Tammany Trace Feb 26

Hi everybody, Today Ron and I did Part of the Tammany Trace.This 31 mile rail-to-trails paved pathway goes through five different towns and all sorts of scenery. Run, walk, cycle,roller blade or ride your horse on separate path and enjoy the view.We did about 12 miles of it round trip taking our time and getting some neat pictures. One stand of bamboo and there were lots more. I imagine when the weather is stifling down here this summer the Trace is quite cool to travel on. The locals know to do it in the morning as no one was following us back at lunchtime.

On this bayou there were lots of turtles basking in the sun on all the rotting logs and debris.There were a couple of spots like this in the short trip we made.There was a speed limit of 20mph--didn't even come close to that.

When we arrived back at park there was a short 2nd annual Mardis Gras parade here.They went through the other campground first and then us.These folks are the camp hosts all decked out and throwing necklaces to the campers.The park is completely full this weekend and lots of children are riding bikes. It has been great weather for them and the campfires are lit tonight.Another great day in sunny Mandeville La.Weve been sleeping with the windows open at night and the fresh air is wonderful!Bye for now - drive safe -Dee and Ron

Owl update Feb 24

Hi everybody,while just sitting around this afternoon I spotted this red- headed woodpecker . There were quite a few birds singing but you couldn't seem to find them in the branches of the live oak trees.Maybe its a recording.. We were coming back from grocery shopping after lunch and stopped to take more pics of baby owl.Looks like its grown a lot overnight.

Hey ED, glad to see your at home and up and about after just having surgery on Tues!!!

Another humongous live oak tree in the park. There are lots of them dripping with moss.

Fishing pier on the very shallow beach area.

Today we had lunch at Louie and The Redhead Lady(his wife Ginger) restaurant.Ron had a fried oyster po-boy and I had a clubhouse sandwich. They were both scrumptious! I happen to see the review on FOOD network this winter with Guy Fieri>> Diners Drive-ins Dives, and voila here it is.It was not fancy but lots of delicious food. There are so many cajun restaurants here ---this is the town ( Mandeville,La) to get authentic la. food .You couldn't possibly eat in every one of them in a whole month.I have a souvenir menu for you Ruth..Tempted to try the fried green tomatoes--my Mom used to make them .We had another great sunny day and no humidity to speak of after the rain storm last night. Bye for now .Hope y'all have a great weekend. Dee and Ron

On the Road Again Feb 24

Hi everybody, here we are on the road again. On our way to Fontainebleau State Park on the north shore of Lake Pontchartrain we drove through the Atchafalaya Basin.

It went on like this for close to 15 miles. It was pretty awesome from both sides of the road.This was just a peek of it as it extends down to the gulf of Mexico and some also on north side of Interstate 12.

Coming down from a ramp over a river and still it went on down the highway.

We arrived at the park and it was 82 deg. There are nature walks and bike trails and of course an alligator walkway.These bald cypress trees are in a section along the beach area.
We plan to stay 5 days and may go for more tomorrow.Free wifi too!

These guys were out parasailing when we went on a short bike ride.The bridge you see in the background is the toll Pontchartrain Causeway($3.00round trip) that leads to New Orleans all the way across the lake 30 miles long.Gotta try that!

Baby owl in the very middle of pic.furry head and eye is all you can see of him right now. Been in this tree since born in Jan sometime.The park ranger was showing everyone as they passed by.

We enjoyed another great sunny day in Louisiana and looking forward to tomorrow. Ray you will love taking your photos in this park!! We have lots already. Take care Dee and Ron

wild life tour Feb 23

Hi everybody, today we went to the Cameron Prairie Nat. Wildlife refuge .It was only 1 stop on a circle tour that started in Lake Charles and did a loop around again to L. Charles, through Creole,Cameron,Holly Beach,Hackberrry and Sulfur.This nice big gator was sunning himself on the banks of the levee

we had to drive on for a bit.Three baby gators were just up the bank aways.We probably saw 25-30 gators today in the 2-3 ft range.There were also lots of egrets and blue herons,ibis,

and these common moorhens.
It was a very scenic drive with lots of noticeable damage from hurricane Rita just 3 short weeks after Katrina.
This is just one street down in Holly Beach that had damage.We believe maybe there used to be houses where now its vacant land,although there seems to be some new construction around the beach area.It was very foggy at the Gulf shore but disappeared as we headed northward.At times the Gulf was just 35 feet away from the main road Hwy 27.

