Tejanos

Friday we decided to get our windows tinted inside the RV - to help with keeping the heat out and also, to keep the warmth in on cold days. Found a tinting company that comes to you and by 6pm we had all the windows done as well as a tint band across the truck's front window for glare. Was interesting to talk with the installer who was also the owner (David was his name) of the tinting company. We plied him with so many questions about Mexico, illegals, how the police force on US side deals with the problem, etc. He is a Tejano and used this term a couple of times. I didn't question him about the term - but found out yesterday when we went to the Museum of South Texas in Edinburg - just what this means. Tejanos (j is silent - pronounced tee-haun-ohs) is a term for a person who is a Texan of Mexican descent which he was. He is third generation born in the US, looks like a Mexican, speaks fluent Spanish as well as English, and I think Spanish was his first language although he was born here in the valley. The population in the valley is 60% Tejanos! David is so against what is going on with the illegals trying to bring in the bad influence but he did say that he gives the police force and border patrol great credit for doing a super job of keeping things under control. He said that Arizona should take note of what Texas is doing - seems to be working so much better here.

Now that we have the windows tinted, we are having a tough time adjusting to the darker interior. During the day you can't see in at all from the outside (that wasn't our intent - but it's a benefit too - don't have to hide in the bathroom when changing clothes) but you can still see in at night. The test for the heat and cold will come today and then later in the week. Today it is supposed to be 85 and then by Tuesday night they have a freeze warning out through Thursday morning - the same Canadian cold front you all are going to get, we will get.

Harlingen

Yesterday we drove east and went to a town called Harlingen. There was a quilt shop there - which is the only one in this entire valley! and I needed some things that I forgot to bring. Afterward I told him there was another 'world birding center' right down the road, so of course after a 45 minute we had to get out and stretch our legs. We didn't see many birds but the cactus (cacti?) was something to see. If you want to see birds you need to see them in the morning and then late in the afternoon. We were there at 1pm so only saw the fauna. We are about 20 miles from the Gulf of Mexico here and I was surprised at the cactus. You don't see them in McAllen so I was a bit surprised. Dave told me to step by one to show people just how big these cactus patches get - and I told him "no, I am scared of the rattlesnakes." We stamped our feet (that's what they tell you to do) to scare them away. Also - something we asked at the beginning - if we get bit by a rattlesnake - what do we do? Should we have anti-venon available? Everyone says to put a turnicat loosely around the area and get to a hospital. I wondered why not tightly to really not allow the poison to move up into the main part of the body and they said that no, you will kill the skin and body area if you do that - you need some blood flow to all the area. Yikes! Anyhow - I don't like snakes - no, I HATE snakes so I really stamped my feet big time - yeah I am sure I over did it - but I didn't care! Anyhow - you can see just how large these bushes get. Was a nice park - people walking dogs so whatever birds were in the area were frightened away.

One other thing. We got an ice cream craving and went to a local Dairy Queen for a fix. Couldn't find a parking spot - how come? Well, seems this DQ caters big time to the Winter Texans and Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursdays the DQ manager hosts BINGO of all things! The place was packed because of this. I think they have to buy something before they are allowed to sit and play bingo. Ah, no thanks - not into BINGO.

Watching you!

Since we have been in McAllen we have noticed these Police thingies- not sure what you call

