How About a National Forest Campground

 Double Lake Recreation Area Campground; Coldspring, Texas (about an hour or so north of Houston)

I'm camped in a National Forest campground. Although it's eligible for the senior discount like the COE's, it is a little more expensive. The campground is heavily wooded, duh, it a National Forest. I have an opening to the northern sky for my Starlink since I only have a weak Verizon signal. The tow here was only a little over 100 miles but my cell signal went from 5g UW to one bar. But that is the reason I got Starlink for instances just like this. I like staying in touch. Not like the Hippies,,,, but just in touch.

I took this picture while on my morning walk at Rayburn Park before hitching up. Peaceful

My road picture. The pastures were mostly empty. The set-up was very nice for horses or cattle. There has to be a story as to the lack of animals. A mystery that will never be solved. 

I chose this campground since it is only about 30 miles from the RV dealer where I have reservations for tomorrow to have some service work done. I'll arrive at around 9:00 am and figure to be finished by noon. I'll then head to my next campground that is another 20 miles away. If it all works as I have planned, it should be a good deal. 

My campsite here at Double Lake. It took two 1X8's to level side to side, but that's OK. I doubt I'll ever return, but it is a comfortable campground with full-hookups. 

I had hopes of some exploring this area even if I was only here for two days. Google Maps showed a couple of "observation spots" to see the dam, gates and powerhouse on Lake Livingston. So, with a bottle of water I headed out. I was in for a shock. As I turned into the first spot, there was a sign saying I needed a pass to get to the spot. The pass could be obtained from a gas station/convenience store nearby. I wasn't going to do that simply on principal. So, I drove to the next spot and saw a similar sign. Apparently, all of the "observation spot" were privately owned. I understood the lake was not built and maintained by the Corps of Engineers, but to block access from even seeing the lake was just plain wrong. The only place I was allowed to go was a bust as to seeing anything. I was disappointed. 

I had thoughts about ignoring the sign until I read "strictly enforced". Oh well. 

I got this picture while crossing the bridge on a public road. No Pass needed. 

I was able to get a picture of the San Jacinto County Jail that was built back in 1886. It was still in service until 1980. It's a two-story brick building with the prisoners kept on the second floor and the jailers lived on the first floor. I couldn't get in to see it because was locked up tight. Perhaps it was to keep the spirits locked inside because the online reviews of the place mentioned some weird things. I didn't pick up any bad vibes, so I was cool with the place. It definitely isn't a destination place, but if you're in the area, it is worth a stop.

The San Jacinto County Jailhouse that was in service for almost 100 years. And NO, I did not try out the bench on the right. In fact, I'm not even going to call it out as a thinking bench. 

Tomorrow is moving day and I have my fingers crossed that the service work will be done correctly.

Not much proof reading, so bear with me. 

Ya'll take care of each other. Maybe I'll Cya down the road.   

Rayburn Park; Peaceful COE Campground

 Rayburn Park; on the shores of Lake Sam Rayburn which is about an hour or so north of Beaumont, Texas or for my Yankee friends, about 2 hours northeast of Houston, Texas.

I stayed at this campground two years ago when I ran from cold weather and went to Galveston until it passed. I stopped here on my way back to my homebase. I told myself I would return due to the good vibes I had of the campground. That is why I'm here now on day 3 of 3. Moving day is tomorrow. 

I planned to get here on Friday but due to rain in Manfield (homebase) and also here, I delayed arriving until yesterday after the rain front had moved on. I think it was a wise choice and only cost me the price of one day's stay here which is $14.00. 

I conquered some memory demons two years ago while staying here and I guess their relatives got pissed because they started coming out to play a few weeks before I left on this trip. I'm guessing they smelled the rotted corpses of their kinfolk when I pulled into Rayburn Park since they immediately "hauled ass", probably fearful the same thing would happen to them. It is a great, peaceful, good vibe campground with a nice walking area and an excellent view of the lake from Liberty's back window. If you come, bring what supplies you will need for your stay since the nearest big store is at least an hour away. There is a small store/cafe about 10 minutes away though, for emergencies, including cheeseburger emergencies. It is mainly a "kick-back, relax and let things evaporate from you" type of campground. The hosts are nice and keeps the park looking clean and fresh. 

