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Howard the cowboy |
Tuesday, 2/1, found us adding two more states to our list, as we drove through western Florida and into and out of Alabama and Mississippi. We left the Interstate 10 just west of Biloxi Mississippi and followed directions to our campground in Long Beach, Mississippi. The rain had been coming down in buckets for the last 36 hours, the local roads were full of puddles. The open culverts were about to overflow. It was obvious that we were not far above sea level, the water table was very high. The heavy rains had filled to rivers and streams to near capacity. When we pulled into the campground, the onsite lake was full to the brim. We thought that there could be a problem if the heavy rain continued much longer. We decided that we would probably just spend the night and leave in the morning, instead of the 2 days we had planned.
We were awakened the next morning at 8 a.m. by banging on the door of our motorhome. As we stumbled to the door half awake, we got the message. They thought that the campground was going to flood, and they were evacuating the premises and closing down. So we set a record, as we were on the road less than an hour later, and that included feeding and walking Rags - but not feeding us. Not knowing where to go, we headed for the Interstate and headed west again. We stopped at a rest stop for coffee, and decided to go to Abita Springs, LA, just north of Lake Pontchartrain and New Orleans. This is a private RV park, and we had a coupon for three free nights if we would listen to a membership pitch. We arrived at the park in the afternoon, and were impressed by the different activities scheduled. In fact, we played Mexican Train dominoes Wednesday evening from 7 PM through 10 PM. Shelley was the clear winner.
Thursday, we went into Covington, where we took care of some household errands, such as a haircut for Shelley (it turned out fabulous!!) and purchasing dog food for Rags. We also wandered around the town of Covington, where there were a few blocks of covered sidewalks and an old hardware store that was established in 1876 and was still owned by the same family. The original part of the store is now a "museum", with lots of old artifacts displayed sort of haphazardly. The highlight of the display was "a petrified rat". We had a neat lunch in a local restaurant called New Orleans Food & Spirits. (probably the premier food establishment in Covington). Of course we had some catfish and gumbo. Norm always likes to eat "local foods".
[photogallery/photo4021/real.htm]On Friday morning we awoke determined to be serious tourists. We left the campsite and headed southeast. We spent almost 90 minutes driving along Louisiana Route 22, another area where the water table seemed to be almost at the surface. This road went through a wide variety of neighborhoods. For a time, we were fascinated by the large number of nice brick homes with mobile homes and even shacks as neighbors. As we drove, the number of nice homes (by our measure) decreased and the shacks seemed to increase. We came to a stretch where a small river (or large creek) paralleled the road, and we were amazed to see homes built on the narrow spit of land between the road and the river. These homes were almost at the exact height as the river, and it seemed as if the water was lapping at the front door. It would be amazing if all of the homes escaped having water as visitors in their front parlors. The neighborhoods changed again to more middle income looking housing with some large residences scattered throughout.
A little while later, suddenly a large bridge loomed ahead of us, and as we crossed we realized that we were truly moving west, the river was the mighty Mississippi. That was really a kick, Shelley could almost see Huck Finn and Tom Sawyer floating on a raft!! We found our way to River Road, heading towards the Laura Plantation and stopped for lunch at B&C Seafood, a Cajun seafood restaurant. While I (read Norm here!!) am not an expert in the field, I have to believe that this was a real authentic Cajun food place. I had a dish of the following: fried gator, hush puppies, fired crab claws, fried cat fish, and boudin balls. I didn't know what kind of an animal a boudin was, so Shelley asked the waitress, and we were told that boudin balls were a mixture of pork and rice rolled into small balls and deep fried. The entire meal was really delicious. In the frozen food area, you could buy gator meat and fried boudin balls, it was really a neat place.
