Gulf of Mexico - a Day at the Beach

Friday, February 26, 2010

I simply cannot believe how dumb some people really are.  We were awakened this morning by the loud voices of our neighbours from Kansass.  There were four couples travelling together but unfortunately we were placed between them. Our site for the last few days has been a beehive of activity as people passed around and through it.  Anyway that all ended about 6:30 this morning when they started hooking up their rigs to leave.  It seemed that they had to do everything together and they were totally oblivious to the time of day.  Jerry managed to fall back to sleep for a short time, when we were again woken by the sound of the neighbour’s motor home alarm.  The siren continued for about 10 minutes while the dolt tried to figure out how to silence it. When he was successful that only lasted for a few minutes before it sounded again., and again for another 12 to 15 times. This continued off and on for about an hour.  Janet overheard the fellow talking to his buddy saying that he didn’t know how to turn it off.  Not that she was eavesdropping – they were outside our bedroom window. (The sites are only 18 feet wide!)  Apparently it was something on his key fob…go figure.  They spent the next couple of hours trying to close one of the slide rooms on a different unit (this is a relatively new brand of rig called  Open Range, which has individual electric motors operating the slide rooms independently – not good advertising for this unit.)

We waited for these folks to get away before we ventured out.  We then drove  the 27 miles to South Padre Island.  I don’t know what I was expecting when I got there but I wasn’t expecting the well established tourist resort that is here.  High-rise hotels, condos, restaurants, gift shops and surf shops; they all run along the main street that stretches for about a mile to the edge of the developed area.  The road then continues north outside of town with the Gulf of Mexico, just to the east occasionally obscured by huge sand dunes and on the west is the Laguna Madre and the intercoastal waterway.  There are about 6 access points to the beach before you reach the end of the road and the unofficial start of the South Padre Island National Seashore.  There are many vehicles driving on the packed sand of the beach, although we chose to walk in from the road. 

Janet was like a little kid when we got to the ocean.  She had an armful of seashells in a few minutes and I was back to the truck to get what turned out to be the first of two bags for the shells.  The day was perfect, bright sunshine with a temperature around 22 degrees Celsius.  The water was a little cooler and we didn’t see anyone swimming; but there were a large number of surf fishermen.  We didn’t see them land any fish, though. We spent about an hour and half on the beach collecting shells and soaking up the sun.  We saw a few trailers and motor homes parked along the beach.  I suppose these would be great places to camp but we have gotten used to running water and electricity in our trailer.

We crossed the bridge back towards Brownsville and stopped in Port Isabel.  This is small community that also caters to the tourist trade.  The town centres around the lighthouse which was constructed in 1853 and was used until 1905.  It’s light could be seen 15 miles out to sea.  We climbed the 74 steps and the three ladders to the light room and took a number of pictures from the gallery looking toward South Padre Island.  We roamed around the dock area for a little while and then headed back to our trailer.

 

Brownsville Texas

Monday, February 22, 2010 to Thursday, February 25, 2010

We have spent the last few days relaxing around Brownsville partially, because the weather hasn’t been that great.  When we had arrived on Sunday, the weather was really nice with a temperature around 20 degrees Celsius.  We were finally able to get shorts on and we thought we could finally put our sweaters away.  Wrong!  Monday morning was nice but the afternoon clouded over with the arrival of a cold front from Canada.  It started to rain Monday evening and continued off and on till Wednesday.  The temperature on Tuesday night dropped to about 4 degrees Celsius with a strong north wind. When I say strong it was gusting at times to 35 mph with sustained speeds of 30 mph.  It certainly got the trailer rocking.  And the 4 degrees…well we broke the all-time record low temperature.  But it is an el Nino year so this is what we can expect as we go forward; crazy weather – just look at the weather in BC for the Olympics.

