Funky Texas Traveler

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Lifetime of fun at National Parks

rsz_1national_parks_90 Lifetime of fun at National Parks

Attention, seasoned (62 and over) campers! Do not let this deal get away. Until August 28, the lifetime National Park senior pass will cost $10. After that, this lifetime pass increases to $80!

If you are not 62 yet but travel with a favorite grandparent or other qualifying family member, drive them to the nearest national forest, park or wildlife reserve to grab their pass. You benefit too because their companions can also enter for the parks for free when the per vehicle fee is waved.

If it is a park that charges per person, this National Park senior pass will get the pass owner and three adults get in free.  Since kids under 16 are always free, this is an incredible amount of fun for not much money.

Free lifetime entry with National Park senior pass

Even at $80, the lifetime National Park senior  pass is sweet. We’re talking free day entrance and sometimes even discounted camping fee to great national park areas all across the USA.  Grand Canyon – free! Denali National Park in Alaska – free! Alcatraz, Sequoia National Park, Everglades National Park, Mount Rushmore, Zion National Park and more – all entrance fee free! [Read more…]

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5 Road Trip Luxuries You Shouldn’t Travel Without

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5-Road-Trip-Luxuries-you-shouldnt-travel-without-4 5 Road Trip Luxuries You Shouldn't Travel WithoutI absolutely love everything about road trips – the adventure, the exposure to new places, even the monotony of long drives, heavy traffic or the panic of being lost.   If you are a  control-freak/type A personality  like me, the traffic, detours or missed exits give us a much-needed reality check.  And while I am a Funky Traveler who finds very high-end lodging and destinations boring and soul-less and you may like more decadent surroundings, here are the  five Road Trip luxuries you shouldn’t travel without.  These ARE in order of priority


#1 Road Trip Luxury –  Coffee Kit 

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South Padre Island’s Pet Rescuers

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Cash working out a South Padre Friend of Animal Rescue

  Taking your dog  to the beach is fun for both you and your pup.  But sometimes your dog bolts and gets away.  Bad people sometimes bring their dogs and cats  to  the Texas coast to leave them.

Cash got lucky

That’s  probably what happened to Cash (short for Johnny Cash), a four-month old Australian Shepherd mix.  He was  eating out of a garbage can outside the Denny’s on South Padre Island,  his stomach distended.  Cash was very lethargic.  Some caring Islander drove him up Padre Boulevard to the South Padre Island Friends of Animal Rescue storefront.  After seeing a vet and getting treated, he recuperated nicely surrounded by two-legged and four-legged companions.

A tiny and humble animal rescue group





The southern tip of the longest barrier island in Texas (and the world) will be overrun for most of March by Spring Breakers.  In April,  Semana Santa (Easter Holy Week) will bring thousands of  families from  throughout the Rio Grande Valley and Mexico to the beach. 

South Padre Island Friends of Animal Rescue storefront will take care of the  lost or abandoned animals like Cash.  Others are like Hope,  hit by a car and left on the road until somebody carried her to the Friends.  Now minus her  front leg, Hope is a bit of an island celebrity.  And  this tiny and  humble no-kill animal rescue is a happy and uplifting place.   It’s not the big budget organization that runs depressing, late-night commercials of sad-eyed dogs and cats who then haunt your dreams.

Hop-a-long Hope at the South Padre Island Friends of Animal Rescue

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5 steps to grow your adventure outlook!

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5-ways-to-grow-your-adventure-outlook-690x400 5 steps to grow your adventure outlook!Commit right now begin living  big and bold by growing your adventure outlook.  It doesn’t necessarily take  time, money or courage.  You do need an open heart and mind to respond to those nudges we usually choose to ignore. 

You can practice by getting comfortable with discomfort.  Sit on the other side of the conference table at work, take a seat across the aisle and up front at church or stand somewhere else during your workout.  Build up that  mental muscle to slap down your inner voice when it  says something like, “You’re going to do WHAT?!”  Then start using these five steps to grow your adventure outlook.  I guarantee you interesting travels! 

1.  Take suggestions from anywhere  

My father left my brother and me two pieces of desert land that we paid a pittance of tax on every year.  Each year when I wrote those checks,  I wondered about these places.  One late night, I saw a old movie filmed in one of the places, Deming, New Mexico .  On impulse we booked a flight to El Paso, rented a convertible  and took a road trip to see our holdings.  We discovered outlaws, Native Americans battles and first use of military aviation along with  deeper insight into my dad, who passed along his adventure outlook along with my blue eyes.

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