Deserted natural gas plant with visible damage the closer you got to it (up on stilts like 90 % of the homes).
The mosquitoes are alive and thriving down here as its the perfect wet grasslands for them.The farther we travelled around the loop it it was much sunnier weather.We had to stop and do some shelling on the beach .Ron spotted tons of shark eyes(shells),this is our haul today.Emily ,Trent and Logan will sure like crafting with these babies.
Had a great time today --y'all take care Dee and Ron

Galveston Feb 22

Hi everybody, well were on the road again and arrived safely in Lake Charles La. at the Sam Houston Jones ST P. It has free wifi if you can believe it. What a bonus!This white palace is on our way through Galveston. There are many neat places such as this and on a divided road each going only one way. Another example of a castle called Bishop's Palace.Lots of palm trees on the boulevards along this stretch. We are driving to our destination of the free ferry crossing at Galveston Bay. It was great travelling weather to this point .

When we arrived at ferry dock it went to fog immediately as we loaded and all the way across the water. So we couldn't see much of anything

other than our Garmin which was driving along with us at 13 mph. and 7 ft above sea level(height of ferry).The trip took about 20 mins.
We will show more pics of Bolivar Penn. later and some of Ike's devestation.

A high double bridge in Port Arthur ,crossing a waterway(part of the Sabine Lake)

which went up to Beaumont for ship traffic.We passed many refineries coming into the Port Arthur area.

This park is very nice and we will be here for a few days. Our plan tomorrow is for a driving tour of Calcasieu Lake south of here. Lots of wildlife.

Glad to hear our buddy Ed made it through his hip replacement surgery with flying colors.He'll be out fishing again by spring just like new.

Had lots of sunny weather today, take care y'all. Ron and Dee

Adios Amigos Feb 21

Hi everybody, We biked over to the next RV Park beside us and found all these crabs down in the mud flats. A fisherman in this park uses them for bait and has lots of luck reeling in the fish. Last night we had a small get together with Mike and Glenda and Joel and Sylvia from Alaska. Glenda and Mike were leaving this morning for Louisiana and we all wanted to give them a sendoff. A few beers ,lots of finger foods and lots of laughs later we said our good byes for now.
It was very windy all day and cooled off by dinner time.Here is Glenda trying to teach Ron how to store their phone number in our throw away phone we have.Great fun by all.
Tonight we went out for dinner to Los Cucos Restaurant with Ray and Marge to say our good byes to them. They plan to stay here a bit longer and finish off their month stay here. We 've had a great time with them and lots of laughs too. The shrimp dinners were so good and we all enjoyed the evening(margueritas weren't half bad either!)
Tomorrow we head to The Sam Houston Jones St. Park in Louisiana .Its a bit north of Lake Charles and not sure about internet.We'll drive to Hitchcock TX and cross from Galveston Is. to Port Bolivar by ferry. It takes transports and lots of RV"S so it should be interesting.Sorry to hear everybody at home got lots more snow over the weekend.It was 75 here today(I said sorry)Take care all- will get back to you soon Ron and Dee

shucking oysters Feb 18

Hi everybody, Yesterday we took a trip back to Matagorda in hopes of seeing more spoonbills but all we saw was this rusty one-the Nature Park sculpture. That is the camping area you can see in the background with cement pads and a waterway that eventually leads to the intercoastal waterway.

We also were over to Sargent Beach and this is what a lot of the homes and cottages were like - up on stilts..This is another section of the intercoastal waterway just up the road from Matagorda.From here you drive over a swing bridge and are on the Gulf coast within a couple of minutes.We did a bit of shelling and enjoyed the walk on the beach. It goes on for miles!

These are our friends Glenda and Mike who we went kayaking with the other day in the harbor.They are enjoying life to the fullest and also full time it in their rig.

Today they were out fishing and noticed an oyster boat coming into the harbor,so Mike being a pro shucker from Louisiana and Glenda who enjoys eating them just as much as Mike bought a sac of them .