[photogallery/photo17509/real.htm]Next door, we visited an old sugar cane plantation called "Laura" in Vacherie, LA, about half way between Baton Rouge and New Orleans, and right on the shores of the Mississippi River. When we arrived, the guide, Pam proceeded to tell is that the main plantation house had recently burned down, but that she believed the story of Laura, along with the rest of the existing structures, was compelling enough that she thought we should stay - which we did. The unique thing about this plantation is that it was owned by Creoles and that it was run by 4 generations of women. (The term creole, at least down here, doesn't mean mixed blood but rather the French descendants who were born in America.) The last was named Laura, and she was born in 1861 and died in 1963. In her memoirs, she wrote about her recollections of life on the plantation. Interestingly enough, we learned that not all of the slaves were black and also that it was not uncommon for women to play a dominant part in business. There is a running debate about what a Creole is. Most northerners think of Creole as being people with blood that is a mixture of white, American Indian and black, with French cultural influences, but the more general feeling is that it is really a cultural matter, with French, Negro, and American influences.
[photogallery/photo21138/real.htm]We returned from our wanderings to the motorhome, and barely had enough time to take care of feeding and walking Rags before the last event of the day occurred. Along with three other couples from the campground, we left for the town of Mandeville to see a Mardi Gras parade. Until today, I thought that the term Mardi Gras was synonymous with a drunken orgy on Bourbon Street in the French Quarter of New Orleans that we always hear about and see on TV. Mardi Gras lasts for about 2 weeks. Its a family oriented celebration that consists of numerous parades all over the New Orleans area. Each parade has many floats and bands and civic groups taking part, and the parade is usually sponsored by a social organization called a "krewe". Just about everyone taking part in the parade, except for band members, throws costume jewelry necklaces into the crowd. To give you an idea of the volume of necklaces thrown, between the two of us we caught roughly 50 necklaces, a baton and a stuffed animal. Norm got into the spirit early on and bought a silly hat that has little bulbs that light up when a switch is turned on. At the parade, the crowd was large, consisting almost entirely of families. Many families came with step ladders that had been customized to add a bench on the top so that young children could sit up there without danger of falling out. The idea was to make the kids a better target for the bead throwers and also to give them a better view of the passing parade. The parade lasted about 90 minutes. Most of the people in the parade were in costume, and some of the crowd also did the same. We finally got back to our motorhome at 9:30 from a really fun and interesting day.
[photogallery/photo9513/real.htm]We left Abita Springs Camp ground and continued our trip west. On Saturday, 2/5/05, we drove to the Jean Lafite Campground in Lake Wales, LA. The campground office was in an adjoining gas station, and though there were tones of sites, there were very few rigs there when we arrived. However, by evening, the place was full. There was a 13 foot Scamp trailer in the adjoining site. The suburban carried much of the owner's possessions, including bicycles and kayaks. They had been fulltiming for a reasonable amount of time. We were amazed that they could get by with so little space, but they seems to do just fine. Shelley and I were treated to a tour of the Scamp, and it was unbelievable how much was crammed into that small area. We got a great restaurant recommendation from the attendant at the gas station, and Shelley and I had a really nice dinner together.
On the next day, we finally made it to Texas. The mile marker on I-10 read 880 miles, which meant that the road extended 880 miles west in the state of Texas. It's really hard to believe how big the state is. We continued for another 200 miles or so in Texas until we got to the town of Columbus. A few miles off the interstate and we arrived at the Thousand Trails Colorado River (not the one that carved out the Grand Canyon) campground. It was Super Bowl Sunday, and we found that the campground was sponsoring a Super Bowl party. We spent the next three days enduring the dull, dreary weather, with relatively cool temps and a constant chance of scattered showers. We were amazed at the large herd of deer that we found everywhere...they weren't afraid of people and seemed to come right up to rigs and almost beg for food. We went into Columbus one day, but there was virtually nothing to do. In fact, I asked the social director at the campground for suggestions on what to do, with lousy weather and all - her response was that she would drive 40 miles to a shopping mall!!! (You all know how much Norm loves to shop....LOL!) We sort of reconciled ourselves to a relaxing laid-back time. We met some nice people and learned a new card game called Pegs and Jokers. We also met a couple who had a fifth wheel that they towed with a big Freightliner tractor. We got a tour of the tractor, and were amazed to find that there were 2 berths, a tv, a porta-potty and a microwave. It was a small, self contained place to live. The campground was really large compared to the number of rig sites and really pretty. There were nut trees everywhere, and you really felt like there was lots of room.
