I was so excited to try out the Jeep's 4 wheel drive, my wife and I decided to plan a mini camping trip at the beach over Easter weekend. We were going to Houston anyway to visit family and figured we could sneak a trip in. As the weekend approached the weather started looking like it wasn't going to cooperate. The report was that it was going to be cold and rainy. We went to the family get together SW of Houston (2+ hours from Galveston) for Easter and it went on into the late afternoon, so we didn't leave until 5pm. So here we are at 5pm, wouldn't get to the beach until dark, it was cold, and thunderstorms were in the forecast. Heck with it! We went anyway.
We took the ferry to Bolivar and bought a beach parking sticker for $10. It's good for the entire year! So if you're anywhere near Galveston / Bolivar and want to get some cheap beach camping in, I would recommend the Bolivar / Crystal beach parking sticker! I also bought some firewood and a starter log since we would be out in the cold. (we didn't really plan the trip very well and pack such things ahead of time!)
When we arrived at the beach it was indeed dark. We used the Jeep's headlights and fog lights to set up the tent. I really wished I'd had some KC's. Lighting just went up a tick or two on the to-buy list! We got the tent set up and went to trying to light the fire. The wind was pretty strong and though we dug nearly a two-foot deep hole for the fire pit the wind wouldn't let our tiny little flames spread and light, well, anything really. I was so frustrated and almost gave up, but while walking down the beach we ran into some people who had a bonfire just blazing and they gave us some better fire starter than what we had. Boom!
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| Tiny Fire |
We didn't get rained on that night, thankfully, but it was pretty cold. We had our tent and sleeping bags, but we didn't have great bedding. It wasn't extremely comfortable to say the least. We had little trouble waking up pretty early in the morning (and through the night multiple times). We were sitting there trying to decide if we wanted to get moving before the rain hit when we heard *drop drop drop* on the tent canvass. We shifted pretty quick into overdrive to get the tent packed away before it started pouring as the last thing we wanted to do was get wet in addition to the cold we were already enduring. Add a beach full of wet sand... Yeah, we got that sucker put up quick. And funny enough we didn't see another drop until about 2 hours later. Go figure.
Anyway, here's some pics of us on the beach with the Jeep. They're pretty boring terrain-wise. There really wasn't much (any?) need for 4 wheel drive really. There were a couple areas where the sand was really powdery and I know I would have gotten stuck without 4x4 engaged, but the sand was mostly very packed as pictured.
Good times! We've got the sticker now, we'll be back for sure for the summer and, you know, SUNSHINE.
Oh, almost forgot! Once I got out of the city and into the fun-time zone (Galveston and surrounding areas) I finally started getting some Jeep Waves!
Jeep Wave Count: 14!
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