What can I say about Brownsville.  The population is over 90% Hispanic.  Almost all of the signs in the stores are in Spanish.  When we were in a Wal-Mart a couple of days ago there was an announcement over the PA in Spanish, only.  We waited for the English announcement but none came; we both remarked on this.  The local TV anchors are almost exclusively Spanish and the Spanish names roll off their tongues so easily.  And the news lately concerns Matamoros, Mexico; the city just over the Rio Grande River from Brownsville.  There have been numerous kidnappings and shoot-outs in the streets of Matamoros between drug-lords and law enforcement.  It has become so bad that the US government has issued a travel advisory for American citizens against unnecessary travel to Mexico.  The police forces on the American side have been put on heightened alert and the Border Patrol have increased their presence in the area.

As we drove around some of the rural roads near here we ventured toward the Rio Grande River.  As we got closer to the river we saw a high steel barrier close to 20 feet high.  The steel posts are spaced very closely and are topped by a sharp point.  There is no cross bars within the top 10 feet for anyone to connect a rope.  We heard on tonight’s newscast that this is called a border wall and is an effort to keep the “bad guys’ out.  And there are numerous reports of drug seizures including a travel trailer caught at the highway checkpoint near Kingsville, just north of here.  We also heard that a tanker truck had been seized full of marijuana.  Now that is a lot of smoke!

Corpus Christi to Brownsville or Searching for Citrus

Sunday, February 21, 2010

We left under a drizzly, cool sky for the short drive down the coast to Brownsville. The farm fields around here have been ploughed and disked but the fields are covered in water.  They have had so much rain here…February has had four times the normal rainfall for the whole month.  The terrain here is very flat almost like it is around Winnipeg.  As we passed through Kingsville the land became much more rocky and covered with scrub brush and small trees.  The east side of the highway is dominated by the King Ranch, this is the largest ranch in the Texas at 825,000 acres, larger than the state of Rhode Island.  This is definitely cattle country.

We were still about 60 miles away from Brownsville when we saw some flashing lights ahead of us.  As we approached, we could see that the other side of the highway had been narrowed to a single lane and some traffic had been pulled over to one side.  This was a US Border Patrol checkpoint, checking for drugs and illegal aliens.  As we proceeded on our side of the highway there was an array of about 40 infrared cameras aimed at the vehicles on this side of the highway. 

We arrived at the Rio campground just after noon and the sun had finally come out.  When we pulled up to our spot we were besieged by a lot of old people wanting to help to get us parked.  For an old person in an RV park this is a golden opportunity for some excitement.  Some will just come out and watch but for most they have to get involved with parking the new people; as if the new people had never, ever parked an RV before.  As I said, there has been a lot of rain here and the sites are really wet.  The wheels of the truck and the trailer have left deep ruts in the ground, just waiting to fill with more rain which is predicted in the next few days.

After a quick bite to eat we were off in search of citrus.  Specifically oranges. The temperature had risen to about 22 degrees Celsius and we were finally able to get shorts and sandals on.   We pulled out of the campground and headed east having heard that oranges are sold everywhere along these rural roads.  We had only driven a couple of miles when we saw a barricade in the middle of the road.  It was another Border Patrol, checking traffic. The guard was about to wave us through, but I rolled down my window to ask him where we could get some oranges.  He directed us back to Boca Chica, where we found a couple of old beat up half tons with the beds almost overflowing with oranges and corn. The Mexican spoke broken English and my Spanish consists of maybe 3 words, but we finally purchased about 19 pounds of oranges for $7.00.  We also bought 4 ears of corn for $2.  We were looking forward to fresh corn on the cob for supper.  What a disappointment.  After we had cooked the corn I had slathered it with butter only to almost break my tooth biting into it.  I might just as well have saved all the energy cooking it. It was totally inedible. This certainly isn’t the same kind of corn we get at home.  I wondered afterwards if this corn is perhaps taken off the cob to be used for tortilla shells or something.

Mammals and Birds Steal the Show at the Aquarium

Saturday, February 20, 2010

We arrived at the Texas State Aquarium, just after the 9:00 AM opening.  They have set up the displays and viewing windows so that they are fairly low, at a child’s eye level.  Like so many zoos and aquariums that we have seen there is a very heavy emphasis on education, and this aquarium does an exceptional job throughout.  Their displays almost always includes an ecological or educational component.  Throughout the day they conduct “chats” where a biologist will talk about a particular species.  We saw the river otter chat and the sting ray chat.  The sting ray apparently has a sharp, nail-like barb on the end that it uses as protection.  It is made of the same material as a finger nail.  At the aquarium they remove this barb so that guests will not be injured in the pool.