them and we see them at least 3 to 4 different places every day in Mission and in McAllen. So - nosy me - I asked a clerk at the Target store if he knew what this was. His reply was - "oh, they are watching the parking lot since it is so big. For theft." Dave and I don't buy this. This police thing was in a parking lot with so few cars, no banks anywhere, and it was near the expressway - and not far from the border of Mexico. We have never seen any car or truck parked by it, and we hardly have seen any police cars patrolling in the towns during the day. Hear them at night with sirens going, but not during the day. Do see alot of Border Patrol and Homeland Security vehicles driving around - especially near the border. Not sure if this thing is manned or not. Definitely can't see in it. As we thought about this, where we have seen them is on the main drags of roads leading in and out of Mexico. This particular one was in Mission, the next community west of us, and had great access to the roadway. Not far from here is an international bridge (customs/checkpoint) where you pass in and out of Mexico. I also wonder if they record cars or trucks with Mexican plates and use that as a reference for the Mexicans that come over to shop. I may have to call the police just to get the low down. Chris - wonder if your department might like one of these? Pretty cool - flashing red and blue lights both on top and bottom. You definitely know it's there - it sticks out! I have to say the I was nervous when Dave pulled the truck this close - looking for someone to intercept us as we road away.

Quinta Mazatlan

From the Hidalgo Pumphouse we stopped at Quinta Mazatlan which is one of the largest remaining adobe homes built in Texas. Very lovely, tile, wood, ironwork, beautiful gardens, and of course - a birding center open to the public. The home was built by Jason Matthews and his wife Marcia and raised a son and daughter here during the 1930s and 1940s. By the late 1950's McAllen built the international airport right near the home. Weird piece of info about the home - Matthews painted Aluminum sulfate paint on the inside and outside to prevent radar waves from penetrating the building. After the Matthews passed on the building went empty and with a hurricane in 1967 - pretty much in major disrepair. A church took over the buildings and eventually another family bought the home and then in 1991 McAllen purchased the eight acres and over 10,000 square feet of buildings and restored back to it's original beauty. We walked the paths, saw some pretty neat birds - of course the Chachalacas (love that word - we renamed Chip - Chipalaca) Great Kiskadees, woodpeckers, and numerous birds that I need to help Dave identify once he edits the photos. The wind was pretty high so many of the birds were in hiding. We will definitely go back to this and sit and watch the birds another day.

Old Hidalgo Pumphouse

Yesterday we went to the Old Hidalgo Pumphouse and Birding Center. This site is the original water pump station built in 1904 that brought the Rio Grande River water up into it's plant, generated power from the water, and pushed the water up north about 20 miles north of the River to irrigate farmlands. Was a pretty big feat to do back then. Two men rescued the abandonded pumphouse (went high tech in the late 1950's and then shut down due to other plant on-board about a mile down river) and made it into a teaching/historical museum. Very educational - they get many classes from schools coming through to teach the kids how the "Magic Valley" started and was populated. Seems just about anything that is planted here grows, hence the 'magic'. In the lower level of the museum a model train club has set up an accurate display of trains, tracks, the towns along the river - churches, schools, jails, post offices, houses, industries and agriculture minitures. The 'conductor' that described the railroad system to us - of all places he was originally from - Elyria!, was so proud of the display since he carved many of the models, telling us how the valley started and how the trains made movement of agriculture products to the north possible which in turn made the valley very prosperous, turning from agriculture to industry to retail. As a matter of fact, the city of McAllen (population 110,000) today serves 1.5 million people in the retail industry. There are 4 Super WalMarts, 4 Lowes, 4 Home Depots, 6 indoor malls, bazillion restaurants and hotels, you name it - it's here. The Pumphouse also is one of the nine main birding sites along the Rio Grande and we had planned to walk the trails afterward. However. If you look closely at the picture here you will see a Border Patrol Car parked right at the museum - not surprising since we were right at the border and you see these cars all the time. We got to the starting point of the trail and 2 couples stopped us, they were just coming back from the path and we were at the starting point - they were wide eyed and stammering. They were stopped by the FBI, police and Border Patrol with guns drawn at them! Yikes. They instructed them to get back to the Pumphouse and not venture on the path. Needless to say - we didn't go hiking. And as we drove away - we made sure that we were heading north (towards McAllen) and not south!

Just wait a few minutes

That's the saying here for the weather. And they are right. We got up this morning at it was 50, just a crystal clear morning. Then, fog came in. Then fog lifted and now very windy and sunny. But - temp has only climbed a few degrees. Supposed to be 72 today. Just wait a few mintues.....

