Headed To New Orleans

Here it is November 2^nd already. Our travels keep us pretty busy. When we are driving we normally try to keep our miles around 200 per day give or take 50 or so. A lot depends on our next location having a place to stay either in an RV park or boondocking but we haven’t boondocked much on this trip. Sara has done a fantastic job of getting us to our next location and finding cheap places to stay with hookups so we haven’t needed to boondock and we’ve still been able to keep our costs down.

When we are parked we are, on most days, heading off to explore the area and sites around us. Another thing Sara does is finds nearby attractions we all might want to go see. Come to think of it, if not for Sara we might all be wandering around the southwest lost and confused! LOL!

So we left a really great RV park just outside Tombstone, AZ called “Tombstone Territories RV Park” on Friday, October 21^th and headed to Deming, NM. While in Deming we drove over to Las Cruces, NM on Saturday morning to go explore their Downtown Farmer’s Market. We really enjoyed checking out all the booths and people walking their dogs. The only requirement for having a booth is whatever your selling has to be home-grown or homemade. There were some very unique and different items for sale.

Las Cruces Farmer's Market

After leaving the market we drove out to the White Sands Missile Range and the museum. The museum has a lot of information on the Cold War era but the best part for me was seeing and reading about all the different types of missiles from the first prototypes in the 50’s up to and including the latest ones used during the Iraqi War.

Kathy standing next to a nuclear bomb

Sara & Kathy posers!

Not a UFO... Actually a flying target

After strolling around the museum we decided to try the local cuisine. We found a little restaurant in the area serving Mexican and went to try it out. Mexican food in New Mexico is a bit different but still very tasty. Also a lot spicier overall in my opinion.

Since I am such an avid NASCAR fan it was decided that we would not travel on Sundays unless necessary so I can record the races while we are out exploring or stay home and watch so Sunday was a day of relaxation. That afternoon we went over to the St. Claire Winery to do a sample tasting. There were a few we liked and they gave us a deal so we ended up bringing home 4 bottles between all of us. Ours is still waiting for happy hour to be opened.

Sampling wine at St. Claire Winery

Monday morning it was time to get back on the road as we pointed the rigs towards Van Horn, TX. We found the “Oasis RV Park” across the street from Chuy’s Mexican Restaurant. The restaurants claim to fame is it now houses all the memorabilia belonging to John Madden, the NFL Football star. It seems Mr. Madden does not enjoy flying so he has an RV he and his associates take to get to engagements.  The story goes while passing through the area one time he saw this little restaurant and stopped to see what he thought. He loved the location and became a fan so he started leaving personal items there for the restaurant to display.

As for the RV Park all I can say is I can’t rate it very highly. All the buildings are painted pink, the spaces were just that. Tight spaces with hookups but very little in the way of extras. The proprietor told the girls she had homemade ice cream for sale but after checking the place out we were a bit wary of buying the ice cream as great as it sounded and as warm as the temperature was outside. Needless to say we decided to move on the next day.

Tuesday dawned bright as we started out for Iraan (pronounced Ira-an), TX. We drove off the freeway and passed quite a few oil rigs with the heavy odor of crude oil in the air. Kathy and I were both hoping this was not what we would be smelling the entire rest of the day but the odor soon dissipated as we pulled into a very nice RV park where they had quite a few unused spots. The place looked like it had only recently been opened. It had full hookups but nothing else. The spaces were very wide and all pull-through. We only spent one night but at $15 a night it was a great bargain.

Wednesday morning we awoke to bright sunshine and got back on the road to our next destination, Ingram, TX.  Sara found a beautiful RV Park called “Johnson Creek RV Resort”. Full hookups, pull-thru’s loads of beautiful full trees, grasslands, next to the river and for Michael it was love at first sight! They had Shetland ponies and for years Michael has been telling us how he wants a Shetland pony and a big dog as pets. We only got to stay there one night but I think all 4 of us are ready to go spend more time in the area. It was a lot of green close to the river and just gave you the feeling you didn’t want to leave.

