Day 50 - San Felipe, TX to Breaux Bridge, LA

We left our Texas state park and headed for Louisiana today.  I discovered an amenity that I needed to report - near the bath house was a bicycle/mud washing station.  There are a lot of walking and bike trails in the park which can get pretty muddy when it rains.  I think this is a nice touch.

Flag etiquette:  I saw a display of 3 flags on 3 flagpoles this morning.  The Texas flag was in the middle.  I thought that it was proper etiquette to fly the US flag in the middle.  I did some research and found that Texas has a law on American flag etiquette.
The Texas Flag Code--which is part of the Texas Government Code, not the Texas Penal Code--guides the proper handling and display of the American flag. It says the U.S. flag should be raised first and lowered last in any situation involving other flags. It also spells out the display of the American flag on a pole that is located to the left of the Texas flag, from the viewer's perspective. According to the 2001 additions to the code, the poles must be the same height, and the flags must be about the same size.

I guess the business was just following Texas law.

Most intriguing sign seen today:  "God Did It"

Town name that I liked the best today:  Iota, LA

In order to get where we wanted to be today, we had to drive through Houston this morning.  Brett says that some cities build all these highway overpasses just to show off.  I'd say that Houston qualifies.  One word regarding Houston - traffic.  One word regarding the drivers we encountered today - aggressive.  We got caught in an 18 wheeler sandwich and the truck on our left decided to lean into our lane.  Brett blew the horn and jammed on the brakes.  He missed us.  We also saw more police traffic patrols today than we have on the entire trip. 

Diesel was relatively inexpensive at 3.89 a gallon.  

That is probably because the landscape is dotted with these mysterious looking refineries.

Surely there must be some benefit to having to smell these all day.  I did not find the Houston area the least bit attractive.

I think this barge was in the Houston ship channel.  Again, it looks totally mysterious to me but since it has things shaped like tanks I am guessing that it is carrying something related to petroleum.

We are once again very close to seal level and the land has flattened out.  This field of rice was at 14 feet elevation.  I didn't realize that Texas produces about 5% of the nation's rice.  With the droughts this year, it has been difficult to get enough water for the fields.  After the rice is harvested it is stored in big silos just like corn.

The Louisiana Welcome Center did look very welcoming indeed.  This was primarily because Texas teased us for about the last 100 miles by having every former eastbound rest area demolished or closed.  They seemed to be thumbing their noses at anybody leaving the state!  We did pull off the highway at a truck turnout and that proved to be a mistake.  There was about a 1 foot drop off the pavement onto a sandy pullout area.  It was quite a jolt but the silverware managed to stay in the drawer.

The median in some spots of Louisiana I10 is planted with this huge grass.  It gives you something to look at so you won't think about the rough ride you are getting every time you go over one of the joints in the concrete road surface.  

This is sugar cane.  Louisiana produces about 20% of the sugar grown in the US.  All Louisiana sugarcane is mechanically harvested. Harvesters cut off the cane tops, cut the stalks from their attachment to the row, and lay them on heaps behind the machine. After the cane heaps are burned to remove excess trash, cane loaders place the cane in large wagons for transport to the raw sugar factories.  We did see cane heaps being burned in one field today.

We are staying at Cajun Palms RV Resort in Breaux Bridge, LA.  This campground has over 300 campsites but you can see that it looks very empty today (we are behind the tree and have our awning out).  I was wrong when I guessed that it must be full of snowbirds in the winter time.  It turns out that they are busiest during the summer (are always full on the weekends) and mostly with locals.  The primary activity is drinking at the pool bar.

When you are in Cajun country and you learn that there is a Cajun restaurant (Crawfish Town USA) right next door, you really have to eat there.  We gave them a call and they sent a golf cart over to pick us up and transport us to our dinner.  The joint wasn't actually jumping when we got there (it was fairly early) but there were more people there by the time that we left.  

I am allergic to shellfish so I had to pass up the opportunity to eat shrimp and crawfish but there was plenty of other stuff I could eat.  I couldn't decide so I got appetizer portions of chicken and sausage gumbo, fried catfish and hush puppies.  Yummy!  Brett had some kind of chicken thing.  Then we ordered bread pudding with praline sauce but we had to get it to go because "stuffed" could only begin to describe our condition.  