Winter Texans are what us folks are called. We aren't snowbirds as we would be called if in Florida, just Winter Texans. Two kinds of Texans here - the Winter Texans and the full-time Texans. Either way - you are a Texan! And this whole area of south Texas caters to us. Everywhere you go you see 'Welcome back Winter Texans!' Amazing thing to see the license plates of people from Alberta Canada, Quebec, Ontario, Saskatchewan, Montana, Minnesota, Idaho just to name a few. That's a fur piece to travel to get here. Would we come back here? Probably not because we want to see so much more of the US. Takes forever to get down here to the bottom - we are the furthest south we have ever camped and just above the lattitude as the Florida Keys and right on the border of Mexico. Did I mention that we were excited to see the Rio Grande River the other day? As long as we don't cross the border we will be fine. People have said to also be off the roads and 'home' by 10pm - and we do hear sirens alot late at night. We are about 5 miles from the border but feel safe never the less. And - we don't need to go to Mexico - you just go to Main Street of Mission or McAllen - and you are in Mexico. All store signs are in Spanish, alot of junky stores, alot of good stores, and predominently Mexicans shopping there. We think - don't know - they get a day pass to come to the US to shop and then return home that evening. Even grocery shopping - see lots of Mexican license plates. Glad we did come down - the birds and flowers are truely amazing. Cool sounding birds like the Great Kiskadees and the Chachalacas - not only fun to pronounce but exciting to see since they are no where else in the United States. Great memories! We are going to look for sweatshirts that say, "Winter Texan 2011" for a momento before we head to San Antonio.

McAllen and birding

Was a quick 3 hour trip down, driving most of the way past the King Ranch - no towns, nothing during a 60 mile stretch owned by the King family. But, once into Hidalgo about 10 miles north of McAllen, the population quickly expands. Traffic! Ugh. But, got in by 1pm into Sunlight and registered and set up by 2pm. Nice little trip. This area is the World Birding Center and wow - do they have places to go if you are into birding. We met up with the folks who steered us to this campground and to the area, and got settled in. This place we are at is a '55 and older' community and it's okay. For the price, it's terrific. $8.33 a night. We are packed in like sardines. It has a pool and hot tub (too cold right now to use it), we are so close to many birding areas, to flea markets, biking areas, historical spots. We are about 45 miles from South Padre Island and Brownsville and plan to go there sometime. We plan to say for at least a month.

Yesterday we went to Bentsen State Park which is known for it's bird watching opportunities. Keep in mind birds here are so different from home, the sounds of them, the looks. While at this park we noticed great bike trails and will come back and do this a couple of times. We also are right on the border of Mexico, we looked across the Rio Grande River into Mexico. This area was flooded out by Hurricane Alex in July 2010, that only half the park is open. Waters were up over 30 feet in some areas (Rio Grande flooded). Overcast skies so couldn't get good pictures of the birds but will next sunny day we go there.