On Wednesday, with the weather still pretty terrible, we hit the road again, heading for Top of the Hill Campground in the town of Boerne, about 35 miles north of San Antonio. We were looking forward to the arrival of our friends, Howard and Barbara Wein, from CT. We were surprised at how far we were from downtown San Antonio, and Shelley had some thoughts about changing to another campground that was closer. However, the folks at the campground were so nice, and they even volunteered to take care of Rags, so we got ourselves set up. When we pulled up to our site, we were so surprised at the rig in the adjoining campsite. It was a Prevost, the Rolls Royce of motorhomes, with a starting price of at least $750,000. I was hoping to get a look at the inside. Howard and Barbara were due at the airport at 10:50 PM, so we left at 9:30. Yes, miracle of miracles, Shelley was still awake and she came along. The plane was right on time, and after the necessary catching up on things, we were back at the motorhome and asleep by about 1 AM.
Thursday morning we got out all of the travel books and brochures. We decided to go to the Natural Bridge Cave. It didn't seem too far away on the maps, but turned out to be almost an hour away. While waiting for our tour to leave, we feasted on the typical hot dogs and chicken tenders in those places where you are captive to whatever they serve. The cave trip was really interesting. We walked underground for about 1/2 mile, at times being 200 feet below the surface. The stalagtites, stalagmites, and columns were truly astounding. The guide told us that the rock accumulates at about one cubic inch for each 100 years, and one huge column was about 50 feet high and 8 feet in diameter. I think that translates to 3.6 million years. The temperature in the cave was about 70 degrees with about 90% humidity. The guide said that cave temps are roughly equal to the annual average temperature at the mouth of the cave.
[photogallery/photo27507/real.htm]That night we had tickets to the San Antonio Rodeo! We were very excited about seeing some real cowboys and cowboy stuff!! There was even a concert by The Steve Miller Band at the end of the rodeo. We planned to eat in the neighborhood, but the arena was in a poor neighborhood and there were no attractive eating places. So for the 2nd time that day, we ate some relatively unattractive food. Before the rodeo began, there was a huge shopping area - so naturally we walked around. Howard found a stand that sold authentic cowboy hats and tried one on. The vendor, who was from "down under", calmly said to him, "Excuse me, mate...but you've got that hat on backwards!" We were all hysterical!
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The rodeo was lots of fun, but the music part of the evening was so loud that we left before the concert ended. (Note from Shelley: I thought the rodeo was cruel to the animals. The calf roping left the cow, on its back, with 3 legs tied together. Another "trick" the cowboys showed us was lassoeing one cow around its neck while another cowboy lassoed its legs - pulling the cow straight. I doubt very much that I will ever go to a rodeo again. I did, however, think the bronco riding was pretty cool.)
On Friday, we drove into San Antonio and found the Alamo. We walked around the site (which is considered a shrine by Texans) and saw a short film (done by the History Channel) about events leading up to the battle. We were surprised to find that there were a number of foreigners among the defenders of the Alamo and also one black man. I learned that not all of the defenders died during the battle... numbers were killed by Santa Anna's troops after the battle. We took a tour bus that went to various places around the city. We got off at a Mexican marketplace. There was a restaurant called Mi Tierra that has been open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 52 weeks a year for the last 60 years or so. We had lunch here and the food was wonderful...and so were the cookies! The place was decorated with pinatas and other items that really made it feel Mexican. There were a number of strolling musicians who offered to pay songs at your table (for $5 a song). Most of the goods sold at the market were items that were very touristy. We also got off the bus at La Villita, an old German community that has become a place of artists and craftsmen. It was really pretty, and right on the Riverwalk. At the end of the tour, we went to the Riverwalk. It is a few miles long. Most of the time, the river is roughly 30 feet wide and 3 feet deep. We took a ride on a barge that covered most of the developed part of the San Antonio River. We then walked along a 1/2 mile portion and had a delicious dinner at the Texas Land and Cattle restaurant. The food was delicious, and we were stuffed as we made our way back to the campground in Boerne.
