Galveston and Houston, TX (03-13-11)

    Sometimes I really wish I had a video of what I do every day, so I could watch it (on fast forward) when it's time to write  my blog.  There are many times that I think to myself that I should remember something, but the odds of me actually remembering when it's time to write aren't so good.  I do rely a lot on my pictures and actually take some pictures of signs or other things just to trigger a memory.
   As we head across Texas towards Louisiana, we've stopped for a few days in a place called League City.  It's about halfway between Galveston and Houston, which gives us the opportunity to head either way.


Mission Control

 Our first outing was to Johnson Space Center in Houston.   We started the day with a tram ride to the building that contains the "Mission Control" room. Security for that tour was really tight.  Our bags were searched (for the second time) and we were issued "passes" that we had to show and after leaving the building they were collected, to make sure everyone was accounted for.  No one was allowed to wander off anywhere. There was an observation room  that we sat in while the guide explained the Control Room and how it was set up.  On one wall were a bunch of plaques, each one unique, representing individual completed missions.  On the opposite wall are the plaques that represent current missions-right now, the plaque for the shuttle Discovery, which is still considered to be an active mission.  Once that mission is finished, whoever in the control room gets voted "MVP"  will move the plaque over to the "finished" side in a small ceremony.  Also on the "ongoing/active mission" side are the plaques for Challenger, Columbia, and Apollo 13.  They will always stay on the "ongoing" side.



       The next building contained a Saturn V rocket.  That thing was Huge!  It was hard to fit it into a picture!  The different stages of the rocket were separated by a few feet so you could stand between them and check it all out.  

Saturn V rocket

   Once back in the main building we looked at the exhibits, a good portion of which were interactive and many of them were aimed at kids. We skipped the simulators and watched a live presentation showing how astronauts handle everyday tasks on the space station.
   I enjoyed the presentation about the Apollo missions, especially, of course, Apollo 11.  I think that day is one of those occasions where everyone remembers where they were. So, on July 20, 1969, at the age of 10, I was standing in the livingroom of my parent's house, with all the furniture piled in the middle of the room, because we were re-wallpapering the walls.  We all took a break and watched on our small black and white TV as Neil Armstrong took the first steps on the moon.

    The next day we headed in the other direction, down to Galveston Island.  We had no specific idea of what we were actually going  do, we just wanted to check out the area, so we meandered around the island and went for a long walk on the beach.  I saw a blueish jelly fish- the first one I've ever seen that wasn't clear or white.  All of the houses anywhere near the beach are built on very tall stilts.  Its very odd looking.  Some people have closed in the bottom floor, and others have left it wide open.      We had thought we would stop at the Kemah Boardwalk, an amusement park with a boardwalk like Universal Studios Citywalk, but it's spring break and the line of cars waiting to get into the parking lot made us change our mind.

Goose Island State Park (03-10-11)

Paul and I are not the only ones enjoying the fact that we have a waterfront campsite.  Dozer definitely got as close to the water as he could without actually getting his toes wet.  There are a lot of birds in this area as well, so he runs from window to window trying to keep them in sight. We discovered that if we have him outside with us while we eat our snacks, the pesky sea gulls tend to stay away.  Without him, we can't walk away from  our plate, or our food will be gone.  Fishing is the past time of choice in this park and everywhere you look, people have rods in the water.  The park actually lends out fishing tackle, so we could fish if we want to, and Paul says he willing to try as long as I am willing to clean the fish.  We won't be fishing. I used to fish with my dad a lot, but I haven't done it in a long time.
      We've been taking in the sights over the last couple of days, and doing some more planning.  I know it seems like we are doing a lot of planning, but usually what happens is we pull out the maps and calendar, start making plans, and then get distracted and completely off track.  Then the next day we realize that although we discussed our options, we never actually planned anything.  We repeat this process often.  This time however, we did follow through, and made reservations for New Orleans.  We have friends meeting us there so we needed concrete decisions (very difficult for us).
   We planned our trip to Aransas National Wildlife Refuge two days in advance, and then invited Marilyn and Brad, fellow travelers we met in AZ, to join us.  Originally they were going to, but then decided it didn't fit with their plans.  That happens often  along the way.  Its almost like having neighbors that you casually spend time with, if you both happen to be home at the same time.  Its great when it works out, but if it doesn't, you always figure you'll see them some other time.   Since they are headed in the same direction as us, we'll try to catch up with them later.   Making plans with "non-travelers" is more difficult because it usually means whoever they are will have to fly to meet up with us, and that can't usually be done at the spur of the moment.  I've been trying to get my brother and his wife to meet up with us for a while now, but it's not as easy as it seems.


