Beach Day

Corpus Christi TX

Day 15

We realized that today was going to be the best day weather wise of our stay here.  We are only a causeway away from some of Texas' most beautiful beaches, so we decided to take advantage of it.  The beaches go on for SEVENTY MILES!  Everything is bigger in Texas.

First we explored the area and drove up the island,  toward Aransas Pass.  This particular stretch of the gulf coast seashore  is oriented similar to the east coast beaches, the sliver of a barrier island is in almost a north/south position.  In fact, while watching the local radar on the Weather Channel, I thought for a second that I was looking at the South Carolina/Georgia/Northern Florida coastline.

The beach day weather, weekend and 'Sand Fest' worked against us, traffic was backed up for miles.  So we never got to the northern end of the island.  Instead, we turned around, headed back to the RV, had lunch, packed some drinks, put on our suits and headed over the bridge for some sun and sand.

We sat on the beach for a couple of hours, watching life happening all around us.  I'm not sure, but I think WE were the oldest people there....scary thought.  Some teenagers had their car stereo's volume turned up and playing a horrid, screaming 'song'.  Jim was making fun of their taste in music until I reminded him or the heavy metal bands our OUR younger days.  There were teens in teeny weeny bikinis, (he didn't seem to mind them) families with small children, surfers,  a toddler who never stopped trying to catch one of the many seagulls on the sand around him, a three year old who actually though HE was flying his kite, not realizing his grandmother was holding the string above him..  And then there was Winston.

Winston was a 6 yr old Shih Poo who got out of his owner's car and ran between us on our blanket.  His owner tossed him a ball that he never seemed to tire of retrieving.  When she got involved talking to her friends he came over and plunked the ball down in front of Jim and barked at him to throw it.  What a friendly little guy!

We walked walked out on the fishing pier and watched the people catching fish and all the surfers not far away.  Seemed strange, fishermen were at the end of the pier shark fishing and not too far away were all the surfers!  With all those miles of beach, you'd thing they would put more distance between the two.

Grilled steak was for dinner, Jim did the laundry while I bathed and groomed (cut a TON of fur off) Molly.  Even on 'vacations' chores must be done...

We will be here for one more day.  Not sure what we are doing tomorrow, weather will be iffy

Texas Back Roads

Dickinson TX to Corpus Christi TX -  235 miles

Day 13

Oh mama, it got chilly during the night!  And I slept like crap. 

First it was a dog, a dog who barked in a three/two rhythm (yapyapyap...yapyap!) for a long, long time...until HE got tired and fell asleep.  Then I was cold, covered up and got hot, cold, hot, cold...uh, I'm of a certain age, you know.  Next leg cramps, a potty trip, Jim's snoring, my joints aching, his potty trip...and finally, finally when I fell into a nice sleep I wake to the beep, beep, beep of a garbage truck emptying a dumpster.  I tell ya, we find a nice RV place, not too close to the highway, NO railroad tracks or airports, in a nice residential area and the damn DOG in the nice, residential area keeps me awake!

 Sometimes, you just can't win.

We needed to get up a little earlier than usual anyway because we had a fairly long drive today.  The Bay Colony RV Park has a car/RV wash on the property.  Poor RV was dusty and coated with a heavy layer of pollen.  Jim washed while I took the dogs out one at a time to, uh....'do their business'.  Seeing that the management  takes such good care of their surroundings at the park, I took a trash bag and as I walked the dogs I picked up any pieces of trash that had blown onto the lawn from the car wash and street.  Did my good deed for the day.

Re-hooked the Jeep up and we headed to Corpus.  We stayed mostly on Rt35, sometimes four lanes divided and others a two lane road.  For the most part it was a good highway.  Traveling the back roads, we see a little bit of everything.  Today we saw fabulous homes, horse ranches, cattle ranches, enormous farms, several bays on the gulf and plenty of unbelievable poverty for a country such as this. 

Fortunately, we got through Corpus Christi just before the Friday afternoon rush hour got bad.  Good thing, we both were tired.  We are on the bay, just across from Padre Island.  Tonight has been cool and very windy.  Tomorrow should be nice, but they are expecting serious rain on Sunday. 


With that in mind, we may drive an hour southwest and visit the famous (and larger than Rhode Island) King Ranch.

On The Boardwalk

Thursday April 8, 2010

Day 13  Houston and Kemah TX



Yesterday's warm muggy breezes vanished during the night. We were greeted with bright blue skies , noticeably cooler temperatures and gentler breezes this morning.  Nice!

We couldn't agree on a plan for the day, tossing ideas back and forth. Finally we just decided to head into the city. I remembered the Galleria, a huge upscale mall and to my surprise, Jim agreed. He enjoys people watching and malls are great for that.

