12/5/14 Holly Beach

It wasn't really a bad night after all. I had a nice chat with a guy who works for the ferry who will be retiring soon and going full-time. Like many people, he raved about the Rio Grande Valley. I guess I'm going to have to check it out.


I love these birds.
12/5/2014 8:03:11 AM

When I went to board the ferry the gal told me I couldn't take the gas can. :-( So I left and headed to Dennys for breakfast. I tried and tried to get the gas in the rig but that shitty Walmart gas can has some stupid thing you have to hook over the edge of the gas pipe & push hard to open the spout. Well when I'd push hard enough it would also bend the spout & it would leak. A lot. I was getting more gas on the ground & on me than in the rig. I went and got a funnel and used that. I had 4 gal in it and I think I got 2 in before I tired of the whole exercise.  I went in to Dennys, scrubbed off, and treated myself to a Pecan Pancake breakfast.  Not as good as Cracker Barrel's but still yummy.  I headed back to the ferry and gave the gas can to some random guy who actually said no at first then took it. I guess everyone knows how sucky those Walmart gas cans are. I think it was a blessing in disguise, if I'd actually had to use it when I was out of gas, my head would have exploded. I'll get a real gas can somewhere else.


Boarding the ferry.
12/5/2014 10:33:37 AM



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12/5/2014 10:40:58 AM


Aboard the ferry
12/5/2014 10:41:23 AM


This guy was completely fascinated by my rig. :-) He kept asking me questions & taking pics.
12/5/2014 10:41:32 AM


Finally, a little sun.
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12/5/2014 10:57:59 AM

I wandered down a little road I spotted on Google Maps, West Frenchtown Rd., that looked like it might be a good boondocking spot. There were a lot of cars but no people, and ot wasn't obvious where they might have been. There was a lot of trash though and I suspect it might be a party spot on weekends.

A few miles down the road I saw a sign for propane and filled up. $25.  I think it was $25 when I filled up in Farmington last time too.  I was glad to get that done, when I turned it back on after getting off the ferry I could see it was under 1/4 tank.

I rolled into Holly Beach, which at first glance looked way nicer than Magnolia in that there were more houses, a beach gear rental place & rental campers, which lead me to believe there might be some places to eat, etc. There aren't. :-)

The first beach  entrance was too rutted for comfort so I tried another one. I got out and walked it first. The sand was softer and there were signs it had been underwater recently but it was solid enough. I parked pretty far from the high tide line to be safe.  One nice thing is the beach faces south so I thought I might see a nice sunset.



12/5/2014 2:39:35 PM


I'm not sure how flinging your fish carcasses here to rot, stink & draw flies fits into the respect thing.... :-( Holly Beach, LA
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12/5/2014 4:06:10 PM

Unfortunately the fog rolled back in right at sunset so it was kind of a bust. Along with it rolled in a cloud of mosquitoes. It was unbelievable. I must have had a dozen follow me in when I fled inside and hundreds were clustered on the screens. I was spraying raid & repellent & busted out the bugzapper, which they completely ignored. I decided I'd be leaving in the morning. I have bug spray, but when there's that many it's just not enjoyable. Even if the repellent keeps them from landing they're flying all around your head....it's just awful. Bummer, as I had heard such good things about this place.

12/4/14 Magnolia Beach to Galveston

The day dawned foggy and misty again and I decided it was time to to move on.


Big ships passing close to shore.
12/4/2014 12:45:51 PM


The weird cube house at Magnolia Beach
12/4/2014 12:49:54 PM


Huh. Never had hot fried pumpkin pie. And probably never will since I passed this by.  :-)  I think this was in Angelton
12/4/2014 3:33:28 PM

I'm gonna have to vent here a bit. I stopped and got gas at a Citgo on 35 in Alvin TX and it could be the worst gas station I've ever been in.  Number one, the sign said 2.19 "Cash-Card-Reg Unleaded" Which leads one to believe credit cards are the same price. Well, turns out they mean debit cards. It was .10 more per gallon for credit. Which or course I didn't notice till I was done. I usually don't get gas at places like that. I didn't notice as I bolted inside for the restroom. The man behind the bulletproof glass (you always know you're in the wrong place when the cash register is better fortified than some banks) told me the restrooms were outside. I go back out & there's 2 porta potties. Yay. I opened the door, gagged and slammed it shut. Overflowing, with turds on the floor. WTF, over?? I've seen cleaner portajohns at NASCAR races.  Obviously I just went and used my own bathroom at that point. The stench off that portapottie was so bad that I actually smelled it for a while after I left as it clung to my clothes like bar smoke.  Unreal.  I'm going to write to Citgo & complain about the deceptive sign, and in the meantime they'll join Conoco on my list of stations to avoid.

It had been raining off and on all day but as I approached Galveston it began to pour again and the fog rolled in. I had planned to stay at the Galveston Ferry Landing as supposedly parking was ok for 24 hrs.  Well, I got there and it did not look good. It's a small, tight parking lot, which was pretty full of cars.  It took two circuits of the lot before I found a spot I was comfortable shoehorning into. I wasn't happy with it though.  But it was dark & raining like hell, and I was beat, so I decided to give it a go.  I put up the blackout curtains and settled in. I almost left a few times as I was just not comfortable with it and the noise level was pretty high. I was very tempted to ride across and try the other side but I really wanted to ride across in the day and hopefully see something.  Plus I didn't feel up to wandering around in a dark downpour.  Finally around 1 am it quieted down & I fell asleep.

