Moving On Into the New Year

☆☆ Cover picture this week is my Christmas present from my daughter and her family. It is perfectly me! ☆☆

Here we are in 2019! Can you believe it! It seems like yesterday I was selling my condo and all my earthly possessions to follow my dreams of traveling the United States in an RV.

Making your home in a RV takes a willingness to leave or sell the things that were part of your home, part of who you were. I don’t regret this choice at all but do admit I miss the comforts of a place called home.

For now, Home is where I park it! I am enjoying the places I have been and am looking forward to the places I have yet to see.

Thus far on this journey the weather has not been the most cooperative. You have to have the mindset that your going to have some rainy cold days and nights, I mean it is winter.

It seems we have had our share the past two weeks. Tracy and I have managed to keep ourselves busy as John ventured on to the next destination and we will meet up with him there.

Sunday we ventured to Lafayette, Louisiana to go to a flea market. There were more vendors than I thought there would be and the damp weather didn’t seem to bother anyone.

On the way back to Lake Charles we decided to go way out of our way and check out the back roads. We had lunch at Dairy Queen in Rayne, Louisiana. which happens to be Frog City.

As we headed down towards the Gulf of Mexico we passed marsh land filled with cattle and horses. Along the way we saw rice paddies and crawfish farms. First they grow the rice then they raise the crawfish in the rice paddies using the the cages with the red tops.

Then we headed to the Rockefeller Wildlife Refuge, which was closed when we got there. Bummer!

Driving across Rt 82 we come to Grand Chenier where the live oaks are big and abundant.

Next stop Rutherford Beach just outside Creole, Louisiana. There were people boondocking on the beach when we reached the parking lot. I was amazed at the sight and drove out on the beach and parked myself. We did a little shelling until it started raining pretty good. My shell and rock collection is getting impressive.

Again we found ourselves marveling at nature and her beauty.

This is a Nutria Rat. About the size of a muskrat they feed on the roots of the vegetation. He didn’t seem to mind we were watching.

Harry the Heron has been with us since day one!

Sam Houston Jones State Park has several hiking trails and we decided to try one. It was soggy.

All in all the park was decent. The weather made it hard to get out and hike and another power outage on New Year’s Eve along with the earlier ones made it just blah.

It’s New Years Eve and this is how we roll!

Happy New Year everyone!

Tracy and I have decided to move on. Galveston here we come! We crossed the FREE ferry at Port Bolivar over to Galveston.

We set up camp at the Galveston Marina RV Park.

Our New Year’s lunch of pork, kraut and black eyed peas. Yum!

And off to walk the beach! Here we are on Babes Beach. Fitting right!!!

Uuggghhhh the trash…..I just hate to see this.

After the beach we went to Hooters to watch the Ohio State Buckeyes game until halftime, then we went back to camp to sit outside in the cool nights breeze.

And yes it was ugly but the Buckeyes won!

We spent the next day tooling around Galveston.

First we went to the library and then into the Historical District of Galveston. On September 13, 2008 Hurricane Ike covered most of Galveston Island in storm surge. Ike left Galveston and many of the beautiful trees in waste.

Today though, we are able to take a tour of the trees that were saved as sculptures by artists Earl Jones, Dale Lewis and Jim Phillips. I would like you to take you on the tour too.

The Island Totem Pole – The Case family retired here from Michigan and the totem pole represents everything Mrs Case’s late husband loved about Galveston.

Birds of Galveston – The large Live Oak contains 17 birds on the branches.

One of the many beautiful homes that I will randomly post throughout the tour.

Tall Ship – ELISSA Figurehead

The Great Dane – Hunter, the great dane that lives here is forever remembered in this sculpture.

The Small Dolphin – Carved especially for the boy who lives here by Earl Jones.

Pod of Dolphins – The dolphins represent the children and the mermaid the mother of this family.

The Squirrel – Yard art of wildlife at 1302 Ball.

Two Crested Herons – The family chose the herons to mimic their their tall narrow home.

The Guitar

The Toad

The Geisha – The geisha represents the homeowners love of the orient and many trips to Japan.

The Yellow Lab

Tin Man & Toto – King Vider, one of the directors of the Wizard of OZ was born in the front downstairs bedroom of this home. The sculpture sits in the front corner.

Grandmother Reading to Her Grandchildren – The Adoue family donated the money to the playground park in her honor.

Monument to Galveston Trees

Where Have All The Flowers Gone – The Japanese Yew tree was only partially dead, so the owner decided to have that part of the tree scuplted into hibiscus flowers.

Angel Cradling a Bunny – The sculpture watches over the yard which is a bird and bunny sanctuary.

Large Pelican Holding a Fish

This isn’t part of the tour but we found it interesting how the tree grew into the fence.

Pelican Sitting on a Piling

We also found these two which were not on the tour, but they should be !

I loved this tour! Sort of playing a game of finding the hidden images.

After some lunch we decided to take the tour at Bishop’s Palace but they were closed. Luckily the Moody Mansion was open for self guided tours. Using a device that tells you a story at each location was provided and was really interesting .

Moody Mansion

Built in 1895, this thirty-one room mansion is filled with the furnishings and personal effects of the Moody family who purchased the mansion in 1900 for $20,000.00.

The original wood work was amazing!

The stain glass stairway landing.

And the ceilings, WOW!

The homes first floor, foyer, sitting room, parlor, dining room, butlers room with dumb waiter.

The second floor bedrooms and baths.

Then you have the collection of old cars!

We also visited a few places on the tourist list, like the Tall Ship Elissa.

The Ocean Star Drilling Rig Museum

Some of the harbor sights.

We also drove out to Pelican Islands Seawolf Park. This is a former immigration station for Galveston Port. With the most popular fishing piers in the area, there are pelicans waiting to catch the fishermens throwbacks.

A WWII submarine the USS Cavalla.

One of only three destroyer escorts in the world, the USS Stewart.

Here’s an interesting one. The remains of the S.S. Selma the largest concrete tanker.

Across town along the 12 foot sea wall is Pleasure Pier. Looks a lot like Coney Island.

We left Galveston with a plan and like many plans it changed. After driving two and a half hours to Port Lavaca we decided to go on and drive to meet up with John in Lake Corpus Christi.

Home sweet home for the next week!

Think we will enjoy this sunshine and the lake♡

Planning a few adventures and a lot of relaxation. Until next week my friends.