Lake Sam Rayburn was named after Congressman Sam Rayburn who holds the record as the longest serving Speaker of the House with 17 years. He was in Congress for 48 years between 1913 and 1961. He did a lot for Texas and is deserving of the lake being named after him. The lake is the largest man-made lake located totally inside of Texas. The hydroelectric dam is on the other side of the lake and too far from me to travel to see it. There is another COE campground nearer the dam that I may stay at in the future. 

I guess pictures will finish out this post. It's a nice place to start the trip.

My obligatory road picture for "she knows who".

Campsite #41 with Lake Sam Rayburn in the background. There are a couple campsites that would be better suit for hot summer days, but this time of year, this one is good for me.

 

The view out my back window as I'm sitting at my computer desk. 

I liked the reflection in the door. That door has confused a few birds over the years.

Although I don't use picnic tables very often, This is one of the better ones I've seen. You can also see the pride in the concrete work with 45* chamfered edges. Nice and noticeable. 

A decent sunset. I'm standing on the parking lot of the boat. The campground is behind me about 50 yards or so. 

Nice afterglow from the sunset.

This is the graveyard of the previously vanquished memory demons. I had to stop while on my walk to laugh at them. Good vibes everywhere.

This was a unique set-up in the Tent area of the campground. To me, it looked like a truck mounted tree house. The couple who own it were nice people and we visited for a little while. Happy travels to ya'll. I would call ya'll out by name, but I'm terrible at remembering them. Sorry.

This wasn't from this trip. It was taken after my granddaughter's school play a couple of weeks before I left. She did a great job and since it was a musical, she sang a few songs. She has a sweet voice, that she didn't get from me.  That is her in the middle, not on the left. The woman on the left is my X-wife, current friend. 

Moving day is tomorrow and I'll be heading to a National Forest Campground near Livingston, Texas. 

Ya'll take care of each other. Maybe I'll Cya down the road.

Let's Take a Trip & Random Thoughts

 Location: Heart of Haynesville RV Park (homebase); Mansfield, Louisiana

I've been back at homebase for several months with only a short 10-day trip in late January which I took to escape sub-freezing temperatures. The time has been spent visiting with family over the holidays, going to grandchildren events, consulting with my doctors as well as accompanying my ex-wife during her doctors' appointments. 

I have a few weeks of free time and can take a short trip. As a side benefit, I plan to have some maintenance work done on Liberty while on the trip. The trip will only last a few weeks because I need to be back in the area during June due to my ex-wife's doctor appointment. I guess I need to document her condition for future reading by our grandchildren. I won't go into all of her conditions, since they are extensive. Her latest procedure from about 6 weeks ago was the installation of a Carotid Barostim device. This is a recently approved device that is implanted near your collarbone and connected to the outside of your Carotid Artery in your neck called the "carotid sinus". It is the place where your body collects signals and forwards them to the brain for action. That action could be to increase or decrease blood pressure, pulse or anything from the sympathetic nervous system such as fight or flight reflexes. The barostim device blocks those signals and sends their own. This improves heart functions for those in heart failure. We are still in the wait and see stage as to its effectiveness. They have been increasing its sensitivity every couple of weeks. It is now set to the highest maintenance setting. The doctors' meeting in June will be to discuss a different procedure. That one will be to add a second wire from her defibrillator/pacemaker to her heart. This was attempted a couple of years ago, but that doctor couldn't do it due to poor veins. There is a group of doctors in Dallas who are confident they can do it. If the second wire can be installed, it will allow the two chambers of the heart to work together instead of against each other. It will be a benefit if it can happen. She is about 90% sure she wants to try it, but we will wait until mid-June to talk to the doctors again. The good news is it isn't an emergency type situation.

