Grand Isle

The J/Kat and I seem to keep finding places that are more remote than anything that I have previously done. If you look at a map of Louisiana you will see what I mean. A non-discriminating look will tell you that you can drive across the bottom of the state through New Orleans and Lake Charles and you will have seen southern Louisiana. A closer inspection will reveal some out of the way places down in what may be the marshes, swamps, or bayous. Grand Isle is out beyond that. As you can see on the map it’s one peninsula west of the Mississippi Delta, passed the last oil rig service area, turn left and “go straight on till morning”, or about 20 more miles. I can’t recall the miles but it must be 60 or 70 and about a 2 hour dead head each way. Most of it was along the LaFourche (I think) canal. Anyway it was some canal. We didn’t stop anywhere along the canal mostly because of the parking; we just wouldn’t fit in most places. So I don’t know much but I think this was mostly a canal that would serve the fishing and fishing related industry. There were lots of what appeared to be fishing, shrimping, or crabbing vessels. My best guess anyway. Then as we got further south and east we were driving on nothing much more than a sandbar. But finally we did get to Grand Isle.

Grand Isle is both a city and state park, and of course we stayed in the state park. Louisiana has pretty nice state parks and this was no exception. It may even have been better than most. So we had all the usual amenities and were only a few hundred feet from the Gulf. The weather was great and we had some good walks on the beach and got a little sun. Yeah and it felt goooood!!!!! We met an Oregonian in passing and a little bit later he (Len) came down to invite us to a barbecue they were having with a few friends. We agreed to come and bring a little dish. When we got there, there was a crowd of 30 or so folks and Len was fixing enough ribs and pork roast for all. We found out that he and his wife had come down after Katrina to help and stayed on a while. Friends and all were very nice folks. I talked to the Postmaster of Grand Isle and she filled me in a little on the community. It’s not as robust as it once was apparently. Not enough to do for the younger generations. It really is pretty much just a retirement community and apparently health care is difficult because of the long drive, so the older folks are moving out and not being replaced as in the past. I also learned the Post Office is just as screwed up here (New Orleans) as it is everywhere. We had some laughs and stories to share. Fun!, but that is too big a subject to cover here.

Grand Isle was good and I’d have to say I’d go back if circumstances were right.

Betty's RV Park

At Sam Houston Jones State Park in Louisiana we met a couple who had been to Grand Isle and I quizzed them about it. They learned that we were going to try Betty’s RV Park on the way and mentioned they wanted to go there but couldn’t fit it in to their schedule. They asked if we would call and tell them about it. I said I’d rather do email. This is what I wrote to Guy and Peggy.

We got there OK after a couple of wrong turns due to faulty navigation{not my fault). I know you've been through Louisiana before so you know that the roads are awful in places. From Sam Houston Jones to Betty's they were pretty bad most if not all of the way. The park is small and crowded. My former stick built house was on a 3/4 acre lot and I don't think Betty's is that large. And she put 15 RV's on it. We were parked in the driveway so the step came out into traffic. It wasn't necessarily unsafe for us, with reasonable care we weren't going to get run over, but we couldn't tie out the cat. And we had virtually no space, no picnic table, no nothing. I might have had 2 or 3 feet in front and behind the coach to set out a chair. Some units were side by side with a little room but I wouldn't want to park where I was for very long. We did have cable TV but no sewer, and no shower/bathhouse. (Most sites did have sewer and we knew we would not) That's pretty much the bad news. I'm sure I could have taken a chair some place not right under someone's window and done a little, whittling, reading, or just sit in the sun, but it would have been nice next to my rig.

Here's the good news. Betty and all her guests were just great. Betty was right out when we got there and helping us set up and get squared away. She told us there was a social hour every day at 4:00 PM and there was. Everyone including Betty was there. Some of the ladies (not to be discriminating, but in this case it was just the ladies) brought finger food and we all sat around and talked for an hour or so. Very nice and I think it was pretty much the case that this was one big happy family. I know that RV'ers in general are a friendly group and these folks epitomize that. Most have been there a while and are back regularly. We were made to feel most welcome. On our second night someone suggested dinner out, so Betty took a head count and made reservations. My impression was that this is kind of routine and that Betty has considerable clout in making reservations. That I suppose is just good business, but it was effective! This night we went to Dupuy's and had some excellent seafood. There were several good eateries and some other things in the area to do. We walked Abbeville Square and visited the catholic church and cemetery which was interesting. There are swamp tours and Tabasco factories to tour, lots of fishing, and much more according to Betty and her people. The day we left the group was going to a nearby town ( ? ) for breakfast. I think that something I read about Betty's had it right. This is an RV park about Betty and her people, not an RV park about RV sites.

