WHAT A DAY....You can say that again

So we headed out this morning for our trip to Corpus Christi.  We got a mid morning start but we really only had one task today so no rush.  We made a stop in town and then off we go.  I was driving while Charlie navigated, this is not our norm but I guess we decided to mix it up today. This will later prove to have been a bad idea.  Never mess with your normal mojo.  

Late this morning we drove through Poteet, Texas, the strawberry capital of Texas.  There wasn't much I saw to speak of except this adorable water tower.  Too cute.  We made a small diversion so I could get a photo and again off we go.  

Now I am still driving and we are about 2 hours into our trip.  I'm getting tired of driving and a bit hungry too.  In addition, my back, which has been hurting off and on for two months now, has locked up tighter than a....well, I don't know, but it's hurting.  I tell you all of this as I will need some sympathy VERY SOON!

We are exactly 39 miles from our destination and one mile from stopping to eat lunch and switch drivers when IT happens.  I see a cop car DRIVING on the other side of the divided highway while I am driving behind a horse trailer, in the slow lane on my side of the divided highway.  I knew when I saw him cross over that grass median with his lights on that he was pulling me over.  He didn't even ask me if I knew why he was pulling me over.  He just walked up, said I was speeding, asked me for my license and registration, and told me he'd be citing me for a violation of speeding.  And this is what a speeding ticket in the state of Texas looks like.... 

Now I don't know how I could be charged from across 4 lanes of highway and a grass median but he sure did it.  And it's not cheap.  It's gonna cost me $165.00. Unfortunately, it'll cost me almost that much in gas to drive back there and plead not guilty. Now I'm sure you are all wondering if I in fact was speeding....well, now, must you even ask things like this of me, a fine upstanding citizen. I'll say I was going what I guesstimate was about 75 miles an hour...c'mon the speed limit is 70...I was behind a horse trailer...in the slow lane!!!!!!  I was pretty bummed for a few hours because lets face it...I don't have lots of extra funds lying around for stupid stuff like speeding tickets, but what are you gonna do?  

Right before we got to the base Charlie managed to accidently kill a bird.  So gross!!!..it flew right into the grill of our car and it's blood, guts, and feathers were all over the windshield and stuck all in the front of the car.  Charlie was going the speed limit so I can't imagine what it would have been like if I, speed demon that I evidently am, was driving. 

Anyway, we got to Corpus and it's a little "divey" but the natural scenery is great.  Palm trees and water, and some beaches...if you squint it's kinda like I imagine Hawaii...of course I could just go and visit my sister who lives in Hawaii but the ticket probably costs $165 and I just used that money up! So here is our photo of palm trees, which incidentally was taken right after we killed that bird. 

 

We dropped Charlie off to do his paper work, checked into our waterfront view hotel room on base and managed to salvage the rest of the day quite nicely. **Just as a special note, the admin guy Charlie was here to do paperwork with said that the area I got my ticket in is a known speed trap....well known to all but me AGAIN evidently.  I guess everyone in his family has gotten a ticket there at some point.  So technically it's not my fault!  Right???

Moving on with our day....upon several suggestions, we headed to Pier 99 for dinner.  

We sat outside and the atmosphere is fun, the food is OK, and the view was great! We were able to sit right by the water and see the USS Lexington while we ate dinner.

After dinner, we were driving back to the hotel and we were on top of an overpass and looked down and saw a minor league baseball field. They were watering down the field and we could see folks heading into the ball park. Being the baseball junkies we are, we decided to go take in the game.  We zipped off the highway, parked, walked to the stadium in the heat, bought tickets and got into the stadium and realized we didn't even know who was playing.  We look at our tickets and to our pleasant surprise we see it's the Corpus Christi Hooks (?????) and the San Antonio Missions.  So we got to watch local teams and we rooted for San Antonio and they won like 13 to 0.  Super fun!

While the day was long, it was just awesome!  In the end, we spent our day as a family together, the kids saw that mommy isn't perfect and that even when she doesn't agree with the big mean cop, she is still respectful and that ultimately one bad moment doesn't have to ruin the whole day.  There were good lessons today...like set the cruise control and beware of police trickery!! Sorry dad!