 Two of our kids live close enough to take her to the doctor and be the "patient advocate", but instead of bothering them, if I'm around, I do it. I'm very familiar with her past medical issues and her current conditions. I'm also not too proud to question the doctors about things. It keeps them on their toes. Just for the record, we were married for 28 years and have been divorced for 20 years. Oh well, old habits are hard to break. 

Anyway, back to the trip. I'll be leaving on May 1st with two stops before a scheduled appointment at Holiday World of Willis located in Willis, Texas. They have several RV Sales and Service locations around Texas and New Mexico so I'm relatively confident that the technicians are well trained. I still have my doubts though. The work I have scheduled is to have the bearings greased on Liberty and have her washed and waxed. I am capable of doing all of that myself, but I also know that if I did, my back, hands, arms and legs would be hurting for several days afterwards. So, I made an executive decision to contract the work out and cross my fingers that it's done right. I'll be talking to the service manager to make sure he knows that I know, what they should and shouldn't be doing. Unless their insurance prevents it, I'm hoping to be looking over the shoulder of the technician doing the work. We will see how it goes. 

This is the route I've chosen. There will be 6 COE's and 2 National Forest Campgrounds. I've stayed at a couple of these places in the past but re-reading my blog I had mentioned about coming back. Either way, it will be good to get away for a while. 

Ya'll take care of each other. Maybe I'll Cya down the road.    

70 Years Old Tomorrow and Memories

 Location: Heart of Haynesville RV Park (home base); Mansfield, Louisiana

As I enter my eighth decade of life, I’ve become a little more retrospective. Lately I’ve been thinking about and remembering people, places, things and ideas. Wow, that was an elementary school year flashback, using the definition of a noun. Oh well, I guess it fits in with my pensive mood lately.

At some point in my life, I went from spending most of my time looking forward and planning my future to looking backwards at my past and what was or what could have been. I’m guessing that break point is when you realize the days you have left are less than those you’ve already used. It becomes a combination of some regrets and some “patting myself on the back”. I don’t think I spent enough time just enjoying the present. That is a life lesson I learned too late. But dang, the present moves so fast and changes constantly. It doesn’t feel that way when living it daily, but when you stop and look, it just zips by you in a  hurry. One minute your children are crawling on the floor, the next you’re helping them with algebra at the dining room table. Turn around again and they are receiving their diploma at graduation before heading off to a life of their own. And that is the combined sad and happy thing, “a life of their own”.

I remember myself as a twenty-year-old planning a cross-country motorcycle trip. I’m about 99% sure I won’t be taking it now. That was a youthful dream. I bought the motorcycle and double checked my plans. The plan was to travel and explore the country during the day and sleep in wooded places alongside the road while using my motorcycle and a tarp as a windbreak/bedroll. There was no time limit on the plan, and I fully intended to do it until I either ran out of money or got bored. But then, like so many times, my plans changed when life got in the way. I sold the motorcycle within a year of buying it. With it being only a year old, it was a quick, albeit emotional sale. Notice I’ve held back 1% on the motorcycle trip because that is another life lesson I’ve learned, never say never and expect the unexpected.

I enlisted in the Navy when I was seventeen years old. That was back in the early seventies when the Vietnam War and Hippie movement were both winding down. Veterans were coming home and being spit on while being called “baby killers”. Active-duty military were encouraged not to wear their uniforms to avoid possible conflicts. Combine that social environment with Watergate and you get a mood that wasn’t very patriotic. Being realistic and looking back on it fifty years later, I know the reason for my enlistment was a combination of patriotism and a sense of adventure. Those four years reinforced the foundation of my life that my parents had started. Honor, truth and respect. Those life lessons have stayed with me to this day.

