Final Post - On the Road Home

Monday, May 6^th – On the way home! Said goodbye to Eddy & Renee Gallaspy and left San Augustine campground early (around 8:00 AM). Made it back to Hwy 96 in Pineland and then headed north through the towns of San Augustine and Center to Tehana.  There we took Hwy 84 east, crossed into Louisiana at Logansport, then through Mansfield, LA to I-49 - close to 100 miles of surface roads. Then it was interstate for the rest of the day – I-49 north to Shreveport, then I-20 east through Minden & Monroe, LA and Vicksburg & Jackson, MS.  I-20 is not bad for the most part, except for the aforementioned cities – there it is pretty ROUGH! It was a long drive and made for a tiring day – 8:00 hours, 393 miles.  We stopped for the night at Roosevelt State Park in Morton, MS – about 30 miles or so east of Jackson.  We stayed here the last time we were coming through.  It’s a pretty nice park on a lake, but the same thing happened as last time.  The site they assigned us was pretty bad and I had to call the office to get reassigned.

Tuesday – Shorter drive today, so didn’t have to get up and leave so early.  We left around 9:00 AM, stopped right outside the park at McDonald’s for a handheld breakfast, then hit I-20 headed east.  After going through Meridian, MS and merging with I-59 north (no blowouts this time Ed), we stopped at Toomsuba for fuel, then crossed into Alabama.  One thing we are really impressed with is all the magnolias planted along the highway – after all, Mississippi is the Magnolia State (sorry the picture didn’t come out very good).

We made it through Tuscaloosa OK and then about 35 miles to our exit for Tannehill Ironworks Memorial State Park (short version is Tannehill State Park), about 30 miles south of Birmingham.  We checked in around 1:00 PM after a good 187-mile drive for the day.  This place is where there was a Confederate iron works during the Civil War (war of Northern aggression).  They have a museum, several other things of historical interest, plus the iron works themselves.  Of course, we are only here for an overnight stop, so we didn’t have time to check it all out.

Wednesday – Another shorter travel day.  We left Tannehill State Park around 9:00 CDT and hit I-20 east. In Birmingham, AL, we took the I-459 loop around the southside, then back on I-20 east of town.  We had been looking for a Hardee’s for a breakfast biscuit for a long time – there are no Hardee’s in Texas, Louisiana, or Mississippi that we ever found.  We were looking forward today for Hardee’s and knew of one in Heflin, AL.  Dang – got there and it was permanently closed!  Oh well, it had to be McDonald’s one more time.  A few miles past Heflin, we crossed into Georgia and lost an hour going back to Eastern time.

We made on to Atlanta and took the I-285 loop around the west side to I-75 north at Marietta.  Then it was I-75 north to our exit for our day’s destination – McKinney Campground on Lake Alatoona near Acworth, GA.  All in all, the ride around Atlanta and then up I-75 went pretty well – there were a couple of slow-ups, but not too bad.  Total for the day was 4 hours, 201 miles.  This campground is an Army Corps of Engineers facility and one of our favorites.  We’ve camped here many times and it’s a good last night stopover before the final leg home tomorrow - not to mention that LaVerne’s son Randy and his family live about 5 minutes away.  A little while after we got set up, both of LaVerne’s sons Randy & Ricky came for a visit (Ricky lives a little farther away in Atlanta).

Today (Thursday, May 9^th) – Short drive today – 85 miles.  We left McKinney campground around 9:15 and had a good ride up I-575.  Made a Hardee’s stop in Jasper, a gas stop at the Murphy station at Walmart in Blue Ridge, then a Tractor Supply stop for sunflower seeds (our birds are probably hungry).  They also had some really good-looking tomato plants, so we grabbed a few – maybe get them planted next week!  We got home around Noon and everything on the home front is great.  We thank God for giving us a great trip, no mechanical problems, keeping us safe, and those around us safe.  We have truly been blessed.  We were gone for 39 days and traveled 3360 miles!  Also, we are glad to have had all of you along for the ride – hope you enjoyed it!

10th Post - San Augustine

Friday, May 3rd – Travel day again!  We pulled out around 8:30 and headed into Galveston to catch the ferry over to Bolivar Peninsula across Galveston Bay.  It’s about a 2 ½ mile trip and takes about 18 minutes. We got to the terminal just as the last cars were loading on in-dock ferry and there wasn’t enough room for us.  We had to wait about 30 minutes for the next one.

After we crossed the bay and got off the ferry, then it was north on the coast highway (Hwy 87) up the Bolivar Peninsula through Crystal Beach and Gilchrist to High Island.  We had been in this area a few weeks ago when we were staying in High Island – reference the 2^nd Blog Post.

In High Island, we took Hwy 124 north to Winnie, stopped for fuel, then took I-10 east to Beaumont, TX.  From Beaumont, we headed north on Hwy 96 through Lumberton, Silsbee, Buna, Kirbyville, and Jasper to Pineland.  In Pineland, it was west on Hwy 83 five miles, then south on Hwy 1751 four miles to our destination – San Augustine Campground on the Sam Rayburn Reservoir (an Army Corps of Engineers park). A good 188-mile drive for the day.

