On our way with a stop off in Dallas. A little business and get our mountain bikes for our trip to Big Bend. We drove from Ocala Florida to Clinton Mississippi. It was 23 degrees when we left Clinton. We did have to ask ourselves “Why did we leave Florida?” The moon in the frosty morning with the sun rising behind us made some beautiful colors to entertain us.
When we are home the pups stayed close together. Happy to be in their old bed for a while.
We only stay in town for three days and we are ready to get On the road. In Galveston we are meeting up with the Plutos and Ron Cooper, the bike shop owner in Webster Texas. Also some others we have not met. We have settled in at the Bayou RV Park. Ready to eat we set out ago find a place. Debra at the Park said “Hey, go down on the sea wall and get a big ole bowl of gumbo!” So off we go. First place we find is “Woody’s” ok…but they were nothing but a bar and bar food. Off we go to find a place named Jimmy’s! Well their sign said they were reopening the day we got there. Go inside and the fellow says tomorrow. Ok,but we need food now! He said go to the Cajun Greek. Great, I remembered the sign, a big sign with red letters. Well after some fussing and driving around we found it. The lights were off on the sign. When finally got the gumbo we decided it was well worth the driving around for it.
Next day we are on our own. We got the pups in the trailer and went down to the sea wall. For whatever reason Doogie decided he wanted to bark during the whole trip. The only time he didn’t carry on was when we took them down on the shore and the levees.
Everybody has arrived and settled in. Dinner served! It’s Friday night and we get a photo with them to send to the Rock Fish gang. Mike and Judy, Ron and Anastasia, in the back Damon and Lisa.
This morning Lisa spots the trailer that we use for the pup dogs. She has a Labradoodle. Her name is Zoe. Well she immediately jumps in the trailer and off they go. Lisa gets online and finds one and sends Damon out to pick it up.
We eventually get our acts together to go to the sea wall to watch the Mardi Gras parade. Using the bikes to get around is awesome. We ride all the way down the sea wall stopping to catch beads along the way. There are some serious party’s already happening along the way
These guys in red help keep things organized you can tell they really are. The band is lining up for the parade. At first I thought how in the world are they going to get their instruments in the port a potty? I noticed in the picture I managed to catch some beads that were flying through the air!
We wandered the streets and got down to a historical area of the island. We stopped for lunch at The Stork Club. An amazing gumbo, nothing like Jim and I have eaten before. In side the resturant were some of the capes and costumes worn by Mardi Gras Kings. Also the post outside had the years of the different hurricanes that had hit the island. I looked for the year the Stork was established and 1968 was as good as I could get. So the building it is in had been around since the 1900 hurricane.
There are several parades each day. When you think about it it sounds like fun to be in the parade, but after a few times a day for many days, boy howdy that is a whole lot of work. We did make our way by bike to watch the evening parade.
The floats a night are beautiful. The family across the street had a blast. The little girl could really dance. She had a ton of beads by the end of the evening.
Next morning we are off to Tortuga for brunch. Everyone is headed back to their homes. For us right now this is our home. We will stay one more night. Tomorrow we are going to College Station to see our grandson, Payton. He is going to Blinn University.
The morning fog is really heavy this morning. This is our view from our front door. The drive to College Station is not long. Payton had classes and would be through at noon. Sure enough he called and the next thing he is at the trailer. Spent the day with him. Got to see where he lives with three others guys.
Payton and his roommates Blake and Carlos are ready to go out to dinner. Payton says a place called Wings and More has some pretty good ribs. We are off to taste test them. They are pretty good,however even Payton agrees they don’t beat Houston’s ribs in Dallas.
Tomorrow we are off to Big Bend country. That is another world. Jim says we have driven over 5,000 miles. Whew, and still adding up the miles”
Hoytstravels 