I love your perspective of the beauty that is my home town and where I have lived for 42 years! There's no place like it and once to spend time in Port Aransas you can't get it out of your heart! There is no place like home, there is no place like Port A, there is no place like Texas!!!
We fell in love with your town this year. Back in 2019 when we camped on PINS we only made a quick pass through Port A, and didn't get to fully appreciate the place. This time we did. Thank you so much!
Belt sander racing? What a hoot! All the better after a Lone Star or three. The Midway in San Diego was special and I can’t wait to see the Mighty Lex! Thanks!
Homie at Large....he’s another one I’m behind in videos.... That RV campground is huge! San Diego has the tours of the USS Midway and it takes a good full day to see everything. So no doubt the USS Lexington is the same. It is great they set them up for people to do a full walk through all the areas. Belt Sander races....who in the world come up with this? Lol. Thanks Marc, Ram 👍🏼👍🏽
It's a big place, and in season it's full. Homie is still there until next week. And thanks for the tip on the Midway! We'll remember that for the next time we're in San Diego.
@@GrandAdventure I lived in San Diego for five years and is one of my favorite places to visit. There is so much to do and most of the time the weather is room temp. 😉 Give me a “heads up” if and when you decide to go and I’ll send you a things to do and see list. Ram
@@laughingram7287 that's a plan, thank you. One time, back when Mrs. GA was working for Delta (and therefore could fly standby for free) we were sitting around late in the afternoon wondering what we'd do for dinner. We decided to go out for Italian. We boarded a plane in SLC, flew to San Diego for dinner, then flew back home. 😁
This was great! Another awesome episode and had us laughing pretty good too, that's quite the sight to see. Ron said, "you know someone's down there taking bets" as we watched the races, looked like a blast! And what another great part as well...we "park" more than boondock - but we're starting to enjoy getting out more and more to just boondocking.
Glad you two enjoyed it! I think that Mrs GA was about to take on the role of bookie - she's always one to spot an opportunity. 😄 Port A is a hoot, you'd love it.
Wow! Ginger is a Texan and has never heard of belt sander racing! We are in the Houston area for the winter. Look us up if you’re in the area. We need to get down to that area this winter. Jarhead has never been. ❤️👍
You definitely do need to get down there this winter! It would be the perfect time to go boondocking on that beach. And there's so much to do in the Port Aransas area. We're now back in Salt Lake City for the winter and ski season, otherwise we would have loved to have connected.
Great spot again right next to the beach. Great information about the aircraft carrier and belt sander racing. Look like the whole gang had a great time. Thanks Don
Great video, the campground looked very nice, good path way to the ocean too, the USS LEXINGTON would really spark my interest, the belt sander races were unique to see, looked like a nice place to spend the winter, travel safe.
That's precisely what our friends are doing, Gary. We just connected with them for one week of their several-month stay. Port A is now near the top of our list of favorite Texas Gulf Coast destinations. Thanks so much for watching!
As a Texan, I'd never heard of belt sander racing. Looks like fun! Speaking of fun...I played Mexican Train just this summer after a friend introduced it. Definitely a good family game.
I kept an rv at Pioneer for nearly 10 years. I grew up spending summers there and learned to fish there. The offshore fishing is phenomenal. FDR used to fish for Tarpon there. Some other overlooked highlights of Port A are the birding center, the Lydia Ann Lighthouse, surf fishing this time of year is the best. There's a gob of kayak trails near the lighthouse, accessible from the causeway across the ferry toward Aransas Pass.
We love Port A!! We recently discovered boon docking on the beach out there. Then we just walk or ride bikes into town and enjoy all the yummy restaurants. We used to stay at the Pioneer Resort but it’s gotten super crowded over there and expensive. Beach is free but a generator onboard comes in handy for sure. ❤️
For sure, Christine! We share some of the beach boondocking in this episode, but this time through we wanted to stay close to friends who are at Pioneer for a couple of months.
Now that’s a place I could stay and soak up some sun. Belt sander races is a first for me. Loved the big smile on Zoe’s face. Was she allowed to run on the beach
That actually wasn't Zoe, just another chocolate lab in the crowd. Zoe would've been in sensory overload with all of those people. 😃 Not "allowed" to run on the beach as there are leash requirements; however, like most folks we just picked a lonely spot on the beach to let her run and swim in the surf.