We enjoyed our stay and may or may not go back. But I think that speaks more to us than to Betty's. Maybe we're just not as social as some. We would have liked a little more elbow room. And if I do send this to Betty like I promised, I would add that maybe once a week she could have a "Welcome" social hour. A time to introduce the newcomers to the regulars with introductions and all, and go over some of the things to do and places to do them.

Randy and Kat from Sam Houston Jones

PS.

If you need a haircut make certain you go to Mouton Cove down hwy 82 and visit Sam's barber shop. Sam is Sabrina MacDonald who named her shop using initials because she thought men might not come in to a lady barber. She is a kick and a great barber!

Lake Livingston

This was really two stops. The first was at the Lake Livingston State Park where we rode our bikes and I did a little fishing to no avail. You can see the result of my efforts above. But it was a pleasant few days on the waters edge and it was a pretty good size lake. You good see across most of it, but it had to be a very clear day.

The second stop was at the Escapee’s RV Campground just a couple of miles away. Escapee’s is one of the larger RV clubs in the nation and we wanted to give it a try. They have campgrounds, a magazine, arguably the best mail forwarding service in existence, trip planning service, emergency road service, RV insurance, all the regular stuff. What sets them apart are their campgrounds. They have the CARE Park here in Livingston, Rainbow parks, co-op parks, and just your everyday discount park. It’s the Care Park here that is unique. It’s called Rainbows End. They offer a place to park your RV and receive a level of adult day care when needed. It’s not a nursing home but it is a place to recover from an illness or surgery, or just because. They offer meals and one or two nurses in the facility. Most of the care is given by volunteers who receive a free RV spot for their efforts. There is a fee attached but its not prohibitive like a commercial facility would be. We took the tour and it is very nice. Something for us to consider 40 or 50 years down the road. Co-op parks are owned and operated by individuals who then either stay in their deeded lot or rent it out as they see fit, and Rainbow parks are available for daily, weekly, or monthly use. In addition to that there are parks all over that offer a 15% discount to SKiPs.

Most of the Escapees tradition is centered on social interaction of members. There are rallies, chapters by state and area, Birds of a Feather groups (BOFs), and just a plain old ‘get togethers’. In Livingston there was social hour every day at 4:00 PM. They had us up everyday telling them something about us. It was an introduction or an explanation of your tee-shirt or something, i.e., I explained my Oregon Fish and Wildlife shirt. Maybe even more than usual, SKiPs are a real friendly group of RV’ers. So we liked what we saw and had so much fun we decided to join.

Pedernales Falls

Another ‘Hill Country’ park in the mold of South Llano. But no turkeys and I didn’t try fishing. We did some walking and biking but we still prefer South Llano.

Nothing much to report here. We fed the birds, had a three point buck as a regular visitor to our campsite, J/Kat saw a bobcat, and J/Kat and Jade might have seen a badger. That’s their story, they’re sticking to it, and I believe it. I, (that’s a big capital I) left the camera sitting on the bench at the Pedernales Falls overlook but it was still sitting there when we walked back to get it. I would like to tell you that that means there are no thieves in Texas, but it really just means it wasn’t a very busy day at the park.

And they had bird blinds too.

Lady Bird at Fredericksburg

When I came through here in 2004 I thought Fredericksburg would be a nice place to stay for a while. It’s a German community with a real Texican influence or maybe a Texan community with a real German influence. Lot’s of German shops and restaurants. Anyway, I put it on our itinerary as a good place to stop. We stayed at Lady Bird Municipal Park which has an RV park (which we of course used) and golf course (which I didn’t use). It was also time to do the laundry, one of those chores which isn’t so automatic and easy with this lifestyle. But we found a nice ‘washateria’ near a hospital so J/Kat did the laundry while I walked up to the hospital to get my quarterly blood draw and lab testing. They faxed the results to PDX so I’m good for another three months on the labs. We won’t make it that long on laundry.