Thursday we were on our way to San Antonio, TX. This was one of the destinations we had all been looking forward to. In his military days Michael had been stationed in the area and spent some time in San Antonio. One of his goals this trip was to take Sara down to the Gulf of Mexico so she could step foot into the water. Michael had taken Sara to the East Coast and Sara was able to step into the waters of the Atlantic Ocean. He also wanted to show us the sights of downtown San Antonio as well as the Alamo.

The Alamo Church

Friday we got up early and headed to town. First was the Alamo. We were impressed with the church and the history but disappointed when I stepped into the building marked “museum”. We never found the museum but did find a decent size gift shop in its place. Not really what we would have liked to find. Michael is very knowledgeable in history and he was able to help fill in the gaps for us to understand the history of the Alamo and what transpired to bring it to where it is today. After the Alamo we walked a few blocks to find the “River Walk”.

“Southerleigh Fried Snapper Throats”

The beginning of our water taxi ride

Michael & the girls waiting for a taxi

Looking down the canal

Hanging fish art under the freeway bridge

End of the line at the brewery

Proceeding thru the locks

Cute couple! Julia... I'm smiling!

Even saw Captain Jack Sparrow

The River Walk for those of you who have never been is an amazing collection of stores, eateries, bars and outdoor activities located on both sides of the river which has been created like the canals of Venice, Italy. Instead of canal boats they have motorized water taxi’s that take you up and down the river and around town all day long picking you up or dropping you off most anywhere you like. We headed up river to see what was along the shore on both sides with our final destination being what we thought to be a brewery. Our “brewery” turned out to be the name of the entire area but we did manage to find a brewery in the area to taste the local cuisine and drink a beer or two. Now I’m not one for eating a lot of fish but the “Southerleigh Fried Snapper Throats” served with Sweet Pepper and Celery Root Remoulade was calling me. The dish arrived and I started wondering what I’d gotten myself into. I don’t see myself ordering that same dish again but the flavor was light and savory. We left the brewery and made our way back down the river via water taxi again. The ride is very relaxing as you go through area of residential and business before proceeding through the locks that allow for differences in elevation. Then you are back in the heart of downtown. It is a beautiful ride! We didn’t get to take it at night but from all the overhanging trees strewn with lights and the electric atmosphere of all the night spots I’m sure it is even better.

The next day Michael drove us all down to Chorpus Christi, TX to see the Gulf of Mexico, get our feet wet and spend some time at the beach.

Michael & Sara wading in the Gulf of Mexico

The water was very warm compared to the Pacific. We spent some time catching hermit crabs and had a drink at the bar on the beach before heading home to enjoy pizza from the take out place across from where we were camped.

Sunday, the 30^th, was spent relaxing, watching NASCAR and Kathy doing the laundry. We left on Monday and made our way to the “Safari Mobile Home Park” in League City, TX just outside Houston, TX but more importantly just 4 miles from the “Johnson Space Center”.

Tuesday morning we rose to humid warm weather with the hint of a thunderstorm looming and drove over to the space center to check it out. We were there just after opening and it was really never too crowded all day long. We took the tram tour of the center built like a college campus when it was first created. It was originally a huge ranch with pastures for the Longhorn Steers that still exist today before being donated to the college that eventually donated land to be used as the space center. We saw the first ever Tracking and Control room, the Space Station training room, the Saturn V rocket and a Boing 737 with the Space Shuttle Atlantis attached. There are many movies explaining the past, present and future of different missions along with many of the past spaceships that took astronauts to space from the Mercury to the Gemini to the Apollo capsules. We spent the entire day but did not see all we wanted to see. Next time is the behind-the-scenes tour which we tried to get on this time but they were already booked full. Just one more reason to return this way some day.

Tomorrow, Thursday the 3^rd, we head for Lafayette, LA and swamp tours! Looking forward to seafood and alligators!

Space Shuttle attached to Boeing 737

Kathy in front of the Mercury capsule