Final Leg

After departing the San Antonio area, we headed to Fort Davis State Park. Our plan to stop at the Seminole Canyon (site of ancient rock paintings and pictographs in caves done by Indigenous peoples some 2000-8000 years ago) was altered when we found out the area was closed for a week for 'controlled deer hunting!' But this part of the drive proved very interesting; many little ghost towns and old frontier establishments. Some of the journey around Del Rio follows the Rio Grande and the Mexican border. A very increased presence of Border Patrol vehicles; along the main hwy was a dirt road and the BP trucks drug huge tires chained together to erase footprints. Then several miles ahead and behind,would be more trucks driving at a snails pace, with their heads out the window and scouring the ditches intently.

Next stop enroute was at the little town of Langtry, home of Judge Roy Bean; another tale we recall hearing about and depicted in some cowboy movie, but brought to life at this visitors centre.  This town is one of the closest points to the Mexican border along our journey, which is separated here by the deep gorge and the Rio Grande.

Fort Davis State Park and town was the stop for the night. We got up early the next morning and before checking out, went to the state park site. We managed to spend a couple hours at this post-civil war  Fort.   We have enjoyed many historical sites along this journey; as with this one also, they are very well done.

Fort  Davis was established in 1854 on the Trans-Peco portion of the road from San Antonio to El Paso to protect immigrants, mail coaches, freight wagons and travellers on their way to California in search of gold.  It is one of the best surviving examples of an Indian Wars' frontier military post in the American Southwest.

 

Our first ever siting of a Javelina, was when we almost hit it in the campground and we were like...."what the heck was that thing"; Ugly but kinda cute, if that makes any sense !!

Next stop was El Paso Texas on the border of Mexico and New Mexico. According to Trip Advisor the number one attraction was downtown San Jacinto plaza. Guess we should send in an update...appears to be gone or under complete renovation. El Paso is the largest border town in America with about 3/4 million people, but when combined with its Mexican border city of Ciudad-Juarez and area there are over 2 million people. And the pollution was abundantly evident in the skyline!  With all due respect to the fine people of El Paso, there is not much to see!

Onto Benson AZ for 3 nights for a bit of golf and to see the Kartchner Caverns. Although we saw only one other cave on this journey, these ones are spectacular !!  They are "living caves" (still forming from and the stunning limestone continues to grow stalagmites and stalactites and other amazing formations.  The caves were discovered in 1974.  In the "Big Room" you can see the tracks used by the two men who discovered the caves.  To protect the caves, their discovery was kept secret for several years until such time as the land could be acquired by the state of Arizona from the Kartchner family.  It opened to the public as a State Park in 1999.  This is a must to visit in southern Arizona!

We headed home' to Casa Grande for a few days and now home in the great white north. Our great neighbours, Jeff & Deb Klontz, decorated our cactus in the front yard.  Looking forward to another adventure soon. Thanks for following us:) 

San Antonio

Moving from South Padre Island to Mustang Island, near Corpus Christi, did not improve the weather. We had three days of cold, wind and rain-showers . Morning temps were 4C with windchill feeling like -4C ....okay, we don't hear any sympathy; we must be getting soft. The arctic front covering most of North America was here too!  Tried walking the beaches, but the winds were excessive.  So next best thing was driving on the sand of Mustang Island.

It was good weather to go to a movie (highly recommend Interstellar at an IMAX) and we did see the USS Lexington (nicknamed the "Blue Ghost") by the beach of Corpus Christi. This decommissioned WW2 aircraft carrier was taken out of service in 1991.

On to San Antonio area, and much improved, beautiful weather!  Our RV park is near Castroville,Texas, about 15 minutes west of San Antonio. It is brand new and on a great golf course; after 4 rounds of golf in all our travels to date, we have now more than doubled that in our first week at this resort.

Enjoying some "Birdie Juice"

The owners here are extremely friendly and accommodating; they recommended a 2 hour drive along part of the Purple Heart Trail to the north, into what is known as the beautiful rolling "Hill Country". We stopped for lunch in Bandero at OST, the Old Spanish Trail restaurant. Famous for home-cooked Tex-Mex food in a western town setting, where you can eat at the bar seated in saddles, or sit on church pew benches. The walls are covered with photos and memorabilia of John Wayne and other cowboys from duster movies. Like they say, "Everything is bigger in Texas" including their meal portions.







Also had a day trip towards Austin with stops at the Premium and Tangers factory outlets, one of the largest combined outlet malls that we have ever found.

We have heard so much about San Antonio, but it really is far more beautiful than expected. The highlight has been the famous River Walk!  In September 1921, a disastrous flood along the San Antonio River claimed 50 lives. To avoid a recurrence, flood gates and dams were built along the river. The River Walk is located one storey below street level and winds and loops under the bridges as two parallel sidewalks lined with restaurants, pubs and shops.  A guided riverboat ride gave us the history of this unique area. We have walked a few miles on a few days and evenings too!















We toured the other famous landmark in downtown San Antonio, the Alamo. You've probably heard the expression "Remember the Alamo". On February 23, 1836 General Santa Ana led his Mexican army of several thousand soldiers to take back The Alamo, a former Catholic mission, from the Texans.  The Alamo was defended by 200 soldiers of the Texian army.  These soldiers were mostly volunteer including Davy Crockett, the former congressman from Tennessee and famed frontiersman. After 13 days of fierce fighting, Santa Ana's army finally overpowered the Texian army killing all of the soldiers including its commander Jim Bowie (Bowie knife) and Davy Crockett.



