Heading home for Holidays

Galveston seawall

boarding the ferry

We have spent the last week crossing across the southern part of the US from Texas to the panhandle of Florida. We drove to Galveston and crossed on a ferry (yes in the RV towing the Jeep!), to the Bolivar Peninsula and spent the night in Beaumont Tx. There were lots of dolphins all along the channel!

The next day we made our way to Breau Bridge Louisiana. We traveled across about 20 miles of elevated freeway over a swamp---I kept thinking I was going to see a huge alligator or a little tiny shack way off in the distance up on stilts!---I did not see either, just an abandoned, rotting fishing boat!  

view from the ferry

packed in to the ferry!

elevated freeway

From there we ventured to Pascagoula, Mississipi! I don't suppose any of these small towns sound too familiar!--but they were along our route to Florida! The drive often took us close to the Gulf of Mexico and more often across lots of lakes, rivers and 'swamps"---it was really quite an interesting drive!

mighty Mississippi

edge of Mobile Bay

We ended this trek in a campground in DeFuniak Springs Florida, where we have left the RV while we travel north to visit family and friends for the Holidays! 

We are currently in Bowling Green, KY with ice formed all over our two side mirrors and the possibility of an ice storm to be in our path to Indiana tomorrow---on no!  Hoping to stop and see my sister and brother-in-law tomorrow on our way if weather allows!

I will be taking a break from the blog for a few weeks----see you back in 2011....resting in Bowling Green, Ky.....Debbie and John

Happy Holidays!!!!

Tales from Texas

On Saturday we set up in a campground close to Lake Travis in Austin. We met John's friends, Wayne and Sue for dinner and lots of reminiscing and some funny stories of their past camping experiences!

Hilltop view of Austin

Homes along Lake Austin

Dell compound

360 Bridge

Sunday we got a slow start and did some sight - seeing around Austin----drove downtown and saw the state capital, 'the drag' around the UT campus, Tarrytown, and 6th Street--which is home to many restaurants and bars! We drove to Mt. Bonnell and walked up to get a glorious view of  Lake Austin and the 360 Bridge and a glimpse of Michael Dell's compound on the opposite hillside! We met up with Wayne and Sue again and enjoyed pizza and a round of Tri-Bond!


On Monday we drove to a massive outlet mall in San Marcos and did some Christmas shopping--trying to get mostly finished before we arrive back in Indiana for the Holidays. We also visited the small community of Wimberley on the way back to the RV--quaint little shops with lots of sounds and smells of Christmas---it was wonderful.

Holiday decor at LBJ Ranch

Downtown Fredericksburg holiday window

Tuesday we moved to Fredericksburg, TX and on the way stopped outside of Johnson City and visited the LBJ Ranch. It was an impressive step back in history and I learned quite a lot. The community of Fredericksburg is proud of its German heritage and once again we found a delightful bakery called 'Rather Sweet' which is apparently quite famous, if all of the magazine articles on the wall mean anything! There were many wonderful shopping opportunities as well--so little time!!!

The Alamo

Entrance to River Walk

Wednesday we moved  to San Antonio and visited the Alamo. I was surprised to learn that the Alamo is right down town San Antonio.  From there we walked to the famed River Walk and enjoyed a leisurely stroll around the beautifully landscaped oasis in downtown San Antonio. In addition to the flowers and greenery we had the added benefit of Holiday lights as well---it was beautiful.

Tonight we are resting in San Antonio, Texas....Debbie and John

Leaving California

On the way to El Centro John stopped at the beach  near Encinitas so I could sit in a lawn chair on the sand and read for awhile---somehow that  experience had escaped me during our visit at Seal Beach, and I really wanted to do that along the Pacific!  It was beautiful!!!! and I had the beach to myself!. We also drove by Camp Pendleton and saw a variety of  helicopters taking off from sandy clearing next to the beach. We also saw a nuclear power plant right by the beach at San Onofre.

Bale of cotton

We left El Centro and drove east entering Arizona at Yuma--which is very close to the Mexico border. There were beautiful mountains made of what looked like piles of  rocks and a variety of  agricultural sites, including fields of cotton and massive dairy operations. We think it would be really helpful if each state would put large signs out by the fields so travelers (like us) would be able to tell what was growing where and what the workers were harvesting!---as it is, we just have to speculate unless we see stands with produce for sale and then we can assume that was growing somewhere nearby! It  took quite awhile for us to figure out the fields of  trees we were passing were pecans!

We have stopped at three border patrol check points because where we are driving is so close to Mexico---they have dogs that sniff around and they ask us how many people are in the home and if we are all US citizens---that is all that has happened--apparently we don't look threatening!

We spent the next night at Sahuarita, Arizona at the Desert Diamond Casino. The Indian casinos are friendly to RV's and we go inside and I 'deposit' a few dollars in the slot machines. Don't know what I would do if  I ever won!!--luckily I can stop easily! The casino was very pretty--sort of out in the middle of the desert and there were some stunning cactus plants.

From there we  drove to Tombstone, Az and took a trip back into an old western town. Wyatt Earp had a house there and there were some famous gun fights on the streets of Tombstone.. There were stagecoaches on the streets and cowboys on the street corners-----apparently it has become much more commercialized since John's last visit, which was a little disappointing--but it was still fun.

Mom and Jean----be careful!

We visited the famous Boot Hill Graveyard and saw the OK Corral! From there we drove to Deming Arizona where we rested last night and today we drove to Texas---what a big state!  Once again we were very close to Mexico--we could see it right across the Rio Grande.

Tonght we are resting in Fort Stockton, Texas....Debbie and John