The Ray Adventures: Rockport & Galveston, Texas - Baton Rouge, La. March 5

We are on the road again, we left the 2nd of April for our lopsided loop back to Rockport for our 5th winter there. Our blogs "should" become more regular during our travels. I'll try to be brief to catch you up on our "happenings" this last 6 weeks.

I'll start off bragging, Dick and Fran and Gary and I won the trivia contests at Bay View both times! Wahoo! There is talk about splitting us up next year. NO Way!

David, Marihelen, Dick, Fran, Lynda, Bob, Sharon, RJ, Gail and Gary and I carpooled to Goliad, about an hour from Rockport, for a day of sightseeing in the historic city of Goliad. We took Luci and Kelsea, David and Marihelen's dog to Salty Paws Doggie day care so we wouldn't have to worry about them. They are great "buds" and had a lot of fun. We have been to Goliad several times, I won't go into the history again. We visited the Fallin Massacre Monument, The Presidio and walked through the historic district downtown. We had lunch at The Hanging Tree Restaurant, a bit of an adventure, they seemed to be out of most everything on the menu, it was almost "I'll have whatever you still have in the kitchen", the food was good but not necessarily what we wanted. The restaurant, right across from the Courthouse, in the 1800's had a hanging judge, when convicted of a capital crime were immediately taken to the hanging tree and hanged. No stays of execution in those days.

Every Thursday we have a sewing day at the Adult Clubhouse, this winter I finished Lyla's baby quilt (the most beautiful baby girl ever) and a king size quilt for our bed. It is brightly colored to jazz up the brown interior of the coach. This year there were only 4 of us who regularly showed up from 9-3.

We took the kayak out only twice this winter, it seems the gorgeous weather days we were been busy. We launched at Paradise Key, a busy marina and restaurant next to a wildlife area. A kayak fisherman told us where to go to see the nesting birds but the only ones we saw flew away as we approached. We paddled across the bay, we happened upon a Reddish Heron,he stayed in one spot as we paddled near him "shooting", with the camera of course. Beautiful birds.

Dick and Fran, our neighbors across the street, hosted a fish fry. David, who is from north Texas has a boat, furnished most of the fish. The rest of the meal was, of course, pot luck. The guys fried, grilled and bbq'd. Delish!!!

The 24th we had a good bye party for the Winter Texans at the Family Clubhouse preceding Bo Rivers, our favorite entertainer. Sharon, our activities director (and friend) does a wonderful job of coming up with fun activities and entertainers. Bo does a nice job of mixing country and oldies that all the "old coots" can dance to.

After many months of stressing we finally got our new washer delivered and it works! Very long story but we have been going to the laundromat since the end of November. Many, many thanks to the guys who did the heavy lifting, especially RJ who was there everytime. The washer is filled with concrete to keep the machine balanced as it spins, it had to go up the stairs and over my chair.

Our last Friday at Bay View, Sharon organized a pool party at the Adult Clubhouse with burgers and hot dogs.. We had a floating poker table complete with plastic cards and chips, beach balls, squirt guns, nothing brings the "kid" out of the old farts like a good squirt gun fight. I (of course) won the hula hoop contest.

We washed the coach and car getting set for our trip to Galveston. We have gotten out of the habit of packing and purchased a few new things, it was a bit tricky getting everything put back in the basement.

Our last day in Rockport I made a decision to cut my hair short, after a winter of frizz I couldn't take it any longer. Big step, I've worn my hair this length for about 20 years. Since it was our last night at BayView we hosted happy hour at our place. The usual suspects came, lots of yummy app's to snack on and good conversation along with adult beverages. Will miss our friends while we're on the road, some of them are heading back home, a few stay there year around and some (like us) travel.

Sunday, April 2, Moving day, 193 miles to Galveston. About 30 miles out the skies opened up and poured. There went the clean car and coach. We arrived at Sandpiper RV Resort about 3:30, we stayed there last October, what a great park right next to the beach. Gary talked me into dinner at Yamato's Sushi, we ate there our last night before Rockport in October. We will be here 5 nights, Luci loves it here and we all know she rules our life. As we came into Galveston we noticed large pipes on the beach for several miles that ended a short way from the Sandpiper. We found out they are dredging the ship channel then somehow draining the sand through the pipes and out into the gulf. Whether that is true or not I don't know, I question that because the ship channel is East of our park. They were in the process of removing the pipe while we were there.

Monday, April 3, Today is my big brother's 76th birthday. Happy birthday Punch! I hope Eliana took you out to a great place in Honolulu. Took it easy today, did laundry and walked 4 miles on the beach.

