Day 3 and 4 - Dallas to Harlingen, Harlingen to South Padre Island

So I forgot to do a post yesterday on Day 3, and Day 4 is about done, so I am going to combine them both.

I woke up at 3am in Dallas and couldn't get back to sleep as I thought about how terrible rush hour was going to be if I got a late start.   So I woke up, did my normal morning stuff, loaded the car and got on the road at 4:45am.  Yeah, my normal stuff takes a bit, but I like it, so bite me.   Traffic through Dallas was great.   I didn't see anything because it was dark out, but it was smooth.

I drive on down to Austin and have to stop for gas.  Also, I hit rush hour traffic there, as it was about 7:30am.   I keep seeing $1.79 for gas as I drive by, but then I have to stop and fill up.  Of course, I find the most expensive gas in Austin at $1.86 per gallon.   Still cheaper than home, but really?   Anyway, I fill up and drive through.  The weather was a drizzly rain, so I didn't stop as I got into San Antonio.  Why look at the Alamo in the rain, right?

So I got to Harlingen around 2pm and check in at 2:30 or so.   Right before that, I eat at this nearby place.  I got a mushroom and garlic po boy.   Now I thought it would have beef with the mushroom and garlic.   I was wrong.   Really not that good.   I get settled in the room, doze for about 45 minutes before Kim calls.  She is on her way to the airport and her flight is on schedule.  It is about 6pm now, so I relax in the room, but can't get back to sleep.   I check on her flight around 8pm, and she is running ahead, so I decide to head out early.  

I got her as she came in, and since she had zero bags (because they were in the car with me), she didn't need to go through baggage claim.   We stopped at Whataburger for some food, and then got back to the room to sleep.

We slept in, enjoyed the free breakfast at the hotel, and then left around 11am.   Drove to Sams Club to check it out/pick up a couple items.   Then we drove to South Padre Island.   We got here at the condo around 1pm and they let us check in early, which was very cool.   We loaded up most of the stuff on a cart and went up to our room on the ninth floor.

It is a quaint 2 bedroom condo with a balcony that looks over the Gulf of Mexico.  You can easily hear the waves crashing in and the sea gulls crying out.   We got settled and then went to Dirty Al's for lunch.  We had shrimp and calamari and the shrimp was awesome.  The calamari was OK, but we will be back again.   We hit up Walmart and HEB (the local grocery chain) for some groceries and such and got back to the room now.  

So now it is time to relax and really start the vacation.   Not sure what our plans are for tomorrow, but really, we don't need any plans.

~Swenny