Go Fly a Kite

On Friday at 5:30 am, Michael and I left for South Padre Island in Texas with our friend, Steve Grant. Michael recently adopted a new sport - kite boarding. South Padre has a nice bay with a lot of wind and calm waters. The bay is very shallow - you can walk a long way out before it gets deep. I hear it only gets to about 4-feet deep.

We got to the island around 11 am. Michael and Steve set up their kites and I took a lot of pictures. Michael is still learning how to get up on the board. He was able to stand up quite a few times. He did crash his kite hard on the first day and ripped it. So he bought another one. This one is bigger and he found it easier to get out of the water and up on his board.

We camped out on the beach in tents. It was beautiful. The sand was a little hard, which made sleeping a bit uncomfortable. But I love falling asleep to the sound of the ocean. And the stars seemed so much brighter there.

After another day of kite boarding - and me, trying not to fry on the beach - we headed back to Mexico around 6 pm. Here are a few pictures of our trip.

Setting up the kites

Other kite boarders parked on the beach

On the second day, the beach was flooded. We parked where this kite boarder is standing on the first day

Steve flying his kite in the sunset

The next few pictures are of Steve - he started kite boarding in December. He's getting really good!

Michael preparing to get on his board - keep that kite in the air!

Oops - a lot of crashes happen when you're learning!

Face plant in the salt water

That's better!

Looking good

The wind took Michael far into the bay. Good thing it's shallow so he could walk back to shore.

I started to get a little bored so I started taking lots of pictures. Here's a little hermit crab I found in the water.

Then I found a bigger hermit crab and put the smaller one inside. It wasn't as exciting as I anticipated.

My shadow

I found a pair of bird prints, then walked by them. Hey, I was entertaining myself.

The ocean in the morning - beautiful. I love taking walks along the shore, looking for seashells.

Michael showed me how to fly his practice kite. Not as easy as it looks. I crashed it a few times.

It was fun, though. Maybe someday I'll try it in the water.

Put your arms up to get the kite above you - out of the power zone.

Here's our campsite on the beach. We just drove our car until we found a secluded spot.

Footprints in the sand

Walking out in the shallow - and very warm - water

Walking on water?

I played around with these images

Another beautiful sunset on the island