The Big Easy Easier the Second Time Around

French Quarter

This was our second time coming this way through New Orleans and we just had to stop for beignets.  Last time we stayed at a Koa on the west side and although the park was nice the sites were tight and we opted to try St. Bernard’s State Park.  The park has water and electric and is nestled just off the banks of the Mississippi river on the southern shores of Louisiana.  The park is nice with large well spaced site. I imagine summer time would be hot and a mosquito fest.   This time year it was pleasant and beautiful.  However one word of advice, if you come this way from the west drive RT 39 down even if it is out of the way a bit. Google navigated us through the infamous Ward 9 so devastated by hurricane Katrina.   The roads were bad and we stuck out like a large white whale.  Ya just never know how navigation systems are going to take you to save a few miles. 

Levy

The first days yet another winter storm hit the South! One grey day we drove all the way down RT 39 to its end.    The road hugs the banks of the Mississippi but the levy blocked the view of the great river. Once in awhile a glimpse of large freight ship was reminder that she was still there.  This is mostly a rural area and there were signs of getting hit hard by Katrina with quite a few abandoned houses marked with yellow paint on the front doors indicating it had been searched for survivors.  We stopped for lunch at a local establishment and the breaking story on the local news was the conviction of the ex-mayor of New  Orleans on 20 counts of illegal bribes. The now infamous Ray Nagin was mayor during the time of the storm and immediately after during the rebuilding of New Orleans. 

Abandoned Church 

The weather cleared and the days became mild with brilliant blue skies.  We took the Belle Chase ferry also known Plaquemines across the Mississippi and drove into New Orleans proper to visit the French Quarter. It is free and runs every half an hour almost all day.  It was a fun way to get into the city but I would not suggest it with a large RV in tow, strictly for smaller vehicles.   It was getting close to Mardi Gras and New Orleans was starting to wear her party dress.  Green, purple and yellow banners adorned the buildings and music everywhere in the streets.   Last time we passed this way was in late summer and it was too hot to enjoy walking around the French Quarter.  This time it was perfect not too cold or too crowded.  We spent an enjoyable day seeing the sites, eating the food and enjoying the music.  Yes, we did get those beignets at Café Du Monde.  Yum!

Guarding the cemetery

We spent a few more days at St. Bernard’s taking it easy.  We had a nice day after Valentines dinner at a nearby restaurant but did not venture into the Big Easy again.   One night the moon was full and the clouds were moving swiftly in the night sky.  In the distance we heard coyotes howling.  It was beautiful and reminiscent of old black and white classic horror movies.  After all, this area sets the mood for many a tale about vampires, werewolves and voodoo.  It was time for us to say our goodbyes to the magic of New Orleans.

   

St. Louis Cemetery

Not Blue Down by the Bayou

That's our Excel on the Galveston Ferry!

We left Galveston Island via the ferry.  Once again we decided to take the back roads.  We hugged the coast most of the way to Abbeville, LA.  And these really were some lonely roads.   Once we moved away from town of Port Arthur the drive became more and more desolate.  A house here or maybe a small grouping, but no towns.   Not even a gas station to be found.  So if you take this way make sure you have a full tank.  There was one more ferry crossing out in the middle of nowhere over a river whose docks were dotted with shrimp boats ( not shrimping season yet).  

The landscape started to change,  gradually seeing more trees and  swampy areas.  And like magic the sun even came out! We were entering Cajun country.   We noticed fields flooded as we turned north.  Rice fields?  But what are those red topped wire things?  Turns out the fields do double duty.  In the winter months they are used for harvesting that Louisiana delicacy crawfish.  Only the large ones get trapped in the cage allowing the smaller ones to go on to be eaten another day.   

We found the Abbeville City RV park nestled down a long tree lined road.  It does not have any facilities so you do have to be a self contained rig to camp here.  It does however have full hookups, large sites, a nice nature trail, not crowded and some very friendly folks.   We decided to stay a few more days than we originally intended and enjoyed it very much after the sardine and concrete parks we had been staying.  We also got to know some of the regulars who come back year after year from colder climates to winter in the park.  I even got to see a giant owl swoop past me!

