Fredericksburg TX

Wednesday, November 25, 2009

We got a late start for the day. First must give a compliment to this RV Park – Fredericksburg RV Park – it is very nice with really more as far as hookups than we need. The big rigs need water, sewer, electricity, cable – all we really need is electricity and cable TV is nice, of course we love it when they have internet and this one does – in fact for the 100 sites here they have 7 different radio sites (that is what they call them) to select from and I have even been able to upload photos which is a first other than at the hotel in Houston. The best thing is their bathrooms – most have a communal room with showers, toilets, and sinks – all in separate areas – this one has 7 or 8 private bathrooms with toilet, sink, and shower all in one small room – really nice! Of course most of the folks in the big rigs do not use the facilities of the park but we do. They also have a large community room with kitchen facilities and TV. From glancing around at the license plates this location has some snow birds in residence for the winter months.

After a slow start we headed into the Fredericksburg downtown area – we are only 1 mile away – and our first stop was the National War in the Pacific Museum. This is the hometown of Admiral Chester Nimitz who served as Commander of Pacific during WW II. Ben had this high on his list of locations for this trip to TX. It was very nicely done with a section on Nimitz life, a section with memorials to all units serving under Nimitz, a memorial to the 10 US Presidents from Franklin Roosevelt to George HW Bush who served in WW II. I had not realized each of these men had a connection to this war but they did. There was a Japanese Peace Garden and then probably the most interesting section was a tour through scenes of various WW II Pacific scenarios – an aircraft carrier, a PT boat (one of only 9 remaining ), a temporary graveyard, an assault on a Japanese occupied island, and a Quonset hut hospital. All were very informative and interesting. The largest section of the museum is under remodeling and renovation and will open on Dec 7th with George HW Bush cutting the ribbon to dedicate the Bush Wing of the museum. From the little bit we could see in the windows it will be exceptional. We have a part of our ticket that will give us entry if we can come back!!


National Museum of Pacific War


Japanese Occupied Island WW II

We spent some time walking on the main street and looking in a few shops. We ate lunch in Winslow’s Restaurant – a hamburger for Jane and soup & cornbread for Ben. Then some more looking around in shops with even a few purchases made!

We drove out to Fort Martin Scott on the edge of town. It was used for only a few years during the 1850-1860 time period. Then we returned to town to visit the Market Platz. They were preparing for the huge community holiday celebration this weekend. The Vereins Kirche is an eight sided church that was used by all denominations in the early days of this settlement. In the Market Platz a multi-level German Pyramid about 30-40 feet tall. It was quite impressive. The other decorations in the town were very tasteful and are even more impressive at night.


Vereins Kirche in Fredericksburg


German Pyramid


After a short rest and email check back at camp we headed to Llano which is 39 miles north of Fredericksburg. Jane had read an internet site that listed the top 10 BBQ locations in TX and this was one of them – Cooper’s Olde Time BBQ. It was a pretty drive as the country here is hilly with trees that are green and red. The first thing you did when you arrived at the restaurant was to select your cut of meat from the bbq pits. They had 8 of them that were probably 8 to 10 feet long. In the cooker were brisket, turkey legs, sausage, prime rib, sirloin, chicken breasts, ribs, and huge pork chops. We selected brisket, sirloin, and a pork chop. This was put on a tray and you took it inside to where it was sliced and weighed. Then you could select potato salad, slaw, peach or apple cobbler, corn on cob if you wanted them. Then you got drinks, a white paper to eat your food on and you paid. In the huge dining area were drinks, sauce, beans, jalapenos, pickles, and white bread. Everyone sat down at the communal picnic tables and ate their food.


BBQ Pit at Coopers Olde Time BBQ Llano TX

The meat was outstanding with the pork chop and brisket the very best. We knew we would have some leftover – planned it that way… you really did not need any sauce at all. We wrapped up our leftovers and drove back to camp. The meat was well worth the 78 mile round trip and we can’t say that about any other food we have eaten!
We will head out tomorrow morning for San Antonio as we near the end of our trip.

Austin TX to Fredericksburg TX

Tuesday, November 24, 2009

We packed up and were away from camp by 8:30. Twice as we came into or left camp we passed a bakery that said Croissants, Donuts, and Kolaches – so we were going to stop first thing and get something to go with our coffee….well it was an interesting experience. When we walked in the first thing Ben saw was a Thai Buddha Shrine with 5 donut holes in front of it – like an offering. In the case were the baked goods with a very nice young Thai lady asking to help us. Since we have always enjoyed the kolaches (Czech Baked Goodies) Glenda made for Christmas I asked what flavors they had. When she said jalapeno or sausage, I guess my mouth dropped open! Then they had croissants egg, ham, and sausage with or without jalapeno. The donuts were a little more traditional – bear claws, apple fritters, etc. Well I guess I should have been adventurous and tried the jalapeno kolache but I settled for an apple fritter! It certainly was an example of the blending of cultures. The baked goods were fine – just not what we had been expecting!