[photogallery/photo31754/real.htm]Saturday brought more gray skies and cool temps. We drove back to San Antonio and, on the outskirts of the city, found the Mission San Jose. There was a brief, interesting film about the history of the mission and then we wandered around the area. This is the only mission that ha been completely reconstructed, and it is now used by an active Catholic congregation in the area. It was really an interesting time there. We went back downtown and went to the Buckboard saloon. It looked like we would imagine an old western saloon would look. When we walked in, the "greeter" looked just like Wild Bill Hitchcock - or what t.v. has shown us how we looked! Cowboy hat, long scruffy hair, a bandana around his neck and a very loud "Howdy do folks! Where are you all from??" Lunch was good and while we ate we gaped at all of the animal heads on the walls, as well as the stuffed animals. There was some good old country music, and a museum (that we didn't go to) that purports to have the world's largest collection of horns and antlers.
[photogallery/photo4265/real.htm]We then rode to the small town of Bandera, about 30 miles northwest of San Antonio, arriving in the pouring rain. The town has a population of only about 1,000, and looks like an old western town, with some of the stores having false fronts. We wandered through an old general store and stuck our heads into a dark, smoky saloon down a flight of steps. The town reminded us so much of exterior shots from old Western movies. Just as with Block Island and many other areas, there is a conflict between those who want to keep the old cowboy look to the town and those who want to bring in more modern things (a McDonald was just approved). It was really an interesting place, one of my favorite stops on the San Antonio area tour. We headed back to Boerne and got into the daily discussion of where to eat. Howard was open to most things, but he adamantly didn't want to eat at a place near the campground that had a big sign out front that said "EATS." It didn't look too nice from the outside, and we wanted to have a nice dinner. We couldn't decide on a place to eat, so we stopped off at a drugstore in Boerne and Howard went in to get a recommendation. He came back to the car and said that the lady in the drug store who sells Hallmark cards suggested a place called "PoPo's". Well, guess what.....PoPo's and the place with the EATS sign were one and the same! We were all hysterically laughing! It was just too funny - and those of you who know Barbara and her laughter - well she couldn't contain herself!! Howard gracefully agreed to eat there and it ended up to be a fine place to eat - tablecloths and all!! To commemorate the occasion, Norm insisted on buying Howard an "EATS" t-shirt!! In addition there were about 2100 decorative plates hung on the walls. Dinner was delicious, as was the wonderful cheese cake that we split for dessert.
[photogallery/photo22307/real.htm]Sunday morning dawned with warmer temperatures and bright blue skies. We all soaked up the warmth. Norm drove Howard and Barbara to the airport while Shelley took care of doing a number of washes and tidying up the motorhome. As we prepare to leave Boerne, I wonder how you imagine that the name of the town, Boerne, is pronounced. We all got it wrong. The correct pronunciation is "Bernie."
On Monday (2/14) we started our slow trip back east. We drove to Lake Conroe, Texas, just north of Houston. Before we had been there very long, we greeted two couples of acquaintances that we had met earlier in our travels. On Tuesday evening, Dave and Glenda Wallace invited us to their rig for dinner. She was making a "Low Country Boil". After schmoozing for awhile, they began cooking - all outdoors in this big steaming pot of boiling water, heated by a 20 pound propane tank. Glenda added lots of Old Bay seasoning and Cayenne pepper and 12 small redskinned potatoes (each about 1.5 inches in diameter). 20 minutes after that started boiling, she added 8 hot Italian sausages, cut in chunks and 16 #5 white boiling onions (each about 1 inch in diameter and peeled so that the onions wouldn't fall apart). 10 minutes after the boiling resumed, add 4 ears of corn, shucked and cut in half. 5 minutes after the water resumed boiling, in went 4 lobster tails (cut in half) and 24 deveined shrimp with shells on (the shrimp went in about 3 minutes after the lobster.) Two minutes later, everything was ready. Just drain and serve. We lustfully jumped in and wiped our plates clean. It was really wonderful, much like a Maine shore dinner would be for New Englanders but with a South Florida twang!