I stumbled on my first love while I was in the Navy. I was drowning in love and life was great. Then she showed her true colors and broke my heart. I like to believe that she felt guilty about deceiving me, but she probably knew I was wising up to what she was doing. So, after happily swimming in love for three whole months we went our separate ways, and I drowned in heart-break. I had been broken. I hadn’t yet learned another life lesson. When two people are in a loving relationship and one is “living a lie”, that lie only affects the other person when it becomes known. Prior to the lie becoming known, the person only knows the love of the relationship. Ignorance is truly bliss, until the truth is known. Of course, the truth was she was a cheater and a liar. I hope her son turned out to be a solid, well-adjusted man. I pointed him in the right direction, but our time was very short. The odds were against him though, due to the influence of his mother. Maybe she met a stronger man than me who helped turn her life around. Fingers crossed. *** Begin Post-edit. The boy was not mine. He was 3 years old when I met his mother. Someone pointed out the possible confusion in the original post. *** End Post-Edit

Those were just some of my thoughts about a part of my life. I read something the other day that applies here. "If we erase all of our regrets and mistakes in life, we ultimately erase ourselves". That's a bingo, come check my card. 

This blog has never been totally about traveling. I use it sometimes as a way to talk to my grandchildren in the future. Someday, maybe 30 years from now they will read the words I wrote on the day before my 70th birthday.

A blog post needs a picture. Tonight, there will be two oldies, but goodies but are applicable to the subject at hand.

A nice sunrise over the Gulf of America while parked on the beach. I was camped at Mustang Island State Park, near Corpus Christie, Texas. 

Sunset over the Pacific Ocean from a beach near Fort Stevens State Park Campground, Oregon. 

Ya'll take care of each other. Maybe I'll Cya down the road.  

Trip Wrap-up & a Random Thought

 Location: Sam Houston Jones State Park; Westlake, Louisiana (about 10 minutes north of Lake Charles)

Today is day nine of my self-exile to the safe temperatures of southern Louisiana. I head home tomorrow and should be set up in my old RV homebase campground my mid-afternoon. The temperature should be in the low 50's by the time I get there. The electric company says the power has been restored to the campground, but I don't trust them 100%, so we will see. The linemen and workers are great, but the company overall is less than trustworthy. The absolute best question the head shed of any electric company should ask of their linemen/workers is: "If power goes off in your area and you haven't been notified where the problem is located what would be your best guess as to the location". The problem area is usually always the same. Why they don't permanently fix it is beyond me. 

I'll be hitching up tomorrow morning with hopes of being on the road by 10:00. I'll empty my waste tanks while I'm hitching up since I have full hook ups here. I'll also take on some fresh water since the water at my homebase is questionable due to the number of water line breaks. 

As far as my future trips? I'll be staying put through February and then also be close by but on short trips through March and two weeks in April. I'll be hanging close by due to grandkid activities. I plan to be in Louisville, Kentucky in May for my granddaughters' archery tournament. This will be the second year for this event in Louisville. After that, I'm not sure but am leaning to re-visiting Michigan. Every state except for Rhode Island and Delaware would be a re-visit for me. I wish I could access Malia Lane's blog of her travels through Michigan but about a year after she passed away, her blog was erased and her domain name sold. All the work she did and words she wrote for almost 20 years of solo RV traveling went away with a single click. There is a lesson there to learn if you're wanting your grandkids or great grandkids to read what you've written. 

I'm a little tired this evening so I'll just finish the post with a couple old winter pictures and a meme with a thinking bench.

This was at my homebase for a few years ago with the first Liberty and Freedom. I didn't escape that time.

This from a few years ago when I visited Rocky Mountain National Park. Once the road turned white, the temperature dropped below freezing and I could see Freedom's tracks in my rearview mirror, I turned around. Great memory. Big "wow".

Emerson was right. That is something to ponder when you find that "just right" thinking bench.

Ya'll take care of each other. Maybe I'll Cya down the road.  

