February 8, 2013 by Rae

Checking Out Port Aransas

Thursday promised to be grey, not the best weather to go out gallivanting, but off I did go, leaving around 8AM. I got fuel and then drove straight to Aransas Pass to catch the free ferry to Port Aransas.

One of the goals of this trip was to see what it would be like in an RV and to scope out the boondocking spots. I’d already made the decision not to move Miranda there, but I wanted to know what I would be missing.

The ferry was very tight. I did see a ginormous fiver come off the ferry ahead of me, but I would not feel comfortable taking my rig on there as there is zero room for error.

Port Aransas is bigger than I thought it would be and full of colourful unique storefronts (see the gallery below). First stop was the Marine Science Institute, where there are a few free displays. They sometimes have free educational lectures and movies, too.

I met a wonderful lady traveling from Minnesota. We gabbed for ages and she was delighted that I’ve been through her state a few times and could easily point out her town on a map. We talked a little about my travels and she asked me if I’d ever been to Alaska, wondering how hard it is to get there. I explained that the Alaska Highway is super easy to drive and that there’s no need to over prepare to go north. She actually took some notes. I hope she gets up there some day!

Next, I came upon one of the many RV boondocking beaches in the area. You need to pay to boondock and you can only stay three nights out of every three weeks.

I drove out to another beach south of town. Both locations were lovely, but the ground was very soft and the tides more likely to come up very high. I really don’t feel like I’m making a mistake not detouring to Port Aransas to boondock, but I’m glad I checked it out.

I’d asked S for a lunch recommendation and she told me to try the pizza at The Gaff, so that’s where I went. Woah, what a place… It’s a shack (and that’s a kind way of putting it) with a pirate theme. It didn’t feel too clean and I’m not convinced the pizza maker washed her hands once between everything she was doing. That said, the experience was worth it and the pizza not bad! I was only able to eat a couple of slices and I took the rest with me. I knew it wouldn’t survive the trip to Harlingen, what with the truck sitting in the sun, but I was able to snack on another couple of slices and found that this is a pizza that’s best served lukewarm. I loved the sauce and cheese, the crust was so-so. The server had just started working there and had everything under control. We had a nice chat and she said that I should come on a Saturday night when they have beltsander races! I would never have tried this place had it not been recommended to me and I’m so glad I did!

It was coming on to 1:00 when I came out from lunch, so it was time to move on. Next stop, Corpus Christi.

Aim Low Insurance in Aransas Pass; the name struck me as funny.

Driving towards the Port Aransas ferry.

The road to the ferry is lined with instructional signs for using the ‘ferryboat.’ My favourite was ‘the ferryboat’s capacity is whatever it can safely carry.’

Good thing there is a little boat on the instructions, or I would have serious doubts about my GPS!

Waiting in line at the ferry. I was signaled to go ‘thataway’ with two fingers waving, so I deduced (correctly) that I had to go into the outer lane.

VERY tight squeeze on the ferry.

Leaving Aransas Pass.

Port Aransas

Ferry heading for Aransas Pass

Port Aransas

Desserted Island Ice Cream

Marine Science Institute.

Sculpture outside the Marine Science Institute.

I really enjoyed this display that showed the teeth of sharks that swim in these waters and offered humorous commentary on their diet.

There were a few aquariums with live fish.

Cute grumpy fish.

Nearly invisible flat fish.

Yummy red snapper.

You are so delicious smoked!

More hiding fish.

“Come on, inner peace. I don’t have all day!”

I had never heard of ‘sea beans’ before today. They are seeds that are carried to far away lands by sea currents.

More about sea beans.

A variety of sea beans.

More sea beans.

One of the RV boondocking beaches.

View from one of the RV boondocking beaches.

I missed a turn on the GPS and came upon this. Best store entrance ever.

Second best store entrance ever.

Another boondocking beach.

Sea turtles are endangered.

Rules for boondocking here, including have a permit and stay only three days.

The sand was a little soft in spots.