On Wednesday we went to NASA with David and Glenda. It was about 65 miles south, on the other side of Houston. We spent about 3 1/2 hours there, taking a tour and just wandering in the exhibit hall. It was surprising to us all how large the Johnson Space Center was and how many people worked there (about 10,000). They have their own fire department, daycare center, security force and lots of other amenities for this little city. Among the interesting things that we saw are:
It's amazing how small the crews quarters are and how large the bay where stuff is kept. We all enjoyed visiting this place that we had all heard about for the last 40 years or so.
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Wonder of wonders -while at the Space Center, we received a voice mail from our mail forwarding service telling us that they had finally found our mail that had been missing since early January when we were in south Miami! We called them back, and that batch of mail will finally catch up with us when we arrive in Dallas next week. I guess we will see what bills we missed...sigh...On Thursday we got our regular mail in the Willis (near Conroe) Post Office. The rest of the day was spent going through the mail and paying bills, both by check and on-line.
On Thursday and Friday we were back doing mundane chores (like doing bills after we picked up or regular weekly mail). Nothing interesting to write about, except that our neighbor in an adjoining campsite gave us some frozen catfish fillets that he had caught in Lake Conroe. We were shocked to hear that the catfish caught in the lake are typically 15-20 pounds, with the record holder slightly over 50 pounds. On Friday evening we ate dinner at the clubhouse where they served delicious southern style fried catfish.
Saturday brought on a continuation of the dreary weather. The temperature was comfortable, but the entire week (except for Wednesday) was spent with threatening skies. I had wangled a boating invitation from our fisherman neighbor, John, on his 16 foot Lund, but the weather kept us from going out. But it didn't prevent us from having a spurt of ambition, so we washed down the entire motorhome. It is really a big monster. Shelley's friend from the online support group, Grieving Parents (GP), Kathy, was coming down from Dallas to pick up Shelley and go into Houston to meet 3 other GP women. Kathy and Shelley were going to have a girl's night out and stay at a motel. Kathy came by at 4 PM and after a brief period of "getting to know you" the girls took off. Norm stayed on the motorhome and spent an exciting evening on the motorhome working on income taxes and reading.
[photogallery/photo22484/real.htm]Sunday morning Norm continued with the tax work until early afternoon when Shelley and Kathy returned. They reported on a good dinner with the 3 other GP friends, a movie, and a nice relaxing time. The 3 of us drove down to Denton and stopped for lunch at a taqueria, a Mexican bakery and cafe. We were the only ones in the place who spoke English except for our waitress, who struggled to explain the menu items to us. The food was really good, and we were intrigued by the people who came in and bought many dozens of pastries. We found out that they were only 35 cents each, so we bought one each for desert. They also had grinder rolls that were only 25 cents each. In addition, the lunch was delicious. We then proceeded a little further south to the town of Old Spring. This was an old railroad town that was dying when the railroad moved further south. However, in the 70's, a number of merchants moved in and started refurbishing the tiny, doll house like homes in town and painting them all pastel colors. They opened all sorts of small artsy, crafty businesses. It was a real cute undertaking, and there were a reasonably large number of people walking the streets.
On Monday, we moved the motorhome to Sanger, Texas, about 50 miles north of Dallas. We went to the Lonestar Ranch and RV park. Amazingly enough, we were parked on Amy Ave. Amy once again got to a place before we did....Keep the signs coming honey. It really helps me....