Whooping Cranes

Last I blogged we were in Port Aransas visiting the birding center on Monday. Tuesday we decided to take the Whooping Crane boat tour which left out of Port Aransas and traveled up the inter-coastal waterway to the Aransas National Wildlife Refuge area a distance of about 20 miles north of where we got on the boat. Was a little shaky at the beginning - our 110 foot catamaran (the boat we were on) turned back to the dock only after 10 minutes out. Seems they couldn't fire up the second engine and had to go back to port to have the engine primed. And, the weather was extremely foggy and chilly. So, by turning back and waiting we were hoping that the sun would burn off the fog. We skimmed along the water for a good 25 minutes and just as predicted - the sun came out and how beautiful! Lots of fishing boats were taking up their net boxes with oysters, tugs with barges skirting by, personal boaters out fishing - what a lovely day to be on the water. Saw many times dolphins swimming along with us - I guess I was the dolphin magnet - I could spot them quickly and people would come running when I exclaimed that I see them! Once they got to the rail of the boat - the dolphins disappeared - thank goodness we got pictures! This water was very very shallow (10 to 15 feet deep) and so very clear inside the Intercoastal. We loved this trip for another reason - made us remember our days as sailors on Lake Erie - being and feeling the waves and just soaking it all in. Freighters cannot use this passage since it's too shallow and must exit out of Port Aransas to go to whereever. By the way Corpus Christie does not have a seaport - islands front the city along the beaches and therefore all freighters and tugs must go through Port Aransas into Corpus Christie Bay. Took about an hour to get to where the whooping cranes are. In 1937 there were only 15 known whooping cranes in the world. This bird is the largest bird in North America - taller than Sandhill Crane and taller than the Great Blue Heron. Today there are approximately 550 whooping cranes of which over 330 are in Aransas. They migrate from Wood Buffalo National Park in the most northern border of Alberta, Canada to Aransas, the others go to Wisconsin and also to Kissimee Florida in October. In April they return back to Canada. We saw about 30 while on this tour - of course you cannot get close to them, but with telescopes and a camera - you can catch them forever in your memory. We saw a number of immature with their parents - they have to be strong enough by the time they go back in April to survive the flight. The babies or immatures are white with a dirty red head and neck and dirty butt. These birds are noisy! We could hear them over the hum of the diesel engines of the boat. Amazing. This was so impressive - to see an endangered bird 'up close' and to really appreciate what the naturalists are doing to protect and perserve these birds. In the wild they typically live 30 years - one of the pairs we saw were 32 years old.

Was a super day! We got our faces burnt from the sun and wind burnt. We ended the day with a meal at the Mexican restaurant again. Packed up that evening and by 9:30am Wednesday morning we were heading south to McAllen, TX.

Port Aransas

What a beautiful area this is! We decided to spend the day looking for birds and wild life in Port Aransas. We got to the Leonabelle Turnbull Birding Center in town about 11am and spent the next 4 hours walking the trails, taking pictures, just admiring the area. Now we understand why so many people come here - it is beautiful. Besides bird watching, you have deep sea fishing, regular fishing, swimming on white sandy beaches, very touristy, put we were not turned off by it. Lots of snow birds here - the two legged kind from the northern states. Lots of people from Minnesota, South Dakota, Wisconsin. Only saw one car from Ohio - and they stare at our plates (we have vanity - says GoTurtle) and can't figure out why it says that and where we are from. Get lots of stares! Saw some awesome RV campgrounds - ones that I had ear-marked to go to but had decided not to stay in this area and stay out in the main drag going south towards Brownsville and travel from there. The neat thing is that again, a free ferry across Aransas Pass - and what a sight that was. When we first got there a huge freighter was on it's way out to the Gulf and was just about in front of us while we were sitting on the ferry, and the ferry takes off towards it. Ah - there's something in front of us, hello!!! But, they certainly know what they are doing - as a matter of fact they only had 6 ferries running today - could have 8. Once we took the 10 minute jaunt across the river, we went and did hiking at the birding center. From there we went to another walk (we could see it from the birding center) and walked along time here. Was so very quiet and peacefule, the tide was out so there wasn't alot of birds, but still - very impressive in what the city has done with all the boardwalk along the Pass into the marshy areas. I really liked this area so much more than Florida's beaches and coast. Very very peaceful. Tomorrow we are heading back to Port Aransas to take the Whooping Crane boat tour which lasts for 5 1/2 hours. Sounds like we will have lots more photo opportunities. Wednesday we head all the way south towards Mexico - to a city of McAllen. Will stay there for a month or so.