Tuesday, April 4. Happy birthday to our daughter-in-law Barbara. We started the day walking on the beach. Since we've seen most of Galveston on our previous visits we get to enjoy ore of the beach and park amenities. Our trip to Magic Carpet Mini Golf was fun - I'm in a real "slump" Gary beat me by 9 strokes. It's just a game, right? We had lunch at Nick's Beach Bar and Grill, pretty tasty! Another evening walk on the beach after dinner. Very laid back day.

Wednesday, April 5. As promised a "cool" (not cold) front blew in, blue skies but winds about 25 MPH all day. We did do our morning and evening beach walks, we drove up to Texas City (near NASA) looking for a new bike rack, we did find one for $300. Guess we can wait until we get to Baton Rouge.

Thursday, April 6, Happy birthday Brayden and Jessalynne, 12 already! Lots of birthdays in our family this week. Truly a Chamber of Commerce Day, sunny with a slight breeze with temps in the high 70's. After the morning beach walk we washed the coach, in the afternoon we rode our bikes down Seawall Blvd. past the Pleasure Pier, I wanted to pick up a souvenir T-shirt and to check out Blvd. Seafood, the restaurant where we planned to have dinner. We "prettied" up, went to Hotel Galvez a historic hotel, for happy hour before dinner at Blvd. Seafood. Yum, yum, yum.

Friday, April 7, We left for our 198 drive to Baton Rouge , La. shortly after 9. Louisiana has rough roads, especially through the Atchafalya basin, the largest wetland and swamp in the United States, with probably 20 miles of elevated Interstate. About 30 miles from our RV park in Livingston, traffic came to a halt, it took us 2 hours to get to Lakeside RV park, including the bridge over the Mississippi. I'm not too keen on looking over the guard rails straight down to the water. We'll be at Lakeside RV for at least 5 days, we have an appointment Monday morning to have back tires checked. We picked up dinner at Wayne's BBQ, choosing to eat in the coach, the place was a bit "seedy" but tasty and enough for 2 meals each. Luci is missing the beach.

Saturday, April 8, We took Luci to doggie day care, drove 20 miles into Baton Rouge to take in the sights. Another traffic jam, this time downtown, a walk/run was stopping traffic. We parked about 8 blocks away from the river, it would take us less time to walk than drive, with the event going on. Our first stop was the USS Kidd, a WWII era destroyer located on the river. (of course) She was launched in 1943, seeing action on Wake Island ,Rabaul, Gilbert, Marshall, Guam and Philippines. A kamikazi attack in April 1945 killed 28 crewmen. She was decommissioned in 1964 and brought to Baton Rouge in 1982. After a quick lunch we went to the state capitol building, the tallest in the US, 34 stories located on beautiful park grounds, the magnolia trees were just finishing their bloom. We took the elevator to the 27th observation deck for a 360 degree view of the Baton Rouge area, very, very flat.

Sunday, April 9, We took Luci to doggie day care again. Our first stop was the Bass Pro Shop, not as fancy as the one in Memphis, Gary got a new UPV shirt and we walked around looking at all the huntin' and fishin' stuff and dreamed about buying a boat. We had lunch at their restaurant, Fish Co. we ate at the bar facing a large aquarium of salt water fish. After a delicious lunch we drove to Brec's Magnolia Mound Plantation in Baton Rouge. The original 4 room house with a wraparound porch was built in 1791, surrounded by 950 acres of cotton, sugar cane, indigo and tobacco. The house was enlarged by subsequent owners to 8 rooms, the several outbuildings include the overseers cottage, slave quarters, outdoor kitchen, 3 hole privy and pigeoneer, showing how the operations of the plantation were supported. In 1966 the city of Baton Rouge purchased the house and 16 acres, they spent time and money renovating it back to the 1800's, the home was occupied by families until 1960. The furniture inside is not original to the home but are time pieces valued at over a million dollars. Our tour guide was excellent, wish I could remember everything she said.

Monday, April 10, Bright and early we took the coach to GM Vardo and Sons for the tire check, the back tires are wearing funny, there are less than 5,000 miles on them. Good news, (for a change) no axle problems. only took an hour and $150. We are back in Costco land - we took our $335 rebate credit and did a little shopping.

Tuesday, April 11. Our last day in Baton Rouge area. We left Luci in the coach for our trip to Bluebonnett Swamp and Nature Center, a 65 acre cypress swamp smack in the middle of BR. The visitor center have many live animal exhibits including a small alligator and way TOO many snakes. One of the employees was walking around with a snake around his neck. Ick! We took the Outer Walk through the swamp, saw only squirrels, a few birds, lizards and many turtles. A nice walk through the swamp on boardwalks. A great value, only $2.50 for seniors. We had lunch at Roux 61 before heading back to the RV park.

That's it for now, enjoy the pic's.

TTFN

Gary and Pam