Hi Mark! Wanted to let you know that my husband and I absolutely LOVE to watch your TH-cam videos!!!! In fact, you inspire us to go to the same places that you have been to! Maybe we can meet up with you someday. 🙂 Thank you for the awesome way you share the beauty in your Grand Adventures. 😃 Gary & Linda Hays ❤
That is awesome, thanks Gary & Linda! Hope to see you out there. If it helps, there's an interactive map of all our travel videos available at grandadventure.tv to help with your travel planning.
I missed the premiere, enjoyed the video. I can see where being a member of the mobile community and meeting up with friends would be a fun thing to do. I enjoyed the tour of the aircraft carrier. I became a Navy Officer after leaving college, my last duty station was at a very large Naval Air Station that deployed fighter aircraft onto the Carriers. It is amazing what all goes into that happening.
Never knew that about you Dian, thanks for sharing that! I'd kill to tour a modern supercarrier some day. Catching up with different friends in different parts of the country is one of our favorite things about fulltime RV life.
Yet another great vid Marc. As soon as we get back to the US we will be grabbing some of your merchandise, but I was also wondering if you are on Patreon? Thanks again for your great work - the 2 Tasmanians.
Very cool Marc. Didn't know about the belt sander racing until now. Definitely want to visit the Lexington Museum in Corpus Christie... fascinating intro you provided. Thanks. Also, I really liked the views of the beach area around there with all of seafood bars. Great times! Gord
I hadn't thought of it earlier, but the Texas Gulf Coast offers much more for the RV lifestyle than the west coast of Florida. Florida doesn't have any intercoastal barrier islands that allow hundreds of miles of beach front boondocking. Texas is totally unique for that reason. Sorry you didn't get to boondock on a remote part of the beach this time around. But great friends can't be missed either. Times change, don't they... Gord
@@gorrdd they do indeed. And to be quite honest, after getting blasted with sand and salt spray for days in Surfside Beach ist was kind of refreshing to actually have grass outside the trailer door.
@@GrandAdventure Yes, you don't want to be on the beach when the wind kicks up. Not fun... Be sure to get your trailer rinsed off, from top to underneath, from all the salt. Exposed aluminum will dissolve in short order as well as rust any exposed steel. Find a neutralizing rinse that will get to all the aluminum pop rivets. And don't forget to flush out the aluminum coils to your roof mounted air conditioners. They go very quickly. We always had to replace our heat pumps every three years when living on Siesta Key Beach at the Gulf Haven Resort. Gord
@@gorrdd oh, rest assured we did. It was so bad that I had to take the truck to a car wash as I could no longer see out the driver's side windows. I did a couple of interim quick hosings while on the beach in Surfside, then when we got to Port Aransas I happily paid Pioneer the $5 fee to wash my own rig at the campsite. I gave it a full, thorough detailing by hand. Good point on the a/c units, though -- I'll have to address that here in SLC. Never knew you lived in Siesta Key. Our home for much of our time on the FL Gulf Coast was in Anna Maria. That was a great spot -- we lived right on one of the deep water canals and had the sailboat docked behind the house. From there we could access either Tampa Bay or the Gulf without having to negotiate any drawbridges. Even after we built a house in Lakewood Ranch we still kept our sailboat in a marina on Anna Maria Island, right in Holmes Beach.