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After a little confusion concerning directions, we met Kathy and her husband, Randy, and son Daryl for supper at a small cafe in Denton. Denton is a small college town with the University of North Texas and Texas Women's University both nearby. It is exactly the way you would imagine a college town to be, and we all got a big kick out of just walking around. However, as luck would have it, we got to an old book store and a wonderful ice cream shop just after they closed.
On Tuesday morning, we drove to meet Kathy at her home in Lewisville. We drove to the stockyard area of Fort Worth, a twin city of Dallas. This was a stopping off point on the cattle drives on the old Chisholm Trail and later the terminal of shorter drives from the south, first for transfer to railroads and travel north and later because of the Armour and Swift meat packing plants. Some of the information we learned was really incredible. During the 90 years from 1898 to 1988, 180,000,000 livestock passed through these stockyards. This become 2,000,000 each year or almost 5,500 head daily. At any one time, there were about 25,000 head in the stockyards. Thinking of feeding and watering this many was hard to comprehend, as well as the disposition of their manure. According to our guide, the time from (1) leaving the pen for the packing house to (2) complete butchering and disposal of the remains was about 20 minutes for sheep and pigs and 30-35 minutes for cattle. The whole neighborhood made us think of the old west, and it was pretty neat.
[photogallery/photo9006/real.htm]Wednesday was the day I was waiting for...we were going to see the site of the JFK assassination. Kathy accompanied us and gave directions to a nearby parking lot. We parked the car, went around the corner, and we were there. The Dealey Plaza area was much smaller than I had imagined, and after getting over the awe of being there, I was sort of disappointed. But then we saw the grassy knoll (was there another gunman there?) and then the window on the sixth floor of the Texas Book Depository, from where Lee Harvey Oswald allegedly fired the fatal shots. And there, on the road was a big white X that marks the place where JFK's limo was when the shots were fired. We stood around and just stared at things, absorbing the sense of history. There is now a museum on the 6th floor of the Book Depository and we went to look. It is an amazing place. Even to the relatively unemotional, being there brought tears to my eyes. Seeing historical tapes and artifacts brought back strong memories of that time, more than 40 years ago that seems to have changed history. Next to the Viet Nam Memorial in Washington DC, nothing had such an impact on me as being at Dealey Plaza. And no wonder....next to the first man on the moon, 9-11, and the Viet Nam War, nothing in my lifetime has been more memorable than JFK's murder and the ensuing few days. We wandered around the Dallas West End, which has been turned into a trendy area of shops and restaurants. Sitting outdoors on a patio with a cup of coffee and a piece of cinnamon coffee cake finished off a really unforgettable day.
[photogallery/photo26349/real.htm]Thursday, we took it easy. We met Kathy, had wraps for lunch at Meg-A-Wrap in Frisco,Texas, and saw a wonderful movie, Million Dollar Baby. We were in an AMC 24 plex - absolutely huge movie theater - Everything is Bigger in Texas!! We had Chinese food for dinner and returned to the campsite.
Just a few thoughts before we leave Dallas. The Texans are mighty proud of their state flag. It flies everywhere. Dallas is a booming city. Everywhere you go, there are roads under construction, and housing developments seem to be springing up everywhere. And to those of us from the northeast, home prices are amazing. True, we don't know what the interiors of the houses look like, but the advertisement on the bill boards all seem to center around $150,000, with some as low as $115,000 and some as high as $600,000. And there are "Texas wear" (my term) places everywhere. Boot shops and western wear stores seem to be all over the place. And you think you get good deals when you go to the store and there is a "buy one get one" sale. Well, they sell fireworks all over the place, and we even saw a few "buy one, get ten free" places - amazing. People always mention how things are bigger in Texas. Even the billboards and other business advertisements seem huge compared to what we're used to seeing.