We stopped at an HEB store – this is a Texas only store like a Wal-Mart. HEB stands for “Here, Everything is Better” – just looked it up on the internet. We had been seeing them all along our trip but had not visited one. Jane went in to take care of our short list and Ben washed all the windows that were very dirty from being under live oaks for two days – the little leaves were everywhere.

Our shopping completed, we headed west on 290 towards Fredericksburg. The first place of interest was Dripping Springs – it was the home of ED Hill that we used to watch of Fox and Friends. It was primarily a rural suburban area about 15 miles from Austin.

Our first stop of the day was in Johnson City TX at the Visitor Center for the Lyndon Johnson National Historic Park. The visitor station was not much – showed us where in Johnson City you could watch a film, and then view boyhood home, a general store, grandparents home etc. We passed on this walking tour but got the passport stamp. About 15 miles further west was the LBJ Ranch which was also a part of this National Historic Park. We got ourselves registered at the TX State park and began the driving tour.

The first part of the park was the State Park portion and was a living history farm of the early 1900’s. The folks there lived without electricity, water brought from the well, cooking over a wood stove…they grew veggies, used the chickens and farm animals for their food. They had canned lots of veggies and preserved some meats. They milked the cows each day and made cottage cheese, milk, etc. The people lived there 8 AM until 5 PM each day and kept the farm going. The facility was interesting and the people seemed to truly enjoy what they were doing. We stopped in a parking area and had a picnic lunch. There were lots of squirrels running around in the trees – they were very large brown squirrels with large brown tails – largest squirrels we have seen in some time.

Then we began the tour of the LBJ Ranch. We saw the school house where LBJ attended school at age 4; the home of his grandparents, the grave yard where LBJ and Lady Bird are buried. The drive continued through the farmland, along the airstrip, past the Show Barn which the Park Service uses to manage their part of the LBJ Ranch. When LBJ died he gave 600 acres of the over 2000 in his ranch to the Park Service. The Park Service manages their portion of the Ranch and pours income back into the ranch. The remainder of the acreage is managed by a Johnson Family trust. The Park Ranger that gave our tour told a son of Lucy Johnson comes at least once a month to oversee the work on that part of the ranch.

The tour ended at LBJ’s Texas Whitehouse. We saw his office, the living room, dining room, and kitchen. The other rooms are slowly being refurbished and opened to the public. Lady Bird lived in this home until her death in 2007. The tour of this park was interesting. During some parts of the year the Park Service offers a bus tour but they gave us a CD to play in the van that directed us through the entire tour except the part at the Texas White House. That was done in groups of people as they accumulated. There was just the two of us on our tour. The one right after us was a bus load of people. The Texas Whitehouse sits on the banks of the Pedernales River with huge live oaks along the banks. It is a lovely site. One interesting point was LBJ used to love to play a joke on his guests – he had an amphibious car and has a gate to his ranch on the other side of the river – he would take off driving through the gate and down into the river with the car – giving many folks on their first Texas trip a real scare.

View at LBJ Texas Whitehouse

After the LBJ tour we headed on towards Fredericksburg with only one more stop – Luckenbach TX – this is a bar, general store, dance hall and that is it…but because of the ties to songs and the music industry it is well known and a Texas Legend. We bought a couple things and took the obligatory photos!



Ben and Jane at Luckenbach TX

It was only about 10 miles into Fredericksburg and we found our RV Park easily. We checked email and rested for about an hour and headed out to find one of the German Restaurants for dinner. This area was originally settled by Germans and still maintains a German flavor. Our first pick restaurant was closed for some reason so we settled on our second pick – it was OK – not as good as food from a good restaurant in Germany but not bad. The whole town is decorated for Christmas and we will explore it a bit more tomorrow night.

We wanted to be back to our RV park which has cable TV to watch NCIS. We have the TV but no ability to tape a show. A quiet evening is in store. Jane’s knee is better from less walking today, some ibuprofen and ice 3 times. Pretty sure it is arthritis in the left knee; guess I will agree to the tests when we get back home.