Looks like I could do a week there no problem. What time of year was this. Beach parking looks great too. I'd carry couple sheets of plywood to park trailer on. Learned that at Pismo. They'd have to kick me off that ship !! Thanks for another quality video 🙂
How are you doing master Marc we appreciate your great efforts as foreigners subscribers enjoy to explore places unknown to us to increase our cultural level improve our English language as well as always iam gathering main information about places you visited briefly here it’s port aransas is known as fishing capital of Texas best in all areas sport port aransas is city in nueces county Texas its 185 miles southwest of San Antonio it’s established the town on mustang island located north of padre island it’s one of longest barriers islands along Texas coast Corpus Christi bay Gulf of Mexico Lydia Ann ship channel make up surrounding water karankawa Indians were first inhabitants in gulf coast Texas Galveston bay Corpus Christi bay there are fishing village sand point Europeans called wild horse island later known as mustang island after that nomadic existence tarpon inn in port aransas listed on national register of historic places was built in 1886
Last part of my research there are life saving station lighthouse built to rescue shipwrecked mariners in year 1850 in 8 district in year 1916 Texas hurricane after it the city was rebuilt became destinations for tourists surfers vacationers there are university of Texas marine sciences institute there are too hurricane Harvey in 2017 major damage port aransas independent school district attractions such as deep sea fishing parasailing birdwatching Texas sand fest observe endangered whooping cranes race sail boat watch sunrise over beache dolphin pirates horse back riding on beach rent golf cart to explore town explore San Jose island rent jet ski enjoy beach thank you for sharing your trips with us even virtually iwish for your channel more success and progress stay safe blessed happy thanksgiving in advance good luck to you your family friends
While this campground looks nice, it unfortunately is one of the poorly informed businesses that supports breed restrictions. It’s a shame that they let their insurance carrier determine who they can admit. I strongly suggest that we avoid businesses like this until they realize it’s the dog owners (not the breed) that cause any problems or issues.
While I appreciate your perspective, Wayne, and as a dog lover myself I believe that your intentions are in the right place, as a career claims professional I also understand the insurer's position. I cannot place the blame with the RV park, for it is probable that without their insurance policy's breed restrictions the premiums required would be prohibitively expensive, and those premiums would need to be passed along in the rates charged to the customer. Likewise I cannot blame the insurer for they need to charge a premium commensurate with the risk that they underwrite. So in the end I place the blame with the plaintiff's bar and a limited number of irresponsible dog owners.
@@GrandAdventure While many insurance companies enforce breed restrictions based on bad information, others make their decisions based on more informed positions. For example, my current homeowners insurance company (State Farm) has NO breed restrictions on who they cover while others (e.g. Allstate) will not cover certain breeds. I’m suggesting that we can help change things by supporting those businesses who seek out companies that do NOT support breed restrictions.
@@waynelasch7935 the company that I work for actually takes the opposite approach: we write standalone animal liability policies for breeds of dogs and even exotic animal species that other companies won't underwrite.
@@GrandAdventure My point is anything that we, the consumer, can do to encourage businesses to do away with breed restrictions that are based on poor information would be a step in the right direction.
I love your perspective of the beauty that is my home town and where I have lived for 42 years! There's no place like it and once to spend time in Port Aransas you can't get it out of your heart! There is no place like home, there is no place like Port A, there is no place like Texas!!!
We fell in love with your town this year. Back in 2019 when we camped on PINS we only made a quick pass through Port A, and didn't get to fully appreciate the place. This time we did. Thank you so much!
Belt sander racing? What a hoot! All the better after a Lone Star or three. The Midway in San Diego was special and I can’t wait to see the Mighty Lex! Thanks!
You bet Bill! Thanks so much for watching.
We'll be at Mustang Island State Park at the end of January, part of our next 82 day trip. Thanks for a little preview of the area!
Our pleasure, Tina! Safe travels, and have a blast.
I love it, belt sander drag racing!
We loved it too, Marv!
I loved the belt sander racing
Glad you enjoyed it, thanks for watching!
I've never seen Zoe so happy! Nice to see the gulf, again. 👍😎🇨🇦💜📷🐾
Haha, that wasn't Zoe. That was another chocolate in the crowd. Zoe stayed home as that would've all been too much sensory overload for her.
Homie at Large....he’s another one I’m behind in videos....
That RV campground is huge!
San Diego has the tours of the USS Midway and it takes a good full day to see everything. So no doubt the USS Lexington is the same. It is great they set them up for people to do a full walk through all the areas.
Belt Sander races....who in the world come up with this? Lol.
Thanks Marc,
Ram
👍🏼👍🏽
It's a big place, and in season it's full. Homie is still there until next week. And thanks for the tip on the Midway! We'll remember that for the next time we're in San Diego.
@@GrandAdventure I lived in San Diego for five years and is one of my favorite places to visit. There is so much to do and most of the time the weather is room temp. 😉
Give me a “heads up” if and when you decide to go and I’ll send you a things to do and see list.