We camped here almost exactly 5 years ago and met a couple named Eddy & Renee Gallaspy who were camping next door.  They live down Hwy 96 about 65 miles in Silsbee and come camping here a lot.  Eddy’s a big fisherman and this lake has great fishing.  He catches Bass and White Perch, plus huge catfish that he gets on a trot line.  Lo and behold, they are here again – in the same campsite next door to us.  We visited with them a little bit and got caught up on everything.  We had a pretty good rain that came through late afternoon.

Saturday – We had some pretty strong T-Storms come through early before daylight – lots of lightning & thunder.  It rained a little off & on until around noon, but then cleared off nicely with beautiful blue skies.  We made an early run into Jasper, found a restaurant for breakfast, then made a Walmart stop.  The rest of the day was mostly R&R.  I visited with Eddy next door (he had a little campfire going) for a while – LaVerne did some reading.  Renee went home for the night – she had Sunday School to teach Sunday morning, plus laundry to do.

Sunday (Today) – We went just outside the park gate to Rayburn Parkway Baptist Church for worship service.  We visited this church 5 years ago and remembered how friendly the people were – no change, they are still about the friendliest folks we’ve seen in a while.  Several of them work as park attendants at the campground and man the entrance gate.  Needless to say, it was a great worship service and we really enjoyed it.

After church we went to the DQ in Pineland for lunch, then made another Walmart run to Jasper.  Back at camp, we took chairs and went to visit with Eddy & Renee for a while.  Was good to see them again after 5 years.

We have decided to call an end to this Texas trip and head home. It will take about 3 days, so the first stop tomorrow (Monday) will be at Roosevelt State Park in Morton, MS.  I will do one more ‘final’ post either just before or right after we get home.

9th Post - Galveston, TX

Wednesday, May 1^st - Another good travel day – cloudy, no rain, not too hot.  We left Goliad on Hwy 59 to Victoria, took the bypass loop around, and then again on Hwy 59 to Edna. In Edna, we took Hwy 111 east to Hwy 71, then Hwy 35 to Bay City.  More small back roads to Brazoria, Lake Jackson, and Freeport to Surfside Beach.  At Surfside Beach, we took the Bluewater Highway – the coast highway that runs 40 miles north along the coast to Galveston.  Our park, Galveston Island State Park, is about 14 miles south of Galveston, right at Jamaica Beach.  We arrived around 1:00 PM after a good 184-mile drive.  This park is right on the Gulf of Mexico and we have stayed here a few times in past years (again some great memories with our friends Ed & Judy).  The campground is a lot smaller than it used to be – Hurricane Ike in September 2008 did a lot of damage and they only refurbished about half of the sites.

Today (Thursday), we took a ride down the beach to the toll bridge and did some birding.  We didn’t see many birds under the toll bridge – the beach sand was really soft, I didn’t want to have to go to 4-wheel drive, so we cut that short.  We did see some good birds in a couple of the subdivisions and in the section of our park across the highway from the campground.

We find it interesting that as you ride along the Bluewater Highway, there will be vacation homes and condos on the beach side and right across the road might be a field full of cattle.  We saw several of those along the way.

One of the communities we find interesting is Jamaica Beach.  It is a community built on a series of canals and all the houses have water access right at their back door.

We also had a chance to ride into Galveston and ride along the Seawall.  They may have had a lot of damage from Hurricane Ike back in 2008, but you can’t tell it – it’s a booming place.

This was a short stay – we only scheduled 2 nights here.  Tomorrow is moving day again and we’re headed into the Texas Big Thicket country to San Augustine Campground on the Sam Rayburn Reservoir.

8th Post - Goliad, TX

Another great day for traveling - sunny, clear skies, 80’s.  As I mentioned before, we could not get reservations for the full weekend at Lake Corpus Christi, so we had to leave on Saturday.  We pulled out a little after 9:00 AM, and after a McDonald’s stop, we hit I-37 north for 20 miles to George West, TX (I actually knew a guy a long time ago named George West).  We made a fuel stop at a Flying J at the exit, and then took Hwy 59 east to Beeville.  In Beeville, we made a much-needed Walmart stop – the commodities were getting a little low.  Then it was a short 30-mile drive to Goliad, TX and Goliad State Park – total 80 miles for the day.  We checked in around Noon and found out that our campsite is one of several in a big asphalt parking lot – pretty bad!  That’s what happens sometimes when you’re reserving sites online unseen.  We checked back in at the office and the nice lady said that on Sunday the good sites in a better section should clear out and we should be able to move.

We missed church on Sunday – LaVerne was feeling under the weather and we also had to be “Johnny-on-the-spot” at the office at 12:00 Noon in order to get our campsite changed.  We got moved and re-setup – much nicer.  Got the bird feeders out and are looking for customers.  Thought the people who provide the dumpsters in the campground have an interesting name.