The Gaff Pirate Bar

I wouldn’t have ventured in this place if it hadn’t been recommended to me.

Decent pizza with good conversation.

January 28, 2013 by Rae

Goliad and Presidio La Bahia

The only thing of note in Port Lavaca is a museum that is closed on Mondays. My own reason for going into town was to mail two packages that could have waited another day or two, so I almost stayed in.

Instead, I decided to take Pam’s advice and go on a drive to Goliad, one of the oldest towns in Texas. Its name is an anagram, minus the H, of Hidalgo, a Mexican priest and leader of the Mexican War of Independence.

Most of the town was shut down, so I just followed my nose to the Empresario Restaurant, a sliver of a building with a warm decor. It had a simple menu with burgers and the like as well as a few Mexican dishes. I chose the cheese enchiladas and was a little surprised that they came smothered in BEEF. I didn’t send it back since the rice, beans, and corn tortilla enchiladas were fantastic. The little beef I took in was nicely seasoned. It’s not their fault that beef does nothing for me. Lunch was gigantic and I wound up leaving a bit of everything (well, a lot of the beef) and I still came out at $9 with the tip! Service was great, too. No regrets on my lunch choice! Amusingly enough, I checked my email on my phone while waiting for my food and there was an email from Pam recommending the fried chicken and iced tea at Empresario!

Then, I found an ATM of the drive-through variety (I got an odd look from a few people because I walked to it). That’s one thing about the US that boggles me; people just about never need to get out of their cars. You have drive through banks (not just ATMs, you can deal with a teller from your car!), drive through pharmacies, drive through restaurants (and not just fast food), and even drive through liquor stores.

THANK GOODNESS I took out cash because a few hours later my credit card was denied at a gas station. Not declined, denied. I haven’t been able to get through to them as the lines are busy, but I did my work around (called the main CIBC number instead of the Visa number) and got an automated message that they were having a problem with authorizations on their credit cards. I thought I might have a security hold, but it looks like the problem has nothing to do with me specifically. Ah, I just got a message from a friend while writing this post and the ENTIRE VISA SYSTEM ACROSS CANADA WAS DOWN THIS AFTERNOON. OMG. Anyway, it’s all restored now and I’m not stranded anywhere!

Next, I walked around the courthouse that features a hanging tree where justice was expediently served. From there, I strolled a block to the post office. I got a really nice lady who told me not to miss Presidio La Bahia, which I was planning to head to. She told me that that and the state park were pretty much the only things open at this time, so that was good info.

It was misting when I got out of the post office and walked the few blocks to my truck, but the weather cleared somewhat by the time I got to Presidio La Bahia. Presidio is my Spanish word of the week; it means fort.

Presidio La Bahia was founded in 1721 on the ruins of a French fort, moved several times, and was restored to its original state in the 1960s. It is now the best preserved presidio in the U.S. Until today, if you had asked me how much I know about Texas history, I would have replied, “Not much.” Now, I know I actually had a very good colouring book out line of it! I knew the general gist of events and the names of the main players involved. Very surprising! Who says you can’t learn anything from a TV mini-series like True Women?

This fort was at the centre of many sieges and battles in the Mexican War of Independence and ensuing Texas Revolution as well as the site of the Goliad Massacre.

The Goliad courthouse.

The Hanging Tree

Goliad Courthouse

Market Street

Another angle of the Goliad courthouse

Empresario Restaurant

First view of Presidio La Bahia

Nine flags have flown over Goliad

U.S., Confederate, Republic of Texas

First Independence (Bloody Arm), Second Republic, Mexican

First Republic, French, Spanish

The nine flags of Goliad

entrance

lobby

The area was settled by tejanos, cattle ranchers.

There was a caste system depending on the mixture of your blood, from pure Spaniard to Indian, African, born in the colonies, and several mixtures and mixtures of mixtures.

There were reproductions of all the flags over the doorways.

The decor felt quite warm.

I like that terra cotta colour that’s close to my dressing room!

List of the men who were killed in the Goliad Massacre.