Our plan is to move into Florida next with a stay on the panhandle near Pensacola.  I suspect we should do a little bit of research on the path of hurricane Sandy too.

Day 49 - Stephen F Austin State Park

Morning. It is 64 degrees with 96% humidity and the dew point is 64 degrees. I am sitting outside at the picnic table enjoying the peace and quiet. I don't count the birdsong as noise. I believe that a lot of species of birds pass through Texas during migration and I am getting to enjoy some of that. Deep breath. The air smells wonderful! It is that damp, earthy scent so evocative of the South.
Last night I heard Brett opening a window and then turning on a fan. Suddenly there was that smell. Like
rolling over and snoozing in the earth. (no, NOT a dirt nap)
Who knew that I would miss humidity?

I like coffee. Every morning when I grind fresh beans I remember a scene in the movie City Slickers. Grinding beans in Texas this morning as I look out the door to check for cattle stampedes. Nope.

We decided to go for a walk around the campground before it got meltingly hot. It is still pleasant in the shade. We saw zero humans on our stroll and one vulture. Hmmm. We needed to go check out the group camping area. They have the best grill set up I have seen at a campground. I think you could smoke a whole cow in there!

As far as I know, I have never heard of or seen an Osage Orange (Bois d'Arc) tree until today. Their fruit is all over the ground now. It is softball sized , bumpy and yellow-greenish. I think it looks like a little round brain. The fruit contains a sticky white latex sap that is starting to be used in some insect repellant. The wood burns hotter than any other native North American tree.

My small lesson in Texas history:

We are in the town of San Felipe on the Brazos River which was the capital of Stephen Austin's first colony (the fabled cradle of Texas liberty) and the founding place of the Texas Rangers. Here Stephen F. Austin, named the Father of Texas, brought the Old Three Hundred the first 297 families to colonize Texas under a contract with the Mexican Government. Being a descendant of one of the Old Three Hundred is a big deal in Texas; like having a Mayflower connection.

In 1836 during the Texas Revolution General Sam Houston ordered all supplies removed from the town and burned it to the ground to keep it out of Mexican hands. The town was restored after the Texan victory at San Jacinto ended the war but never regained its former stature.

My art in the wild for today is a kind of wild fingerpainting. It appears as though curious (or vandalous) raccoons noticed when the pavement went down. Their meanderings have been forever captured.

Another thing I have learned on the trip: no matter how you pose them, refried beans are not photogenic.

Tomorrow we head a bit further east.
That is all.

Day 48 - Stephen F Austin State Park, TX

I guess that we were a little too eager to get started this morning. We set the alarm for 6 AM so that we would have plenty of time to get folded up and ready for the road. It wouldn't have been much of a problem except that the sun didn't rise until 7:48 AM. Note to self – check the almanac when you are in a new area before you set the alarm. We went ahead with the preparations anyway and were rolling at just about the time the sun came up.

Our first stop was the dump station. I was busy folding up the steps when I heard Brett say Sandy come and see. I went around the corner and was confronted with the beast you see below. I remember remarking earlier that it was not all that nice to be able to see a spider while moving at 65 mph. It isn't all that great to see one when both of you are standing still either! The thing was surely 3 inches across. But he was beautiful in his own way.

Side note – I am not able to get a broadband connection on my laptop so I am trying to post this from my iPhone. I am not sure how it is going to look. I don't think that the photos will be correctly inserted into the text so just look below.

Today we drove about 260 miles from just west of San Antonio to just west of Houston. Along the way we passed towns with names such as Welfare and Flatonia and Comfort. And a river with the curious name of Woman Hollering Creek.
Roadsigns that I liked:
-don't mess with Texas
– Are you married to Jesus or just dating him on weekends?

Texas has Farm to Market roads labelled FM and a number. Today the GPS told us to turn left at Federated States of Micronesia 1458. Tee hee.
Once past the hill country and just east of San Antonio the landscape definitely took a turn for the green. We have return to farming country green grass and trees.

There was a bit of a cloudburst around noon time and some of the dust got washed off the whale.