The Dolphin show features 3 dolphins and their trainers.  Of course they wouldn’t do these tricks in the wild but the training treats really help to shape their behaviour.  They are able to clear the water surface by almost 10 feet.  Wild Flight features a number of raptors in free flight over the audience.  Again they are doing this for the food reward but they are still majestic in flight.  It became very apparent that the trainers and the dolphins have a close relationship

There was a couple of common themes here; neither the dolphins nor the raptors are fish and all the mammals and birds came to the aquarium as a result of rescues and rehabilitations OR were bred in captivity.  None of these animals can ever be released back into their “natural” environment as they just wouldn’t survive.

There is a break-water that leads out into the bay behind the aquarium and near the USS Lexington.  We walked to the end of the break-water where a couple of people where trying to fish, while trying to prevent a pirate pelican from stealing their bait.  I must say that the pelican was not afraid of any of us. 

Corpus Christi to Brownsville or Searching for Citrus

Sunday, February 21, 2010

We left under a drizzly, cool sky for the short drive down the coast to Brownsville. The farm fields around here have been ploughed and disked but the fields are covered in water.  They have had so much rain here…February has had four times the normal rainfall for the whole month.  The terrain here is very flat almost like it is around Winnipeg.  As we passed through Kingsville the land became much more rocky and covered with scrub brush and small trees.  The east side of the highway is dominated by the King Ranch, this is the largest ranch in the Texas at 825,000 acres, larger than the state of Rhode Island.  This is definitely cattle country.

We were still about 60 miles away from Brownsville when we saw some flashing lights ahead of us.  As we approached, we could see that the other side of the highway had been narrowed to a single lane and some traffic had been pulled over to one side.  This was a US Border Patrol checkpoint, checking for drugs and illegal aliens.  As we proceeded on our side of the highway there was an array of about 40 infrared cameras aimed at the vehicles on this side of the highway. 

We arrived at the Rio campground just after noon and the sun had finally come out.  When we pulled up to our spot we were besieged by a lot of old people wanting to help to get us parked.  For an old person in an RV park this is a golden opportunity for some excitement.  Some will just come out and watch but for most they have to get involved with parking the new people; as if the new people had never, ever parked an RV before.  As I said, there has been a lot of rain here and the sites are really wet.  The wheels of the truck and the trailer have left deep ruts in the ground, just waiting to fill with more rain which is predicted in the next few days.

After a quick bite to eat we were off in search of citrus.  Specifically oranges. The temperature had risen to about 22 degrees Celsius and we were finally able to get shorts and sandals on.   We pulled out of the campground and headed east having heard that oranges are sold everywhere along these rural roads.  We had only driven a couple of miles when we saw a barricade in the middle of the road.  It was another Border Patrol, checking traffic. The guard was about to wave us through, but I rolled down my window to ask him where we could get some oranges.  He directed us back to Boca Chica, where we found a couple of old beat up half tons with the beds almost overflowing with oranges and corn. The Mexican spoke broken English and my Spanish consists of maybe 3 words, but we finally purchased about 19 pounds of oranges for $7.00.  We also bought 4 ears of corn for $2.  We were looking forward to fresh corn on the cob for supper.  What a disappointment.  After we had cooked the corn I had slathered it with butter only to almost break my tooth biting into it.  I might just as well have saved all the energy cooking it. It was totally inedible. This certainly isn’t the same kind of corn we get at home.  I wondered afterwards if this corn is perhaps taken off the cob to be used for tortilla shells or something.