Distant relative of mine?

The bathroom hallway was impressive!

The Angel of Goliad was the wife of a soldier who saved some men from the Goliad Massacre.

The Angel of Goliad.

Whether the killing of the soldiers was a massacre or not depended on which side you were on!

Santa Anna called the massacre the legitimate execution of outlaws.

The doors are very narrow. You only go through half of one of these.

Courtyard

Looking out towards the main road.

Our Lady of Loreto chapel is the original construction from 1779 and services are still held there! That church is exactly 200 years older than me and in better shape!

Our Lady of Loreto chapel

church bell

statue

Soft music played. You could feel every soul who ever prayed here. Look at that ceiling!

Window.

Arch

balcony

pews

It was possible to restore the fort because of a detailed lithograph that was based on a detailed drawing made by a solider posted at Presidio La Bahia (when it was called Fort Defiance).

Courtyard

The Fannin memorial in the distance (more on that).

the barracks

Life at the presidio. It was a lifetime commitment to remain in the area. Soldiers farmed and ranched. They had their families with them.

Window.

Living quarters with a corner fireplace.

The diet was mostly corn and beef.

Women brought a touch of civilization to the frontier.

Beautiful beamed ceiling in the barracks.

More courtyard.

Lots of nearly identical doors. Which one is the entrance?!

Ah, the one with a little ramp!

Memorial to James Fannin, a leader of the Texas Revolution, and his men who were massacred at Goliad.

OMG, is that an ORANGE TREE??!!

If I had an orange tree, you wouldn’t catch me wasting any of the fruit!

January 12, 2013 by Rae

City Tour of New Orleans

When I come to a big city, I like to take a city tour to get my bearings. I had pamphlets for a bunch of them here in New Orleans and picked the one that seemed to offer the best value, then I searched for online reviews to solidify my choice. I went with the Louisiana Tour Company, offering a three-hour tour for $44 (plus a $5 tip to the driver).

This tour is really a full three hours. They do not count the time it takes to pick up everyone at their hotels and drop them off again as being part of the tour. I was picked up in Gretna on the Westbank at about 1:20 for the 1:30 tour. By the time we’d picked up everybody and payment had been taken, it was well past 2:00. We finished the tour past 5:00 and I didn’t get back to my car in Gretna until 6:30.

The tour offers a general overview of the main areas of the city that are of interest to tourists, including the Central Business District; the French Quarter; and the Lower 9th Ward, the area most devastated by Hurricane Katrina. We also got out of the bus to explore a Catholic Cemetery and took a break for beignets in City Park.

Our tour guide, Eugene, is a New Orleans native whose love and knowledge of his city was obvious. I couldn’t even begin to get into all the information he gave us, from talking about famous landmarks to pointing out little architectural details I would never have otherwise noticed. He was very friendly, professional, and spun a good yarn without sounding like he was full of bull. I’ve been on city tours where the drivers liked to feed cockamamie stories to gullible tourists and this was not the case here.

The best part of the tour was definitely the visit to the Lower 9th Ward where Eugene gave us the scoop on what really happened down there by sharing the story of a man who chose to ride out the storm with his family. This man has returned to his neighborhood and lives in one of the Brad Pitt foundation homes.

The Lower 9th Ward, being the poorest area of the city, is the slowest to come back to life and is still full of blighted homes. But the community that is rising from the ruins appears to be full of promise. The tour companies are not allowed to actually go into the community, as per a federal decree, but apparently the residents liked having the tour groups go through as they made money selling lemonade, cookies, and pralines to the tourists.

We covered a lot of ground today, but I am now well prepared to explore the French Quarter (possibly tomorrow) having seen where the Algier Ferry docks (right in front of Harrah’s) and being armed with a list of good restaurants that won’t break the bank.

Eugene and I had a nice chat about my RVing life on the way back to Gretna and he pointed out a few restaurants I could try, but admitted that he drives into the city to eat as the Westbank options are uninspiring.

I’m really glad I did the city tour offered by the Louisiana Tour Company!

