Final stage: Corpus Christi, TX to Casa Grande, AZ

A-Corpus Christi, TX; B-Sonora, TX; C-Alpine,TX; D-Las Cruces, NM; E-Benson, AZ; F-Casa Grande, AZ

Corpus Christi harbor bridge and Texas State Aquarium

The first full day in Corpus Christi, TX we headed to the Texas State Aquarium. It was a very nice aquarium. However, we felt it had fewer exhibits than we expected, and their big draw – the dolphin exhibit – was closed for repairs. They had a nice traveling exhibit with rain forest species. We enjoyed talks at the otter exhibit and a ‘Birds in Flight’ display. The aquarium is on the water next to the bridge at the entrance to the bay where the cargo ships were traveling in and out. The oil tankers and barges were humongous things!!!

Flight deck of the USS Lexington 

We then walked a couple of blocks and spent three hours aboard the aircraft carrier ‘USS Lexington’. The tour is self guided and I was amazed at how big the darn thing is inside and out. The ship is now a museum and there was lots of information on the airplanes used during various wars, names of those who died in the battles, information on all areas of the ship – mess, sleeping quarters, hospital area, mail room, engine room, bridge and much more. There was a great IMAX film on a war training session in Nevada for fighter pilots.

Man of War poisonous jelly on beach

On Saturday we headed to South Padre Island where we drove south to Malaquite Visitor Center/Beach. From there southwest 70 miles is the Padre Island National Seashore. This island is the longest barrier island in the world. We arrived just in time to join a ranger walk to the Gulf of Mexico Beach where she talked to us about the National Seashore as well as the many items we found on the beach. There is really no tide here to speak of – any tides over one foot are wind caused. She said the wind blows there over 85% of the time. This day it was breezy and warm – very nice. We walked along Malaquite Beach (this is a pedestrian beach only – no vehicles or dogs) as far as the barrier. From the barrier south for 60 miles is a vehicle beach – there is no road except the beach. We were quite interested to see many Portuguese Man of War jellies on the beach (these jellies are especially painful if you contact the tentacles). The ranger said that since these jellies float on the surface with an air sac sticking above the water, when the wind blows from the south, these jellies end up on the beach. I decided I really didn’t want to walk barefoot in the water, even though it was about 69 degrees.

NOTE: There is a grocery store chain here in Texas that we had never heard of before – HEB; this stands for Here Everything’s Better. Interesting.

That evening we went for our last fresh seafood dinner (we’ll be inland from now on) to Water Street Oyster House. We did have a very good fish dinner (no oysters – gag) in a nice little restaurant near the bay.

Sunday we left early for our 325 mile drive to Sonora, TX – north and west of Corpus Christi. We were on freeway the whole way, so no problem – especially west of San Antonio where there is NOTHING except scrub juniper and grass. We had a ‘lovely’ time in Sonora.  As we were signing in G got stung by a honey bee. We wanted to go through the Caverns of Sonora and they have a little RV park right there. There were a gazillion honeybees and they all wanted into our RV. And many of them found a way. Gordie went outside long enuf to hook up the power and turn on the gas and that was it. The bees kept coming in the coach – I don’t mean 1 or 2. I believe we killed over 20 that afternoon. We could not figure out where the little devils were getting in. But we DID find that one of those mosquito zappers at least stunned them so that we could squash them. Once it cooled off and the sun went down, the little guys left us along.

Inside Caverns of Sonora, Texas

The next morning we got a private two hour tour of the cave (just because we were the only ones there). When we got back to the coach – oh my gosh – it was swimming in bees. So once again we started squashing them. I’m sure there were at least 20. The car was still hooked up, so we agreed that we had to ‘get out of Dodge’. We found a few more bees as we headed out, but finally after 30 miles or so, we were ‘beeless’. The caves, buy the way, were really lovely – lots of cave decoration, bacon, draperies, popcorn – and it’s an active cave. There was water dripping through much of it.