Many of the farms in this region grow cotton. We saw a lot of huge bales in the fields.

Our destination for today was Stephen F Austin State Park in Sealy Texas. The town of Sealy is famous because of Sealy mattresses. None were manufactured here but the man who invented the process and holds the patents was from Sealy. This is a rather large and very nice State Park which features among other things an 18 hole golf course. It is not a very busy campground today. There are 40 campsites but I only see seven campers. Each campsite is full hook up and has a huge mowed lawn area with picnic table and fire ring. If this was a KOA there would be five motorhomes in this spot!

It is getting dark and Brett is out walking somewhere. I suppose that I should go see if I can round him up. We plan to stay here for two nights. That should give us some time to see what ever sights the area has to offer.

Update - I finally had to call Brett to locate him. He said he was visiting with some nice people and was fine. I'm sure there will be tales to tell.

Day 47 - South Llano River State Park, TX

This is our last day here in Junction, TX.  It was a nice spot to do a little R&R.  But my goodness it was hot today.  I woke up early and was able to spend several hours outside with my book before the sun wore off the overcast and it became unbearable outside.  Thence the rest of the day was spent in the air conditioning reading (I - The Fiery Cross, Brett - The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich) and generally lounging about.  When we judged it to be cooler we took a stroll around the campground.  That judgement was false - it was still viciously warm.  The weekend crowds have packed up and gone back to their daily lives leaving maybe 8 campsites occupied now.  This morning there were herds of giggling children racing about and now there are just old folks. One thing that Brett noticed is that quite a few people drive themselves over to the bath house and leave their cars running while they use the bathroom.  He finds this the equivalent to people in Maine who run into the convenience store in the winter leaving the car idling.  The campground host said it wouldn't be busy again until next weekend.  During our stroll Brett noticed that some firewood had been left behind at one of the empty campsites.  So he went "logging" and we have enough wood for one more campfire.  He is outside now getting it started (and it is still 85 degrees).   I'm sure it will cool off enough to enjoy a little sit out under the stars listening to the crickets make a racket (they are very loud here). 

Tomorrow we plan to make our way a bit further east towards Houston.  We will be staying at Stephen F. Austin State Park for a few days.  We both feel ready to hit the road again.

List of things that have gone amiss:

• Lost the remote somewhere in Montana.  I miss that thing.  It was so easy to open and close things with it.  Ah well.

• The kitchen faucet handle fell off.  It fell into my hand and was easily replaced.  No flooding.

• One of the covers to a speaker in the ceiling fell off.  We found it in the slide.  It wasn't broken and we were able to screw it back on.

• The crank handle to one of the back windows fell off.  We found it in the carpet.  Brett found the screw to it the previous day and we were able to put it back in place.  He also checked and tightened all the other handles.

• A cabinet door got caught in the galley slide when I was opening it and loosened the molding.  We were able to tack it back down.

• The handle to one of the sliding closet doors broke off.  The door needs to be pried open each time we need to get into the closet.

• The molding on the main slide got caught up on one of the recliners and made a crunching sound.  Again we were able to get it pounded back down into place

• One of the kitchen cabinets came open in transit and all the little custard dishes jumped ship.  I found them scattered about the living room and nothing was broken.

• The silverware continues to rearrange itself but does stay in the drawer

• The glass ware insists on tipping over and going to the far side of the cabinet.  This is why I have all plastic.

•  The bed sagged mightily and Brett put in a plywood bed board.

None of these are really surprising when you consider that traveling with the fifth wheel is akin to dragging your house down the road every day at 65 mph.  It just wants to shake itself apart.  All in all nothing too serious.  Yay!

Now I am going to go drink my real Margarita.  Happy trails.

Day 46 - South Llano River State Park, TX

We are really appreciating the chance to relax at this nice park.  There were still a bunch of chores that we needed to get done so this was another day for doing.  First up was a trip to Parker Lumber store.

