Hi all.........
Present location is the "Hidden Lake RV Park" just west of Beaumont Texas. Settled in here this past Tuesday (Jan 13), not exactly as we had planned.....things change. Monday the 12th went as planned. Left our many friends at Lowes Creek and arrived at the Beaumont Freightliner truck depot as planned. A quick night of parking lot boondocking so that the service folks could do a quick radiator flush for us on Tuesday morning. Determined that to be some required maintenance that we have been avoiding. With our ship having set for some time prior to our purchase, I thought this something that should be done. Well........a temp sensor test found that the temp gauge was not reading accurately (assuming that the cruddy fluid had corroded the gauge) so it was determined best that the sensors and thermostat should be changed out (a conservative approach to ensuring that we have no issues down the road). It was necessary to order the parts so we found our current park just a block away from the servicing center. Well....after settling in here we decided that we liked it, so we stayed in wait for the parts. Parts are in and final work to be done tomorrow (Mon the 19th). Expecting to be on the road by mid day and settled in "Harris County Spring Creek Park" in Tomball Texas by tomorrow night. Will be there doing a couple of Houston things until Thursday, then heading for San Antonio.

High Life.......
Spent Thursday antiquing the local area. Once again nothing bought but....did come across a very interesting bit of nostalgia with a family twist. Another Rosie Burge, you have got to be kidding....right?? This new Rosie was born locally in 1937 and is known as a folk art painter. Paintings seem some what childish (I guess this is folk art) but very colorful and whimsical. Prices were from $500 to $750 so I guess she has a wealthy following. 
With the weather breaking (sun and 60s) we took Saturday as an excursion day and headed towards Galveston.
First stop was "Sea Rim State Park" following highway 87 through Port Arthur. Solved a riddle as we were progressing amongst the nasty oil refining infrastructure of Port Arthur......the stench that we had encountered and wondered about in Beaumont....was actually the same smell that now made our noses wanting to close up. I guess Beaumont is not far enough from the coastal refineries (50 miles) to avoid the pungent fumes as the sea breezes flow inland.
Luckily the park was far enough west that the refinery mess did not effect the sea air or the scenery.
Great little park (with RV electrical and water) that gave us a chance to walk the beach, enjoy the gulf sunshine and collect a couple of sea shells. Just a couple of small ones, have to be careful in what we are collecting, could lead to being over loaded.

Sue Silhouette

Looking Up the Coast

A Pretty Proud Fellow

 

Drove the coast (a bit of a detour envolved...ref road rash) with occasional stops to enjoy the day, until we ran out of road (no this is not in reference to the detour). We had reached the tip of the Bolivar Peninsula in which we could see Galveston across the bay. Now what, what's this line of cars for???? How about boarding the auto transport system (I refuse to say, "I rode the ferry").   

Fairy (???) Line

 

 

Eventually off loaded onto Galveston where we ran the island until we wound up at "Seawolf Park" which is located on "Pelican Island". The park is home to the retired WWII naval vessels, destroyer "USS Stewart" and submarine "USS Cavalla". Toured both.....do not see how anyone was able to allow themselves to be aboard a small metal tube with barely room to move while 300 feet under the ocean. Not only would clastrophobia be an issue, but my head would be nothing but bumps and bruises from the consistent bulkheads getting in the way. 

MySue with the Sub and Galveston Bay in the Background

 

Not sure why Sue wanted me to stand here, can't see the bay, only a bush......puzzling!!!

 

Then we eventually found parking on Strand street. This is a renovated historical section of Galveston that is now the trendy place to hangout. Kind of the typical touristy thing with the many shops, resturants and entertainment. This day found us in a mass of people as there was an ongoing chile and beer festival underway. We fought the crowd for some time until we found "Fishermans Wharf" where we pigged out on a shrimp poboy and crabcake sandwich....mmmmmmmm!!!!

 

Road Rash.......

As we sped down highway 87 towards "Sea Rim State Park", the trusty road atlas was to have us in Glaveston within a 45 minute drive along the coast after our park visit. Little did we know that our intended route as we were to leave the park turned from a 20 mile jaunt to "High Island" into a back track and around route that was in total more like 75 miles and an extra 1 1/2 hours of drive time. Our map lied to us as the rangers informed us that the highway past the park had been closed for several years as a result of past hurricane damage. The result of this was running out of time and daylight that was to allow us a trip to "Galveston State Park".