Austin TX

Monday November 23, 2009

Campsite at McKinney Falls

Ben certainly gets an award for “Good Sport “ today. He did not even want to come to Austin – calling it a “hot bed of liberalism” ! Today we spent the day going to places Jane had selected… First Cabela’s the huge outdoor outfitter which was in Buda about 7 miles south of our campground. The store was nice and we spent an hour walking around looking. We ended up not buying anything. Ben was going to buy a hiking fanny pack but they did not have one to suit. Then we went across the way to a camping vehicle show room hoping they might have the USA map with states to fill in when you visit them. They had one but it was the type we do not want – has all kinds of writing and pictures on the states – we want one with plain color states. Also would like one of Canada as we saw this on one of the campers near us at Mustang Island.

Our next stop was a Jardine ‘s Foods, the factory and show room for this company that produces a variety of salsas, rubs, bbq sauces etc. They had tasting as well as a sales show room and ability to see the production line through glass windows. We tasted a while and bought a selection of wares. Our favorite was the Buckin’ Berry Sauce served over cream cheese – mummm good!

Next stop – into Austin and to South Congress Street – Allen Boots – where Jane hoped to find a red cowboy hat for grandson, Daniel, and a jacket or vest for herself. South Congress Street was all the tourist books said it would be – weird shops and eateries alongside stores like Allen Boots. We enjoyed the looking – did not buy boots – Jane found a pair she liked for $400 and Ben’s taste was a bit more extravagant – his find was over $1,000! We did find just the hat for Daniel and headed on to the next stop.

Allen Boots on South Congress Street

Lunch was next at an eatery/music venue called Threadgill’s. It was off South Congress right before the “Bat Bridge”. The food was very good. Jane had a veggie plate of salad, spinach casserole and San Antonio Squash Casserole. All were very good with the salad dressing honey mustard with jalepeno. Ben had a club sandwich with fried okra as the side – both good.

Our next venture was to drive to the Capital – we only drove around and took some photos since Jane is having some trouble with a knee today and just was not up to touring the capital and the Texas Museum. It is a beautiful capital building.


Texas Capital

We also got some photos of 6^th Street and the Driskell Hotel which is supposedly haunted. The tour of the night life on 6^th street will just have to be for another trip or another life!

The last stop of the day was at an IKEA store. There are few of these and Jane always enjoys looking around when we go to DC – so it was our last stop of the day. Jane says now she should have skipped this last stop as now her knee is really not doing well at all….

We are back at camp, resting and preparing to eat dinner and watch a WW II movie. Tomorrow we will head west to Johnson City TX and have a campsite reserved in Fredericksburg for Tuesday and Wednesday nights. We also extended our Friday/Saturday hotel to include Thursday…so we know we have locations to rest our heads for the Thanksgiving Holidays. Evidently Thanksgiving in TX is pretty big. I noticed on a school bill board today that they are closed Wednesday – Thursday – Friday for the holiday!

Geddings TX to Austin TX

Sunday, November 22, 2009

Our morning was spent on housekeeping chores. First since we had no coffee, we drove into Geddings to a McDonalds and had our first fast food breakfast of the trip! Our plan to buy groceries yesterday just did not work out and we had used all the coffee soooo…McDonalds it was. Behind McDonalds was a Wal-Mart so we thought we might do our shopping but not possible. This was a very small Wal-Mart and of my list with 20 things on it – they only had 2! So we just got the 2 so we could get some change for the washers and dryers back at the campground.

This campground had a very nice laundry with a recreation room attached…so we read, studied travel books, did some searches on the computer and before we knew it the laundry was done! I am sorry I did not take a photo because this was probably the first and last time our laundry was folded on a pool table.

By 11:30 we headed from Geddings toward San Marcos and New Braunfels. Jane wanted to visit a German Market that was being held in Gruene – an old German settlement near New Braunfels. We stopped at the first large Wal-Mart we came to in San Marcos. We had a picnic lunch in the parking lot, Ben had a nap and Jane completed the shopping. Wal-Mart had almost everything and we were soon on our way south to New Braunfels.

The Art/Craft Market was not really a German Christmas Market as Jane had thought but she did spend time looking in all the neat stores and at about half the Art/Craft booths before Ben arrived back to pick her up. Ben had decided to take a pass on the shopping – we think the chili yesterday had a worse impact on him than Jane. Yesterday Jane did not feel great but today is fine. The shops were very nice with a good mix of food, antiques, clothes, and Texas souvenirs. The crafts were very nice too but the only buying was a very nice leather fanny pack. Jane had been looking for one this entire trip and so far had not been successful in finding one. It will be nice not to lug a purse around.The spot Jane was to meet Ben in Gruene was very near the Guadalupe River – and yes Jo Anne it is still green. Not Kelly green by any means but it has a very greenish cast – I noticed this was also the case of the San Marcos River which is in this same general vicinity.