Tom Tom told us how to get there, even if it meant taking a harrowing trip up I45 and RT59 in Houston traffic. Jim falls right back into his Boston driving mode. He's an excellent driver, with quick reactions. I just wish my nerves were as adaptable, I will admit to stomping on my non-existent brake pedal in the passenger seat more than once. This was late morning, a time when traffic is lighter, made us both wonder (not that we ever want to experience it) what a horror show rush hour must be.

Best shot I could get of downtown from the car, darn billboard.

Eventually Tom Tom  lead us right up to the parking garages of the Galleria. We didn't go into Saks, but did walk through Neiman Marcus. I never even flipped a price tag over, knowing that I would probably laugh much too loud. The top floor is where the top designer shop are. I was so out of my element, (which would be a Penney's, Dillards, Belk sort of element) but it was fun just to window shop. Heck, I felt smug just to be able to pronounce Louis Vuitton, Yves St.Laurent, Giorgio Armani, and Versace properly. And that is only  because I watch TV...Gucci and Channel are easy!  Jim kept asking where were the customers? I guess at their prices, you don't need to sell much.

We descended to the lower levels, where the people from Podunk belong, and felt better. A few of the sales people in the kiosks were a little over-aggressive. One lady got bocked my path, got right in my face and wanted me to try her make-up. I side-stepped her while shaking my head. A few steps later, my confidence now shattered, I turned to Jim asking if I looked that bad., Did I look as though I'd forgotten to put on my make up that morning? A fact that he thought was hysterically funny...


There were so many places to eat at the food courts. It was past noontime and the aromas got to us, we went to Chili's...I already knew the menu from yesterday's lunch. I had another salad, the Caribbean chicken, which was quite good.



Since we were already practically downtown, we went further into the downtown area. We got a little lost...thankfully THIS time we had TomTom with us, so we were able to find our way back to the interstate without ending up fearing for our lives in an 'every window barred, every wall tagged', ghetto. We find ghettos very easy! Much easier than places that we are actually looking for. Why is that?



Took another 'fun' ride back to the RV...about 25 miles, had coffee, cared for the dogs, and looked up a place nearby on the computer that seemed interesting. The afternoon;s weather was much too nice to stay inside.  So off we went again.

Twelve miles up the road, and we did take the side roads, was Kemah Boardwalk.  Almost totally rebuilt after Hurricane Ike's visit Sept. 2008.  A fun little place on Galveston Bay.  There are amusement park rides, restaurants, and shops.  We didn't feel the need to spin our brains into early Alzheimer's,  free-fall from 100 feet into cardiac arrhythmia, or experience the centrifugal asphyxia the various attractions.  How times change. 

Thursday afternoon on the boardwalk

Instead, we opted to enjoyed a leisurely stroll on the boardwalk around the park.  I stopped at a gift shop and apparently I took too long, or perhaps it was just the right amount of time, just long enough for Jim to slip into the  Marble Slab Creamery right next door, and have an ice cream on the sly!  Luckily, he finished it before I emerged from the gift shop, or I would have ordered one too, which I certainly don't need.  We watched the people on the rides, the sailboats entering the harbor and the pure glee of the little children seeing an amusement park for the first time.  Just beautiful...

Tomorrow we head toward the Corpus Christi area on state roads, no interstates!

Galveston, Oh Galveston...

Day 12 Dickinson TX

I eagerly awaited a visit from a dear friend who lives north of Houston.  She drove through Houston rush hour traffic to visit with me and I was very grateful.  Travel is wonderful, but a few hours of 'girl time' was a welcome relief too.  We gabbed, shopped a little and had lunch at Chili's.  Thank you Ann!


Jim and I had a day off from walking yesterday, so after lunch we drove down to the Galveston sea wall to walk. We walked for three miles,  just can't beat the walking by the ocean.  There is a Ben and Jerry's right across the street from the seawall...oops! 
Galveston is coming back nicely from the hurricane, still obvious damage, but recovering quickly.  Can't let a mere hurricane keep these Texans down!

We also drove into the campground we've stayed at several times.  It' is still devastated, and I'm not sure if they will rebuild.  We walked through it and can't even see any of the infrastructure, water, sewer, cable...they also lost their ocean front row of sites.  Off to one side, the entire landscape changed, the high dunes gone and a salt pond totally reconfigured.  Hard to imagine so much changed in just a few hours...the power of nature!