When we left Sonora we headed west to Fort Stockton, TX just for the night. The next morning we drove south to Alpine, TX – this was our base for exploring Big Bend National Park.

Casa Grande - Chisos mountains, Big Bend Nat'l Park

We were very lucky with weather while in Big Bend – in fact it was downright HOT the first day. We did three short hikes on the east end of the park and when we got back to the car following the third hike, we realized it was 92 degrees – I was dying!! Most of the park is desert landscape, though there are two other micro-climates present.

Pictographs near hot springs

This park is on the border with Mexico. We were concerned about safety, but we were assured that the area across from the park is remote enough and there are enough border patrol and park rangers that there haven’t been any problems. We hiked in the area called ‘The Hot Springs’. There are the remains of a ‘resort where a Mr. Livingston built a house and a motel/store/post office that were located near a hot spring pool. When we took the hike in Boquillas Canyon at the east end of the park, we encountered ‘Victor, the singing Mexican’ singing his lungs out and putting out walking sticks and various metal and beaded bugs, etc for purchase. Unfortunately he was on the USA side of the river. He would canoe across to the USA side when he saw folks coming down the trail that were NOT rangers. Apparently he is a legend in the park.

Santa Elena Canyon and Rio Grande River
Mexico on the left, US on the right

We returned the second day and hiked to Santa Elena Canyon at the west end of the park – a deep canyon cut by the Rio Grande River. Here there was even shade as well as great views of the canyon. You could toss a rock across and hit the wall on the Mexican side. The park service had apparently just resurfaced all the park roads and they were in great condition. This is supposedly a very busy time for the park (Thanksgiving weekend) but the area is so huge, we never felt like it was crowded at all. We were surprised that about 90% of the park is desert landscape with rock formations. There are two other microclimates (along the Rio Grande River that borders the park for 118 miles, and the Chisos Mountain region in the center of the park) but they are not very big areas.

Church at La Mesilla Plaza

Thanksgiving night the temperature in Alpine dipped to 18.8 degrees – a significant cold snap. In the morning we packed up and headed to Las Cruces, NM for a couple of nights. We spent time here about 7 years ago and liked the city. We especially enjoy spending time exploring the Mesilla Plaza area - its history began in the early 1800s and is a popular area for tourists. There are several very nice shops and several restaurants around the plaza. We had dinner at La Posta restaurant which is celebrating its 70^th anniversary in its present location. The décor is very typical Mexican, the staff is very pleasant, and the food is very good and reasonably priced – and it’s really busy.

The next day we headed to Benson, AZ to overnight before continuing on to our winter quarters in Casa Grande Monday, November 29. We are now on site and settling in.

This is the last installment of our Maritime and East Coast trip blog. Now it’s time to start thinking about what our next adventure will be!

A-Lafayette, LA; B-League City, TX; C-Bryan, TX; D-San Antonio, TX; E-Corpus Christi, TX

NASA space arm in astronaut practice bldg

Sunday, November 7, we headed to League City – that’s SE of Houston. We spent the next day at NASA (Johnson Space Center). It was an excellent venue. There was a 90 minute tram tour that included the original NASA control center, the Space Vehicle Mockup Facility (where astronauts practice lots of their space activities) - There was a space station arm that handles thousands of pounds in space but can’t even lift its own weight on earth. They keep a field of Texas longhorn cattle. There was a display of the Saturn V rocket launch vehicle. Once back to the main building there were several show areas – how astronauts live in space, an IMAX about the space station a display of moon rock samples. And there was a large play area in the middle for the kids including some huge Lego displays.

Galvaston, TX oil drilling rig - Ocean Star

Tuesday we drove 20 miles south to Galveston. Did you know it’s practically an island?? I didn’t. We visited a retired oil drilling rig (Ocean Star) that is now on public display. There is a 3-story museum that explains with signs and models the types of ocean oil drilling rigs, the variety of drill bits (they are huge), explanation of the drilling process. It was well done and we learned a lot about off-shore drilling.

