Sadly we left San Antonio and headed further south looking for more warmth. This time we were headed to Houston/Galveston with an overnight stop in Columbus, TX. We see some strange things on the road and Shane often clicks away at them. This unusual domed building is one of them. No idea what it was but it isn’t far from Waco. At Columbus we didn’t bother unhooking as it was only an overnight stop but it was a nice spot under the trees.
Here in the US (or at least where we’ve been) the Roads Authorities of different states really know how to do a visitor/rest stop. This one was so good that we stopped just long enough for some thieving truckie to steal the heavy duty rubber mat out of the back of our ute. That’s $25 down.
Anyway next day we passed by Houston as our RV Resort was midway between Houston and Galveston. I am so glad the freeway went by the CBD and not through it. Check out the tangle of overpasses and flyovers. You can see in one pic just how high we were at one stage. Houston is a big city and it has some interesting architecture. I must say that compared to a generation or two ago architects of today are designing something more than just plain grey cement boxes with small windows. Finally we arrived at our site just one row from the water’s edge in the marina.
Next day we decided to head in to Galveston for a look about. The first thing we saw was oil refineries. The biggest complex of refineries we have ever seen by far. They just seemed never ending. Next we came to a bridge over an otherwise flat landscape and once on top of the bridge the Island of Galveston.
Galveston has two distinct precincts. The older industrial part and the beachfront holiday part. I think I mentioned in another post that from Mexico all around the Gulf, around Key West then right up the coast almost to New York the USA is protected by Barrier Islands. Between the mainland and the islands there is the Inter-coastal Waterway. These barrier islands can be tens of kilometres long and in places on a road width wide. From Mexico to NY these islands are populated with colourful houses (mostly holiday beach houses) which many of you would have seen on those US TV shows about buying coastal homes. (The signpost warning about hitchhikers was actually taken on another day out here but that is not important.) The two pictures of birds following the sign are of a beautiful pair of Roseate Spoonbills we spotted in the drain next to the road. After lunch at Ihop we headed back home for the night. (Last shot is of that fun restaurant chain, Rainforest Café, which we chose not to hit too often.)
A day or so later we returned to Galveston. This time our target was the Ocean Star Oil Rig which is moored on the shores of Galveston Bay as an educational facility. We entered by walking the long gangway which went past the fishing fleet and we delighted in watching a gazillion pelicans and other sea birds almost overpowering a fisherman as he sorted his catch and tossed the by catch to the feathered throng. From the Ocean Star we could see up the harbour where on the opposite shore were several working rigs that were in for maintenance awaiting to be dispatched to another drilling position.
Within the Museum there is a lot to see. Model rigs, explanatory drilling models, equipment, videos, photos and historical artefacts. The displays are on 3 floors both inside and out. All up we quite enjoyed the inspection of something so unusual to the run of the mill museum.
Just for something different we headed north the next day to the Kemah Boardwalk. Even though we weren’t sure what there was there it was the best day’s weather we had seen since we re-entered the USA in the New Year and we were not going to stay indoors. It turned out to be a terrific day. The Boardwalk is an open Fun Park where for $25/day you can do all the rides you want. If you prefer then you can sit at one of the many bars and restaurants (we chose Bubba Gump’s, another favourite haunt, for lunch) and then watched the screaming mob hurtle around the all timber roller coaster. Filled to the gills from a top meal we started to head off when we realised that we had missed a local float parade as we ate but that didn’t take the shine out of a great day.
As a last item to wrap up our Galveston stay we drove to Seawolf Park and the Galveston Naval Museum which houses the WWII submarine USS Cavalla SSK244 http://www.cavalla.org/ (which has Australian connections) and the Destroyer Escort USS Stewart (DE238) http://www.navsource.org/archives/06/238.htm amongst other memorabilia. Shane and I really enjoyed clambering through the hulls of these two historic icons. Shane in particular enjoyed the sub and to round off a good tour we had pleasant chats with several of the staff who were as interested in us as we were in their exhibits.
There was one other noteworthy stop on this break but I will save that for the next blog post. The Johnson Space Centre
https://www.nasa.gov/centers/johnson/home/index.html in Houston was very different to our visit last year to the Kennedy Space Centre but equally as exciting. Watch for the next post to read all about it.
Cheers for now
Garry & Shane.
All pictures looks really beautiful. Thanks for this informative post. After reading I want to travel Galveston with my family.