Ram
@@laughingram7287 that's a plan, thank you. One time, back when Mrs. GA was working for Delta (and therefore could fly standby for free) we were sitting around late in the afternoon wondering what we'd do for dinner. We decided to go out for Italian. We boarded a plane in SLC, flew to San Diego for dinner, then flew back home. 😁
Belt sander race? Now that’s a new one!
Thanks for sharing Mark! 👍🏼
Our pleasure Kim, thanks for watching!
Very nice place, can't beat the Gulf in the winter season.
It's definitely head-and-shoulders above the southern Arizona desert that many flock to, in our opinion.
Kody’s in Port A and have the garlic fish. Excellent. We go down there every other year and stay at the same park.
We'll remember that tip for next time, David, thanks so much!
This was great! Another awesome episode and had us laughing pretty good too, that's quite the sight to see. Ron said, "you know someone's down there taking bets" as we watched the races, looked like a blast! And what another great part as well...we "park" more than boondock - but we're starting to enjoy getting out more and more to just boondocking.
Glad you two enjoyed it! I think that Mrs GA was about to take on the role of bookie - she's always one to spot an opportunity. 😄 Port A is a hoot, you'd love it.
FYI, Pioneer Beach RV now has its own Belt Sander racing track, typically Thursdays in the winter months.
Yup, we heard, and mentioned that in the narration.
Wow! Ginger is a Texan and has never heard of belt sander racing! We are in the Houston area for the winter. Look us up if you’re in the area. We need to get down to that area this winter. Jarhead has never been. ❤️👍
You definitely do need to get down there this winter! It would be the perfect time to go boondocking on that beach. And there's so much to do in the Port Aransas area. We're now back in Salt Lake City for the winter and ski season, otherwise we would have loved to have connected.
Great spot again right next to the beach. Great information about the aircraft carrier and belt sander racing. Look like the whole gang had a great time. Thanks Don
We sure did. Thank you Don!
I have never traveled in Texas . These videos have been interesting. Thankyou Grand Adventure 😊
You're most welcome, Pamela, and thanks for watching! Glad that we can introduce you to some of the wonderful things across Texas.
Thanks Marc been 40+ years since I've been there had an uncle that shrimped there.
No kidding! There are a ton of shrimp boats in that area. Thanks for watching as always, Norm!
Great video, the campground looked very nice, good path way to the ocean too, the USS LEXINGTON would really spark my interest, the belt sander races were unique to see, looked like a nice place to spend the winter, travel safe.
That's precisely what our friends are doing, Gary. We just connected with them for one week of their several-month stay. Port A is now near the top of our list of favorite Texas Gulf Coast destinations. Thanks so much for watching!
That's a unique park. Very nice.
Their staff absolutely rocks too, Connie. Thanks so much for watching!
We always enjoy your videos 👍 I’ve never heard of belt sander racing - it’s amazing the offbeat items you find 🤩
Bob, we have a blast trying to find little quirky things across America, and the belt sander racing was truly one of those.
Another good video! I’ve lived in TX my whole life & never heard of belt sander racing till now. Leave it to Texans 👍.
Thanks! Well, now you have. 😄
As a Texan, I'd never heard of belt sander racing. Looks like fun! Speaking of fun...I played Mexican Train just this summer after a friend introduced it. Definitely a good family game.
Love Mexican train
We had a blast that evening hanging by the pool and playing until after midnight.
@@GrandAdventure excellent!
I kept an rv at Pioneer for nearly 10 years. I grew up spending summers there and learned to fish there. The offshore fishing is phenomenal. FDR used to fish for Tarpon there. Some other overlooked highlights of Port A are the birding center, the Lydia Ann Lighthouse, surf fishing this time of year is the best. There's a gob of kayak trails near the lighthouse, accessible from the causeway across the ferry toward Aransas Pass.
Great tips, Mike! Thanks for those, for we'll surely return.
Very good program last night. You flew over our winter spot (#483) at Pioneer :)
Thank you Brian! We loved your winter 20, we were holed up for that week in #450 IIRC. And keep an eye on that guy in 461. 😉
LOL! Belt sander racing, who knew? How cool to tour that carrier! As always, thanks for bringing us things you don't always see on other channels.😉
Than YOU for watching! Glad that you enjoyed this one.