Then just a block away we went on a harbor cruise. It was a bit weird because we were the only passengers on the 35-passenger boat. Oh well – private tour. We did get some information about the town and port and even saw some dolphins.

Bishop's House, Galveston, TX

We still had some time left so we headed to the ‘Bishop’s House’ – 14^th on the list of US historic Vistorian houses. The house was originally built by a fellow by the name of Gresham (same family that the town of Gresham, OR was named for). When Gresham sold the home it was purchased by the Catholic Church for the Bishop – therefore, the ‘Bishop’s House'. It had beautiful Oak and Mahogany wood throughout the home – much of it intricately carved – the tour guide was a real lover of Victorian architecture so his dialogue was really interesting.

Kemah Boardwalk near League, TX

Our last day here we drove 7 miles to the shore and Kemah Boardwalk. It wasn’t a particularly nice day, but before the rains came we walked the very quiet and almost deserted boardwalk. There is an amusement park, lots of restaurants, a little train to ride, a few shops. I’m sure in the summer it’s a very busy place – but not the day we were there. We ended up spending the rest of the afternoon in the RV listening to the rain.

George H W Bush Library & Museum

Red Dress collection to promote women's health

Thursday we took off for Bryan, TX.  It was nice to see the Houston traffic in our rear view mirror – my goodness that city is HUGE !!! We stayed in Bryan, TX (NW of Houston about 120 miles) so that we could visit the George H.W. Bush Presidential library. It is actually in College Station next to the A&M college campus. The library was nicely done. There was an Oval office set up as it had been in the White House. There was interesting information on Barbara Bush. They had an interesting traveling exhibit there – the Red Dress collection in support of encouraging women to be aware of their health. They had a display of about 15 red dresses worn by First Ladies, and another display of red dresses worn by celebrities. There were displays on diabetes, heart health, importance of weight control, etc. Following our library visit we found a local deli (clearly geared to the college crowd) where we had very good sandwiches.

Washington-on-the-Brazos meeting bldg

With some time left we headed 20 miles to Washington-on-the-Brazos Historic Park. This is where Texas created the document to become a Republic separate from Mexico– the plain wooden building still stands on the site. There was interesting information on Texas as part of Mexico, Texas as a Republic (9 yrs), Texas  being annexed into the United States,  Texas joining with the Confederacy, and finally Texas becoming a state.

The next day (Saturday, November 13) we drove south to San Antonio. We had planned to stay in Austin for two days, but there was a University of Texas Longhorn football game and we couldn’t get a campsite. But San Antonio is just 70 miles south, so we decided we’d drive to Austin by car on Sunday and see the LBJ Presidential Library, the Texas Historical Museum, and the Austin Capitol building. These were all located within about half a mile of each other. We started with the LBJ library. He was remembered for the problematic Viet Nam war, but he encouraged the passage of many human rights legislation during his tenure. The floating exhibit was an extensive exhibit on Walter Cronkite – very interesting.

Texas capitol in Austin, TX

From there we went to the Bob Bullock Texas Historical Museum. This was a three floor museum just four blocks from the Capitol. There were several films and life-size displays depicting the history of Texas. It was interesting and quite different from many museums we have seen. Everything was big – and you know – everything is BIG in Texas. From here we made a quick trip to the Capitol – since it was Sunday we were able to find a parking place. The capitol building is made of Texas red (pink) granite – really unique and quite attractive.

The Alamo church

Monday we took the city bus from in front of the RV park to downtown San Antonio. We first visited The Alamo, made famous by the movie with John Wayne. It was originally a church that was turned into a fort. Only about one quarter of the original land is still the original Alamo – the church and part of the barracks. It is now a Nat’l Historical site and there is no charge to visit. There is an excellent 18-minute movie that chronicles the battle of the Alamo.  (We have been so impressed with many of the Nat’l park movies as they are beautifully done by the Discovery Channel.) There is a beautiful huge oak tree in the center of the courtyard that shades the entire area – these large oaks are just amazing. From there we went across the street to a small Alamo Museum that contains the largest scale model of the original Alamo Fort. Phil Collins (the British singer) donated this model and much of the other historical relics – he has the largest collection of Alamo memorabilia in the world.