12/1-3/14 Magnolia Beach

I left Kerrville pretty early after a quiet night. I was hoping to make Magnolia Beach early enough to avoid any drama with driving on sand in the darl.  It was a miserable drive. It poured a good portion of the way. I kept *almost* stopping but pressed on. I made a quick detour into Port Lavaca to get gas and was thrilled to see a 7-11.  I'd been carrying some checks around for months and thought I'd finally get to deposit them. Not to be.....I'd found the only one without a Citi ATM. :-(  I found the beach and was amazed at the sand. It was like concrete. I found a spot off by myself where I wasn't parked right in front of someone's house and called it good.  I ran out and snapped one shot, then the rain started coming down again.

 
Parked on Magnolia Beach. The sand is like concrete, no worry of getting stuck.
12/1/2014 12:53:16 PM

The rain came down like gangbusters and the wind was howling. I ended up moving a bit around 10 pm as I couldn't stand the buffeting.  I turned more into the wind and that helped.

The next morning dawned cold, grey and windy.  I took a walk but it was pretty miserable.



12/2/2014 10:32:37 AM



12/2/2014 10:34:16 AM


Plenty of room tho folks still seem to want to park on top of each other. I don't quite get it.
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12/2/2014 10:45:05 AM


Freshly groomed beach. This was softer...I'd be more wary of parking here.
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Signs explaining a lot of history.
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That grey concrete house is cool. Weird, but cool.
12/2/2014 11:28:54 AM


I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw an 18 wheeler drive by
12/2/2014 12:44:07 PM


18 wheeler driving down the beach
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12/2/2014 2:30:01 PM


I didn't think it was quite THAT cold.
12/2/2014 3:03:19 PM

I pretty much just sat in the rig all day and listened to the wind howl, doing a lot of reading.  I needed the rest. The wind finally died down a bit in the evening.

The sun came out for a bit in the morning, giving some welcome amps to the batteries. I had run the generator for an hour last night as it's a new month and I try to run it once a month.  Since there'd been no sun it was a good time to do it.  Since it was almost a nice day I went for a walk.



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Grumpy Bird
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12/3/2014 2:42:36 PM

The sun didn't last long and it got pretty foggy & misty.  I'm pretty sure I'm leaving tomorrow, the forecast for the next few days doesn't sound promising either.

11/30/14 Another day driving through Texas

I knew Doug was in Ft. Stockton but got there too late to meet up. And also knew they'd likely be on the road before I got up.  Tho I got up earlier than planned when this guy fired up his contractor generator.

 
Even if it is Walmart, this is a but rude. Running a Harbor Freight gen at 9am on a Sunday. SMH.
11/30/2014 8:59:05 AM

I did some research and after deciding I was going to try to get to Magnolia Beach/Port Aransas area, I set Kerrville TX as my next overnight stop.  Cracker Barrel here I come.  :-)

I saw a sign saying Fort Laurence Scenic Loop and on a whim got off the highway. Eight miles later I was pulled over in a town called Sheffield Texas wondering where exactly the scenic bit started because this town looked like something from the Walking Dead. When some scary looking dude started shambling towards me I bolted. LOL. The GPS confirmed the fort did exist a few miles further down the road.  The visitor center was being rebuilt and if there's a scenic loop drive, it must be as well as I saw no sign of it. The nice man at the welcome trailer offered to let me use a golf cart to tour the ruins. I told him I'd walk. It was a nice day.


Fort Laurence
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Up the chimmney
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11/30/2014 1:17:44 PM

After leaving the fort I saw signs saying one lane road ahead.


Really??
11/30/2014 1:30:19 PM


Yep. No flagman, just look-and-go as we used to say in air traffic.
11/30/2014 1:30:37 PM


I had a guy on my bumper so pulled into the picnic area to check out the view.  Pretty, but swarming with bees.
11/30/2014 1:34:46 PM


This sign might be more helpful if it were located at the turnoff rather than after the point of no return.
11/30/2014 1:38:09 PM

I got back on the road, and later saw a sign for Caverns of Sonora. I had been tempted by that on the way out but didn't stop. I exited, wondering how far THIS detour would be. It was @ 7 mi. Of course when I got there the next tour wasn't till 4:30. I decided that was too late and left. Next time. I got suckered in one last time about 5 miles from Kerrville. I was climbing a fairly steep hill and saw a sign for scenic view at the top. It was close to sunset so I pulled in. Well, there was no real view and the whole area smelled overwhelmingly of pee. :-(  I got back in the rig and realized getting out of there was gonna suck, speed limit is 75, sight distance is limited because of the hill, and there wasn't a ton of merge lane.  Sigh......  I just floored it and hoped for the best.  That is one nice thing about my rig, it has a lot of power. I can watch the gas gauge drop when I use all of it, but when I need it, it's great to have.

I pulled into the Cracker Barrel. Much to my astonishment, there was a waitlist for dinner. Guess the pickings are slim around here. But I had a big salad and spent the evening catching up a little on blogging. Hopefully I get an early start tomorrow and make it to the beach.