It’s a Small World After All

Friday, February 19, 2010

We were just ready to go out for a walk when a gentlemen from the park rode by on his bike.  As is normal campground courtesy we waved at each other and in a couple of moments he was turning around and coming back.  He introduced himself as Bill McMillan, from Sandy Hook, Manitoba.  Bill and his wife came down to Corpus Christi in November and avoided the Christmas hub-bub.  They will be returning in early April in time for his taxes.  I noticed that he worked at Wescan.  (Wescan is a large plumbing, heating, electrical and mechanical firm in Winnipeg.)  I told him that Wescan had done all the electrical and network cabling in the Canadian Blood Services building.  His boss had given him dispensation to be away from work for an extended period as long as he checked-in periodically.  I told him that he must have a good boss.  He agreed.  I then asked him if  he might know my cousin who has worked for Wescan for some time.  It turns out that his boss is my cousin, Larry Lewis.  Small world.

Janet and I , then went for a walk in the cemetery next door to our campground.  A nice quiet place to walk.  After a quick lunch we were off to Mustang Island State Park and South Padre Island.  

We drove south along Oceanside Drive in Corpus Christi.  As it’s name suggests the drive follows the shoreline of the ocean southward.  We had turned off the GPS as we figured that the drive would just lead us right around the city to South Padre Island.  We passed by Texas A&M University at Corpus Christi and then crossed a long single lane causeway.  We noticed that there was a great deal of traffic coming in the opposite direction and thought that this was kind of curious.  As we travelled further along we could see a gated entranceway ahead of us.  As we drove up a heavily armed guard approached our truck.  We told him that we were trying to get to South Padre Island.  He told us that this was Naval Air Station, Corpus Christi, a federal installation and there was no public access.  He gave us directions and told us he would stop the opposing traffic to allow us to turn around.  He walked out into the stream of speeding traffic, holding up his hand and he got an immediate response. We were around in a few minutes and back on track. 

South Padre Island wasn’t quite what I had expected.  There are numerous birding sites on the island, but there is also a surprisingly large amount of human habitation, condos and hotels along the length of the island.  Mustang Island State Park  has an un-serviced campground fairly close to the ocean.  The area is covered with hummocky, sand dunes which are in turn covered by swamp grasses and cacti.  The dunes are interrupted by marshy areas and large bays.  As I walked out to the ocean I saw one abandoned building that appeared as if it would soon be totally swallowed up by the sand and the surf.  The waves were crashing on the beach and in the distance I could see the off-shore oil platforms. 

We continued northward up the island towards Port Aransas. This is a fairly large community that caters to snowbirds, birders and fishermen. There is a free ferry service that crosses a narrow channel that returned us back to the mainland. It was a short trip down the highway and back to our campsite in Corpus Christi.

USS Lexington

Thursday, February 18, 2010

It was cloudy when we awoke this morning and the temperature was around 8 degrees Celsius.  It seemed fairly calm at our campsite but as we arrived at the USS Lexington on the Corpus Christi Bay we noticed a fairly stiff wind coming off the Gulf of Mexico.  They had predicted rain in the gulf and possibly around the Corpus Christi area for today.

When you see an air craft carrier for the first time you are shocked at the size.  From the the water line to the flight deck is as tall as a 13 story building.  The flight deck is over 900 feet long and is covered with about 20 aircraft spanning the years of active duty.  The hanger deck which is one deck below the flight deck is cavernous.  It stretches almost the whole length of the ship and is about 30 feet high.  This is where planes were readied for flight, armed and repaired.  The large elevator that used to raise or lower planes between decks has been removed and is now occupied by an Imax Theatre which presents the film, “Fighter Pilot – Operation Red Flag” .  The film is very intense, and depicts a real life pilot who learns about team-work during Operation Red Flag; an Allied training operation, which brings the best fighter pilots and air-crews in the world together in the Nevada Desert at Nellis Air Force Base for exercises.  Canadian pilots from Cold Lake were well represented at these manoeuvres.

There are several self-guiding tours that take you throughout the ship. The flight deck takes you through the navigation bridge and the Captains Room which was directly behind the bridge.  Actually this room was only used while the ship was in active operations because he also had a suite below decks, which included a private kitchen and conference room.  The air pilots ready room was used during the filming of the movie, Pearl Harbor, as were other areas of the ship.

  One of the guides told us that the Lexington was built in record time of just 27 months by a largely female workforce.  During the Second World War the Lexington was reported sunk at least six times, earning it the nickname “the Blue Ghost” by the Japanese.  The worst casualties occurred when a Japanese Kamikaze pilot crashed his airplane into the main tower killing 50 men and injuring another 130.  Kamikaze means, “Divine Wind”; as it was an honour and a privilege to die in the service of the Emperor.

