On to Louisiana

Left Galveston Island yesterday morning and drove to Sulphur, LA - just outside of Lake Charles.  Took some pictures of us crossing the Bolivar opening to Galveston Bay while on the ferry.  You can see the USS Cavalla [SS 244] in the background of one of the pictures.  Bayou country in southern LA is flat, wet and what you would expect it to look like.  If someone is not at work, they're fishing the bayous.  Another beautiful day.  Heading towards Shreveport today. 

Gulf Shrimp on the Barbee

Had fresh Gulf shrimp hot off the barbee last night for dinner.  Did some stocking up at Wally World in the morning then came back to the park, made lunch and headed for the beach.  We've been here a week now and are thinking of pulling up stakes and heading over towards Lake Charles, LA.  Everything here has been great except for the mosquitos.  With all the rain south TX has had, the mosquitos are out in full force.  Going to be another nice day.  Sixty two at 0705 hours heading for 80 or so.  Would highly recommend this RV park if you're ever in the area.  Fifteen minutes out of town which is fine with me.  Nice beach across the street.

Perfect Day

Shaping up to be a perfect day.  Sixty degrees at 0650 hours heading to about 80 degrees.  Not a cloud in the sky.  Wind and ocean calm.  One more beach day with a good book and some cold beer.  Going to buy some large Gulf shrimp for dinner tonight.  No oil this far west of the spill.  Sun is beginning to peak over the horizon.  Life is good.

Offshore Drilling Museum

Visited the offshore drilling museum today.  Very interesting how they do this and how deep they can go.  As you can see by one of the pictures, they build a number of these rigs here in Galveston.  Carnival criuse ship was in port getting ready to depart at 4pm.  Space looking suit allows a diver to work 2300 feet under water.  Incredible.  Tomorrow it's beach time.  Enough tourist stuff for awhile.  Bought some fresh fish at the fishing boat docks.  Need to chill some of the Pinot Grigio to go with the fish for dinner.

Shrimp Festival and Blessing of Da'Fleet

Went to this festival yesterday in old downtown Galveston Island.  They had a gumbo cookoff so I got to taste some pretty good gumbo.  Walked around and admired some of the old buildings [picture attached.]  Galveston was actually one of the grandest cities west of the Mississippi River and a financial center back in it's heyday.  Today we go to the offshore drilling museum and the 1900 hurricane museum [that hurricane was one of the most devastating natural events to ever hit the US.]  Came back for the afternoon football games.  My alma mater UCLA beat Texas but Arkansas lost to Alabama.  Both were good games as far as the action goes.  Cold front passed through last night.  No rain, just some high clouds.  Another beautiful morning.

USS Cavalla [SS 244]

Pleasant surprise when I realized the USS Cavalla [SS 244] was here in Galveston just about 20 minutes from our RV park.  We went over to the park and toured her.  She was exactly like my boat - the USS Bream [SS 243.]  Met the COB who was just leaving in his motorhome [he lives on site] and he said any of us ex submariners could stay right next to him [with full hookups] if you agreed to help out in the restoration.  Maybe some other time.  Had lunch in historic downtown Galveston where they are getting ready for the Shrimp Festival and Blessing of Da'Fleet tomorrow.  We plan to attend it.   Here are some pics of the Cavalla and sunrise this morning.  Went to the beach for a little while this afternoon.  Beautiful weather.

Beach Time

Today was beach time. Great day. Good book, cold beer, warm water, my new best friend - the bird, and kite flying. Tomorrow, more of the same. Tough life. Right now, as I write this, I am watching a shrimper out on the Gulf. Probably, will get some of his fresh shrimp tomorrow. Weather holding - warm, windy and sunny. Hooray!!!

Galveston Island

Finally, I believe we are out of the rain for awhile. Drove up to Galveston Island yesterday and are camped in a very nice RV park right across the street from the ocean. No rain expected other than afternoon showers. Going to the beach today with a good book and some cold beer. What beats that!!! If the weather holds, we may stay here through the weekend since this weekend is the Galveston Island Shrimp Festival and Annual Blessing of Da'Fleet. All kinds of activities planned. Of course, Saturday afternoon it will be me in front of the tube for the Arkansas/ Alabama football game. Should be a good one. Sun just came up. What a beautiful sight. Paid our dues with lousy weather and now we can enjoy the good stuff. Pictures from the front of our coach and crossing on the Port Aransas ferry.

Joe Schlabotnick

I feel like Joe S. from the old cartoon strip, Little Abner - you know Joe the guy who walked around with a rain cloud right over his head. We left Port Isabel yesterday morning in the rain, outran it as we headed to Port Aransas [actually had sun yesterday afternoon] and now are in the rain again. It's too dark outside right now [0655 hours] to actually see what the skies look like. Heading towards New Orleans for the weekend if no more hurricanes come into the gulf. So far, it looks clear but with my luck???? The jury is still out whether or not we will come south for the winter. The issue is not the weather but can I stay in one place for more than a week without going nuts. There are plenty of activities for winter Texans but I'm still a little apprehensive. I guess it's the gypsy in me. Hooray, the sky to the southeast looks clear so maybe the rain has passed by. More later.