Cypress Trees at McKinney Falls



Upper McKinney Falls

We headed toward Austin and decided to stop early since Ben was not feeling very well. We headed to McKinney Falls State Park which is on the south side of Austin. We wanted to visit Cabela’s home store as well as the home of Jardine Foods for salsa, barbecue sauce, dips, jalapeno jelly etc. factory. We passed them by and will go back the 10 miles first thing tomorrow. McKinney Falls State Park is a nice wooded park right among the suburban home and urban sprawl area of Austin. It is a very peaceful wooded area and after cooking egg rolls to go with our leftover Pork with Cellophane Noodles and Oyster Beef from the venture to China Town in Houston on Friday. It was very good.

We have realized after talking to the ranger here that we best make arrangements for Wednesday and Thursday of this week. Evidently many people in TX travel over Thanksgiving and we might have problems with campsites. We have not had reservations anywhere and always found space so we had not given it much thought…tonight we will plan a little more than we have on this trip. It has been nice to just pick up the phone about 3:00 and call an hour or so ahead… guess we will have to do a little better than that for this holiday week! So after about an hour with all the travel books we have a general plan for the next few days…

Our entertainment for tonight was to watch “Song of the South”. One of Ben’s friends from college days sent him a bootleg copy of this old Disney classic that supposedly has been withdrawn from circulation for current politically correct reasons. It was certainly a journey down memory lane. The movie was released in 1946 and neither of us remembered seeing it but the music and Uncle Remus character and cartoon characters were certainly familiar so I am sure at some point we saw it.

Houston TX to Giddings TX

Saturday November 21, 2009

We had breakfast, packed and unpacked as we moved back into the Sprinter – it was much easier this time as we were a little more organized!

We made it across Houston to Traders Village the site of the Chili Cookoff; it was raining, foggy, and just plain miserable. We thought perhaps the event would have been canceled – but not a chance! The people putting on this event were already having a party and it was 10 AM ! Just a little information on Chili Cookoffs and Texas learned from conversing with people during the event…Chili is the state food of Texas. There are Chili Cookoffs held all across the state all year long. The Grandaddy of all Texas Chili Cookoffs is the one held in Terlingua – it was the week before we arrived there back in early November. Teams can enter Cookoffs across the state and win points by participating, winning etc. You have to build up points to be eligible to enter the Terlingua Event.

There were 20-25 teams in this event that was held in a large covered area in the center of a huge Traders Village type flea market. We wandered around the flea market area a little but it was wet and miserable so we just ended up wandering around in the cookoff area watching the teams prepare. They had to be there cooking at 8 AM and could have prepared the chili they were giving away the day before. Most of the teams had a “theme” and some decorations and “uniforms” if you could call them that! Most were cooking over gas stoves of some type. Teams could enter chili or beans or both. In Texas, Chili does not have beans in it.


Ice Sculpture at one Chili Booth

The process was you purchased 6 bowls for $5 and could taste 6 different chilies – then you voted for the one you liked the best and the one with highest number of votes was the People’s Choice Award. We started our tasting – some were made with ground beef and others with beef that had been chopped. They had all kinds of things in them – onions, garlic, chili sauce and who knows what else! One that was being prepared by folks representing a beer distributor, had so much beer in it you could hardly taste the chili! The folks could give away drinks if they chose to – and everything from beer, to soft drinks, to water, even hard liquor was given away at the booths. We stuck to water since we were traveling on down the road – I can’t imagine how some of those folks would be making it by 3 PM when the prizes were to be handed out! We finished our tasting, voted and were on our way a little after noon.


Jane At Chili Cookoff


We sat in the van and debated our next destination…we had thought we would be here longer but the weather just did not encourage us to stay and visit the flea market. We had two places to go between here and Austin – The George H W Bush Presidential Library in College Station and the Washington on the Brazos State Park where the Government of Texas was originally formed. We also needed to camp somewhere that we could do laundry – and it would be too far to drive all the way to Austin before dark….well we made up our mind and headed off for College Station to visit the Bush Museum and Library.

The drive was about 1 hour and to be honest it was nice to be out in rural Texas again…We did pass a Goode BBQ (recommended to us by JoAnne) in North Houston right after we left the Chili Cookoff. Our original plan had been to stop there for dinner after walking around Trader’s Village; but after all the Chili neither of us wanted any BBQ!