H.E.B. and Whataburger

I try to plan to have enough food on board for at least 3 nightly meals and 3 breakfast meals. Once we get settled into a sight, we grocery shop for the other essentials - veggies/fruit/and whatever else. We have noticed a chain store called H.E.B. and was leary of going there. In this town - that's all there is. So, last night we shopped there for some little items - and boy were we surprised! It's a privately held company started out of San Antonio by a Florence Butt. Her son, Howard Edward Butt (H.E.B.) took over and now they have 315 stores in Texas and Mexico. The choices you have was equivalent to what we see in Cleveland in a huge grocery store - impressive. At least we know what that's all about and will go there from now on.

The other thing you don't see and do see - no Golden Arches! Whataburger hamburger chain's home is Corpus Christie and this certainly has to do with not seeing Ronald McDonald around. We don't do Mickey D's - so we haven't gone and tasted their burgers to compare. I assume they are good - they are located EVERYWHERE and there always is a crowd there! And it's open 24 hours - how do you like that Ronald? Missing out on a market niche by not being open 24 hours!

Is there sun in Texas?

We have been here in Sinton TX since Wednesday and have not seen the sun yet. As a matter of fact, we have had so much rain here that when we got up this morning all the RVs parked here look like we are sitting on islands amidst a lake. Everything is underwater. If the forecast holds up - we are supposed to see the sun FINALLY this afternoon - and then sunny skies and in the low 70's from then on. I made reservations for a boat ride to see birds (Whooping Crane is the major) for today but moved it to Tuesday where the forecast is much better. Tomorrow we are heading into Port Aransas on the Gulf to walk a birding trail there, it's renowned for sighting the endangered Whooping Crane and hundreds of other birds and animals. And the weather is supposed to be SUNNY AND WARM!


Friday we went into Rockport to the Texas Maritime Museum. Was nice, although we are becoming a bit of snobs - we have seen a number of these types of museum and some are outstanding and some are okay (our perspective). This was a great attempt at their history - and we were not happy - couldn't take flash photography. From there we road around alittle bit to get a flavor of the land and water, then headed home. We continually drive past windfarms and are amazed each time we go past these giants. We stopped and I rolled down the window to listen and you can hear the whoosh of the blades going around. Yesterday, we had to head into Corpus Christie to get Chip and Grace food. From there we road along the Gulf coast into downtown and looked at the sights. We have been on the USS Lexington before and chose not to go back and do that tour. Dave didn't remember much about Corpus Christie - I remembered specifically the carrier and also walking along the beach downtown and looking at boats in the marina. Dave says - too many people! The roads and highways are jammed packed! And then, last night we had to get our fix of Mexican food again - so we were told of a little place right here in town - and it was amazing! Some people like Chinese food, others like steak while others like chain restaurants - we love Mexican!

South Texas and King Ranch

We made it here to Sinton, about 15 miles west of Corpus Christie without any problems yesterday. The awnings seemed to roll in okay, the tires are peachy. Was about a 4 1/2 hour ride from Clear Lake which we had planned on the longer ride - just to try to get closer to McAllen by having a relatively short trek next week. The temp is still very chilly (for us) as 47 today, but there is a light at the end of the day - supposed to be low 70's by Saturday. yeah!!!! Had to have the heaters on still last night. Today since it was overcast and still cold, we decided to go to King Ranch in Kingsville. This is the largest ranch, over 825,000 acres in Texas and 300,000 acres in Florida. It is the largest ranch in the US and the 7th largest privately held company in the world. It's Runny W brand is the most recognized brand in the world. We wanted to see the ranch specifically because the truck we own - it's interior and log is a "King Ranch - Running W Brand" Ford F350. Dave was very happy we did go on the tour and hear all the stories. History of King Ranch is an American lesson on how from the depths of poor you can become the richest person by perservering. The lesson I kept hearing all day at the museum and during the hour long tour of the ranch is - take care of the people who work for you. Don't forget them, treat them well and you will be rewarded. I was most impressed with how the King ranch developed the first American breed of cattle the Santa Gertrudis breed. The Ranch also breeds quarter horses and they have had a Triple Crown winner. The Texas location pretty much is a cattle and horse farm, ranchhands and cowboys/cowgirls and their families live on the land in homes provided by the family whereas the Florida ranch is for citrus growing - Minute Maid and Tropicanna (Coca-Cola owned) crops are under the management of King Ranch, as well as sod, green beans, sugar cane round up the crops grown in Florida. The King Ranch has it's own saddlery shop and of course we had to go. Very impressive day. We ended it with a great Mexican meal which was probably the best Mexican food I have ever had. Did I mention that Captian King brought 100 Mexican families to the ranch in 1854 to help him start the cattle business? You can tell how much Mexican culture is inter-twined in this town. Most signs are in English as well as Spanish. Alot of history here - Si Senor!