So why exactly did we come to Abbeville?  Well, believe it or not it was centrally located to interesting but not well known places.   One day we visited Avery Island and toured the Tabasco plant.  Another day we visited Rip Van Winkle Gardens which has an interesting history and an amazing story about Lake Peigneur which it borders. Do take the house tour and watch the link above  about the lake – it is amazing.   Beautiful grounds and peacocks in trees.  I even got to sit under the Cleveland Oak.  

There was plenty to do in the area and some good restaurants to sample the local Cajun cuisine. We had a few nice days but we also had some really cold and rainy ones.  The crawfish were digging in deep. The local restaurants were having a crawfish  shortage but the oysters were plentiful at the nearby Shucks.   We decided we better head out to New Orleans before the next big storm and Mardi Gras hit.

Up the Coast

Boca Chica Beach

We made it to Brownsville just in time.  A nasty weather front was moving in and we decided to stay put for a few days while it passed. We got hit with an ice storm one day.  Brrr, cold damp and wet.  The Rv park was tight quarters and the weather was depressing.  One day  we drove down to the beach just outside town.  Even that was odd – just  a weird vibe in this area.  You drive down this road for miles and miles and then it just ends in the Gulf.  No parking, no trees, no nothing. Not even a garbage can.   Just the water and sand and a STOP sign.  We later had lunch on South Padre Island which is lined with touristy restaurants, bars, and tee shirt shops.   We checked out the rv parks here, they were also cramped but would be better choice if staying in this area.  The rest of our time was huddled in the Biff staying warm.  Blame it on the weather but Brownsville was brown and had no charm.   No quaint little coffee shops or anything other than box stores and it is definitely a border town.  Next stop Port Aransas.

Port Aransas

What southwest Texas was to oil rigs the towns on the coast are to oil refineries and shipping ports.  And it is bustling! Port Aransas is a shipping port with large tanker ships coming from around the world.  Jack found a phone app that tracks all the ships – just type in the name of the vessel and it shows where its’ current position is via GPS.  Pretty cool.  We stayed in Aransas Pass which is across the bay from Port Aransas.   There is a free ferry that shuttles back and forth all day.  The weather was still on the bad side but taking the ferry and watching the ships was fun.  It has plenty of beaches and is close to the protected  Padre Island National Seashore.    A word about the beaches on the Texas side of the Gulf coast.    Yes, it was winter and I am sure they may be nicer in the summer.  But they all seemed very windswept with not a tree in site.  The barrier islands were mostly brown grasslands ( and there are cattle).  They let you drive on the beaches which may appeal to some folks but in my mind made them seem dirty.  And do be careful if you plan on driving on them -  four wheel drive would be required  as there can be patches of very soft sand.  We saw one person get immediately stuck thinking their vehicle could handle it.  It could not be pushed out and a tow vehicle was necessary.

Padre Island National Seashore

  The RV park here was much newer and nicer and sites much bigger.  Although it still could have been better.  Right off the bat we got a knock from our neighbor behind us asking how long we were staying.  Apparently, she felt we were too close to her rig.  "Umm, the RV park staff guided us back."     Needless to say that colored my perception of the place.  But we wanted to watch the SuperBowl and stayed for four days.  And yes we were affected by that 20 minute blackout that hit the West coast in the middle of the game.   What did we miss? Oh – Seattle scored again?  All I can say it was a sad sad day for the Broncos.

We left Port Aransas and took the back roads up to our next destination Galveston.  It was an interesting drive taking us from brown grasslands to some more wooded areas and then the massive refineries around the Houston area.  We got up close and personal to the refineries driving smack dab in the heart of some really big ones!   Ahh there is a barrier island with beaches somewhere – really??  Whew,  we crossed  over another deep water inlet and it began to look more like a beach coast you expect with iconic beach houses.  Too bad you can still see all the refineries if you look west.   