The following pictures are the best I was able to take on a moving bus through glass! I really wish I had been able to get a few good ones of the ginormous magnificent homes along St. Charles Avenue.

The architecture feels very French.

I like the mix of old and new architecture.

This 50-story tall building used to be Shell Headquarters, which have now moved to Houston, Texas.

These bleachers are for the Mardi Gras parades.

Robert E Lee

One of Emeril Lagasse’s restaurants.

The streetcars are good value for getting to some parts of the city. I witnessed a ton of construction going on to prolong this line.

There were Mardi Gras beads hanging from the trees on St. Charles Avenue. I couldn’t believe that nearly eight years ago, St. Charles Avenue was under 16 feet of water.

The owner of this house dresses up his stone pigs for every possible occasion.

A lemon tree!!!

This house that looks like it was cut in half was built on a property line.

This building with a lighthouse sticking out of it is for sale.

US. Marshal parking only!

The Harrah’s casino. Gambling is illegal in the area, so there is no gambling in the casino, only gaming. 🙂

The Riverwalk shopping centre.

Driving down Decatur Street in the French Quarter.

You can rent these hilarious little cars.

These are mules, which are hardier than horses.

The Central Grocery, home of the Muffuleta sandwich.

A statue of Joan of Arc.

One of the many beautiful statues in a Catholic cemetery.

Everyone is buried above ground in New Orleans.

Perpetual care means that extra money was paid in the 18th century for the church diocese to maintain the tombs forever!

This new tomb is a monstrosity, methinks. Some people have more money than sense.

Masons sneaked into this cemetery and built a tomb, but only one person was ever allowed to be interred here.

This tomb is getting a new door.

City Park

This little boy was catching small flat silver fishes.

We stopped at the Morning Call café for refreshments, including beignets and café au lait. I was unable to get service and didn’t really want to eat there anyway since the place did not feel clean.

The New Orleans Museum of Art.

Statue of Beauregard, the guy who fired the first shot of the US Civil War.

The rich parts of New Orleans look like nothing happened. But when you reach the 9th Ward, you see many houses that need repair or to simply be bulldozed.

This is where the levee broke that flooded the Lower 9th Ward.

All those colourful houses were built by the Brad Pitt Foundation. He promised to build 150 homes and 90 have been built so far. To qualify for a home, you had to have a home in the Lower 9th Ward with a clear title. The homes cost $125,000 and up and the residents have a 10-year interest free loan on them, which is about $700 a month in payments. They all have solar panels to reduce the monthly power bills.

The water levels in the Lower 9th Ward rose to over 25′ feet, then settled at 16′, which is the top of the tallest blue post.

June 8, 2012 by Rae

Through the U.P. Along the Shores of Gitche Gumee

I made it to the Soo Ontario!!!!!!!!! I left Thief River Falls, MN, at 5:45AM CST and pulled into my final destination at the Soo (no room at the first inn) at about 9:00PM CST (10:00PM EST). It’s been a very long day, not aided by the fact that the fastest speed limit all day was 55MPH. At least, most of it was through the U.P., the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, a gorgeous stretch of country.

This long day was soooo scenic. I love northern Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Michigan! I went through a little bit of this area between the western and eastern tips of Lake Superior back in ’05 when I did my grand tour of the Great Lakes. I highly recommend making that road trip once in your life!

I really wanted to get across the border tonight to get it done, figuring that a couple more hours waiting to cross and then being interrogated wasn’t going to kill me at this point. So, of course, I only had to wait a minute and I got the nicest Canadian Customs officer I have ever dealt with!

Her: “Where are you from?”
Me: “Lethbridge, AB.”
Her: “My God, dear, what are you doing all the way out here?!” (that is verbatim, LOL!)

I explained that I was coming to visit family. She asked where I crossed and then we had a discussion about the fact that Montana extends into Saskatchewan. Bla bla.

Her: “Did you buy anything en route?”
Me: “I didn’t have time; I just drove straight through.”
Her, handing me back my passport: “Well, you be safe now. Have a good trip!”

