We will be at Rainbow’s End RV park until Wednesday. We’re not sure if we will head to Austin or Galveston and will decide our route in the coming days. We’re in the Piney Hills region, and the pine trees and reddish soil reminds us of when we lived in Florence, South Carolina. And like Florence, there are fire ants – reddish ants which have a nasty bite if you disturb their hill/mound. Unfortunately, Sadie did just that on Wednesday and we both got bit getting them off her legs. Needless to say, we are much more careful where we walk.
While we’ve noticed cultural changes along the way (more cowboy hats and pick-ups), we are always surprised to see guns carried in the open. For example, today at lunch a guy at another table is wearing shorts and packing a Glock on his hip. Sadly, dogs are allowed to run loose, without collars (or owners). It’s strange to seem several dogs hanging around restaurants, staying out of our way. At least they are street savvy and don’t appear to be starving – but it is difficult to witness.
We hope everyone enjoyed a safe and Happy Thanksgiving day holiday. We had an early, simple Thanksgiving dinner of roasted chicken breast, mashed potatoes, stuffing & sweet potatoes (we should have included something green). Sadly, being away from home, it just felt like another day. To liven things up, we took Sadie and headed to Houston for the afternoon. We figured the traffic would be light due to the holiday and it was – unfortunately, the people on the roads drove like nuts, racing in and out of traffic. We were glad to have the Jeep vs. Zephyr.
The first thing we noticed upon arriving in Houston, is the large homeless population. We thought OKC was bad, but Houston is much worse. Definitely heartbreaking to witness, especially on a holiday. Downtown Houston is huge and we were grateful not to deal with traffic. We drove through the historic, business, and art districts but we were not compelled to walk around these areas… I guess we’re just not “big city” folks.
One of our destinations was the Waugh Bridge Bat Colony at Buffalo Bayou Park, about two miles west of Houston. An estimated 250,000 Mexican free-tailed bats call the bridge home. Unlike other Texas bat colonies, a large population of the bats do not not migrate south during winter months. The bats emerge nightly (around dusk) to stretch their wings and feed on area insects. We made it to the Waugh Bridge before sunset and hung out at the bat observation platform, waiting for the excitement. Unfortunately, it was a windy, chilly evening and that bats did not come out to play.
While at Buffalo Bayou Park, we admired the “Dandelion Fountain” named for its shape & design. We took the walking paths along the river and came across the Johnny Steele Dog Park, a two-acre site which includes a pond, shade structures, dog washing areas, benches, and drinking fountains complete with spigots for dogs. There are also walking paths within each area (designated for large or small dogs). Sadie enjoyed the dog park, as long as she could see Fester or me.
We seemed to laze about yesterday. It was a mild, sunny day and we explored the RV park. We also met a few of our neighbors and enjoyed hearing about their travels. Ron and Ray are a couple of retired brothers from Lake Tahoe who started their trip about two months ago, not knowing anything, I repeat anything, about RVing. They are having a blast, learning along the way and they don’t plan to stop anytime soon.
Today I started oiling the wood in the bathroom. The wood has lost its luster and appears dry and dull. I applied one coat of Tung oil on half of the bathroom walls and will follow up with a second coat tomorrow. Since the entire coach will benefit from an oil rub, I will tackle one small area at a time. It is satisfying work because you can see the results immediately.
Skunky and Fester - The Next Chapter 