Texas A&M Stadium
We arrived in College Station, home of Texas A & M, about an hour before the beginning of their home football game with Baylor! We were in the midst of the ballgame traffic as the Presidential Library is on the Texas A&M campus. When we finally got to the museum/library they had given half their parking lot over to ball game participants but had kept plenty for those visiting them. It was much larger than either of us had expected. Having never visited a Presidential Library before; we were not sure what to expect. Included were photographs and memorabilia from throughout the lives of both George and Barbara Bush. They had recreated the Oval Office, Camp David, a White House Dinner and the Situation Room. There were very interesting displays of George Bush’s time as CIA Director, Vice President, and of course his Presidency and beyond. The museum seemed to tell the story of the Bush family well.


Lobby Bush Library - Bush jumping over the Christmas Tree



Ben in Bush Situation Room
When we came out of the Library, it had finally quit raining and the sun was trying to shine. We called ahead to the campground identified earlier to be sure they had a laundry and to get an address. We have an excellent campground directory with almost all the information you need but they never put a street address you can use in the GPS. It was a go so off we went across country to Giddings – a small town about half way between College Station and Austin. We arrived about 5 o’clock. Travel past 5 is not a very good idea since it is dark by 5:30.

Neither of us have been hungry since eating the chili; and we have been drinking water all day. Something simple and not spicy was all we wanted. Jane made biscuits in the electric skillet, heated a can of beef stew in the microwave, and opened a can of pears. The pears and the biscuits were good – the beef stew just OK.
It is nice to be back in our little rolling home. In the evenings we can relax in our folding chairs and watch TV, read, or catch up on WIFI if we have it – and we do tonight. TV in campgrounds sometimes is cable and sometimes over the air – network TV. That is what we have tonight so we watched the end of a ball game. Tonight Ben has managed to hook his computer to the TV and we are watching a movie from the internet via Hulu.

Having caught up on the blog – I plan to read what we do the next 4 days in Austin, Fredericksburg, and the Hill Country. We will go the San Antonio Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. Then we start home…this month has gone quickly.

Then when it is time for bed – we just put away the chairs, let down the bed and blow up our queen size mattress – not much space but as long as you only do one activity at a time there is plenty of space for two. Not sure if the WIFI is strong enough to post photos or not. I was able to get about a week’s worth of photos posted at the hotel in Houston.. eventually I will get them all posted.

Houston TX

Friday November 20, 2009

Ben was up and out for his first client visit at 8:45. Jane was lazy and stayed at the hotel working on getting some of the photos posted to the blog and checking addresses of the locations in China Town to visit this morning. Ben was back about 10 and we both left for the second client visit that was further away. We or rather GPS Lady found the location and then we headed to visit China Town.

This is the largest oriental population outside of Los Angeles. We found the location and enjoyed the signage for a while until we located the Hong Kong Mall that was written up as a composite of all oriental cultures in one store. Jane loved it and we spent about 2 hours slowly looking through the store. It was as large as most Wal-Marts ! There were fresh fruits and veggies from across Asia. The fish section was fascinating – large glass cases full of live lobsters, crabs, and all sorts of fish. There were fish mongers who were cutting up large fish too. Most of the people just put their fish or crabs in a paper bag and went on their way. We of course could not really purchase these fresh foods. They also had a section of ducks hanging up getting ready to be prepared.


Hong Kong Market

The aisles of noodles, sauces, drinks, rice, and too many things to mention went on and on. Thai, Chinese, Japanese, Filipino, Indian, Vietnamese, they were all represented VERY well. Jane bought several things and resisted the temptation to get others. There were many items that brought back memories of our days in the Philippines. Jane managed to resist the temptation to buy a whole set of china; but did get several serving pieces that can be used with the blue and white dishes she already has! We also resisted buying 20 pounds of rice – it was so cheap! In fact many of the prices were much lower than in our regular supermarkets. We even found San Miguel Beer – made in Manila.


San Miguel Beer

Ben did grow rather weary and after about 2 hours we left to find one of the Chinese restaurants in the area where we ate lunch. We ate at Shanghai Restaurant. Our meals were excellent – we could have split either or our orders and still had some leftover – so we have another meal of Chinese food for another night soon. Having the refrigerator is a very good thing!

The interesting thing about this China Town was it was modern. The stores were in a “shopping mall and strip mall” format. The streets were all 4 lane with both English and Chinese street signs. All stores of all kinds had both English and Chinese Signage. The banks also had Chinese signs along with the English. The only store we saw that did not have Chinese was the Home Depot. The clients in the stores we were in were primarily oriental but there were a few Mexican and Anglo people mixed in here and there. Ben said his funny was watching an oriental lady talk on her cell phone with one hand and try to pick out crabs with the other…evidently it was very funny.