There’s a lot of history in and around Goliad.  It was the site of the second skirmish in the Texas Revolution against Mexico (ref Battle of Goliad).  In October 1835, the Texans attacked and defeated the local Mexican garrison called Presidio La Bahia. Colonel James W. Fannin was over the Texas soldiers here during the Battle of the Alamo (Feb 23/Mar 6, 1836), but couldn’t heed a call to help them.  Then a couple of weeks later, his soldiers were defeated at the Battle of Coleto Creek (March 19/20, 1836) and he surrendered.  They were marched to the Presidio La Bahia in Goliad where on Palm Sunday, March 27, 1836 they were massacred – 400+ prisoners, plus Fannin (ref Goliad Massacre).  Colonel Fannin was from Georgia, and Fannin County, Georgia (where we live) was named after him, plus there is a Fannin County, TX.  His middle name was Walker, his mother’s last name, but I doubt we are kin.  Here’s pictures - you may have to zoom in on the Historical Marker to read it. LaVerne loved the huge Agave plant (me too)!

In addition to all the historical stuff about Fannin and Goliad, there is also an old mission here on the grounds of the state park.  The technical name is about 7 words long, but the short version is Mission Espiritu Santo.  It was established in 1722.

Monday was cloudy and cool all day.  We took a day trip of about 55 miles to Aransas National Wildlife Refuge.  Still passing lots of huge corn fields as we ride the back roads.

This is another place we visited several years ago with our friends Ed & Judy – more good memories.  It is on San Antonio Bay and has a 16-mile auto-tour loop which we took.  We didn’t see much – no ducks at all and very few birds.  We know it is the wrong time of the year for the ducks.  They have already migrated north and all the ponds were empty.  Did see a few little deer.  Still, an enjoyable drive, both over and back to the NWR and the auto-tour loop.

Today (Tuesday) was again a mostly cloudy overcast day.  Did some domestic chores, and then rode around town and to the historical sites.  When we got back, we’d been busted!  Had a note on the door that bird feeders weren’t allowed and for us to take them down.  Oh well, we’ve had them up for 3 days and I guess they just now noticed them.  We’ve been here 4 days, so now it’s time to move on.  Headed to Galveston, TX tomorrow – gonna look for Glenn Campbell.

7th Post - Lake Corpus Christi

After the heavy rain and T-storms on Wednesday, Thursday broke out clear and cool – a great day for travel. We got it all ready and headed out a little after 9:00 AM.  It was I-10 east to San Antonio, then the I-410 loop around the south side to I-37, then south to Mathis, TX and Lake Corpus Christi State Park.  One thing we noticed the farther south we went – lots of flat farm with lots of huge corn fields.

After a 197-mile ride, we arrived at Lake Corpus Christi State Park around 1:00 PM and got everything set up.  Our campsite is not the greatest – it’s a little precarious getting out the motorhome door.  However, we do have a nice shade tree and a good view of the lake.  Also, there was a small flock of immature White Ibis that hung around and a Great Egret that did some fishing in the small pond.

Today (Friday) was a day of riding, exploring, and revisiting some places we came to several years ago with our friends Ed & Judy Funderburk.  We went south on I-37 to Corpus Christi, then north on Hwy 181 & Texas Hwy 35 to Portland, Aransas Pass, and Rockport. Aransas Pass and Rockport overlook Aransas Bay and this is a huge fishing area.  We saw lots of birds – always the ever-present Laughing Gulls.  We also got lucky and saw a Dolphin up close in a little estuary beside a park

In Rockport, we visited the wharf where all the fishing boats go out.  This is the place where we booked and took a Whooping Crane Boat Tour with Ed & Judy many years ago.  Great memories!!  The Whooping Crane tour place is still there, but it was closed today.

As we came through Corpus Christi earlier, we saw the USS Lexington Museum off to the right of the huge high bridge that leaves Corpus Christi on Hwy 181.  I wanted pictures, so on the way back through we got off the main highway, fought our way through road construction under the big bridge, and finally got to a place where we could park and I walked over to where I could get the pictures.  There was also a retired Blue Angels Douglas A-4 Skyhawk on display.  The USS Lexington hits kind of close to home.  It is designated CV-16 in the fleet of US aircraft carriers in WWII.  My Dad was on the USS Randolph which CV-15 – the one just ahead of the Lexington.  There were like twins.

Since Corpus Christi is on the coast, there are tons of refineries and a lot of gas and oil are shipped in and out of here.  We also wondered if the reason there are so many huge corn fields in this area is because the corn is used to produce the Ethanol that goes into the gasoline.  Here’s a picture of just one of the many refineries – sorry, hard to get a good picture riding along at 65 mph.

One of the reasons we wanted to go to Aransas Pass and Rockport was to see how they are recovering from the devastation of Hurricane Harvey in August of 2017.  Glad to say – the cleanup has gone well and there is very little evidence of storm damage.

Tomorrow (Saturday) is moving day again.  The campground is full for tomorrow and we could only get reservations for 2 nights.  So, we’ll be moving a short distance to Goliad State Park in Goliad, TX for the rest of the weekend.