did not worry about it.
Today the indicator was still on and the car was fine, tire looked OK and we were on the mainland when we could finally go fast enough. We went fast. I slammed on the breaks several times. Barbr rocked and got mad at me for a second. I told what I was doing. While I was driving in the right direction; no cars around for miles I went quite fast, it was a good road. I was not worried about the indicator as probably the sensor itself may be out etc... While driving, there was a beep from the car computer and we both said what was that. When I was able to focus on the car computer (it is not in a good spot kind of down and into the driver's side of the dash), the car computer indicated two tires needed pressure on the passenger side. Gosh we were fine, I took my hands off the wheel and nothing was pulling to the side. We were literally in the middle of nowhere and had about 20 miles to go. We finally found our cross-street Hwy 77 North and we needed to gas up and I would fill up both tires again if they had a tire air pump or whatever one calls it. We filled up and I pulled up in front of the air pump and went to the bathroom. Then Barbr and I went back to the car with the $1.50 in change for the tire air pump. I went around the car and the front passenger tire was flat like a pancake and the rear one which was the original "low tire pressure indicator" looked low too. I called the rental car company assistance number for advice and talked to the guy at the gas station. A tire garage was just down the block on the left. This is a small town and some towns have nothing. Barbr said she does not remember seeing a tire repair shop anywhere on our travels on this trip.
Rental company advice was getting one tire changed with the spare put on and then drive to Corpus Christi at less than 50 mph to exchange the vehicle was not an option. Everyone drives fast here and even Farm to Market roads are good with a 75 mph speed limit and everyone goes fast 80+. I did not want to end up on the highway sitting there with another real flat from the back tire, plus Corpus Christi is the wrong direction.
I filled up the pancake tire it inflated but I could hear air escaping and we drove out very quickly from the gas station and up the block made a left to the tire garage. The tire was half flat in that time. The very helpful fellow asked what I wanted done and I said check all the tires and see what could be done. In about 45 minutes, two tires were repaired (one long woodwork nail and one type of roofing or building screw were the problems - I collected the items they pulled from each tire). I paid the bill, thanked the fellow and off we went. I will try to claim the amount with the rental car company.
We then thought about where we had been the last five days. We were all over the place and there was hurricane trash everywhere, so it is no wonder that we picked up stuff like a screw and a nail when we pulled over off the county roads to see a bird. Even where we parked at the Beachcomber Motel on Port Aransas, the yard had little stuff, construction bits here and there, broken glass and sticks. We are just so thankful that we were not in the middle of nowhere and stopped to check the tire, we would have been stuck and probably still there in the dark. It was so remote, cell phone service is iffy in the area since the hurricane, likely there was no service.
The rental car goes back tomorrow after we finish birding Mitchell Lake and the Botanical Gardens here (my two favourite places here in SA). So it was a slow start for our return journey to San Antonio.
We had a lunch break at the MacDonald's parking lot in Refugio and then
we stopped at a store to shop 15 minutes or so, just to check the repaired tires did not go flat. The repairs were good. We had 2 .5 hours of driving to get to San Antonio.No more indicator lights came on and we made good time on the 75 mph highway into San Antonio.
We made jokes about our tires and the sun came out for us and the temperature was 76 degrees. We pulled into the Pearl Brewery District in San Antonio where Norm and I we visited several with the kids.
Barbr wanted to see the Riverwalk in San Antonio and the riverwalk is so pretty. The whole length is landscaped beautifully with greenery and flowers. Barbr took photos of the flowers. There was flowering cabbage, petunias, pansies, tulips in bloom and daffodils. It is spring here. There were the domestic ducks along the way. Barbr was enchanted. She said why don't we do this in Ottawa with the canal. Barbr wanted to go on the boat ride down the riverwalk. These run every half hour and the boats go through one lock. Norm and I and the kids have done this boat ride every time we visit. At Christmas time the whole 5 miles or so is lit up with Christmas lights and it is magical.
We flagged down the boat (which one can do if one is at steps down to the water or a boat stop). Off we went on the boat trip all the way downtown and around downtown and back to Pearl. There were lots of people in the boat when we got on but after we came into the downtown, only a threesome got on, everyone else had gotten off at downtown stops and there was us. We boated back to Pearl which at the end of the Riverwalk. We both enjoyed the lovely boat ride. Along the Riverwalk at one point, there is a tree overlooking the Riverwalk, which is a Yellow-crowned Night Heronry with two active nests, right in the middle of people walking, running, cycling by along with the boats going by. The herons are used to humans.
We had supper and then went to check into our hotel by the airport so Barbr would have an airport shuttle to the airport when she leaves. Now we are settled and it is so great to have internet service that works and does not take over an hour to download anything. That is our one complaint in Port Aransas, the place had crappy internet period. We asked at other motels nearby and they had good internet service, so it was just the place we stayed at.
So that was our day, we meant to do some birding but our morning was taken up with car stuff and then we played tourist. San Antonio is a wonderful city to visit. Tomorrow we bird. Hope I did not bore anyone today. We saw raptors, Red-tailed Hawk, Black and Turkey Vultures and Kestrels. Barbr saw her Crested Caracara several times and she thinks now we are pretty well out of the range for Caracara. Another interesting day.
