The Ray Adventures: Rockport to Waco, April 2

One week plus on the road already, only 3 more weeks to go until we get to Washington. What a great time of the year to travel north through Texas, the wildflowers are in bloom, especially the Texas State Flower the Bluebonnet.

Tuesday, April 2nd - Time to head back to the Northwest, we said our good byes to our friends, leaving the park about 10:30 for our 192 mile drive to Galveston. Yes, it's the wrong direction but Galveston is one of our favorite places. Sandpiper RV Resort is just a sandy parking lot away from the beach and the Gulf of Mexico. Miss L. loves it there and whatever makes her happy makes us happy. First thing I did was walk to the beach while Gary set up. We did see a new attraction - the Ashton Villa, built in 1859, the first brick building in Galveston, the 13 inch walls survived many hurricanes. No longer open for tours due to flooding by a recent hurricane, it now houses the Visitor Center.

Wednesday, April 3, happy birthday dear brother, we had to do a re-match of our last put-put golf, This time I prevailed. Wah hoo! We re- visited the Moody Gardens, the 3 pyramids feature an Aquarium, a Rainforest and a Discovery Pyramid which focuses on science-oriented exhibits. Also on the property is a hotel, golf course, zip line and a water park. We wanted to re-visit the aquarium which recently underwent a 37 million dollar overhaul. Quite frankly I don't remember what it looked like before, it is quite an impressive aquarium showing each ocean region with their native fish and habitat. The rest of the time in Galveston we just hung out and of course took many beach walks.

Friday, the 5th, we are "sort"of heading the right direction. We left Galveston about 10:30 for College Station, a 155 mile drive. College Station, home of Texas A & M and George HW Bush Presidential Library, population over 21,000, elevation 385. We're liable to get nose bleeds from the elevations we've been at sea level for 5 months.    We were last here 3 years ago, we came to pay our respects to George and Barbara at the George HW Bush Presidential Library.

The morning of the 6th we had some severe thunder storms, about 10 the skies cleared we decided brave the weather. As we entered the library we noticed chairs in the foyer, the new George HW Bush stamp was revealed. Of the dignitaries there were Neil and Doro Bush. We thought it would be a good idea to visit the grave site first in case the thunderstorms returned. Walking through the beautiful gardens, a large pond (catch and release) then taking a bridge over a rushing creek down the path to the graves. We overheard the Texas A & M Cadet Choir were going to be singing, the same group that sang for GHWB's funeral. I decided to stay, Gary went back to the Library. A group of about 250-300 including alumni sang 3 songs, they were more than fashionably late - 45 minutes. It was worth the wait!   At 1:30 the Captain and 5 members of the crew of GeorgeHWBushCV77 were there to present the wheel of the ship to the museum. Beautifully made!    We took a break for lunch, driving across town to BJ's Brewery, Gary's favorite, then went back to complete our tour.

Sunday the 7th until about 3 was a complete washout with severe thunderstorms, the sky was so dark the park lights came on. When the skies cleared we and everyone else in town went to HEB for groceries.

Monday the 8th, off to Waco, only 106 miles, we had to stop at the southern edge of town, the pesky giant slide was stuck in, a little over an hour the problem was solved. We arrived at I-35 RV Park about 1:00, we'll be here for 3 nights. Waco, population of about 200,00, elevation 470, home to Baylor University. The Baylor Bears Ladies just won the girls basketball Final Four.

Tuesday the 9th, if you're in Waco you must stop at Magnolia Market, it occupies a full city block downtown. Owned by Chip and Joanna, of HGTV's Fixer Upper fame. We were a bit surprised at the size of the store, expected several floors of all kinds of decor it seemed small. We wondered if we missed something but No. The Bakery always has huge lines around the block - good thing, we might have picked up a little treat. Visitors can play games on the lawn or have lunch, several food trucks are on the property.   Before heading back to the park we stopped at The Waco   Suspension Bridge the oldest in Texas. Larger then life size sculptures of cattle, horses and riders depicting a cattle drive lead up to the bridge built in 1870, it was the only bridge over the Brazos River on the Chisholm Trail at the time. (A cattle drive through Texas to Kansas) Not being much of a history buff, our travels have taught (or reminded me) of so much.

First thing Tuesday the 10th we took a tour of the Earle Harrison Paper House, originally built in 1858 downtown then relocated in 1967 to make room for the I-35 freeway. Only a few of the families furnishings remain, thanks to the generosity of Waco residents it's furnished with period time pieces. A Greek Revival Antebellum surrounded by almost 6 acres of garden. After a quick lunch at Cricketts downtown we drove out to Waco Mammoth National Monument. In 1978 two boys found a large fossil on a dairy farm, they were wise enough to notify Baylor University scientists who recognized it as a thigh bone of a Columbian Mammoth from 65,000 years ago. Larger than Wooly Mammoths, they stood 14 feet tall with tusks and a trunk. Most of the bones were encased in plaster and moved to Baylor, there are still several on site in the climate controlled building. The remains of an elephant, saber tooth tiger, several mammoths, both adult and juvenile can be seen in the exhibition.

Wednesday morning the 11th we drove downtown to the McClellan County Courthouse, an impressive building built in 1877, the county's fourth courthouse. We took the elevator to the 4th floor for a closer look at the stained class rotunda ceiling, it's visible from the first floor, it just gets more beautiful the closer you get. We peeked into the Court of Appeals, it was dark, as we came out, a "dapper" gent started talking to us, then took us into two courtrooms talking about the history, turns out he was the Chief Justice for the Court of appeals. A super nice guy, acting like he had nothing else to do that day. On the third floor we looked into Circuit Court, also empty except for the deputy, he told us more history but more importantly recommended a place for lunch. George's - don't miss the place if you're ever in Waco - open since 1930. Yum Yum! The Texas Ranger Museum is dedicated to the history and lore of the TR, oldest state law enforcement organization in the US, they even caught Bonnie and Clyde in Louisiana. After a 45 minute film we walked around the extensive exhibits. I had no idea Crawford (home of George and Laura) was so close, only about 20 minutes southwestof town. We saw two black Suburbans parked in front of a store but they didn't have government plates. The town has about 800 residents, a typical small town, not much there.

That's it for our first week back on the road, enjoy the pic's, some are shots in Rockport this winter.

TTFN,

Gary and Pam