Fulton House

     Our neighbors are familiar with this area of TX and made a couple of recommendations for things to do.  One was to go see the Fulton House.  It was built by George Fulton in the 1870s, made mostly of wood, (enough to build a small subdivision of houses) which all had to be imported.  What made the house unique is the design and use of materials. Apparently it was quite clever but it pretty much went over my head.  Paul enjoyed it and asked a bunch of questions.  Down the street was the local oddity- a tree with the top of a windmill stuck in it.  A hurricane blew the windmill top into the tree and the tree grew around it.





"Windmill tree"

  Our trip to Aransas National Wildlife Refuge was uneventful. This area has some of the best birding in the country.  Most people we see walking around have binoculars around their neck. This refuge is home to the endangered Whooping Crane, of  which there are only about 550 in the world. I'm glad we brought the bikes, for two reasons.  Our truck is too wide for the scenic road, and at least we got some exercise, since the wildlife seemed to be busy elsewhere, and weren't visible to visitors.  We did see an alligator from a distance, and several birds.  To be fair, we were there at the wrong time of day.  We should have been there either early or late, not mid-day.  We knew that, but didn't want to wait till that late in the day to drive over there.
Tomorrow we leave here and head towards Galveston for a few days before heading to Louisiana.  I better find some hiking, because I'm pretty sure we'll be doing some serious eating in Louisiana!

Corpus Christi, TX (3-5-11)

Well, since Saturday's weather was not supposed to be the best, we felt justified in lazing around all morning.  I should have been doing laundry, but, I didn't.  By afternoon at least the rain and thunder had stopped, so we managed to get ourselves out the door to go check out the USS Lexington, a WWII vintage aircraft carrier.  We were not alone.  There were hundreds of cub scouts swarming the ship.  It turns out that  thousands of kids spend a night on board every year. You could see how excited these kids were, bringing in their sleeping bags and gear and in general running around the ship. What a great thing for them, such a unique way of learning and yet having a lot of fun.
    In retrospect we should have gone earlier in the day, because we didn't really get a chance to see everything we would have liked.  We wandered the flight deck and some of the other decks and we watched a movie (Fighter Pilot- Operation Red Flag) that was really awesome, and had nothing to do with the USS Lexington. The USS Lexington got her name when the original USS Lexington was sunk during World War II.  This ship was in the process of being built, so the  name was changed midstream.


Carriage house at King Ranch

       Sunday was King Ranch day.  Captain Richard King settled here in the mid 1800s and started what was  then called the Santa Gertrudis Ranch, with two land grants, when he was very young. Over the years it grew to encompass over 800,000 acres and was eventually renamed The King Ranch.  He raised Quarter horses and cattle, and  King Ranch is considered to be the birthplace of ranching.  Richard continually bred the cattle in order  to create a breed better able to withstand the Texas heat and dry climate.  Eventually the Santa Gertrudis breed was recognized as the first breed of cattle to be created in the United States.  After his death his widow and his son-in-law took over the running of the ranch, which is still a family owned business today.





brand new babies

       Our tour was a bus ride along pastures and fields as our guide explained the history of the area and also discussed current operation of the ranch.  He explained how the hundreds of horses that are born on the ranch each year, are raised and trained.  They don't "break" horses at the King Ranch.  Breaking a horse is a faster way to get it to do what you want, but training a horse is more humane and respectful.  The cowboys spend hours working with the young horses over the course of a year.






Quarter Horse at King Ranch

 

   Well, this morning we got up and moved the trailer to Goose Island State Park.  When we got there the volunteer told us which sites were open and let us go choose the one we want.  We chose site #1, which is about 15 feet from the water.  Because we got there so early, the site was still occupied- by a woman who really didn't want to leave and was at the ranger station trying to see if there was a cancelation.  We told her there was no rush to leave (check out time isn't until 2 pm anyway) because we could just park in front of her until she was ready to go.  Once we did that, we went for a walk out on the huge pier, and ate some lunch.  Later on we rode our bikes to see the "Big Tree" a 1000 year old oak tree.  It was huge.  While we were there we ran into Marilyn and Brad, a couple we had met in Quartzsite.  We knew they were following behind us traveling across Texas,  and we were trying to make plans to get together.  Hopefully we'll get a chance to get together again before we both move on.