Ocean front RV resort...not any more

While riding around Galveston, I got a phone call from my oldest son.  Apparently, he felt pain of a whole new level today while changing a water pump on his pick up truck.  He knows now that the fuel line is under pressure, but didn't when he pulled it off.  The pressure caused the gasoline left in the line to squirt onto his face, naturally, he turned away from it...bad move.  The gas spurted into his ear.  He learned that gas in the ear burns, really, really burns.  Said he must have looked quite strange, crawling around his driveway with the garden hose stuck in his ear.   He's a much better fisherman than a mechanic. 

Not her favorite thing

Came back to the RV, had coffee, watched TV and tackled a chore I've been putting off as long as I could...dog baths.  Brandy was this evening and she was not thrilled.  Clipping tomorrow...

The Frog Capital of the WORLD

Day 11 Scott LA  to Dickinson TX  230 miles

Tuesday, April 6, 2010

We said 'Au Revoir' to Lafayette this morning. This is Cajun country, french is spoken and the many of the street names are 'Rue'.

Nice site at the KOA

Reminds me of a Rhode Island city, Woonsocket, that still clings to its french heritage...French Canadian, a little removed from Europe, but french nonetheless. My mother and Jim's father were from this french-Canadian connection. It's quite and interesting read. The short version is that the king of France didn't like his soldiers taking up with the native people of Quebec. So he sent chaperoned young women over to uh...keep them company. Eventually, they all paired up and married.  If I remember correctly, there were 700 soldiers and almost all of the french surnames in new England can be traced back to them. Obviously, at least ONE of those soldiers had the name La Croix, and that was my mother's maiden name.




Today we traveled US90, the old route across the country. It parallels I10 and passes through all the little towns, along the railroad tracks. Tiny, towns, every few miles, some quaint, others almost abandoned, falling on hard times, line this route. One boasted that it was 'The Frog Capital of the World'. Really?

Rice is still harvested in this part of Louisiana, and if you're looking for protein, crawfish seems to be the favorite snack food....there are boiled crawfish shacks everywhere. I'll pass. Never could get into those little buggers, I put too many of them on fish hooks when I was a kid, to me they are BAIT. Well, that and Cajun seasoning is too spicy for my wimpy palate.

Although, the scenery was more interesting than the interstate, the pavement was not so enjoyable and the jostling was getting old. Just before we returned to the interstate, we stopped for gas.  I noticed that sign out in front.  Now...where else would you see a sign for BOUDIN at a gas station?  My mother occassionally ate this stuff.  The french calleded it , 'blood sausage' or 'blood pudding'...how's that for appetizing?  Sorry, but that combination of words, blood and pudding, is just wrong!   As a kid I remember opening up the refrigerator and seeing this *thing* in there...like a big, purplish, gigantic CLOT!  Is your mouth watering yet?  Ugh.  Animal blood, mixed with a filler and some spices...pronounced boo dah (the ah nasal) emphasis on the dah - just in case you want to order it in a restaurant!

We jumped up onto I10 for the remainder of Louisiana, over the Texas line to Beaumont.



There's a SAMS in Beaumont, it was lunchtime, and we needed a break from the road. So we dined at chez  Sam's snack bar. Big hot dog, and a drink $1.50, can't beat that anywhere. Would have been a money-saving stop...but we had to pick up some soft drinks (which we never got) and passed by the men's shirts. Jim has a problem with shirts, they are like video poker to him, he can't seem to walk by them. He only got three, he restrained himself. I happened to look over and saw a couple of t-shirts that I liked so I got two...by the time we left, our 'cheap' lunch cost us an extra $89.

We turned off the interstate at Winnie and onto one of the straightest two lanes roads on earth. Straight and flat for miles to the Bolivar Peninsula, the area ravaged by Hurricane Ike. Some people may remember the photo of one lone beach house left standing...that picture was taken in Gillchrist . The area is being rebuilt. I understand people wanting to live by the ocean, but the same thing will happen again. If they are lucky, not for many years and the next time hopefully, people will remember the loss of life here and leave sooner. 

Finally, we came to the end of the peninsula and boarded the ferry for a short ride over to Gavleston.

On the ferry

One of us is going to turn, right?

Rookie kept an eye on me, while I stood at the railing of the ferry...

The ferry ride from Bolivar City to Galveston is free and a nice break from driving. We are staying about 20 miles up I45 from Galveston, about half way between Galveston and Houston. Between those two cities we certainly should be able to find things to do.

We are staying in Dickinson tonight, Wednesday and Thursday...

Bonjour Lafayette!

Day 10

Biloxi MS  to  Lafayette LA  200 Miles

Day 10?   Seems longer...