Tow Boats on Parade at the ICW

 Location: Intracoastal Park Campground; Hackberry, Louisiana (about 15 minutes south of I-10 at Sulphur)

Today is day seven of my self-exile to south Louisiana to avoid the massive winter storm that hit the area of my homebase campground and my house. The electricity at my house where my X-wife and my son, Brandon, lives was restored last night after having been off for five days. It was an experience they would rather not repeat and were glad to be able to sleep warmly in their beds instead of on couches near the fireplace. Thank goodness for the firewood and generator although the generator ran out of fuel on day four. The state highway that runs in front of my RV homebase had been closed since shortly after the storm hit but re-opened yesterday evening. I believe the electricity has been restore to the campground but I'm not 100% sure. I am positive that Liberty would have frozen solid and had many burst waterpipes/fittings. I would have been repairing her for weeks. 

I had planned to return on Tuesday, day 4, but realized too late that the weather conditions were still too bad to return. By the time I made up my mind to extend my stay down here, there weren't any vacancies at my original campground. I was able to find a campsite at a campground I've stayed at before and it is where I'm at now. I'll be here for three days before returning to Sam Houston Jones SP for two days. I'll then head back home.

This campground is located right on the Intracoastal Waterway. It is an old section of the waterway and was built a little more than 100 years ago. The original intent was to build a canal to connect the Calcasieu River in Louisiana to the Sabine River on the Texas/Louisiana border so that cargo could pass between those two navigable rivers without having to get into the Gulf of America. Later it was incorporated into the Intracoastal Waterway (ICW) system which is a waterway system just inland from the coast and runs about 3,000 miles from Massachusetts to the Mexican/Texas border. Of all the places I've camped alongside rivers, lakes and canals, this one is the best at watching the tow boats/barges work. There are at least a dozen tow boats per hour that passes within a stone's throw of my campsite. They work 24 hours a day and you can hear them throughout the night. If you are a very light sleeper, this may not be the place for you. That's OK with me, because that means more vacancies when I return. Also, the daily rate is $12.00 per night for water/electric with a dump station on site. That is an excellent price with a great view.

This is my third or fourth time being here over the last 11 years and I've seen a couple new things this go around. I'll let the pictures with captions finish out the post.

This is just one example of the industry around this part of Louisiana. It is the Citgo refinery and is only one of many, many around here.

This at another refinery on the way here and something like this usually has the extreme environmentalists pulling their hair out. The flame is the fire from the "flair stack". It is used to burn off excess gases that is not needed in the refinery process. It is considered a safety feature.  

This is my site here at the Intracoastal RV Park. You can see how close to the ICW the campsites are located. 

This is the view out my back window and door. The tow boats pass by about every 5 minutes.

The attachment to the front of this set of barges is called a "bow-boat" or "switcher boats" or "bow thrusters". It has an independent engine with either thrusters or propellers that can rotate 360 degrees. They are used for maneuvering when connected to long runs of barges, in tight or narrow channels, for docking and/or to help control the barge combination in high winds. This is the first time I've seen them working before. 

This a zoomed in picture of a "bow-boat" on a different set of barges. They are usually unmanned and controlled wirelessly from the pilot house of the towboat. They can help steer the barges around sharp turns, etc.

I got lucky and caught a nice sunset on the second evening here.

Same sunset as in the above picture just with a towboat.

This is the Lorraine Hooks. She is a 300-foot suction dredge with a 27-inch cutter. This picture only shows about half of the "train". 

The lift bridge had to be raised to allow the Lorraine Hooks to pass under. It was the first time I've used the night shot function on my new phone. I like it.

Ya'll take care of each other. Maybe I'll Cya down the road. 

Hunkered Down at Sam Houston Jones SP

 Location: Sam Houston Jones State Park; Moss Bluff, Louisiana (Just north of Lake Charles in the Southwest corner of the state)

