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| Each comments entry box in the guest book is limited to approx. 250 characters including spaces. For longer messages please e-mail us at morton@rmortonc.com |
The New Year came without much fanfare while we were at the Red River Dam Recreation area in Colfax, Louisiana although there were a substantial number of campers there for the holidays. The first few days were sunny, cold and windy, and then the temperature rose to 60-75° F with it becoming so muggy that we had to run the air conditioner. After the holidays the campground cleared out and we had it almost to ourselves. We spent the time there on RV and truck maintenance, including two new tires for the RV. The area was quiet and sparsely populated which was great for walks with Lobo. We also made a few trips to Fort Polk to the commissary. Michael sent us our mail while we were there and we had our second Christmas. On the tenth, we left and drove to Sam Houston Jones State Park near Lake Charles, LA, spending a few days there. On the 11th, we visited Lake Charles (< -- please click), taking a walk along the lake with Lobo (see photos). The following day we drove to Sulphur, a few miles west of Lake Charles to sample the local cuisine at Cajun Charlie’s Seafood Buffet. They had alligator, frog legs, seafood gumbo, Crawfish Étouffée (they spelled it “A-2-fay” so non-locals would pronounce it correctly), and lots of other local dishes. Since we had been seeing signs everywhere for Boudin, we also had to try it even though it wasn’t on the buffet. It is a link sausage of liver and rice and we ordered two of them. It wasn’t particularly to our liking so Lobo had the rest for supper. Shortly before our departure on January 13th, a group of Muscovy ducks (see photos) and (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muscovy_Duck ) came to visit in the nearby lake. They appeared quite tame and were probably more accustomed to people than we were to them. We rushed back to get the camera and were fortunate enough to get some good photos. |
Route January 2008). The parking lot was also the home of a stray dog and several cats. The cats were being housed in the nearby bushes and fed by the employees. We left and arrived at Huntsville State Park where we had wanted to spend a few days. We were advised that the park would be closed the following day since the hunting season would begin. Why we weren’t informed of it when we called a few days earlier, is a mystery. So we turned around and started a search for another campground. We drove to a few nearby but had no luck and as we past the Wal-Mart in Montgomery, we decided to spend the night there. That night we did an Internet search and located a city-operated campground in Navasota, TX. We drove there the following morning and stayed there for ten days. After setting up, we called Jeany Olden in Montgomery, TX. Jeany is the adopted daughter of Renée’s second cousin Helga Dingman, who lives in Pueblo, CO. We wanted to reach Montgomery while Helga was there for the Christmas holidays, but the weather slowed us down. We made several trips to College Station for shopping, to the nearby flea market, and also made a sightseeing trip to Washington-on-the-Brazos State Park (see photos). It was a good time to be stationary since it rained almost every day. On the 25th we visited Jeany at her home and had some of her fresh baked pecan pie. Unfortunately, her husband Peter was on a business trip. Peter is from Holland and an engineer in the oil pipeline industry. They met at a campground in Europe and subsequently married, living in Holland and in Norway for 20+ years. His career eventually brought him to Texas. On Tuesday, January 29th we left Navasota, driving south (see Travel Route January 2008) to Galveston Island, where we checked in at Galveston Island State Park, directly on the Gulf of Mexico. On the following day we took a trip along the western side of the island. While taking a walk on the beach, Chuck found a cell phone in the sand. We continued on our drive to the next island and then back to the mainland, making a round trip back to the state park. Chuck took the cell phone apart and put it in front of a fan for the night. The following morning he put it back together and plugged it into a charger. It immediately turned on and in the memory it showed the phone had last been used on Dec 15th. Also in the memory was a number for “Mom” so he called “Mom” and learned that Alex had lost the phone in Mid-December and was quite unhappy about his loss. We made arrangements to leave the phone at the Park headquarters to be picked up by the owner, who lives about an hour away. On the afternoon of the 31st we took a drive along the eastern side of the island (see photos) to the historical district of Galveston (see photos/slide show). In the “Fish Tales” restaurant, overlooking the Gulf of Mexico, we had supper. Renée had her first Swordfish and Chuck had a grilled Gulf Seafood combo. To be continued…… |
Travel Journal January 2008
Our Motto: Home is, where our RV is.
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| On the boardwalk along Lake Charles, LA |