See all the pickups in the parking lot? 
There is a big hunting tradition in this area.  This lumber store sold a lot of stuff to get you out hunting in style.  Most interesting to us were the blinds which were very sturdy things with real stairs to climb up. They don't use tree stands like we do in Maine because the trees aren't big enough here.  And feeders.  Big feeders to put out to attract the animals so that you can later hunt them.  Next to the state park is a ranch that raises some sort of antelope.  These are meant to be hunted.  We were told that there is very little public land in Texas.  In order to hunt here you must lease the right from the landowner.  But the public land (state parks) allows anybody to fish without a license.  This park is closed to camping during the turkey hunting season but open for turkey hunting. 
Our reason for needing the lumber store involves our bed.  The High Country is a lighter weight fifth wheel than most and is because it uses lighter materials.  The bed platform/frame (part that the mattress rests on) is made with wide straps.  Light weight but the mattress sags in the middle and we therefore don't "sleep tight".  There was no apparent way to firm this up so Mr. FixIt devised a way to make a plywood platform to place over this.  Since he didn't bring a saw along with him (why ever not I wonder since he brought every other tool) he needed to get a 4x8 sheet of plywood cut in a certain way.
For some reason, when we came to Texas I was dreading it because I had the idea that the people weren't nice.  I'm not sure where this came from but it couldn't be further from the truth.  We've met some of the friendliest people of the whole trip here.  The lumber yard folks were no exception.  They said that they would have to charge for cutting which was okay with us.  In the end, they only charged for the plywood.  The fellow doing the cutting was surprised that we were from Maine because he thought everybody from the northeast was grumpy all the time!  And the children here are raised to be polite.  I don't mind a "yes ma'am" now and again.  We just had 4 little boys come careening through the campsite on their bikes and the first thing they said was "sorry".  Our pink flamingo yard art has a way of attracting the little ones.  It is fun to get to talk to them.  But I digress.  The plywood worked perfectly for the bed and we shouldn't have to worry about rolling into the Grand Canyon if we happen to move away from the edge of the bed now.

The South Llano has plenty of water in it.  Tubing and swimming and kayaking are very popular at this park.  There were a number of people in and on the water today.  The park has been very busy this weekend with lots of children giggling and running about.  During the week it has been very quiet with a few old people (like us).




A warm day just calls for a nap so that is what happened.  Well, somebody had to try out the fixed up bed too before we committed to it for a whole night (Brett tried out the bed).

There are several bird blinds set up around the park.  These are the "on the ground" kind rather than the "climb up the stairs" kind.  After it got a bit cooler we walked over to one to see what we could see.  The birds all seem to be in bed for the night.  We did see two axis deer.  These things make quite a noise in the evening.  I thought I was listening to a mountain lion roaring.

It will be another evening by the campfire. 

Day 45 - South Llano River State Park, TX

Today is my 62nd birthday and I got to spend it doing things that I like to do.  The biggest thing, of course, is that I am traveling across the country at a snail's pace seeing places that interest me.  It was in the 80's again today and I had the chance to take a nap outside in the shade during the afternoon.  I cannot think of another birthday when I was able to do that.  I suppose good things do come to those who live long enough.

Brett was still sleeping when I got up this morning so I decided to take a walk around the camping loop.  It was further than I thought it would be but very pleasant.  Mother called at about the half way mark and sang Happy Birthday to me.  It made me smile. 

We are the only foreigners in the campground and many people want to come by to chat.  Those with a Maine connection (usually they have been to Bar Harbor) like to talk about it.  It got cold last night (in the 30's) and several of them wanted to know if it felt comfortable to us.  Well, it did after we turned the fireplace on.  We may be from Maine but we are still warm blooded creatures.

Once Brett woke up and I reminded him that it was my birthday he decided that we should go out for lunch.  We had been told about a good Tex Mex restaurant so we went to check it out. 

The sign seems like a good sign - it has Spanish words on it!  I think that it says Delicious Mexican Food.  And it was.  You simply must eat Tex Mex at a restaurant whose staff consists entirely of little Mexican ladies.

It was in a nice, tree shaded building and the parking lot was full of vehicles.  Pickups!  White pickups mostly with roo bars on the front.  Brett asked somebody about this and was told that you can't drive at night in Texas without hitting a deer.  I don't know if that's true or not but the speed limits are pretty high (70 on most roads) so the chances of hitting something must go way up.  There were no Prius owners looking askance at our big diesel truck in this parking lot.  I need a bumper sticker that says "my other car is a Matrix".

