The Road To Texas

01/09/2013

We are currently in the campground of Goose Island State Park in Rockport, Texas. I have a cell phone signal with AT&T, but our MIFI wireless cannot connect with Verizon, so this post will have to wait until we leave.

We packed up and left Destin with the sun shining after all the rain and gloom. Made for great driving weather, but Greg and I keep joking that we are in camp through all the rain and when we decide to leave it gets nice! We frequently seem to be a day ahead of the weather!

Drove across the rest of Florida, a brief journey across a small part of Alabama, and on to Mississippi. Entered Louisiana, took I10 north of New Orleans and north of Lake Pontchartrain. We'll save New Orleans for another time. We were reminded of Hurricane Katrina when we saw lots with large numbers of what appeared to be identical FEMA trailers for sale. Several passed us being towed by pick-ups and sporting stickers that said “Not Intended for Human Habitation”. Crossed the mighty Mississippi at Baton Rouge at dusk.

Coming from a state with limited legalized gambling, we were surprised by the numbers of casinos, big and small, advertising along the interstate. Mississippi and Louisiana had many, and there were frequently small casinos at truck stops at the interchanges.

Throughout western Louisiana the fields were flooded. We thought it was because of the rain, but learned that they are rice fields waiting to be planted. This time of year they raise crawfish in them. The crawfish were attracting the birds, and we saw flocks of snow geese in the fields.

We drove until after dark when we reached Rayne, LA, just west of Lafayette. Frog City Truck Stop welcomes RVs to overnight for free on the lot with the big rigs. This was our second truck stop experience. The first was west of Tallahassee, FL on the way to visit friends in Alabama. Truck stops began welcoming Rvs during the recession when trucking traffic slowed down and they were looking for more revenues. We make a point of filling up with diesel and Greg indulges in a truck stop breakfast while I sleep. When all you need is a place to grab eight hours of sleep, it is worth putting up with the noise. The reefers (refrigerated trucks) run all night, and many truckers idle their engines to keep their cabs warm while they sleep. (This is an environmental issue that needs attention!) The noise is consistent and the lights bright. We close the blinds and sleep. The bed feels like “magic fingers” due to the vibrations of the trucks!

We had dinner at the truck stop restaurant called Cajun Restaurant. All across Louisiana we had an onslaught of billboards saying that their restaurants had the best boudin balls. We finally googled it and found it to be a Cajun speciality; ground pork, rice and various Cajun spices. The online review of the Frog City Truck Stop said “great boudin balls”. We decided to try them. Not on the menu. I asked and it took awhile for the local waitress to figure out what we wanted. Still not sure how to pronounce it! So, I guess trying boudin balls will wait for another time.

Greg went for his breakfast in the morning, I grabbed a quick bite in the RV and we hit the road. The rain started and then the smart phone gave us flash flood warnings. Great...can't escape the rain! We made a quick stop at the Texas Welcome Station. Greg was looking for the free coffee they gave him at the Mississippi and Louisiana welcome stations. No more southern hospitality in Texas! But, wow! The speed limit went up to 75! Can't remember when it was 75 in Maryland last. But, no! Still traveling at the reverse, 57. Cruise control, flat roads and diesel are yielding 18+ mpg for the RV.

Dreary travel past Beaumont's refineries and fog enshrouded Houston highrises. We headed down a state highway south of Houston. Enough interstate driving. We drove toward the Gulf Coast and Rockport, just north of Corpus Christi. Very flat with black soiled fields stretching off to the horizon. We guessed that they were cotton fields waiting to be planted. We think they must let them lie fallow from time to time because the soil looked so rich, and cotton is one of the most heavily sprayed crops. That tends to deplete the earth fast. Managed to reach Goose Island State Park and the campground before they closed and the sun (which we couldn't see) set. We had our choice of bayfront, literally feet from the water, or the campground that was back in the trees. The camp host suggested the trees. After checking the weather, we agreed.

Lots of rain, wind and thunderstorms last night. We are still waiting for it to clear before the sun goes down in a short while. I spent the morning cleaning. Small spaces require staying on top of clutter and dirt. I hated to clean at home, but don't mind it in the RV. It doesn't take long. In the middle of cleaning the bathroom, the water stopped flowing. Apparently it was off in the entire campground. We switched to our internal tank and it came back on later. Greg filled our water tank up just in case that happens again.

Once we were sure that the water was flowing in the wash house we got to have hot showers. There was a break in the weather, so we took advantage of it. So now the RV is clean inside and out, we are clean, and ready for the sun to shine tomorrow. We are going to get on our bikes and explore!