We left the Southern Comfort RV 'Resort' (not) around 9:30 this morning.  The fog was burning off and the sun was coming out, looked like it was going to be a beach day.  Figures, seems the day that we leave a place, the weather turns out to be the best of the week!  Well, it was nice for driving...we hardly ever get through Louisiana without being in a deluge.

Along the way we passed through Baton Rouge and over the muddy Mississippi River.  Such a huge river, it always amazes me.  I looked down from the bridge and thought about how massive it is.  Someone, at some point figured out that it takes 90 days for water at its source, Lake Itasca MN, to reach the Gulf of Mexico.    It is the 4th longest river , and the 10th most powerful river in the world.  As we   rode up the bridge I took a photo looking north and at the east bank of the Mississippi at Baton Rouge.

Old Man River

We didn't put too many miles on today.  We are at the KOA near Lafayette.  Nice place with trees and a lake...and good WIFI!  We walked for almost an hour around the park, almost a mile per loop...this place is big.  I was surprised how much I was sweating, this is the first 80 degree weather we've had.

Later we took a mystery ride around Lafayette.  It was the evening rush hour and we figured that if we went the opposite direction of most of the traffic, that we would find the downtown.  We didn't.  But we did find a Fresh Market and did a little shopping.  We found our way back to the KOA and had an easy dinner of lasagna that I had made prior to the trip and frozen.  Easy is good on travel days!

We are getting good feed back on the house showings.  I keep looking at the virtual tour because I'll never see it looking that good again.  Like the only thing on the kitchen counters is a Keurig coffee maker...yeah, we live like that...hah.  I always tell myself when looking at model homes - people don't LIVE in model homes, that's why they look so good!

Tomorrow we are heading over toward the Houston/Galveston Tx area.  We'll be in Texas for quite a while.  We like Texas.

Biloxi Blues

Biloxi MS 

Day 9

I made a discovery during the night - trains don't really make a lot of noise, BUT THEIR HORNS DO!  Another thing, if they suddenly blow that horn very, very close to a sleeping person in an aluminum walled bedroom, it will make that person's body go rigid....just ask the person trying to sleep next to them! 

Yeah, it was that kind of night.  Maybe the ear-splitting horns were responsible for Jim's nightmare.  He talks often in his sleep.  Last night (between train horns) when it was actually quiet, his babbling alerted me to the fact that he was having a nightmare.  Suddenly he sat bolt-upright, grabbed my arm and anxiously asked, "Kathy, where are we?".   For a second I considered messing around with his head and telling him we were in....oh, I don't know,  maybe Newark or Harlem.  But I figured, between the trains and the nightmare, his sleep was disturbed enough.  So I slowly said, "B i l o x i,  M i s s i s s i p p i "  To which he responded, "Oh...", rolled over and went to sleep!

Woke up to a foggy morning and walked three miles.  We walked west on US90 Beach Blvd. by the shoreline.  This used to be such a pretty stretch of coastline.  As we walked we remembered the huge live oaks, the stately antebellum homes and businesses that stretched on for miles.  We were trying to guess, from the looks of the empty lots, if what stood on a foundation was a home, a hotel, or a restaurant.   On the ocean side, we walked to an area that looked to be a marina, but with some huge metal pilings in the middle.  People fishing told us they were what used to anchor the President Casino. A huge barge that Katrina lifted off those pilings and tossed back over US90 like a Frisbee, where it came to rest on top of a hotel.  Some areas here look fine, and others look as though Katrina hit last week, not 2005.

Where the President Casino once was moored

Later, since it wasn't going to be a beach day, we took a drive down the coast to Bay St. Louis and Waveland, the areas that Katrina devistated most.  Still is hard to believe...

By this time we needed some cheering up and we were getting hungry!  Last year, we stopped on the eastern side of the bridge from Biloxi, in Ocean Springs to a little shack (and I DO mean shack) called the SHED that was featured on one of our favorite shows, Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives.  We were looking forward to another visit, so today we had our 'Easter Dinner' in a DIVE.  And oh mama, was it good!    I had the beef brisket patter,with two sides (mac salad and coleslaw) served in a styrofoam box, with plastic utensils.  We decided to 'dine indoors' (sorta,  you can almost see through the walls)  and the view consisted of a biker gang outside.  Different from our other Easter dinners...definitely different.

Later, after we checked on the dogs, had coffee and watched the news, we drove down to the Hard Rock Casino.  This is the place that Katrina damaged so badly just two days before it's grand opening.  We didn't stay long, they have some of the rock stars outfits in glass cases.  Elton John's are something to behold!

Tomorrow we head on out of here.  As usual we will by-pass New Orleans.  Just too much crime and camping areas are in sleazy areas.  Haven't a clue where we will be tomorrow night!