Photo of the Week #17 – Driving on the Gulf Beach on Padre Island, near Corpus Christi, TX

This photo was taken in September 2003 during an excursion around Texas. My long time buddy, Brian Morris from Auckland, NZ, was in the U.S. with his wife, Carol. We had just returned from a cruise to Cozumel, Mexico. Carol flew to Phoenix where she was meeting up with her Auckland Sweet Adelines singing group to participate in an international competition. Brian and I jumped in my Cadillac Seville and headed for an adventure in the Great Republic of Texas. 

It was a beautiful day and the beach was virtually empty. So, we wiled away some time that afternoon driving up and down the beach, catching a little sun and surf and chatting with the few folks we did happen upon. This visit brought back memories of the last time and only other time I was to the beach on Padre Island in April of 1970, 33 years earlier. I was in an airman in the U.S. Air Force and had orders to report to my new duty assignment in Washington, DC in May. A captain who worked in the same building I worked in at Medina Base, an auxiliary site near Lackland AFB in San Antonio, and who had resigned his commission, decided he and his wife needed me for a special assignment that day. So, the three of us drove to Padre Island and wiled away the day catching some sun and surf. Great “duty” in 1970 and still great “duty” in 2003.