Back roads to Corpus Christi

We said goodbye to Houston just before 10:00 AM and set out for Corpus Christi.  We took secondary highways that more or less followed the gulf coast.  It was a fairly relaxed and much more interesting drive.  We passed through many bayous in the first 80 miles of the drive.  The terrain then turned very swampy with large water areas.  We then drove through flat farming land that resembled the prairies around southern Manitoba.  As we got closer to Corpus Christi the land opened up into large salt water flats and expansive bays.  

We were finally able to shed our sweaters and wear our t-shirts as the temperature finally got into the mid-teens as we pulled into our campground the Hatch RV Park.  A grounds- keeper was cutting the lawn around some of the sites while we were preparing dinner.  The park is located across from a stadium and next to a cemetery so we really are expecting a quiet stay.  As we were driving to our site in the park we let a couple of vehicles pass us.  The last one was a truck who rolled down their window to talk to us.  She wanted to know where in Manitoba we were from.  When we told her that we were from Winnipeg/ she told us that there were some other Winnipeggers in site 138.  As she drove off we could see that she was from Quebec.  As we drove further along we could see many more Canadian plates mostly from Ontario.  I imagine that these "foreign” plates will be more and more common as we proceed further south.

Houston Space Center

Monday, February 15, 2010

Laundry day, and relaxing.

Tuesday, February 16, 2010

Off to the Johnson Space Center and Mission Control which was only 9 miles away. We arrived just before 10:00 AM opening.  This “entertainment” part of Space Centre provides lots of things to do for the whole family. 

We started our visit with the tram tour to the Johnson Space Center.  Security was almost as tight here as it is at an airport.  They first photograph you; although I think that this is more to try to sell you a picture package for $25, at the end of the the tour, than it is a security procedure.  I had to empty my pockets which were filled with spare batteries, memory cards and crunched up money.  At least I didn’t set off the metal detector as I walked through.  Janet was waiting by the tram talking to the tour guide who had given her our two security count tags.  We had a fairly small group so we got away fairly quickly.  First stop was the “classic Mission Control” centre.  This is the same Mission Control that first heard the words “Houston, we have a problem.” from the Apollo XIII, commander James Lovell.  (Actually, this was a misquote of Jack Swigert, who was the command module pilot, “Houston, we’ve had a problem.”)  The monitors in Mission Control were all connected to mainframe computers which only had 256 KB of RAM.  (Most of today's “plain” cell phones have that amount of memory. )  We visited the Astronaut Training Facility where “mock-ups” of all the equipment are located on the training floor.  A life size shuttle and a Canadarm are displayed along with a Soyuz space craft.  As we boarded the tram they collected our security count tags to ensue no one had escaped into the training facility and we were on our way to the final stop. 

When you see a Saturn V rocket, your jaw drops at the sheer size.  It was 363 feet tall and without fins, 33 feet in diameter. This particular rocket is displayed on its side and is separated into it’s stages.  This is one of the last surviving Saturn V’s but was never launched.  It  is still on the original carrier wheels. Basically it was just one large fuel tank with five massive engines attached and weighing over 6.5 million pounds. This is the rocket that launched the Apollo missions and the one that you see in the movie Apollo XIII.  Still one of my “bucket list” items is to see a shuttle launch.  I suppose I better hurry up as there are only 3 more shuttle launches planned.

We boarded a cutaway version of the shuttle where we learned how the astronauts eat. how they maintain hygiene and how they handle other bodily functions. In zero gravity there is no up or down so you need a suction or negative pressure system to take care of waste. You also have to attach yourself to the toilet seat to keep from floating away.  I will never again complain about the small size of our bathroom. 

There is a good history of the space program from the early days to the present.  An Apollo capsule bearing the burn marks of re-entry on it’s sides and heat shield is so cramped you wonder how one person could fit in there let alone three people. Finally we got to touch an actual moon rock.  The rock is cemented into a large acrylic block and is accessed through a narrow slot. 