San Antonio Riverwalk

From there we walked just a couple of blocks to the Riverwalk that you always hear about when people discuss San Antonio. The walk is below street level and is bordered by hotels, restaurants, shops and lots of trees and landscaping. It really is quite beautiful. There are folks keeping it clean and classy. You can take a flat-bottom boat ride around the canal – reminiscent of the canals of Venice. We sat outside a restaurant and as we ate enjoyed just watching people and the boats – then we walked around the walk before catching the bus back to the RV park.

San Antonio Zoo parrots

Tuesday we drove to the San Antonio Zoo and enjoyed walking around the very nice park. We enjoyed watching the trainers exercise the elephants and show how they have the elephants trained to show various body areas for examination – feet, ears, trunk; and they also throw tires and wood for the elephants to retrieve for exercise. This zoo has an extensive bird population. From there we drove to the McNay Modern Art Museum. It is in a Spanish home built by Mrs. McNay who was an artist and collected a great deal of art. She opened much of her home as a museum, and once she died, the entire home became a museum. The art was interesting and the home and gardens were beautiful. That evening we went out for barbeque – you can’t visit Texas without having barbeque!!

San Antonio Governor's Palace

Mission San Jose

Wednesday we caught the bus and headed back downtown. We were lucky that the bus went right by the ‘Governor’s Palace’, originally (1731) army Captain’s home for many years. It was also used as a private residence before the city took it over and returned it to its original form. From there we walked past the city Plaza and the Courthouse (made of the Texas red granite – and it really is RED). We went to the RiverMall for a bit and then had a Mexican lunch along the Riverwalk. We headed back to the park and then took the car to see Mission San Jose. The missions in this area were built by the Spaniards who brought in the Indians – the Indians were barely surviving due to an extended drought. The compound was quite large and included over 40 ‘apartments’ for the Indians who eventually became self sufficient at the mission.

And Thursday (November 18) we are off to Corpus Christi – until then……………

Nashville, TN to Lafayette, LA

A-Nashville, TN; B-Decatur, AL; C-Tupalo, MS; D-Memphis, TN;
E-Vicksburg, MS; F-Lafayette, LA

Space and Rocket Center - Huntsville

Sunday we packed up once again and drove to Decatur, AL. On the way we spent a few hours at the Huntsville, AL Space and Rocket Center. There was lots of information on the space program – especially interesting because it almost all happened during our lifetime. There were actual size rockets and lots of interesting exhibits. But the real treat was the IMAX movie – ‘The Hubble Telescope’. The picture was great and the film showed the astronauts preparing for flight, the flight taking the Hubble into space, then the major repair trip last year. The film then showed some of the new galaxies and stars discovered thanks to the Hubble. It was just great. Then we took off and drove the 30 miles to Decatur, AL where we spent the night listening to a terrific rain and thunder storm. Fortunately by morning the weather had improved.

Elvis Presley birth home

Monday we drove to Tupelo where we spent the next couple of days. This is the birthplace of Elvis Presley – so of course we went by the house to get a picture. As we drove through downtown we saw about a dozen metal guitars placed on either side of the street to commemorate Elvis.

We also spent some time on the Natchez Trace – an old trail from Natchez, MS to Nashville, TN used originally by animals and Indian tribes. It was later used by men who had floated their goods down the Mississippi River, sold the goods and lumber from their rafts, then walked or rode horses back to Nashville. There were also several Civil War battles that were fought along the Trace. There is sure a lot of history here in the south – so interesting.

