Matagorda Bay

Matagorda Bay Nature Park - Texas

Our overall planning for this adventure realized a need to stay out of severe cold weather while hopefully having interesting sites to visit. Researching the Texas area and remembering that Cindy’s dad had spent the Winter in his RV on the South Texas coast, I went in search of affordable locations. What we discovered was a very interesting RV Park run by LCRA (Regional Power and Water Co)- Matagorda Bay Nature Park. Located on the Colorado River where it empties into Matagorda Bay on the Gulf of Mexico, MBNP is well maintained, offers full hookup, level concrete sites, a staffed Nature Center and both sunrise and sunset viewing, the beach and intense bird watching.

miles of natural beaches

MBNP is in a major bird migration area and offers viewing of close to 400 species!

over 300 species of birds were counted here just before Christmas!

MBNP take on Santa and his sleigh!

We arrived after piloting Winnie thru downtown Houston followed by several more hours drive Southeast to the Gulf coast. Very flat, dark soil, cattle ranches (saw some longhorn cattle!), and not much else for miles. MBNP is located 10 minutes from a convenience store and 45 minutes from any larger stores (WalMart, etc). We arrived, checked in, backed in to our river front site and setup the RV for a two week stay. Many books, bird watching, beach combing and relaxing lay ahead while we hoped to escape the ice box conditions most of you back home were suffering through.

while not swimming weather, it was nice beach walking weather. CJ got to  run free!

Our second day we signed up for a late afternoon beach walk with the park naturalist. The one hour walk took us along the shore line looking for shells and birds. Like many things, when you start looking at sea shells closely in the presence of an informed person (or at least some info to assist the uninformed, hopefully with pictures) you discover that what you are looking at may be dozens of species of sea life. We gathered some souvenirs and returned to our home. The weather was overcast and in the upper 50’s. Things were starting to change.

this Brown Pelican was on the Leeward side for the tall grasses in the sun trying to stay out of the cold???

We are avid viewers of the Weather Channel website, and knew for some time that the cooler than normal weather we were experiencing since arriving in Texas, was predicted to get colder (we hoped they were wrong). No such luck, New Years eve the temps started dropping, the wind increased to 18mph and overnight lows dropped into the upper 20’s!! Now we realize back home this was a relative heat wave, but we were 1000 miles South of there and in an RV. Now the RV is insulated, has two heat sources (propane furnace and electric heat pump) but it is not a house by any means, sitting 2 ft off the ground with a huge windshield and several plastic roof vents.

We had picked up some fleece throws at Walmart in Bay City on Saturday for the purpose of insulating the roof vents. Thinking that the light weight of the fleece would do a fairly good job in retaining some heat while at the same time be able to be held in place by temporary means. Here is the end result which seemed to do the job.

fleece blankets made great insulation and deadened to wind noise as well

Before the temps dropped, Cooper and CJ were hankering for some run time and while the temps were still decent, we headed over to the beach where they could open it up for at bit, Cindy could look for more sea shells and I checked out birds and shells. While there, we saw an RV parked directly on the beach (complete with Christmas tree by door)

family horseback riding on the beach. RV was there for several days

The weather did change as you well know to even colder and we spent the next few days in winter clothes, heavy socks and parkas while walking the dogs. At night, all curtains were tightly drawn, extra blankets and the propane furnace engaged when the temps headed to the low 30’s and lower. This lasted for three days and on January 3rd, after a blustery, cold, clear night, the sun has reappeared (not seen for 4 days), the winds have died down and we are to see temps in the mid 40’s and up into the 60’s for the remainder of the stay here.