Friday we awoke to 35 degree temperatures. That's almost as cold as New England temps this morning, but at least we didn't have 6 inches of that white stuff falling from the sky. We left on our short trip (maybe 100 miles) to Gun Barrel City, Texas. That's one of the few city names in the country that is unique...there is only one Gun Barrel City. And its the city name that drew us here. There doesn't seem to be any other reason. When we got here yesterday, and while parking, the ground was so mushy we got stuck in the mud up to our axles and had to call a tow truck. We waited about 4 hours, in the middle of a campground road, pitched at a nasty angle. Such fun....sigh....So much for the charm of Gun Barrel City!
Saturday was chilly and overcast again. This is beginning to become a nasty habit. We spent the morning cleaning the motorhome and paying bills. Around noon we went for a ride and stopped at Lowe's to pick up some stuff. There is plenty of nothing around here. We saw lots of ranches and cows and horses and even a llama. Many of the ranches had names like in the movies...we passed the Double H ranch and the Circle D ranch. We stopped at a state park to check out their campsites and finally came to the town of Mabanks (population 945). It was just like we imagined a small western town to be, with many of the sidewalks being covered by the roofs of the building. Also, cars were parked diagonally to the sidewalk. Really strange...reminded me of The Andy Griffith Show - Andy from Mayberry - we thought maybe we'd bump into Opie and Don Knotts. We stopped at Bubba C's pizza for lunch. The pizza was okay, and Bubba even apologized for not having time to "visit with us" while we were eating our pizza - he was busy "fixing" up the food for the dinner crowd!!
[photogallery/photo27265/real.htm]Sunday was another day to hit the road, and another dreary, cloudy, cool day. The ride was reasonably short, so we didn't mind the drive. Coming east from Gun Barrel City, we stopped for diesel fuel at a small crossroads. While I was getting the rig fuelled up, Shelley went into the convenience store to look around. She came back with a quizzical look. When I asked about it, she said: "I can't understand what they're saying. They don't speak English...they speak Texan." There was a green sign on the road announcing that we were crossing the city limits of Cuney Texas, Population 145!! And for once, our combination of GPS and maps failed us, when we came to Jacksonville, Texas and couldn't find the highway that was supposed to be there. The GPS was still having its problems, too. It was able to find the location of our new campground in terms of latitude and longitude, but its map didn't have all of the little back roads. It was able to mark the location to where we wanted to go, but it couldn't tell us how to get there. Thankfully Shelley did a great job of navigating, and we got to the new campground in Garrison, Texas in great shape. After our experience with the mud in Gun Barrel City obviously we asked for the driest campsite!! Since only 10% of the sites were taken, we had our choice. During the evening, the campground was full of deer (including a number of white albino deer), a bunch of wild turkeys, a ton of chickens and rowdy roosters and eleven pea (guinea) hens. These birds looked hysterical as they ran everywhere in formation like a well trained battalion. I guess they remained hidden in the surrounding woods during the day.
On Monday we drove into Nacogdoches, Texas. This town of about 11,000 claims to be the oldest town in Texas, being founded in the 1790's. It also claims to have been under 9 flags, the six flags of Texas [try and guess what they were, see the end of the paragraph] plus three flags of movements that failed to find an independent Republics of Texas. The main street of the town is brick covered and many of the buildings are more than 100 years old - but, we didn't find anything special about the area. We did drive to the campus of Stephen Austin State University and took a walk through the Azalea Garden. Some of the plants were in partial bloom and others were getting close. It was particularly wonderful to see this on the same day that New York City and nearby New England were being hit by a nor'easter with 6 to 12 inches of snow forecast. WE MAY NEVER SEE SNOW AGAIN!! On the way back to the campsite, we just couldn't pass by a TCBY - they had a sale of Sundaes on Monday for 99 cents!!
[photogallery/photo32591/real.htm]Tonight, Shelley made a Low Country Boil (see recipe from a few weeks ago) and it was absolutely wonderful.
(The 6 flags of Texas are France, Spain, Mexico, Republic of Texas (Lone Star Flag), Confederate States of American, and the United States of America.)