Jamie L. Whitten Bridge over Tennessee River

Wednesday we woke up to a lovely day. We spent the day driving north on the Natchez Trace. We made lots of stops, took several forest walks, enjoyed the information on the Tennessee-Tombigbee waterway that was built with several ship locks to connect the Gulf of Mexico to the Tennessee River. We crossed the long Jamie L. Whitten bridge (Whitten was the senator who worked tirelessly to get the waterway completed), then headed west to Corinth where there is an excellent Visitor’s Center discussing the Civil War battles at Corinth (an important railroad hub) and Shiloh. We were disappointed that our day was running short and we didn’t have time to make the 23 mile trip to the Shiloh battle sight.

St Jude Children's hospital

Studio where Elvis first recorded

Thursday we took off for the relatively short drive to Memphis, TN. The next morning we joined a city tour and we saw a lot of Memphis. We visited the St. Jude Children’s Hospital begun and supported for many years by Danny Thomas. In front of the hospital is a large Thomas Memorial building as well as the graves of Danny Thomas and his wife, Rose. We saw the Pyramid – once a performing arts and sports center, the bridge called by Mel Tillis ‘The Dolly Pardon Bridge’. The downtown visitor center has statues of the two most famous musicians of Memphis – Elvis Presley and BB King. We visited Sun Studio where Elvis began his recording career. We saw Victoria Street where there are some lovely old homes. We spent a half hour at the Peabody Hotel where at 11AM each day ducks walk from the roof, down the elevator, and along a red carpet to a fountain in the middle of the lobby. They’ve been performing this stunt for over 30 years. Apparently they swim in the fountain until 5PM when they march back to the elevator, and head to the roof for the night. There is a ‘Duck Master’ that leads the way and gives quite a talk about the history of the duck walk. We saw the Civil Rights Museum which was built next to the motel where Martin Luther King was assassinated. There is a gal sitting near the museum who is protesting that the motel was closed and a Museum built – she felt the money would have been better spent helping the homeless. She has been at her location every day for 22 years, 288 days.

Memphis' Beale street

The morning tour let us off on Beale Street where lunch was provided at the Superior Restaurant – While eating barbeque pork or chicken sandwiches, baked beans, and cole slaw, we were entertained by a talented Blues guitarist/singer. We had an hour to walk the famous Beale Street before we were picked up for the trip to Graceland for a 2.5 hour visit.

The Graceland mansion is across the street from the rest of the exhibits. We were taken by shuttle bus to the mansion where we wore headsets that talked us through the tour of his home’s main floor, his recording studio, large trophy area, and Inspiration Garden - this also included the graves of Elvis and several family members. We were then shuttled back across the street where we could then go through the many other exhibits and dozens of Elvis gift shops. We went through his jet (the Lisa Marie) and his private plane; his car museum, his movie museum, etc., etc.. And the gift shops – associated with every venue – and expensive.

Balcony where MLK was shot

Friday we drove into town to visit the Civil Rights Museum. It is located next to the motel where Martin Luther King was shot. The introduction was a 32 minute film called ‘Witness’ that showed extensive information on King’s life and subsequent death as told by Rev. Kyle who was a good friend of King and was with him on the balcony when the shot rang out. The museum itself showed in detail the civil rights struggle of the blacks through the years – it was well done and took us about three and a half hours to complete. Being from Washington State, I was aware of the later years of the Civil Rights movement, but never felt very involved in it. However, here in the south civil rights issues are always near the surface. After visiting the main museum, we walked across the street to the boarding house where James Earl Ray supposedly shot MLK from the bathroom. There was quite a lot of information on his capture and the talk of a conspiracy theory. The museum was excellent.

From there we drove downtown where we went to the Cotton Museum which is located at what used to be the Memphis Cotton Exchange. Cotton is still a major crop here and of course slavery was so important to the cotton industry. There were lots of videos describing the workings of the exchange, how cotton is graded and harvested, the use of slaves in the early years of US cotton production. This also was a very interesting place.

 -From there we walked again to Beale Street where we had dinner at BB Kings restaurant – pork ribs and deep fried catfish – excellent food – and we listened to the in-house blues band while we ate - Great fun. We were sitting next to the window and watched folks in costumes parading down the street (tomorrow is Halloween).