Brownsville, TX

Spent the day touring the area with our RV park neighbors who have been coming down here for 5 years now. They showed us all around the island [So. Padre] and then we drove down to Brownsville. The picture is of the Rio Grande with the U.S. on the left and Mexico on the right. Had lunch and loaded up on supplies at Sam's Club. Rain showers off and on. Probably some more tomorrow but at least it's not constant rain as before. Will play tomorrow by ear. The second picture is of St. Isabella - patron saint of sailors at the entrance to the ship channel.

Rain, rain go away

Two and a half days of rain with more expected all day today. Fortunately, there have been spells of dry weather so we've gotten to explore the area. Thinking about pulling out early and heading towards the north TX coast. Weather there will determine what we do. Watched two movies and read alot yesterday. Found this area to be more like northern Mexico rather than southern Texas. Even the locals say this. Folks are friendly. Walmart has more food items you would see in Mexico than in a typical U.S. store. Will try to keep from going nuts today if it continues to rain. Would like some beach time but doubt I'll get it. Oh well!!!!!

Tropical Storm Kurt

Tropical storm Kurt brought some rain to the area and a pretty sky last night before it got dark. Picture of our campsite too. Going to continue exploring the area today.

Port Isabel II

Pictures of the Port Isabel area from the top of the lighthouse. Went over to So. Padre Island and checked things out. Nice beach. Had lunch and came back to Port Isabel and toured the local museum. Then back to the coach for a nap. It's hard work doing all this stuff!!!! Tomorrow?

Scallops and Shrimp

Scallops and shrimp for dinner last night. Met our neighbors after dinner and drank a little too much wine. Very friendly folks. Watched an alligator stalk a bird in the canal across from us. Think I'm going to like this place come winter. Off to explore the area today.

Port Isabel

Made it to Port Isabel. Set up camp for a week. Will start checking things out tomorrow. Got some scallops for dinner. Warm but not as humid since we're close to the water. Great breeze. Another arkie is camped close to us. They have been coming down for 5 winters now. The "winter Texans" are already showing up. Plan on doing some fishing while here. Nothing like fresh fish for dinner. More later.

Hot and Humid

Made it to Corpus Christi yesterday. Didn't want to drive all the way to Port Isabel from San Antonio in one day. Heck, I'm retired so why push it. Rained last night so you can cut the humidity with a knife. Thank goodness for AC. Looking forward to finally getting to the far south of TX. Watching tropical storm Kurt as it moves west towards Mexico. Hopefully, it will stay south of us. We can expect rain though over the weekend. Going to buy some fresh fish this afternoon [or maybe shrimp] and have it for dinner. Love fresh seafood. Next report from arkietraveler will be from Port Isabel.

San Antonio

Drove to San Antonio today. Strolled along the River Walk, had some appetizers and margaritas. Took this picture of the Alamo but didn't visit it due to two previous trips here. Off to Corpus Christi tomorrow - may even drive all the way to Port Isabel. Just depends on how I feel. Looking forward to some fresh seafood to go with the wine we bought yesterday.

Luckenbach, TX

Went to Luckenbach, Tx today. Not too much to see but what there is, is kind of neat. Photos tell the story. Then back to Fredericksburg for a walk along main street. Stopped at two wine tasting places and came back with 5 bottles of wine. Before Luckenbach, we had breakfast in town [as well as lunch yesterday[ and these German Texans don't know what small portions are. Great beers and wines and you can wander up and down the street with a cool beer to go. This is my kind of place. Off to San Antonio tomorrow.

National Museum of the Pacific War

One of the best military museums I've been to. Plan on a whole day to see everything. Awesome exhibits and knowledgeable guides. Located in Fredricksburg, TX - hometown of Admiral Nimitz. Well worth the visit. Plenty else to do in the area.

LBJ Ranch

Today, we drove to Johnson City, TX and visited the LBJ museum, state park and ranch. Very interesting. Beautiful hill country of TX. Took a drive through tour of the ranch. See why they called it the TX white house since LBJ spent 25% of his time as president here. Now in Fredricksburg, TX for 2 nights. Plenty to see and do here tomorrow. Took a picture of a TX 5 star restaurant where they serve TX oyster in the half shell - armadillo. Only in TX.

Day Four

Day four of our trip. Hopefully, it will be better than the first three. Had to get some work done on the motor home on day two, then yesterday the alternator in the jeep went out and had to get it replaced. Two days in service shops - bummer. Passed by Ft. Hood in Killean, Tx yesterday. Huge fort. Today, it's off to Johnson City, Tx to visit the state park there. Then to Fredricksburg, Tx for two nights. Going to visit the Nimitz Museum of WW II War in the Pacific and the LBJ ranch. Weather is back to normal - hot and humid but at least no rain. Had an excellent italian dinner last night at a local restaurant. As Bugs Bunny used to say, that's all folks!!!

After the Storm

Day two of our month long trip and we ran into severe weather in the Dallas area. Tornadoes all around us and very heavy rain. Thankfully, we ducked the bullet but had to be ready to go to a shelter. I believe the bad weather is behind us now and it should be clear sailing for awhile. Weather was due to tropical storm Hermene. Heading for Lampasas, TX today.