I was a bit taken aback when I noticed this sign posted by the door.  I guess we are supposed to take comfort presuming that only licensed weapons will be on the premises.  Oh well, in for a dollar...

No weapons in sight!  It was busy and there were lots of locals eating there.  Notice that the grown men don't remove their hats inside a restaurant here.  I had fun checking out the fashions.  Cowboy boots - I haven't found any yet that I can afford but would dearly love to have a pair.  I know I'd be the talk of the Hannaford if I wore them shopping.  Belt buckles - they make them big in Texas and they seem to be very popular.  Brett says if he sat down wearing one it would rupture his spleen.   We were giving a basket of hand cut tortilla chips and fresh salsa and that red sauce (which was very, very hot).  Brett had beef fajitas and I had tamales.  Estupendo!




Then we had to find a grocery store so that we could get a birthday cake.  Junction only has 2000 people in it but they have a nice little grocery store called Lowe's.  This one had a stray bird flying around in it which we happened to notice in the laundry detergent section.

While cruising the aisles I happened upon the spice rack.  I thought that the prices must be a mistake.  These are 1 1/2 ounce bags of spices for less than $2. 

Oh and be still my foolish appetite!  Flour tortillas, corn tortillas, tostadas and corn husks.  Piles and piles of them.  I bought some.  I had to.















Cake (and tortillas) in hand we returned to the campsite where a relaxing afternoon was had.  Brett took charge of dinner as well and he built a fire so that we could roast hotdogs.  I've noticed that many things taste better when cooked over an open fire.  Hotdogs are one of those things.  So I am fed and rested and happy.  It was a most excellent birthday.

Day 44 - South Llano River State Park, TX

It was another nice day of relaxing around the campsite.  The temperature made it up to 80 today but there was a breeze and it felt considerably nicer than yesterday.  We tackled a little bit more of the to-do list.

I keep noticing these maps on the sides of other campers.  We bought one before we left on our adventure and just today got it put up.  This is probably because the first step says "wash the area where you will be placing your map".  So far we have traveled through 21 states.  I think that the map looks pretty impressive.  We are one of the few that have Maine filled in.  Is it cheating if you live there?


I spent much of the day reading.  I got a Kindle earlier this year and it has almost 300 books on it.  I should always have something that will interest me.

Camping days are also the days that I can do a little bit of cooking ahead.  I've got cooked chicken and a big pot of lentils all ready to be included in future meals.  Last night I made pizza.  I made the dough earlier and then cooked it on my electric griddle (thanks again for the griddle Michelle).  Then I put on the toppings and melted the cheese in the microwave.  I know this is the way that Daniel Boone did it!

This is my little kitchen area.  The refrigerator and pantry are on the left.  Then my cook top, oven and microwave are on the right with cabinets and a double sink.  It has less counter and pantry space than our old fifth wheel but I have been able to deal quite nicely with what space that I have.  I love the layout and it is all accessible even when the slides are in. 

This is my little bathroom.  I am going to get a sink just like this one installed in one of the bathrooms at home.  Everything is all in one room and there are heat and air conditioning vents in the room.  The old fifth wheel had a larger shower and sink in the bedroom area and a toilet in a separate little room with no heat or air.  This is much nicer.

Brett has a bee in his bonnet about clean windows for some reason.  The urge to putter just overcame him and the dirty windows probably looked too tempting.  But now we will be able to see the neighbors if any come in for the weekend.  Brett is standing on our two step ladder which we keep inside mainly so that I can reach into the upper cabinets.  He has noted that most motor homes travel with a regulation ladder of some sort and thinks that we should have one.  I told him if everybody else has one then he could borrow one if he needed it.  That was me saving him from himself.

And we were finally able to put out the yard art.  I am amazed at the decorations that some people travel with.  But it doesn't make for a quick getaway in the morning if you have to pack up all the knick knacks first.  We also brought some awning lights along but have not put those out yet.

Brett is enjoying a campfire this evening.  Contrary to most of them, this one lit with one match and a piece of newspaper as opposed the the entire New York Times and a can of napalm which is the norm.  He is sitting outside in the dark basking in the glow of his handy work.  Now that is camping!