Fredericksburg was OK. We walked the main street and did all the antique shops and German stores. What we didn’t do was go to a German restaurant. Nothing just jumped out at us and said ‘eat here’. Oh well! I did pick up lots of pecans in the park.

And of course Lady Bird was Lady Bird Johnson, President Lyndon Baines Johnson’s wife and First Lady in the 60’s. Johnson City and the Johnson ranch are not too far east of here. Nothing’s perfect everywhere! Even Texas had its undesirables.

South Llano

Our next stop on the Texas tour was South Llano River State Park. South Llano is in what is called ‘Hill Country’ in Texas. I suppose it’s an apt description as far as it goes. It’s largely rolling savannah dotted with Pin and Live oak, juniper, and pecan, and it is semi-arid. The little I have read indicates it’s not the hill country it was 150 years ago. It’s been overgrazed to the point the ‘long’ grasses are nearly gone and have been replaced by the ‘short’ grasses and juniper (ash cedar). But if you’re asking me what that means in the great scope of things, “I don’t have a clue”? I did read that Llano County is known has a ‘deer factory’. In fact it has the densest population of white tail deer in the U.S. That’s one deer for every two to three acres. That’s too many deer and also not healthy for the eco-system. But it seems fine to me and I’m not going to chain myself to a stump until changes are made. I rather like it the way it is! Land for the park was donated by a Walter Buck who was apparently quite the animal guy. He had some exotics imported and a few still roam the park area. I saw an African Black Buck antelope and two doe on one occasion. They were impressive! The park also happens to be a major nesting ground for Rio Grande wild turkey. We were regularly treated to herds of deer and gangs of turkeys. (OK it escapes me. Gaggle, covey, herd, swarm, clutch, flock, pod; crap I give up? Bunches of turkeys! And Jade loved watching the turkeys!

‘Hill Country’ is also home to a variety of birds. The park has several blinds built for observation. They have made glass fronted enclosures in rather secluded areas for bird watching. They have benches and even some old theater seats in a couple of instances. And all the blinds had bird books and pictures posted to help identify bird varieties. Being the bird watchers we are we really enjoyed it

So South Llano has now become one of our favorites. I didn’t mention that there was trout fishing in the Llano River and I had some luck there. Texas offers free fishing in their state parks. So the fishing and catching has influenced my rating. We liked it to the point of getting a Texas park volunteer application form. I haven’t filled it out completely yet. But I will.

Balmorhea

We did spend one night in New Mexico at an RV park in Deming but our intent was to get to Texas. Mostly because we really like it (that might be more me talking then J/Kat) but also because when last in Texas we found that the state sold annual park passes to cover entrance fees and they included some discount coupons for overnight camping. We knew we might not get our monies worth the last trip but we decided to take a chance. This trip we have made up the cost of our pass and then some.

But before we did we almost got blown off the road in Van Horn TX. The wind was strong enough to make it tiring to drive so we pulled into a Wal-Mart. It was also a long way to anything else because, “well, it’s just is a long way to anything else in west Texas”. The security guy met us and told us where to park and to go ahead and put down your jacks and put out the slides. It’s a nice feeling to be greeted like that. One of the reasons we spend a lot of our money at Wal-Mart. I think we guessed we spend more than half of any money we spend at grocery, hardware, or so called ‘dry goods’ stores at Wal-Mart. They also have lots of parking and of course most everything we need including an RV section and good prices. It’s enough to say as RV’ers we like it and we occasionally spend a night! So J/Kat shopped and I didn’t.

The next day in sunny calm weather we made it to Balmorhea. Its claim to fame is a huge swimming pool built by the CCC (Civilian Conservation Corps) in the 1930’s. It goes from 3’ to about 30’ deep and is fed by a warm spring which keeps the water a constant 70 something degrees. Very nice and it may have been sunny and calm but I didn’t say warm, so we didn’t do any swimming. Besides that it had lots of fish that nibbled at fingers and I didn’t want to be the only person in the water available for nibbling. There were some scuba divers testing equipment or something. According to the Ranger they do use the pool for scuba classes and diver certification quite a bit.

So we’re back where we belong in the winter making a good case that we are not your typical “snow birds” but rather “winter Texans”.