No questions about booze, drugs, guns, nothing. She made my day. I wish I could have hugged her. 🙂

Tip: Like at Sarnia/Port Huron and, presumably, Detroit/Windsor, there is a bridge connecting the US and Canada. You will need to have some small change with you as there is a fare. Today, it was $3 both CAD and US. When I crossed at Sarnia/Port Huron in ’05, the dollars weren’t close to par so the amounts were different and I remember opting to pay in US dollars as it was better value!

My destination tonight was the Super 8 motel. That chain is my standby on road trips as it is always clean and sometimes is very nice. But they were full and told me to try the Comfort Inn across the road. I did and blanched when I entered the lobby in my super casual skirt and tee-shirt to discover this is a much more luxurious hotel than I normally stay at. Everyone in the lobby was dressed to the nines and the next person in line with a suitcase had on a business suit. But I was there and the clerk didn’t even blink when she saw me so I figured I might as well inquire about rates even though I was sure I’d be turning around and sleeping in my truck at the casino.

I asked about a single, non-smoking, and was told that the singles were actually mini-suites with king beds, and their least expensive option at $99. What?! Had the Super 8 had room, it would have been $88. What was an extra $11?! I took a room, went back to the truck to get all my valuables, and then hoofed it to my ‘tower’ room. Pictures are below. It is insanely luxurious. I love the shower and that there is a proper work desk. I actually feel comfortable walking barefoot in here.

First order of business was a very long shower, which included a test of all the bath products available. This is such a fancy place that there is both body and facial soap. 🙂

I’ll be heading to bed shortly. It’s 11:15 here, so I’m pretty sure a super early start tomorrow is unlikely. I have another 14 hours or so of driving to do, but it’s all familiar territory, so I’ll get home when I get home.

Driving the truck for such a long day has really made me see my Accents in a new light: I’m not even remotely sore. Moya pretty much drives herself, making her name very appropriate! I laughed when I stopped for gas just before lunch when a guy came up to me and said, “So, how do you like YOUR Ranger?” I looked up and saw Moya’s fraternal twin, a dark green topperless 2000 ‘sport’ Ranger. Not sure what makes it ‘sport’ since it’s not a side step model.

The pictures below are out of order as I finally got my camera pics dumped onto the laptop. So far on this trip, you’ve only seen what I’ve taken with my iPad. Tomorrow, I will see if there’s anything worth sharing from the phone since I didn’t bring the mini card reader adapter. That’s a crazy number of camera options, but I finally learned how to add pics to my posts from the iPad, so I’ve been favouring that camera since I’ve only cracked open the laptop a couple of times.

nice to land here tonight!

I gave a lady toilet paper at a rest area and she felt obligated to reciprocate with a box of Raisinets. Raisins and chocolate, I could not refuse. As for the drink, McDonald’s sizes are ridiculous! But all the sizes were $1 and I wanted a big cold drink. So half the cup is ice, two thirds of the rest is water, and there’s a shot of juice. 🙂

bird near Donna’s RV park

park near Donna’s RV park

lovely bridge in Stettler

the spiral maze

this reminded me of the pingo in Tuk!

looking at the spiral maze from the top of the hill

Stettler sunset

Stettler museum

the Roving Acres + half of Travels With Miranda 🙂

Rugby, ND, the geographic centre of North America

entering Minnesota

the truck ahead of me is one step up from the Ranger, the F150. Same colour as my truck but definitely beefier!

entering Wisconsin, a sorely under rated state

I love the French names in Wisconsin, like Eau Claire and Fond du Lac

It was noon when I hit the Northern Great Lakes Visitor Center in Ashland, WI. I had a nap, then took the time to tour the museum before grabbing lunch and dinner (a Subways sandwich) down the road

Monarch butterflies land in Wisconsin in droves during their migration

more about Monarch butterfly migration

Lake Superior has the largest surface area of all the fresh water lakes on the planet

“The oldest task in human history: to live on a piece of land without spoiling it.” Aldo Leopold

Lake Superior

Lake Superior from a viewpoint where I had my dinner

Lake Superior

I’m a direct descendant of Grosseillers, a French-Canadian explorer of this area

a hole in the clouds after an impressive storm (had I been an hour behind where I was, in Marquette County, MI, I would have had to find shelter because of a tornado warning!)