We love Port A!! We recently discovered boon docking on the beach out there. Then we just walk or ride bikes into town and enjoy all the yummy restaurants. We used to stay at the Pioneer Resort but it’s gotten super crowded over there and expensive. Beach is free but a generator onboard comes in handy for sure. ❤️
For sure, Christine! We share some of the beach boondocking in this episode, but this time through we wanted to stay close to friends who are at Pioneer for a couple of months.
Now that’s a place I could stay and soak up some sun. Belt sander races is a first for me. Loved the big smile on Zoe’s face. Was she allowed to run on the beach
That actually wasn't Zoe, just another chocolate lab in the crowd. Zoe would've been in sensory overload with all of those people. 😃 Not "allowed" to run on the beach as there are leash requirements; however, like most folks we just picked a lonely spot on the beach to let her run and swim in the surf.
Hi Mark! Wanted to let you know that my husband and I absolutely LOVE to watch your TH-cam videos!!!! In fact, you inspire us to go to the same places that you have been to! Maybe we can meet up with you someday. 🙂
Thank you for the awesome way you share the beauty in your Grand Adventures. 😃
Gary & Linda Hays ❤
That is awesome, thanks Gary & Linda! Hope to see you out there. If it helps, there's an interactive map of all our travel videos available at grandadventure.tv to help with your travel planning.
Great video ! Always entertaining and very informative! Stay safe and blessed and Happy Holidays!
Thanks as always Michael! And same to you and yours.
@@GrandAdventure Belt sander racing is cool but show me a person who can race jigsaws and I'll call them genius!
I missed the premiere, enjoyed the video. I can see where being a member of the mobile community and meeting up with friends would be a fun thing to do. I enjoyed the tour of the aircraft carrier. I became a Navy Officer after leaving college, my last duty station was at a very large Naval Air Station that deployed fighter aircraft onto the Carriers. It is amazing what all goes into that happening.
Never knew that about you Dian, thanks for sharing that! I'd kill to tour a modern supercarrier some day. Catching up with different friends in different parts of the country is one of our favorite things about fulltime RV life.
I enjoyed the video Mark. Thank you as always. Port A looks nice.
Glad you enjoyed it Dennis! It's become one of our favorite areas along the Texas Gulf Coast.
Looking forward to it, Marc! It's a great day for a grand adventure...
Gord
Looking forward to seeing you tonight, Gord!
nice job
Thanks bud!
Yet another great vid Marc. As soon as we get back to the US we will be grabbing some of your merchandise, but I was also wondering if you are on Patreon? Thanks again for your great work - the 2 Tasmanians.
Thanks Leigh! We never really wanted to go the Patreon route, it just doesn't feel right to us. Wishing you safe travels!
lol, a thing that would make belt sand racing "more american" would be to build a nascar style oval where they would be making a "left turn" ;-p
Very cool Marc. Didn't know about the belt sander racing until now. Definitely want to visit the Lexington Museum in Corpus Christie... fascinating intro you provided. Thanks.
Also, I really liked the views of the beach area around there with all of seafood bars. Great times!
Gord
Happy that you enjoyed it, thank you Gord!
I hadn't thought of it earlier, but the Texas Gulf Coast offers much more for the RV lifestyle than the west coast of Florida.
Florida doesn't have any intercoastal barrier islands that allow hundreds of miles of beach front boondocking. Texas is totally unique for that reason.
Sorry you didn't get to boondock on a remote part of the beach this time around. But great friends can't be missed either. Times change, don't they...
Gord
@@gorrdd they do indeed. And to be quite honest, after getting blasted with sand and salt spray for days in Surfside Beach ist was kind of refreshing to actually have grass outside the trailer door.
@@GrandAdventure Yes, you don't want to be on the beach when the wind kicks up. Not fun...
Be sure to get your trailer rinsed off, from top to underneath, from all the salt. Exposed aluminum will dissolve in short order as well as rust any exposed steel. Find a neutralizing rinse that will get to all the aluminum pop rivets.
And don't forget to flush out the aluminum coils to your roof mounted air conditioners. They go very quickly. We always had to replace our heat pumps every three years when living on Siesta Key Beach at the Gulf Haven Resort.