Illinois Battle of Vicksburg Monument

On November 31 we headed south to Vicksburg, MS – we’re talking deep south here!!! There are lots of really old homes and historic places. Our first full day we spent almost the entire day at the Vicksburg National Historic Park. Here we learned about the battle of Vicksburg, a pivotal battle for the control of the Mississippi River creating the division of the Confederacy in two with the result being the inevitable defeat of the South. We watched an excellent movie, then bought a CD that narrated our 16 mile trip through the park. The park has over 1000 monuments, an ironclad (The Cairo) riverboat and museum, a large cemetery, and many of the original battlefields defined by markers in red and blue.

The next morning about 4AM we heard thunder, saw lightening, and listened to a gigantic rain storm. Most of the worst was over by 7:30AM, but rain continued off and on the rest of the day. So we needed to do inside things. We began at the Vicksburg Civil War Museum – best feature was a scale model of the battlefield. It was helpful to see it from the top and have a better perspective than we did on the battlefield itself.

From there we went to ‘The Corner Drug’ ( a small drug store with some antique pharmacy things). One of the most interesting things we found was a copy of a newspaper article that detailed the facts regarding problems with infections and disease among the soldiers during the Civil War. Many soldiers died of diarrhea, dysentery, or from infections of their wounds. It is hard to believe that more soldiers died (between during the Civil War than WWI, WWII, Korean War, and Vietnam war all together).

Then we headed to the Old Courthouse Museum. Here there was information about Jefferson Davis, the only President of the Confederate States, more information and artifacts from the Civil War, period clothing and furniture, etc. We were ‘museumed’ out, so it was back to the RV!

Driving the causeway across
 the Atchafalaya Swamp

November 3 we headed south in the continuing rain. We debated visiting New Orleans, LA, or Biloxi, MS, but instead headed further west to Lafayette, LA. This was a good choice for us – we had been introduced to the Acadian culture while in Nova Scotia, NB; and Louisiana is where many of the Acadians arrived when they were ‘kicked out’ of Nova Scotia. There is so much history about the Creoles, Cajuns, Acadians etc. We spent a day visiting the Acadian Cultural Center and an Acadian Village in south Lafayette (fortunately the weather has improved – cool, but sunny).

Great Egret

We woke up the next morning to a much cooler day as we headed out to Lake Martin where we went on a 2-hour swamp tour. We saw lots of egrets, blue herons, an owl, turtles, cormorants, a woodpecker, an eagle, an osprey – but no alligators. It was a cool and windy day so the gators just weren’t out and about.

From there we drove south to Avery Island – the original location of the McIlhenny Tabasco Company. The McIlhenny family has been making Tabasco for over 140 years. Most of the chilies are grown in South America. The process involves picking perfectly red peppers, grinding them up and salt (there is a huge salt mine on the island), then putting this mash in oak barrels where it remains for 3 years before roasted red peppers, spices, and vinegar are added and the bottling is done. We visited their country store where everything you could imagine was available with the Tabasco logo.

Tabasco Factory

We enjoyed our drive south to Avery Island as we drove through the middle of a sugarcane growing area. We saw one field being harvested with a huge harvester – a bit different than when people in developing countries have to hand cut the canes. We saw many trucks hauling the shredded canes to the factory for processing – the cane must be processed within 24 hours of being cut or the sugar loses its ability to crystallize.

The next day we headed south once again to St. Martinville where we visited another Acadian museum, the Evangeline Oak, a statue of Evangeline, and a bust of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow who wrote the Evangeline poem – these are all along the quiet slow moving Bayou Teche.

Home on concrete blocks

Another interesting sight ( since many of the areas in southern Louisiana are nearly at water level) is that many homes are build above the ground. The houses that are about 2 feet off the ground sit on concrete blocks or bricks.

Tomorrow we head into Texas as our adventure of a lifetime winds down.