President Obama has requested a halt to the research and development on the Ares 5 rocket and the objective to return to the moon.  Most of the guides are all too eager to point out that this has not passed in Congress and is not yet a done deal.  They subtly request that their audience should contact their representatives in Washington to continue the space program.  Not so unusual but we closed down another attraction at 5:00PM and then headed back to the trailer.

The news this evening reported that there has been a chemical spill just off Hwy FM 225, where we had been on Sunday.  They said that nitric-oxide had been released into the air near Pasadena, TX.  That is located approximately 20 miles away from us. Authorities have warned motorists to stay clear of the area and advised residents to turn off air conditioning units and to keep their windows closed. 

Valentine’s Day on a Battleship

Sunday, February 14, 2010

We only had to drive about 21 miles to get to our destination today.  We headed over to the San Jacinto Battlefield State Historic Site.  This was the battle which gave the Republic of Texas it’s freedom from Mexico.

After the crushing defeat at the Alamo and the slaughter of many Texans at the Goliad, the Texan army under Sam Houston was in retreat eastward towards the US border.  General Santa Anna was in pursuit but had split his force.  While he pursued the Texan forces towards the present day Houston, the rest of his troops were dispersed north and south.  His force was caught unaware and the surprised Mexicans were defeated within 20 minutes.  Santa Anna managed to escape from the melee but was captured the following day.  He surrendered unconditionally and withdrew from Texas, giving rise to the Republic of Texas.

The Battle of San Jacinto is remembered with a huge memorial (what else, this is Texas).  The monument rises 570 feet above the battlefield and has an observation level at 489 feet.  It is 15 feet higher than the Washington Monument.  After a 40 second ride to the observation deck, you are treated to a wonderful view of the surrounding landscape.  The morning was somewhat hazy so we could see the skyscrapers of Houston but only faintly.  We could see the line of the Houston ship canal which was quite busy with marine traffic.  This whole area is surrounded by petro-chemical plants.  It seems to be an almost endless sea of storage tanks and thousands of smoke stacks belching smoke and who knows what kinds of chemicals.  These plants of course are very close to the east Texas oil fields and the Gulf Coast fields.

The museum (of course another museum) at the base of the monument describes the battle and has numerous artefacts including some original uniforms and battle banners.  One thing that we have noticed about the museums in Texas, is that they ALL have a huge collection of firearms and other weaponry.  They also present a great collection of early 20th Century black and white photos of Houston.  

After lunch we crossed the road to the Battleship Texas State Historic Site.  The Texas was originally commissioned in 1914, as a dreadnought class and served in both the of the world wars.  It narrowly missed being sunk by a Kamikaze bomber in the second world war.  This historic site allows almost totally unrestricted access to every area of the ship.  It is difficult to imagine that this ship was the home for 1700 men for months at a time.  Butchers, bakers but no candlestick makers worked on the ship.  Dentists fixed cavities while doctors performed operations in fully equipped rooms.  The barber shop had 3 chairs to keep all the men respectable. The kitchens and galley provided 3 meals a day for the 1700 crew members.  How would you like to cook for that group day in and day out?

The elevators and cranks that operated the anti-aircraft guns are still functional and you can rotate the guns in an arc side to side, just as they must have done during the war.  I was able to contort myself enough to climb into the firing station of the 14” guns.  These guns have rounds that are about 31/2 feet long.  There are two firing positions on either side of the hatch, which sit almost directly behind the breeches of the two guns. I can’t even imagine how loud that it must have been confined within those plate steel walls.  These main guns are about 20 feet long, with a recoil of 40 inches; the shells are about 3 1/2 feet long.

Steel bunks with flimsy mattresses were placed anywhere they they could find some spare space below decks. The washroom facilities were not private with open stalls almost side by side.  I suppose this could help to build team spirit among the crew members.  We found it to be very cool and damp in the decks below the main deck; although this may be because there was no heating from the engines. We then went foreword to the officers quarters.  These were much more private and comfortable.  The washroom facilities were at least separated from each other with a white drape at the front. 