High winds - awning and tire problems?

As I said in a previous blog, we had high winds and rain during Saturday night. The wind actually lifted and shook the RV and we felt we were sailing on our boat again. Unbelievable. In the year and half we have been camping we had never experienced that high velocity of wind. Well, shoot - didn't it happen again last night - only wind this time! It's still going on. We think that the awning over the bedroom slider may have loosened up. However, we cannot go down the road at 60 miles an hour with a loose awning. If that's what is going on (it's still too yucky out for Dave to check) we will have to try to get it fixed before hitting the road. Maybe we won't be leaving tomorrow as planned. If Dave can't tighten up what ever is going on - then we will have to call someone to come out to do it. We have a name of someone and if we have to wait for another day, fine. Good thing there is no deposit on the next camp sight. (We were leaving tomorrow for Corpus Christie.)

And tire problems? We have been dealing with a slow leak on one of the tires on the left side of the RV. Before we left Vermilion we had the tire pressure checked and one of them was down to 40 pounds - it should be 110! Got it pumped back up, but, we had it checked again here at the campsite by people we met and became friends with (we are following them down to McAllen - near Brownsville in a week or so) and the same tire was down 20 pounds. They gave us a name of a tire company that will come to you and they did yesterday. Found a nail in that tire. Thank goodness that scare is over. We also found out that the tires on the RV are one of the best we could have had on. This means that we can avoid the thousands (many) of dollars for tires we thought we would have to put on before the end of the year. Yeah - sometimes good things happen at bad times! We are good for at least 50,000 miles more. That should help us move around alot more.

Galveston Again

As planned, we traveled back to Galveston to spend the day. The Sea Turtle Rehab center was closed because of their efforts to help with the Deep Well Oil Rig disaster from June. Instead we headed to Galveston Island State Park where trails are for hiking and bird watching. They also have camping right on the Gulf - I don't know - a little too out in the elements! The walk was brisk, a tidge cold and windy, didn't see many birds and was puzzled as to why a trail was called Clapper Rail Trail until one of the interpret signs showed a Clapper Rail bird! Dah. And, we saw one! Went back into the city proper to spend time again at the harbor and found a huge cruise ship was loading to depart within an hour. That ship is huge! We were alarmed when we first drove into the city to hear gunfire. Turned out that the town was re-enacting the Battle of Galveston of January 1, 1863. Only 1 week later because of New Years Day the previous week. Lots of people, the city of Galveston has been restored to the 1860's architect. Lovely. We should have spent more time walking the shops and stores, but oh well. We then drove over to Clary's Seafood Restaurant - the main reason why we wanted to get back to Galveston - we figured it was 16 years since we had been there - and our idea of what we had experienced was different. As you say, you never can go back. However, the food was outstanding. Same table, same owner and waiters, was delicious. We had remembered the inside as alot of red decor. Hurricane Ike wiped them out - left the building intact but took everything inside and out to Galveston Bay. So, of course didn't look the same. It took almost two years for the restaurant to reopen, and we are glad we visited it. Memories.