April 27, 2012 by Rae

Exploring St Charles, Missouri (and the Lewis and Clark Boat House and Nature Center)

Today, I took reader Gina’s advice and drove all the way to historic St Charles, Mo, to visit the historic downtown section as well as the Lewis and Clark Boat House and Nature Center.

‘All the way’ is about 3 miles from where Miranda is parked, at the Harrah’s Casino. 😀

It was cold in the rig today and it promised to be grey and miserable all day, so I decided that since I was up I might as well get an early start and have breakfast in St Charles before going to the museum, which opened at 10. It was only 9:30 when I was done, so I went over to Walmart, also in St Charles, to get a few things and discovered a gigantic Dollar Tree store next door. I have never seen one so big, and it was full of brand name products! The cashier teased me when I told her that ‘all those bags’ couldn’t all be mine, saying that she was watching me toss stuff in my basket like I was touring Ali Baba’s cave! Everything was on the list, however, and I barely had to get anything at Walmart.

I then drove to the historic downtown portion of St Charles, a formerly French-Canadian city that was the last bastion of civilization for the Lewis and Clark expedition. There is tons of free parking down near the boat house, just a block from the southern portion of Main Street.

I read the Lewis and Clark journals about 15 years ago, but I think they would make a bigger impression on me today, so I have downloaded the free Kindle version (readable on my iPad and iPod Touch using the Kindle app) and am looking forward to rereading about their journey now that I have pretty much covered their whole route to the Pacific Ocean.

The museum is small with entry costing $4. This includes a really good National Geographic movie about the expedition that had me glued to the edge of my seat!

After the museum, I walked up to Main Street and walked it from the southern to the northern end and back again, visiting a few shops and checking out the restaurant menus. The Little Hills Winery menu was particularly appealing and quite inexpensive, so I went in, but lunch was rather disappointing. The ciabatta bun was stale and the McCain-type seasoned wedge fries were tepid. The sandwich filling, however, was incredibly delicious and is one I would like to recreate at home! There was a moist and flavourful charbroiled chicken breast topped with thin slices of creamy Brie, two strips of crispy bacon, and a delicious apple and onion chutney, definitely worth the price of lunch.

I got an ice cream for the walk back to the car, made briskly as the sky was starting to spit. It’s now very windy and threatening to storm.

Check out the gallery for more information about my day.

this was a crazy intersection; I had no idea where to go and was so glad I could follow this car!

the Lewis and Clark Boat House and Nature Center

close up of the sign

Mention of St Charles by Clark

Portraits of Lewis and Clark (did you know that William Clark was a flaming red head?)

about Lewis

about Clark

mention of how well managed was the expedition and that only one man died

representation of a stone house at the time

the museum

this razor may have belonged to Lewis

list of articles, including the Lewis’ razor

a page from the Lewis geneology

description of Floyd, the man who died (probably of a ruptured appendix)

“I have been wet and cold in every part as I ever was in my life”–Clark

a little bit about their Shoshone guide, Sacagawea, the wife of a French-Canadian interpreter

about Sacawagaea’s son, the final member of the expedition

About the expedition’s triumphant return to St Charles. The men had been gone for 28 months and were presumed dead.

An hilarious story about a French Canadian interpreter with such poor eyesight that he mistook Lewis for an elk and shot him in the rear!

representation of this man, Pierre Cruzatte

I loved this statue of Lewis and Clark; it seems to capture their spirit

Reproduction of the type of clothes the French Canadian men would have worn (Lewis and Clark’s soldiers all wore military attire. When that was worn through, they made neat leather suits. The image of a roughly dressed expedition party is fictional.)