Some Reservations Locked Down & "A Sign"

 Location: Heart of Haynesville RV Park; Mansfield, Louisiana

The picture above is the proposed route for my trip that should begin on January 2nd. It is a little different from the route I put up on my last post. I have reservations for stops 1, 2, 3, 6, 8, 9 ,10 and12. The non-red numbers on the map are not campgrounds but are just fictious stops so the red line indicating my route will be somewhat correct. For example, if I didn't add fictious point #7, my trip router would have me going through Houston instead of along the Bolivar Peninsula and Ferry. I changed my first stop from Toledo Bend SP to Mill Creek (Corps of Engineers) campground. #'s 2 and 3 are at Sam Houston Jones SP and Intracoastal RV Park. I've stayed at both of those in the past. I'll use them as base camps to see my oldest son's family, some basketball games that my oldest grandson will be playing and to take a day trip east to visit with my sister. The trip to my sisters will be along the marshlands of south Louisiana and I'll pass through the area where Elon Musk is planning a large Spaceport at Pecan Island. 

Stop # 6 will be Sea Rim State Park on the Texas Gulf Coast near where the Sabine River flows into the Gulf. The campground has been on my list for a while. I have stayed in Port Arthur before and explored this area but never stayed in the campground. It is pretty isolated but is supposed to have some great hiking trails and I'll re-explore the Sabine Pass area.  #8 is old reliable Galveston Island State Park. As usual, I will visit the children from the 1900 Hurricane just to let them know they haven't been forgotten. #9 is Magnolia Beach which is free beach parking, so no reservations are needed. I intend to explore Port O'Connor while there and hopefully walk to the end of their jetty. The jetties protect the entrance to Matagorda Bay and the Port of Port Lavaca. I hope to time the jetty walk with an ocean-going ship either entering or leaving the port. It should be a nice day of exploring. I hope the weather cooperates since I won't have electricity while camped at Magnolia Beach. #'s 10 and 12 are Goose Island State Park and Mustang Island State Park. I've stayed at both of these before so there will either be repeat explorations or just relaxing on the beach. The beauty of Mustang Island is you can drive right onto the beach from the State Park. Within a few minutes you can find an isolated place to park and meditate or ruminate, your choice. That's the end of the reservations for now. I'll make another post once I firm up a few more reservations. I know I'll be heading inland from Mustang Island, just unsure of the direction.

My granddaughter was one of four students chosen to sing at a large gathering on the Boardwalk of Bossier City along the Red River. The weather was perfect and she sang great. 

My daughter took a picture of me, Olivia and Nate to memorialize the moment. I felt the presence of their grandmother as the picture was being taken. It also looks like I need to put on about twenty pounds since I'm looking a little gaunt.

As most of my readers are aware, my X-wife and the mother of my three children passed away at the end August. She passed in the late afternoon surrounded by her three kids, me and her sister. My youngest son, Brandon, made it home from the hospital just before dark. One of his habits, on a clear night, is to sit on the back patio and look at the stars. There is a streetlight on a power pole located between our back yard and the neighbors. To block that light from interfering with Brandon's stargazing, he places a rug over the back of a patio swing set. After settling in and kicked back, Brandon was surprised when the streetlight went off. It stayed off the entire night. That had never happened before or since. It came back on the following night. With it being the night of his mother's passing, we like to believe it was a sign sent to him from her telling him that everything is, and will be, OK. She knew he would be there because they had lived together for the last 10 years of her life and had seen him on that patio hundreds of times. Just the simple turning off of a light, gave him a sense of peace and connection. 

Signs are everywhere; all you have to do is look.   

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