We knew of a storm coming in last night and did it come! High winds, RV shook with the 40 mile hour gusts, then the lightning and rain came in about 4am. Needless to say we didn't get much sleep last night. It's still raining and very windy right now, so we'll hunker down today and just be a veg.

Galveston

Yesterday we went to Galveston (it's an island) to sightsee. We first went to the harbor where there is a museum dedicated to off-shore oil drilling. Well, what can I say? They need to do some big-time PR because of the recent disaster of the oil rig explosion this past June. Dave felt that the museum really didn't do justice to what is going on - the equipment that you saw was very old, just painted, didn't show what the living quarters are like - just pictures, what they did show was well marked, just was catering to the oil business and how great they are. We got a much bigger wow factor by just watching the harbor activity, oils rigs in for service, pilot boats taken pilots to ships to guide them in,tugs, boats, ferry, ships in dry-dock, etc.

From the museum we headed over to the Gulf - they call it the seawall - and we walked along the beach for awhile. This picture - if you can see the guy in red hugging the seawall - we assumed he is homeless. Did see a number of folks like this. This seawall has sustained tremendous damage also. After walking the beach we headed to a Mexican restaurant we had eaten at many years ago. Was still just as good. We saw where Hurrican Ike had taken it's toll on Galveston - there were many buildings that were abandoned and were either in the process of being torn down or had been torn down and was now just vacant land. Everywhere we looked there were billboards saying that if you had "Ike" damage, time was running out (this by law firms, naturally). Even at the entrance to the campground we know that two buildings were torn down due to the damage from Ike. I want to talk with the office folk - they have lived here all their lives and I want to hear what it is like during a hurricane, do they leave? do they stay and how do they stay? how bad is insurance - if you can get it, etc. Just an overall picture. Still want to go back to Galveston one more time before we leave - there is a NOAA Sea Turtle rehab center there and we want to go to Clary's Restaurant.

TEXAS!

As my brother-in-law Danny said, "It's a BIG state!" He was an over-the-road 18wheeler truck driver and told me about how it took 2 days just to cross Texas on his way to San Francisco. And he's right - seemed our 170 miles was a forever drive. We left Louisiana yesterday morning, had a quick hike to Clear Lake, which is about 20 miles southeast of Houston and 20 miles north of Galveston. We are right by the Johnson Space Center - all streets and roads are named for constellations/stars/rocket boosters/spaceships, etc. We love this warmer weather - it was 75 when we got settled yesterday, last evening got to 43. Everyone is bundled up, we have our windows open during the day, they freeze, we thaw. It's good.

The campground we are at - Marina Bay RV Resort - is very very nice. Concrete pads, 2 pools to swim in, very lovely bathhouses if you want to shower there, we look out to a river with all kinds of birds, and - expensive. We are paying 3 times more here than we did at the previous site for same thing - electric, water, sewer hookup. That's okay - this is like staying at the Ritz when you could have stayed at Motel 6.

Today we are heading to Galveston - I want to dip my toes into the Gulf and do sightseeing. We have been to Galveston before, had super memories, and are looking forward to going to Clary's Seafood Restaurant. They serve seasoned boiled shrimp in a huge bowl - their main finger food before you even get an appetizer. Yi! Will stay here for a week then head again more south towards Corpus Christie - probably will stay put for about 2 to 3 weeks.

Coushatti Casino and Resort

Yesterday we went to the Coushatti Casino just north of where we are camping. Our first impression was - wow, the colors. This casino is owned and operated by seven families (clans) of the Coushatti Indian Tribe of Louisiana. The motiff and decorations were all Indian flare. Very lovely. There is over 100,000 sqare feet of gaming areas, slots, live poker tables, craps, high rolling areas, etc. Very impressive. However. Since it is Indian owned and maintained, and the Federal government has no say in the way it's run, smoking was galore! We eventually got to the smoke-free area but by then we reeked of smoke, our hair stunk, and our eyes were watering big time. We got a huge WOW! factor when we walked through the smoking area (you had to to get to bathrooms, food, drinks) and saw some folks sitting at a slot with a cigarette in their hand, oxygen tube stuck in their noses, and their other hand just hitting punching the buttons. Amazing. There is a discrepancy (on my part) as to how much we won/lost and I think about 35 dollars total. You know when to hold them and you know when to fold them. We quit before it got too bad.

