Texas and year end

Huntsville Texas

After leaving Cajun country we took US  190 West through Louisiana into Texas.

Cajun Heritage road sign

Welcome to Texas

East Texas ranch 

Along the way we went through farmland, woodland, a Native American reservation,  and after joining with Interstate 45 South, a huge statue of the leader of the Texas Revolution, Sam Houston.

Sam Houston statue along I45 at Huntsville TX - visitor center

Our home for the next week was Huntsville State Park, located just a few miles off  I45 about an hour North of Houston. HSP was built in the 1930's by the CCC as part of FDR's plan to put Americans back to work and achieve some universal benefit (the same was done in most if not all states, including Pennsylvania). Once again a nicely done park, with a lake, fishing, swimming, kayaking, hiking, etc. We had requested a site with electric, water and sewer and upon arrival were informed as to which sites were available to select  for our stay. We choose site 19, on the lower side with a view of the lake and a fairly short hike to the shower rooms.

view of lake from site 19 HSP

While our RV has a decent shower with ample hot water available, the water pressure can be a bit underwhelming. Most state parks that we have visited, have great shower facilities, plenty of pressure (more than at home) and lots of hot water. Upon arrival, we check the showers out and if meeting our cleanliness requirement, we usually opt to take the  hike to use them while visiting. We are rarely disappointed.

Often after driving to our next location, we take the  night off and treat ourselves to some Pub Fare. This time, we choose the 1836 Steakhouse in Huntsville. Interesting décor, decent food for the price and we got there in time for Happy Hour!

We took the dogs for walks, went grocery shopping, did laundry (in Huntsville), made an appointment for the jeep to get new shocks and cleaned out the RV. We were expecting company for the  first time in months, Cindy's nephew Lance and his family we coming up from where they live near Houston for the day on Saturday. We laid in a couple of frozen pizzas and other goodies for the kids and got everything ready. Lance and family  (along with  Colleen, Cindy's sister/Lance's mom) arrived around 10 AM Saturday the 23rd and stayed until mid afternoon. The kids played board games and the adults chatted, catching up about their lives and our trip.

Yatzee - timeless Collenn with Jayda and Brian

December 24, we all met in downtown Houston at the Houston Museum of Natural Science. Like a scaled down version of the Smithsonian!!!, A great collection of dinosaur fossils, an impressive display on energy exploration and development and ....a Holiday Train display in O Gauge (think Lionel size for those familiar with them).

Houston Museum of Natural Science is well worth the visit

giant screen showing us with Artic/Antartic critters

Museum had dozens of dinosaurs!

layout showed various regions of Texas - nicely done!

Christmas day morning included brunch at Lance and Candice's home, then back to the dogs at the RV. Plenty of walks and a small hike thru the woods at the park rounded out our day.

Christmas Brunch at the Shaw's

The next day was my time to get in some history stuff. Lance took me to the Texas Independence monument located South of Houston at San Jacinto. Way cool to stand where History was made! The monument is 12 ft taller than the Washington Monument and you can take the elevator to the observation deck located just below the Texas Star.

The battle for Texas independence was won here in a very small area in a very short amount of time!! Mexican Troops behind monument area, Texan troops behind camera location

Less than a half a mile away was my second reason for heading there, the only remaining WWI and WWII Battleship - USS Texas BB35. Built in 1914, walking her decks was amazing. To imagine the world events in which she participated was fabulous. In addition, to observe the engineering in existence from 1914 was extremely impressive .

USS Texas - over 100 years old!!

We've picked up stakes again (moving to hopefully warm enough weather for the RV). We'll report back in shortly.

downtown Houston -growing like crazy

So far, our adventures have taken us to over 6000 miles, we have added 14 states and two Canadian Provinces to our map, seen many beautiful and interesting things and met some nice people. Our planned travels are 1/3 over,  but now we have just started exploring a new and as yet, unknown area for us, the Southwest USA! Lot's of places and things lay ahead for us  to experience.

Best Wishes for a Happy New Year!!

Cooper and CJ