You need a good knife and or screwdriver to open them and beer ,crackers and hot sauce to wash them down....Hard work!

This is the container of them that Glenda is freezing for a cookout later on in the season to be deep fried or grilled on barb-q.Mike did a smoked pork loin yesterday that was delish and Glenda did a peach cobbler in a cast iron pot that was scrumptious.

It was a beautiful day today 75 deg,and sun/clouds.Ron finished washing the trailer and maybe tomorrow the truck. Hope y'all have a great weekend take care Dee and Ron

Barge launching Feb 15

Hi, Today was the launching of this brand new petroleum barge built over 2010/2011 season. It was quite spectacular and lots of people showed up to see it. Our pics start with the launching it self and

go back to the preparation. Here it is just resting while the crew gets the tracks and rail wheels

out of the way. The underneath jacks are lowered, everyone is told to stand clear

and away it sails. Ron has a great movie video of the whole procedure and is quite amazing.We actually kayaked beside it the other day not knowing today was THE day.Glenda and Mike just happened to be fishing over at the other marina beside our park and rushed over here to tell Ray and Ron to come and get pics.
Todays temp was 70 and cloudy-not too bad really. Have a great evening ,spring is on the way !Dee and Ron

Aha no alligators! Feb 13

Hi everybody,well we finally got to do some kayaking in the Palacios turnaround basin in the harbor.This is Mike and his wife Glenda who also have kayaks and are also here in the park. Theirs are Hobies Outbacks with sails and foot pedals.Both Mike and Glenda fish from their boats and have a great time.They finally went out into the bay for awhile with the sail up but we were content to stay in the calmer waters for today. Glenda and myself paddaling in the stillness of the water.It was just like glass until after lunch .

As you can see it was a gorgeous day and got to 65 deg. We really enjoyed ourselves and hope we can get another day like this in sometime this week. Bonus--there's no sharks either just a bunch of huge pelicans!

Yesterday we visited a Museum of the Coastal Bend in Victoria with Marge and Ray. It was so interesting .They had a display of 8 cannons that were found on a ranch near here.Archeologists removed them from their grave and are now on display for all to see at the college. Hope y'all have a Happy Valentines Day tomorrow bye for now Dee and Ron

A Days Walk in Palacios Feb 11/2011

Hi everybody, Well today Ron and I took a long walk to the end of boardwalk-1 3/4 mile one way and it was still a bit cool 55 deg. but we sure did enjoy it . Beautiful sunny day after the last few days we've all put in at the park. These long-billed curlews were enjoying the calm weather too.Weve had very windys days -30 mph winds with gusts over 40 mph at times and all night long.It was the same storm that blew through Snoklahoma and Missouri and Arkansas.I think they are still digging out.

This pelican is sure dressed right for our weather. You'd almost think he's from Canada or something!!He's the mascot for a bed and breakfast here in town (house in background).

This is a shrimp boat on its way in from the gulf. The water was like glass all day and very picturesque.All and all it was a great day -we even got in a short visit with Marge and Ray before supper time.Ron got to ride in their motor home today when they went to top up with propane.Its a beauty and he was a happy man.Well bye for now,enjoy your weekend Dee and Ron

Matagorda Beach Feb 7

Hi everybody, On Friday the weather was nice and sunny but very windy. Ray and Marge and Ron and myself took a trip to Matagorda beach so the Bills could see how great it was. While going through the marshy area we came across a flock of roseate spoonbills. Both Ron and Ray had to get some pictures of them while they feasted on some plant life on bottom of creek.

This is just a sample of really great shells we have collected from the beach here-some from Friday and some from last week when we came here. It was so windy down by the water's edge that Marge and I were having a hard time standing up straight. So from there we all came back to Palacios and had lunch at the Palacios Mexican Restaurant. It is one of the best ones in town.From there we travelled down to Port Lavaca just to see what its all about and they have a very interesting town Rv site right on the beach.It was full of course but looked clean and lots of playground equipment for small children and a very long boardwalk out to the birding santuary area.

A pelican scanning for lunch near our park fishing pier.

Our temp today is 60 degrees with a cloudless blue sky and very gusty winds(wouldn't be Texas without the winds) Well take care all Ron and Dee