General Santa Ana's cruelty during the Battle of Alamo inspired many Texans to join the Texian Army.  Buoyed by a desire for revenge, the Texian army defeated Santa Ana's army at the Battle of San Jacinto on April 21, 1836, ending the Texas Revolution.  During the attack, the Texian soldiers cried "Remember the Alamo" thus becoming a battle cry of such, a way to convey strength and honor in 3 succinct words.

The River Walk and The Alamo are the top 2 tourist attractions in Texas.

Our favorite fast food American chain, "In N Out" Burger, opened its first location in San Antonio, less than a week ago. So enroute into the city we decided to go for a late lunch....huge mistake!  We didn't need the GPS when we got close, as the lineups snaked around streets and parking lots. Police had set up barricades and when we asked the wait, we were informed it was much shorter now and only about 45 minutes for the drive thru!!!  Longer if you wanted to be seated inside! Needless to say we will wait until we get to Arizona.

Not sure how long we will stay here, as it is so lovely and difficult to leave; but we know we need to begin the final leg of this adventure soon. Next stops are probably Seminole Canyon and Fort Davis is West Texas, then up to the Carlsbad Caverns and Alamogordo white sands of New Mexico. Then park the motorhome in Phoenix and fly home on December 11th. Will hopefully post one more blog update.

Enjoying US Thanksgiving turkey dinner

Texas

November 1st and off early to Texas. Just over the state line and into Beaumont, the refinery / oil patch mecca begins. Our RV park is on Galveston Island. The island is approximately 32 miles long and no more than 3 miles at its widest point; it is situated approximately 45 miles south of Houston, the 4th largest city in the US.  Prior to the Civil War, Galveston was the largest cotton shipping point in the world and the second largest port for immigration in the US.  On September 8, 1900 the Galveston Hurricane came ashore destroying much of the city and the island, killing at least 6,000 people; the greatest natural disaster to ever strike the US.  On September 13, 2008 Hurricane Ike hit Galveston causing widespread damage. 

The highlight of the day was seeing Chris, Steve, and Jenna Folk; Chris was a soccer teammate and friend of Mellow Yellow and now lives in Houston. We had a nice dinner at Fish Tales and then Steve toured us around Galveston. It was just like old times Chris:) We were fortunate to have another evening with the Folk's and a visit at their beautiful home in Houston. Thanks for the goodies Chris.

We spent a day at Space Center Houston, NASA's Johnson Space Center for human spaceflight activities.  This is a must see for anyone visiting the Houston area. Attractions include a restored Saturn 5 rocket from the Apollo series, a tram tour of the Johnson Space Center and a visit to the original Mission Control Centre.  5 non-stop hours of tours, films, exhibits, etc. 

Strolling the waterfront and Strand street in Galveston: Started the morning at LA Confectionery and watched the making (and sampling) of Salt Water Taffy on a 100 year old machine. What a cute store; a throw back in time with its ice cream parlour tables and chairs, wall to wall candy bins, old fashion shakes, espresso bar, etc. 

Two cruise ships ( RCI and Carnival Magic) are in port today. Linda was wishing we could jump on one of the ships and go cruising (I did the next best thing and took her on the ferry at the north end of the island back to the mainland). 

Next stop was the Ocean Star Offshore Drilling Rig & Museum, a decommissioned rig dedicated to further education of the offshore oil and gas industry. 

Next island: South Padre. The first rain we have seen since Tennessee started on this leg of the drive and half the week on SPI. As with everything in Texas, even the rain comes in a very big way:) But when it is nice, it is exceptional, in the 80's, humid, and very tropical. We have a great RV site at a KOA, with our own deck out front overlooking the bay of Laguna Madre. The seafood is once again amazing; the gulf shrimp are so fresh.  It was our intention after leaving New Orleans to eat in more often; however, the restaurants on the island are so good we can't resist. 

The beaches are beautiful and for the most part deserted at this time of year.

Pelican warning sign on causeway to South Padre Island

Managed to get in a round of golf with a couple from north of Toronto (seems like only Canadian's golf down here).  Again a great bargain at $14 including cart.

After a week on South Padre, we have moved back up to the Corpus Christi area and staying on Mustang Island....who knew Texas has so many islands!

Halloween - New Orleans

Halloween in New Orleans was quite an experience to say the least.  We found a streetside pub along Bourbon Street and parked ourselves for a couple of hours for "creature" watching.  Most popular this year are probably the orange jail jumpsuits of Litchfield Prison, from the hit TV show "Orange is the New Black".  When the restaurant suggested they close the shutters to the street to protect the restaurant from unruly party goers we decided it was in our best interests to leave.  We joined a couple of parades that meandered their way through the French Quarter streets.  As the night went on the atmosphere changed somewhat and we called it a night around 10:30 pm. A crazy fun evening. After spending almost two weeks in New Orleans, we really didn't want to leave.  There are not likely many other cities in the world with as great a reputation for decadence as New Orleans. 

There were many cemetery tours and ghost tours as well.  As much of the City is below sea level, bodies are not buried below ground given the high water table.  When early European settlers placed coffins under 6 feet of earth, the water level would often rise above them causing the caskets to sometimes rise to the surface and be founding floating in the streets during periods of floods.  The only solution was to bury the dead above ground.  The tombs or oven vaults in New Orleans cemeteries are used again and again.  Typically, after one year and one day the tomb will be re-used simply by breaking the brick and mortar seal, and pushing the remains to the rear of the tomb.