CJ checking the weather during the cold spell

By Thursday, after several days of overcast skies and much colder than average temps, things improved. I took Jeep for new tires and shocks, and met some very nice people at Presley's in Bay City. Tires and alignment went smoothly, but the rear shock mounting bolts were rusted fast and had to be drilled out. (Glad I took it there instead of attempting to change them myself!) Jeep should be ready now to face what ever we may encounter on the remainder of the trip as well as the next few years back home

Jeep with new Cooper AT3 tires and gas filled shocks - ready for what lies ahead

We were ready to try some local cuisine and had been told the food at the restaurant in town was pretty good so off we went Friday night for some local seafood and a beer. The meal was good and the view outstanding, affording a view of the Intercoastal Waterway and its' barge traffic

barge traffic all day, barges haul 5% of US bulk 

as well as a great sunset!

bridge in background takes you out causeway to MBNP

The Nature Center at the  Park offers several tours and we signed up for the Wetlands Kayak Paddle for Saturday morning. A two hour paddle thru the wetlands seeing many of the hundreds of wild birds that are found at Matagorda. Saturday we arrived at the Nature Center and due to the high winds there wasn't enough water to float the kayaks!!!! We accepted the offer to kayak across the Colorado River and go beach combing as a substitute. We paddled over, beached the kayaks and began our treasure quest. We walked for over a mile down the uninhabited beach and returned two hours later with two bags full of various shells.

various specie of shell critters!

Fortunately Beach Security felt we posed no threat!

beach security

We had new neighbors move in a few days ago, Don and Nancy from the Fort Worth area, and through the course of chatting learned of quite a few interesting places that we hope to include in our travels, including great places to eat, Jeep trails and hikes to enjoy.

The next few days were spent walking the beach, routine chores, laundry, budget, etc and now the time has come to once again pack up and move on to our next site for a week or so! We will miss our sunrise and sunset views from our campsite and all that MBNP offers.

sunrise on a cold morning

Stay tuned for another posting in a week or so!

We hope you enjoy

Cooper and CJ

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

Waveland MS & Ville Platte LA

Waveland MS - Buccaneer State Park

Leaving Florida behind after 4 weeks at various county and state parks, we pointed the RV westward again to arrive at Waveland, MS. Waveland, located right on the Gulf of Mexico, was ground zero during Hurricane Katrina 2005 and home to Buccaneer State Park. BSP was basically wiped out by Hurricane Katrina and totally rebuilt. All new facilities completed within the last four years include a very nice wave park/pool, disc golf course, hiking trails and some beach front sites. We were in the section right near the park office, and since this was just a stop over point on the way elsewhere as opposed to a desired location, this was totally acceptable. This is a nice park, located an hour East of New Orleans, and home to Jean Laffite the pirate!

new park office built accordingly for future storms!

Buccaneer State Park

After two rainy days at BSP, we moved westward again, crossing the Mississippi at Baton Rouge.

Mississippi at Baton Rouge on I 10

Our new home for the  next 3 days would be Chicot State Park outside Ville Platte, LA in Cajun country. The park is very nice, fully wooded with Cyprus swamps and a rolling landscape.

Chicot State Park - our last night we were the only campers in the park!!

Cyprus Swamp down over hill from our campsite

 We were fortunate to have a Cajun couple camped directly across from us! Ed & Janie. They were very informative and suggested several items of interest. Ed is retired Air Force and at one time was stationed in PA! Janie told me where to see a Toothache Tree ,

Toothache Tree

The rest of the area is very, very flat with very dark soil, rice fields and a Cajun heritage. Within the park, we have various species of woodpeckers, grey herons and white herons, deer and numerous Cyprus trees. The weather has been cloudy and in the low 70’s with our last day being in the mid 70’s and sunny! We went over to Eunice, LA to visit the National Historic Site on Acadian Life to discover it is closed on Mondays and Tuesdays  (dang, missed that on the web).

southern Louisiana rice fields

Our last day in Louisana we took a ride through the bayou at Breau Bridge with Cajun Country Swap Tours. Shawn, the owner, gave us an excellent 2 hour tour of the bayou, swamps and lake at St Martin Lake. Alligators, Herons, turtles, Egrets, Red Shouldered Hawks, Double creasted Coromonts and Belted Kingfishers were among the wildlife observed. Shawn has lived in the immediate area his entire life as his family has for generations. He has a deep connection to the water and its wildlife and his Cajun accented commentary was greatly appreciated. Cajun Country Swamp tours

Bayou tour - Cyprus trees, Duck Weed, many birds and Alligators!

look carefully near top center, a Night Heron!

we saw dozens of the shy critters on our Bayou Tour!