Chinese and English Signage in China Town

We headed back to the hotel for a rest that turned into a nap for Ben and posting of 5 or 6 days of photos for Jane. We have not had email of the quality needed to post photos most places we have stayed so wanted to take advantage of the internet capability. Another thing that made the day lazy was it rained most all day.


Rainy Houston Skyline


We spent about an hour trying to find the closest Papacito’s Cantina so we could go there for dinner. We finally had to give up as none were closer than 40 minutes and in Friday night traffic we just did not think we could do it! There are also Papacito’s in Austin and San Antonio so we will hope to find one more convenient. We found another Tex-Mex restaurant that was fairly close and ate an excellent dinner.

Now back at the hotel we have figured out the next couple days of travel and will watch Monk. This down day was really good. We have a fairly busy next few days so enjoyed every minute of not traveling. Not that we do not love the travel – we do but this huge city was really a bit much to absorb and we did not want to do NASA or the museums.

Galveston TX to Houston TX

Thursday November 19, 2009

Packing for two days in a hotel was a priority for the morning and we were on our way by 8:45. Ben told his client he would be there between 10 and 10:30 and we had no idea how long the travel time would be to north Houston. When it comes to city driving GPS Lady pays for herself many times over! We took a short detour through Texas City so Jane could see all the oil and chemical plants. Ben had been here years ago and he was right to drive this way – it is Kingsport's Eastman Chemical 100 times over. Jane took some photos but they will only be a few representative photos.




We then headed north right through the center of Houston – past the Minute Maid Stadium and on until we came to the location we searched for near George Bush International Airport.



Jane programmed our hotel,the San Jacinto Battlefield and the USS Texas into the GPS while Ben visited his client. We then headed south to the San Jacinto Battlefield. We drove through another maze of chemical and oil production facilities again as we drove along the Houston harbor. It really is mind boggling to see this much industry in one area.

The San Jacinto Monument and Battlefield is right in the middle of this maze. We had a picnic lunch and then went inside the monument. It is taller than Washington Monument and has a reflecting pool. Inside is a very nice museum documenting the battle between the Texicans and the Mexican Troops under General Santa Anna. This battle was decisive in the freedom of Texas from Mexico.


Texas Battleship
After touring the monument and museum we drove across the park to the site where the USS Texas – Battleship in both WWI and WWII. She saw service in both wars in WWI as part of the Atlantic Fleet; and then in WW11, serving in the invasions of North Africa, Normandy, Southern France, Iwo Jima, Okinawa, and relaying POW's from the Philippines to Pearl. During all this service she only had battle casualties in one battle off the coast of Southern France. When she was built in 1914, she was the most powerful weapon in the world. She is the only surviving US Naval ship that has served in both WWI and WWII. She is moored along the main shipping channel into Houston; and when the large tankers pass her by – she looks very small. We had a fascinating time climbing around the various levels of the ship. Ben climbed up to the Bridge while Jane was satisfied with two levels up and one down. The living quarters, galley, bakery, communication rooms, and medical offices were all fascinating. The guns were pretty impressive too; and the steel turrets were huge.






I 1948 she was scheduled to become a bombing target but the people of Texas had a statewide fund campaign to save her. In 1948 she was transferred to the State of Texas and towed to Texas to become the first permanent memorial battleship.

After completion of our tour on the USS Texas we again put ourselves in the hands of GPS Lady and headed to our hotel in South Houston where Ben will visit two more clients tomorrow. We rested and found a barbeque restaurant fairly close to our hotel for dinner. It was good – ribs and brisket were best – we had a sampler that also included ham and sausage. In addition Jane gave the slaw a thumbs up and Ben the same for the pecan pie.

Now we have to study and decide what to do tomorrow!!! Maybe China Town? We are expecting severe weather tonight – let it rain now and clear off for tomorrow. The weather report says maybe flooding...Jane remembers how bad the flooding here can be as she once worked a disaster assignment here for a flood.What a mess that was!

Victoria TX to Galveston TX

Wednesday November 18, 2009

We were up early and away from the Gateway to the Gulf RV Park by 8:30.


