What Are We Going to Do Here?

February 25 - 27
Beaumont, TX

On our way to Beaumont Debbie and I wondered what there might be to see and do there. As it turned out we could have allowed a few more days here.

We pulled into Braunig Lake RV park early afternoon to a traffic jam in the long two lane entrance! There were 3 or 4 fifth wheels down the outside lane and one in the inside lane leaving just enough room for us to get in off the road. Another fifth wheel arrived behind us and stayed out in road. Before Debbie got out of our RV the fifth wheel in front moved so I pulled up to the end of the driveway, about 3 RV length and stopped. As we got out I noticed the fifth wheel behind us had just pull in enough to get off the road, not up to our RV, and way closer to the office than us. They beat us into the office but since I was in front of them they couldn't go anywhere, so I wondered why they were trying to beat us. When we came out the fifth wheels in the out side lane had moved. An RV was trying to pull into the out side lane but the me-first's fifth wheel was kinda blocking that lane because he didn't pull up. Ops! The RV scraped the corner of the fifth wheel! As we left for our site they were all out looking at the minor damage.

This campground has cement roads and sites with grass seperating the sites. Very nice.


Our patio was actually at our front door. I think thats a first. They also offered breakfast in the morning but we didn't get down to partake.


One site over a couple of guys had a tub of crawdads and were getting a big pot of water ready. They invited us over but we went out for dinner and missed their crawdad feast.

The next day we drove up about 30 miles to the Big Thicket Visitor Center. We learned alot about the local wildlife in the area looking at the displays.


We returned in the afternoon and visited The Edison Museum. It was located in the first sub-station built in the area, now not operating.


And the Energy Museum. It furnished a lot of information on the discovery of oil in the area and the refining process.


The display contained the original well drilling rig use on the first well. the two mannequins told the story of how the well came to be.


We ate dinner out at Papadeaux. It was really good, Debbie had a Tilapia something and I tried the Salmon. The portions were huge and we took half home from lunch tomorrow.

Midland, TX

February 20-22

It was another windy day when we anchored in the Midland RV park. The site was extra wide and a pull through but it was packed dirt. Glad it wasn't raining. The wind blew so hard that night that the awnings on top of the slide outs were flapping and making so much noise we couldn't sleep so about 2am Debbie and I decided to get up out of bed and pull in the slide outs.

The next morning a 5'er was pulling out and it was pulling a one-wheel trailer with a motorcycle on it. This is the same set up that a friend and co-worker was thinking about when he retired, but he built a huge house over looking Lake Oroville in California instead.

Saturday morning we connected with Frank and Shirley, my Aunt and Uncle. They came by our motorhome for a tour and we had a short visit and then they treated us to breakfast at IHOP. After breakfast we returned to our rig and were going to go over to Frank and Shirley's home for dinner later. Unfortunately I began to start feeling sick with what I think was the beginning of a kidney stone moving and we had to cancel. We had to leave the next morning for San Antonio and since it was our longest driving day we didn't try to get back together.


After drinking a lot of water and a couple of days I am feeling pretty good again.

The Alamo and Riverwalk

February 22 - 25
San Antonio, TX

We arrived at Braunig Lake RV Park located a short distance south of San Antonio, TX late in afternoon. The weather was mild, around 68 degrees, and again windy. Monday we loafed around in the morning and then went out for a late lunch and some shopping. Where else, WalMart.

On Tuesday we drove to The Alamo. Debbie is walking into a side gate.


Inside the gate this vine covered walkway led to the front of The Alamo.


Inside the Alamo were several displays containing artifacts found at the Alamo site.

The grounds around the Alamo are planted with lawn, shrubs and trees and are enclosed by a stone wall. We enjoyed a walk through it.

After The Alamo we walked over to the Rivercenter Mall which sits right on the Riverwalk.

Riverwalk is a beautiful area centered around the San Antonio River. There are sidewalks on each side of the river and restaurants and some shops boarder the other side of the sidewalks. There are no railing along the river side of the sidewalks.

Small boats operate up and down the river ferrying tourist. The Riverwalk is below street level and each street has stair access down. There are also bridges that allow you to cross to the other side.

Almost all of the thousands of restaurants have outside dinning tables.


We walked a mile or so along the river and at some points had to squeeze through other tourists being careful not to fall in the river. The temperature climbed to 83 degrees but the wind kept it nice. It was lunch time all of the outdoor tables were full. We had a late breakfast so that was fine.

There were six missions established along the river to the south and we left Riverwalk and headed toward Mission San Jose. The Missions were walled to protect against Indian attacks, both Apache and Cherokee. Here is the walk to the main gate. On the right is a domed bastion which had small bore cannon holes at the bottom and rifle holes along the top. From these bastions the wall could be defended.


Just inside the gate, the stone church building came into view.

Stone arches still survive where the living quarters for the church staff once existed. A stone well in the foreground.


This Mission's baroque decoration on the front served as visual assistance in communicationd the concepts of Christianity to the natives. The Hearts, Crosses, Shells, etc. all had symbolic meanings.