We are again on the road. As this is our last post before the holidays, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all!

Cooper and CJ

Gulf Coast

Everglades and Little Manatee State Park

After a nice week at John Pennekamp SP, it was time to move over to the Gulf Coast of Florida. Garmi, our GPS, suggested a direct route to our next stop using major roads. We opted for a route thru the center of Everglades National Park on US 27. Amazing area. Wading birds by the hundreds, a few alligators (all this at 50 mph), airboats and native villages greeted us mile after mile. Interesting thing, the windshield wasn’t coated by bugs!

hundreds, possibly thousands of Egrets, Herons, Wood Storks,

a most enjoyable drive through the Everglades

Just West of the Everglades, we swung due North towards Sarasota and our next home for a few days, Little Manatee River SP . This is a neat, no frills, 30 site State Park located 6 miles South of Sun City.  LMRSP. Offers nice habitat, walking trails and great sites at a modest price. While there we ventured to the Sun City Post Office to mail Christmas cards and were we totally surprised by the number of golf carts!!. This is the heart of retirement central. Polyester slacks and golf carts (some enclosed) dominated the scene. Looks like a neat way to go.

interesting to see what is different

Hiking trail at LMRSP

land of on street golf carts and ????

We then headed a little bit farther on to the Manatee Viewing Center viewing area at the power plant. Several pods of Manatees are there along with a nice nature boardwalk and gift shop. While walking across the parking lot I noticed green stripes designating special parking. This turns out to be for electric vehicles, complete with charging station.

very nice 

Green spaces?? charge away!

While at the campground, we met John and Dorothy, who are in their first month of full timing it! Sold their house and hit the road. We keep meeting people doing the same thing (there are over 1 million full time RVers in the USA.

Our time at LMRSP was short, 2 nights, and we headed on to our next Gulf Coast site, Manatee Springs State Park. MSSP is located where the Florida Panhandle begins west of Ocala. The are actually Manatees in the springs , lots of deer and numerous species of raptors. This would be a very nice family destination as there are numerous activities to enjoy and the setting is great! Our drive there included many miles in I75 then US Alt 27 to Chiefland. Interesting country to be seen there. Lots of cattle and horse farms, hardwood trees  make you think your in the mid west (until you see the palm trees! )

right at the bend of the Gulf Coast there are many miles of this scenery

hiking and biking trails, manatees, kayaking and snorkeling are available at MSSP

While out on the end of the boardwalk looking at Manatees, several people mentioned another spot , about 1 hour away where the Manatees come into the Springs in colder weather (which we were experiencing - 60's, brrrr......)  Crystal River 3 Sisters Preserve. We headed there the following morning. Way cool. Over 100 manatees were in the Springs, which the docent mentioned have up to 500 at times. You can even snorkel with the manatees (you snorkel, they don't ;)  )

3 Sisters Springs - home to hundreds of manatees

nursing mother at lower right

We had one more stop in Florida - Grayton Beach State Park. Located on the Panhandle  60 miles east of Pensacola, GBSP is right on the water and most beautiful. White powder sand beaches, emerald green water and nice camp sites. Garmi, the GPS, suggested I10, we opted for US98 and the  Big Bend Scenic Byway. Fabulous drive, 50 mph and right along the Gulf of Mexico.

yup, right on the waters edge for miles!

we stopped and ate lunch with this as our view

We have been pleased with all of our locations, and each has been unique in what it has to offer. For beach dwelling, this was our favorite.

Grayton Beach - stunning

Cindy getting in some beach time on a windy afternoon

several people have recommended GBSP and we were not disappointed. Dune Pond just behind our rig

sunrise from just behind our rig

we were told there are only 4 places in the world with dune ponds!

This has been another enjoyable part of our adventure. We are off again, heading farther west! More to come in a few days.

Take Care

Cooper and CJ