Campsite at Gateway to Gulf RV Park, Victoria

We wanted to see the downtown area of Victoria so headed in to see the old area of town. This town was on the El Camino Real along with Goliad where we were yesterday. We were on the route of this old road when we were in Nacogdoches and it continued on into Mexico. This town had not kept the old flavor of their town square as well as Goliad.After a short tour around the old town area we headed back out to US 59 and were on our way to Houston and Galveston. The territory was rolling but mostly flat – cattle ranches with some agriculture. We finished our Baldacci book just as we came into the outskirts of Houston. We took the Sam Houston Toll-Way around the south side of Houston leaving it for tomorrow. We headed south to Galveston Island.

As we came into Galveston we headed, with the directions of Lady GPS, to the Visitor Center. When we arrived we found what was the visitor center before Hurricane Ike in September 08. The line painted on the outside wall of the building was probably 5-6 feet up the brick wall.



Ike Water Line on Building

Many of the buildings had been repaired. We found we were on the bayside of Galveston Island – the old downtown area along the wharf. We decided to eat lunch at a waterside restaurant – Jane had a fish po’boy and Ben had an oyster po’boy. Both were great and the entertainment was watching a ship being released from the dry dock across the channel. There were also 2 offshore oil platforms in the dry dock area perhaps waiting for repairs.

As we left the restaurant and walked down the wharf past a hotel we saw the Ocean Star Offshore Resource Center. It was a museum explaining how offshore oil rigs worked. We toured it and learned a great deal about the history and technology of the offshore oil industry. They had a film, numerous models of various types of platforms, and of course the actual platform and equipment since the Ocean Star had been an actual working rig before it became this museum. One exhibit showed the living quarters for the workers.


Ben on Drilling Platform at Museum

Then on down the street was the film The Greatest Storm about the 1900 hurricane in Galveston. That film was one of the things Jane wanted to see – so we watched it. It was a compilation of the photos taken by many people and notes from their diaries. The history helped us notice several things as we drove through Galveston headed to the south end of the island where the State Park was located.

A seawall was built around the north end of the island and down about 10 miles of the oceanfront. The sea wall has been successful in limiting the damage of storms since the 1900 storm. The other thing the people did was back fill the land behind the sea wall to make the ocean side of the island higher than the bayside. We saw this rise as we drove to the north end of the island on a street that was midway on the island. There were numerous Victorian homes – but touring them is not in our schedule.

We called and found the Galveston Island State Park had openings for camping so we headed south driving along the seawall. There are a couple lovely hotels, many mid range hotels, motels, restaurants, etc. Everything is on one side of the road as the sea wall is immediately to the ocean side of the road. Most of the hotels, condos etc had aluminum shutters on their windows. The majority of the buildings were repaired from Ike and open. There were a few that were still boarded up. Several did not look like they could be repaired. There were 3 or 4 buildings built out over the water on piers. Several had been repaired but one a hotel built over the ocean was in very poor repair and looked almost beyond repair.


Campsite at Galveston Island State Park

When we reached the state park; we found the only sites left were on the bay side. This was OK with us having just spent 3 nights on the ocean. We hiked around the bay looking at birds for a while and got some great photos of a sunset. The State Park had a lot of damage from Ike; they still do not have permanent restrooms built back for our area of the campground. Good thing we are here for only one night and have our port-a-potty! They have portable bathrooms but I think I prefer my own. The electricity seems to work fine. The view is the best for any location we have camped with the exception of Chisos Basin in Big Bend. The sunset was out the side of the van and the skyline of Galveston is across the bay out the back windows...nice!


Sunset on Galveston Bay

Jane cooked supper and we are reading the Houston notes and map. Ben will visit a client each morning – Thursday and Friday and then we will spend the rest of the time touring around... just not sure what yet. I will need to pack up better for two days in a hotel than I did in Fort Davis!

Mustang Island TX to Victoria TX

Tuesday November 17, 2009

We got away from Mustang Island Campground by 8:45. The sun was shining and the wind had died down significantly. We headed north through Port Aransas and crossed over to the next island and to Aransas Pass via a ferry. The ferry ride was the shortest I believe we have ever taken – maybe 200 yards. The reason for the ferry is the need for large boats to go back and forth at this pass. As soon as we crossed the ferry; we saw a tanker and a container ship pass by. There were at least 4 ferries that each carried about 12 vehicles. One of the ferries even had a school bus on it!

