Today was one o’ them chore days. We had lots of laundry to do, so the three of us piled into the truck with our clothes, towels, sheets, and even blankets, and drove up the road to the washeteria (sic) — not to be confused with the laundro-teria, the laundrorama or the wash-o-matic. This one was big, clean and reliable. The only problem was it didn’t have WiFi. That’s not a typical laundromat service, but it should be. We found it once in the Keys and have been spoiled and wanting it ever since. Naturally we can read or talk while the clothes journey from dirty to wet to clean and dry, but it’s so convenient to catch up on the electronic stuff while we catch up on the fabric-ee stuff. So write your congressperson.

In other news, Elise has cavities. We saw some brownish spots on a couple of her teeth and tracked down a dentist who takes walk-ins in order to check it out. Cavities. This particular dentist wants to do a few fillings, a few sealants, a few caps, maybe a root canal. On baby teeth! Sheesh. And they will only charge an arm and a leg, which can be paid in easy monthly installments (fingers first, then radii and ulnae, then one humerus, etc.). We are examining our options. Meanwhile, we threw out a lot of leftover Halloween candy and sugary drinks and are feeling like neglectful parents. I’m sure Elise will make the transition from gum to celery with ease…

Our plan is to leave for Padre Island tomorrow and hang out there through New Years. We may have to come back up to the dentist the first week of January, but the campground on Padre Island is only about 15 miles from where we are now. Hopefully the beachcombing will be a little better there.

Yesterday evening we went up to Port Aransas and drove on the beach to the shipping channel. The jetties that define the channel extend about one mile into the sea and are made of huge granite blocks and concrete slabs. We walked to the end and back while choppy seas crashed on both sides of us. We were hoping to see a big tanker come through the channel, but the only ship that came through was a casino cruise ship. We spied lots of dolphins and every seabird species on earth. Every single one.