Gord
@@gorrdd oh, rest assured we did. It was so bad that I had to take the truck to a car wash as I could no longer see out the driver's side windows. I did a couple of interim quick hosings while on the beach in Surfside, then when we got to Port Aransas I happily paid Pioneer the $5 fee to wash my own rig at the campsite. I gave it a full, thorough detailing by hand. Good point on the a/c units, though -- I'll have to address that here in SLC.
Never knew you lived in Siesta Key. Our home for much of our time on the FL Gulf Coast was in Anna Maria. That was a great spot -- we lived right on one of the deep water canals and had the sailboat docked behind the house. From there we could access either Tampa Bay or the Gulf without having to negotiate any drawbridges. Even after we built a house in Lakewood Ranch we still kept our sailboat in a marina on Anna Maria Island, right in Holmes Beach.
Looks like I could do a week there no problem. What time of year was this. Beach parking looks great too. I'd carry couple sheets of plywood to park trailer on. Learned that at Pismo. They'd have to kick me off that ship !! Thanks for another quality video 🙂
Thanks J! That was filmed around 4 weeks ago, right at the beginning of the good season down there.
How are you doing master Marc we appreciate your great efforts as foreigners subscribers enjoy to explore places unknown to us to increase our cultural level improve our English language as well as always iam gathering main information about places you visited briefly here it’s port aransas is known as fishing capital of Texas best in all areas sport port aransas is city in nueces county Texas its 185 miles southwest of San Antonio it’s established the town on mustang island located north of padre island it’s one of longest barriers islands along Texas coast Corpus Christi bay Gulf of Mexico Lydia Ann ship channel make up surrounding water karankawa Indians were first inhabitants in gulf coast Texas Galveston bay Corpus Christi bay there are fishing village sand point Europeans called wild horse island later known as mustang island after that nomadic existence tarpon inn in port aransas listed on national register of historic places was built in 1886
Hello there Khatoon!
Last part of my research there are life saving station lighthouse built to rescue shipwrecked mariners in year 1850 in 8 district in year 1916 Texas hurricane after it the city was rebuilt became destinations for tourists surfers vacationers there are university of Texas marine sciences institute there are too hurricane Harvey in 2017 major damage port aransas independent school district attractions such as deep sea fishing parasailing birdwatching Texas sand fest observe endangered whooping cranes race sail boat watch sunrise over beache dolphin pirates horse back riding on beach rent golf cart to explore town explore San Jose island rent jet ski enjoy beach thank you for sharing your trips with us even virtually iwish for your channel more success and progress stay safe blessed happy thanksgiving in advance good luck to you your family friends
Same to you and yours, our friend.
Was that Zoe? Sweet girl.
Nope, we left her home as she wouldve been a monster in that big a crowd. That was a giant male chocolate owned by another patron. He was so sweet!
While this campground looks nice, it unfortunately is one of the poorly informed businesses that supports breed restrictions. It’s a shame that they let their insurance carrier determine who they can admit. I strongly suggest that we avoid businesses like this until they realize it’s the dog owners (not the breed) that cause any problems or issues.
While I appreciate your perspective, Wayne, and as a dog lover myself I believe that your intentions are in the right place, as a career claims professional I also understand the insurer's position. I cannot place the blame with the RV park, for it is probable that without their insurance policy's breed restrictions the premiums required would be prohibitively expensive, and those premiums would need to be passed along in the rates charged to the customer. Likewise I cannot blame the insurer for they need to charge a premium commensurate with the risk that they underwrite. So in the end I place the blame with the plaintiff's bar and a limited number of irresponsible dog owners.
@@GrandAdventure While many insurance companies enforce breed restrictions based on bad information, others make their decisions based on more informed positions. For example, my current homeowners insurance company (State Farm) has NO breed restrictions on who they cover while others (e.g. Allstate) will not cover certain breeds. I’m suggesting that we can help change things by supporting those businesses who seek out companies that do NOT support breed restrictions.
@@waynelasch7935 the company that I work for actually takes the opposite approach: we write standalone animal liability policies for breeds of dogs and even exotic animal species that other companies won't underwrite.
@@GrandAdventure My point is anything that we, the consumer, can do to encourage businesses to do away with breed restrictions that are based on poor information would be a step in the right direction.
@@waynelasch7935 and my point is, there are financial realities.