We had their buffet lunch and it was really good. Every kind of food was there for you - Asian, Creole, Cajun, good ole American, salads, sandwiches, pizza, you name it and it was there. I think Dave's two favorite dishes were the Jalapeno okra and greens and the chocolate (bark) candy cookies. I think mine was the collard greens and then the carrot cake. Our stomachs hurt so bad after ward - I don't think we ate or stuffed ourselves, but hurt for hours. All in all - it was fun. I think it's been about 10 years since Dave and I have been to a casino and probably will be another 10 years! Don't like to see money go away like that.

Biggest Tupelo Tree? sure!

What a bust! We drove and drove and drove down these little roads and found nothing. Back tracked, looked again, nothing. I am trusting it's still there, oh well. Dave needed some pieces parts for those lights he was installing so we headed to Lake Charles and to Lowes. While he was there I was surfing the Garmin for sights to see and found 2 museums right in downtown. Off we went. Both closed. We drove the lakeshore drive where there are enormous mansions facing Lake Charles (it eventually empties into the Gulf of Mexico). Lake Charles is a major hub for petroleum and off shore drilling as well as fishing. Lots of traffic going up and down the river which connects the Lake to the Gulf. The boat houses that they erected on the lake side of the mansions were huge some looked like at least 2000 square feet of party house with their boat up on slings. And some boat houses were built with at least 30 foot tall pilons supporting it - when a hurricane comes through the water rises that much - the boat house can float up the pilons and not get washed away. Across the lake (it's about a mile wide) there are huge river boats that house casinos. Again, just like most places in the States, have to float out about one foot on the water every couple of hours.

The casino we are going to today is on Indian land, the Coushatti Indians own a big portion of land here. From what some of the other campers have said, this casino (there are 17 total around Lake Charles) is the best. We plan to spend the day there although I don't like to gamble - seeing our money go away so quickly. We will only go in with a certain amount and play till it's doubled (GREAT!) or bust. Then partake of their famous buffett for a late lunch/early dinner.

We have decided we are very done with Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana. Enough of bayous, humidity, very poor environment. Need to get to Texas which we will do this Wednesday. Hopefully will be there, around there, for at least 2 months. And it's much warmer.

Dark and spooky

We spent yesterday doing things around the RV, specifically Dave had another project - installing more reading lights over the couch. I cleaned out closets, washed some things, did a little of this and that - traditional things that my mother said on New Year's Day, "make sure you are active and doing things that are important to you to do this next year, like cleaning, pay bills, cook, talk to family, go for a walk, etc." I did all this, and made pork and saurekrat and dumplings in the crock pot. Mom is smiling from heaven!

At 4:30pm we all lost power here at the campground. Good thing the food was done by then or we would have been waiting for a very long time. By 8pm it came back on, we think something major happened down the road since all the cell towers in the area and the community as well was dark. We had no cell service, no electricity, no heat, no nothing. This place was really dark! Some of the Class As (motor homes) cranked up their generators to get the electricity going - probably were watching some football game or such and had to keep it going and also to give them heat. Temp outside was nice at 60 during the day but as soon as the sun went down - brrr. Glad the electricity came on because generators are noisy!

We also decided not to go to Lafayette to the Tabasco headquarters at Avery Island - it's about 1 1/2 hours from here which means we would be in the truck for 3 hours. Instead we are heading a little north today to go see the world's larges Tupelo tree in Kinder. At least it's outside. Tomorrow is definitely casino day - we wanted to wait until all the weekend folks have left. We are looking forward to the day there.