We purchased gas in Aransas Pass and then headed up the coast through Rockport-Fulton until we reached the side road to the Aransas Wildlife Refuge and took it to see what we could see. The road continued through remote farmland until we reached the Refuge which was playing host today to 3 bus loads of 3rd graders. We got a stamp and headed out on the loop drive in hopes of seeing a whooping crane among other things. We climbed a 40 foot observation tower and also took a boardwalk out to another viewing site. We heard the cranes first and then when we looked up saw the pair flying overhead. We also noted white tail deer, an armadillo, an alligator, and several other birds that Ben identified. Jane was disappointed not to see a Roseate Spoonbill but such is life. We ate a picnic lunch before we left the Wildlife Refuge.


Ben Viewing Birds

Armadillo at Aransas Wildlife Preserve


Heading back towards the main road we stopped to ask a local farmer what their main crops were – he said corn, cotton, and milo. The fields were in various stages of plowing. The farmer told us they planted the main crop in February. There were also oil and natural gas wells periodically along the roads. We continued on our trek to Goliad.

When we reached Goliad we toured the Presidio La Bahia (The Fort of the Bay).


Presidio La Bahia

This fort is a National Historic landmark and considered the finest example of a Spanish frontier fort; this one established in 1721. The fort was a participant in 6 different battles in the Texas wars for independence. The most famous being the 1836 Palm Sunday Goliad Massacre where 341 men and their leader Col. Fannin were executed after their loss of the battle of Coleto Creek. This happened shortly after the battle of the Alamo. The chapel of this fort was original but the presidio itself was restored to the style of the 1800’s. The location is owned by the Catholic Diocese of Victoria and was authentically restored in large part by one lady, Mrs. Cathryn O’Conner, a descendent of a participant in the early battle.


Chapel at the Presidio


After viewing and photographing this wonderful structure we continued on to Victoria where we found an RV park with internet for the night! Jane cooked tilapia tonight with a very good salsa. The evening is going to be watching NCIS and catching up on internet and the blog. Tomorrow we hope to reach Galveston if we don’t spend too much time along the way!

Mustang Island

Monday November 16, 2009

Today was going to be a down day – rest from traveling as we are ½ through our trip. We got up to stiff winds and very gray skies. We turned on the TV weather to find out a front was passing through and the cloud cover should be gone by early afternoon but the winds would remain through the day and night.

Our Campsite at Mustang Island State Park

We had a slow start morning with Jane making toast and then frying the bacon she brought when cleaning out the refrigerator at home! Making biscuits was just out of the question since cooking partly outside was impossible in this wind. The news said the wind at Naval Air Station Corpus Christi which is about 10 miles from our location was 35 MPH. The winds were 20+ in most locations in the area.

After breakfast we drove north on the island to Port Aransus to see what was there and find some shrimp for supper. We found it and looked around in several shops and galleries. One gallery had several multi-media pieces made from numerous sand dollars. Never seen anything like them – the sand dollars were strung together in patterns by fishing line. Very unique. Another shop had very nice high end Mexican pottery. There was lots of looking and no buying for us today. If the weather improves tomorrow we will come back this way when we leave tomorrow; if not maybe we go back through Corpus Christi since the only way off this island to the north is on a ferry.

We went back to camp for lunch. After lunch Jane spent time reading and Ben napping. Mid-afternoon we ventured south little way in the park to the beach camping sites. No one was camping here, in fact the road was covered with sand, they were pumping water out of some ponds that had formed inland due to the high water they had here in the recent past.

Sprinter on Beach at Mustang

The wind was blowing the sand across the beach in waves; there were a few birds, many jelly fish, and some assorted trash washed up on the beach after the storm. We could see 15 oil platforms in the nearby gulf. After walking for about 30 minutes and taking a few photos we started back to camp.


Ben Walking on Beach


Sandpipers and Heavy Surf


We noticed numerous P34 planes flying over (well Ben knew they were P34’s) today. Jane had photographed an orange Coast Guard helicopter early this morning. The news tonight said a Navy plane from Naval Air Station Corpus Christi was lost and they have been searching for it. Today they found it but were unable to recover it due to the high winds and poor visibility in the water. That explained all the air traffic.

There are Canadians camped all around us. The folks next to us have the map on the side of their camper that Jane has been wanting. We hope to stop at a few camper stores in Houston and San Antonio to find one. They have never come out of their camper when we have seen them to ask where they got theirs.

Jane cooked a rather ambitious dinner tonight – rice with lemon shrimp with green beans, squash, onions, and water chestnuts. It was very good. Another quiet night of blog writing, photo editing, reading and TV. We also have been reading the travel books to determine what we will do in the Houston area. There is a Chili Cookoff on Saturday and we want to visit the USS Texas and the San Jacinto Memorial. Ben will visit 3 of his inspection clients and Jane wants to do some looking if not shopping. We also want to go to Galveston for a short time.