I pulled out of my homebase RV park about 10:00 a.m. on Friday, the 23rd. The massive winter storm hit that night with a fury. By the time it hit, I was safely tucked away in my current campground, but Brandon and my X-wife remained in my house. That was essentially ground zero for the worst possible type of winter storm. An ice storm came barreling out of Texas, through central Louisiana, and eventually stretched all the way to New York City. Yep, New York City, that city where Pace Picante Sauce is NOT made (you'll have to ask a seasoned citizen about that memorable commercial). As it passed through, it snapped trees in half due the weight of the ice and the freezing temperature. These downed trees blocked roads that were being used by the first responders and crazy people who shouldn't have been out and about. The temperature dropped into the mid-teens with alternating rounds of ice, sleet, freezing rain, snow and just plain rain. You Yankees may be used to this type of weather every year, but down here it only happens about every 5 to 10 years. The power at the house went off early in the morning on Saturday and it is still off as I'm writing this post. The predicted restoration time is Tuesday around 7:00 p.m. The number of customers without power in Louisiana is measured in the 10's of thousands.  Brandon and my X are staying warm due to our foresight from 40 years ago to buy a house with a fireplace. They also have a generator that I bought a few years ago. It keeps things charged up and allows power to the coffee pot. They have enough food and water to last for a while, so it has turned into a waiting game for them.

As for me, I rode out one of these storms many years ago in my first RV and knew not to do it again. So, with that in mind, I started looking for a place to go to escape. I chose my current campground, which was far enough south, so the temperatures would only be in the mid-20's with a little bit of sleet/snow. My plan was to return home on Tuesday, which is tomorrow. I underestimated the damage done by the storm and realized late on Sunday that I needed to extend my stay here. Ut oh, I waited too long and there weren't any vacancies in this campground. I searched around and decided to move to a place I've stayed before, Intracoastal Park along the Intracoastal Waterway. It's about 30 minutes away and I'll move there tomorrow for three days then back here for two days before returning home on Sunday. Wow, I'm living it and it sounds confusing.

Anyway, there is always something interesting to learn about a place no matter why you're there. The first question that should come to mind is who the heck was Sam Houston Jones, why is this campground named after him and why did he have such a large impact on my life. That should have made you go, "hmmmm". 

Sam Houston Jones was the Governor of Louisiana from 1940 to 1944. He won the election by beating Earl K. Long, "Uncle Earl" who was the younger brother of Huey P. Long. The Long family, some refer to it as a crime family, controlled Louisiana for 12 years before Sam Houston Jones won the Governorship. I like to believe the people of Louisiana rose up and kicked the crooks (Long's) out of office but that would be wrong as they made a come-back just 4 years after Jones left office. But while he was in office, he made a difference. He started the State Civil Service which I retired from in 2014 (Thank you Governor Jones). Prior to that, the people who worked for the state owed their allegiance to the Governor and got/kept their jobs depending on if "their man" was elected. That meant, the state workforce would turn-over depending on who won the election. Ole Huey Long carried it a step further and required all state employee to "kick back" to Huey 10% of their salaries. Huey had men go around the state on payday to get the money and it went into what Huey called the "deduct box". When Huey was assassinated in 1935 and lay dying on the floor of the Capitol Rotunda, his family and cronies were begging him to tell them where the "deduct box" was located. It was never clear who ended up with the box, but many think Uncle Earl got it. Jones also implemented competitive bidding for state services. Prior to that, the Governor would choose who go what work and for how much. If you guessed the ones who got the work were the ones who paid off the Governor, you would be correct. Basically, Jones started the state down the road to honest relations between the public and politicians. Note, I said started down the road. We're still on that road but we've gotten sidetracked several times over the years but are still headed in the right direction. We are currently on a small detour, but we will see how it all works out. 

I'll get off the history soap box now and post a couple of pictures. 

This campground was re-build a few years ago. The concrete pads are nice if you need to crawl under your RV. Not in this weather though.

I'm in campsite #27 and it surprised me how unlevel it is. It took 3 layers of block to reach level. I haven't had to use so many in a long time. When I come back in a few days, I'll see how level another campsite is. 

Even in the chilly weather, I was able to walk around a little bit. I couldn't find a thinking bench but was able to find two "thinking picnic tables" that overlook a nice, small cypress swamp.

This is looking out from the boat ramp. That old bridge in the background is called a "lift bridge". We'll be passing over it tomorrow on our way to the next campground along the ICW. 

Ya'll take care of each other. Maybe I'll Cya down the road.