“Galveston Oh Galveston”, - is that Glen Campbell singing in my head?  We pulled into Dellanera RV  City Park and stayed the next four days.  Finally, a well spaced RV park and it was right on water.   I enjoyed this park although quite cold and windy, I was able to take some walks along the beach.  Galveston is filled with a variety of old houses with interesting architecture being revitalized (and some not so nice areas) along with the expected tourist traps of a beach town.  We did not check out Moody Garden and it was still too cold to walk around much.  It was very windy the whole time we were there making it difficult sometimes to even open the door to get out of the Biff!   I was ready to get inland and out of the wind and see the sun  maybe sometime soon.  We were in off season and by the amount of hotels and restaurants, I expect this place gets quite hopping in high season and around Mardi Gras.  All in all it is good mix of charm with enough things to do to make it a good destination.  Now if I can only get that song out of my head.

Down by the River

The drive from Fort Davis to Alpine is short and scenic but shortly after leaving Alpine the landscape becomes more arid and desolate. Vast, remote and quiet are the overpowering words that come to mind.   It reminded Jack of some the areas around southwest Utah and northern Arizona.  There are very few trees or vegetation with wide open rock landscapes. The closer we came to Big Bend National Park the truer these words.   The park is named for the bend the Rio Grande makes as it heads towards the Gulf of Mexico and also forming part of our southern border with Mexico.  Crossing the river is leaving the country and a border violation.  But rock throwing is allowed.

Look I can see Mexico!

There is a small town just outside the entrance which is good place to fill up the tank, once inside the park the distances are not trivial.  This is not your typical hustling bustling NP.   We were told it was the middle of high season but compared to other NPs this one felt lonesome.  We opted to spend our first two nights in the even more remote Cottonwood Campground. Keep in mind this is dry camping no power, water or sewer. And we found out later absolutely no lights at all in the park.  So make sure you have a working flashlight is my piece of advice.

We arrived to a scenic area with large sights and only one other RV.  The sun was shining. The cottonwoods were gold and shimmering.  It felt like a warm autumn day.  I sat outside and enjoyed a glass of wine soaking up the sun and mild temperatures.    It was hard to believe that there were warnings of a cold front hitting. That Arctic Vortex thing again - winter is coming. Nah – how can that be on such a beautiful day?  We explored the nearby areas that first day, and found the Rio Grande and the beautiful Santa Elena Canyon.  We decided to come back the next day and hike the canyon trail. 

Hiking in Santa Elena Canyon

 That night there was no moon and clouds were moving in so no stars either.  It was pitch black dark.  Darker than any place I have ever been except maybe on a cave tour when they turned off the lights.  It was that kind of absolute dark outside.  We turned off all the lights in the Biff to experience the full effect.  It is a very strange experience for a modern day person.  Absolute quiet and darkness, total absents of all the modern day noise and ambient lights that surround us.  It was like having your eyes shut but they weren’t.   

We made an early start the next day and hiked the Santa Elena Canyon.  The weather got progressively colder and windier as the day progressed.  We had a late lunch at the lodge in Chisos Basin.  The view was phenomenal!  The next morning we moved over to the Rio Grande Village area of the park.  There are two campgrounds in this area  - one with hookups and one without.  We opted for no hookups as it is much prettier.  We decided to stay as long as our batteries held out.  This area is little more populated. We did see other campers and even fellow Excel owners.  We had nice visit comparing notes about our rigs.

There is a very nice nature trail that winds down to the Rio Grande.  Along the trail were some handcrafts left laying out from across the border artisans. No artisans in sight. Hmm , you are not suppose to buy anything as that would be illegal and against trade agreements.  However,  donations were accepted in the glass jar and this little roadrunner has a new home.   Sorry,  I didn't bring the camera thinking I would be back in the morning but the javelinas had other ideas.  On our morning walk, Wodi and I  saw a pack of the these hog- like animals in front of the trail head.  I think we'll leave Mr. Piggies alone and headed back to the homestead.  We were planning on  staying another day but the RV batteries had other ideas.  Due to the colder weather, the heater was running longer causing batteries to deplete sooner than expected.   So we hitched up and left Big Bend. We hope to be back some day.

Those black dots are javelinas!