The ship is operated by the Texas State Parks department, which offers groups the chance to sleep overnight on the ship.  A Boy Scout troop had slept over the previous night, that we had visited.  We managed to avoid the throng as we were in a different part of the ship when they had left.  Janet was a real trooper as we went up and down every ladder in the ship and Jerry examined every nook and cranny.

Observation – We were expecting to see a lot more out of state licences as we moved south, but this is not the case.  We have noticed that there are a lot of Texas licensed RV’s parked in these RV campgrounds and many of the campgrounds have individual electrical meters at the sites.  (We were metered at the Cottonwood Creek resort, near Austin.)  There are a large number of working people and families that live in their trailers year round.  It rarely gets below freezing in the winter and the RV provides sufficient insulation and protection.  We spoke to the guy next door, who has Oregon plates on his motor home.  He has been in this same spot for the last three years.

Any Day Above Ground is a Good Day

Saturday, February 13,2010

“Any day above ground is a good day” is one of the quotes that we saw at the National Museum of Funeral History . We had read about this museum in the CAA Tour Book.  It was not a CAA “Gem” but it sounded a little unusual and definitely different from anything that we’ve seen so far.  It is located on the north-west side of Houston so we drove 46 miles through Houston traffic from our campground just outside Houston.  Have I mentioned that these cities are huge and it takes the better part of an hour to get anywhere.  There are malls the size of Polo Park or St. Vital Centre every few miles to serve the surrounding local area. 

We arrived just a few minutes after the noon opening and didn’t leave till almost 4:30 PM – Did I ever mention that you probably don’t want to visit a museum with the Lewis’s.  We sometimes usually spend a full day in most museums.  CAA suggested 1/2 hour for a tour here. 

There is an impressive display of funeral cars, wagons and sleighs, as well as a number of caskets.  Some of the older caskets have windows that you can see the deceased’s face and shoulders.  Some of the caskets were made of bronze and could weigh over 400 pounds, without the occupant.  Some “cartoonish” coffins are also shown although I’m not sure if any of these types were ever used.

The museum shows a typical 19th Century home where the parlour would be where the body would lie in state.  It is from this usage the we got the name Funeral Parlour or Funeral Home. The funeral director would come to the home and prepare the body and fumigate the room if a disease had claimed the deceased.  As people moved into apartments in the cities it created the need for the funeral business to be located in fixed premises.

The ancient Egyptians took the art of embalming and the care of the dead to a high level.  They were able to mummify bodies to the point that the mummy of the Pharaoh Ramses II is still on display today.  But the science of embalming didn’t really advance until the mid-1800’s when an enterprising doctor was able to develop an embalming fluid and a method of injecting it into the body that would slow down the decay process. He took his methods to the Civil War battlefields where, for $7 for an enlisted man or $13 for an officer he would embalm the soldier and send the body home.

They have a great papal display.  In our “now” world it is nice to be able to see what happens behind the scenes of a papal death and the election of a new pope. There are some very vivid behind the scene pictures of the burial preparations for Pope John Paul II.  After his lying in state, he was placed in a simple wooden coffin  along with some coins and an aluminum container with his accomplishments as pope. The lid with his name and his coat of arms (each Pope has his own coat of arms) on the top is secured with dowels.  This is wrapped around three times with red ribbon which is then sealed with red wax, (they didn’t explain the significance of this) and this coffin was placed into a lead coffin which was then soldered shut.  This was then placed in a wooden sarcophagus and entombed below St. Peters Basilica in the Vatican.  The new pope is then elected by the College of Cardinals.

Fact – There have been 265 popes from the original St. Peter to the current Pope Benedict XVI.

One of the last displays is that of the Unknown Soldier.  One thing that stood out for me was there was a folded American flag (as is done with all flags that are draped over a soldier’s coffin) in a triangular display case.  I had seen these same display cases in a hobby store earlier…there were probably 30 of these cases on display.  You can only hope that they won’t sell any of them.  Sad truth though, is that they will likely sell all of them and then have to re-order.

“The only difference between a rut and a grave is the depth.”

By the time we left at 4:30 the sun had come out and burned off the fog of this morning.  We saw that the temperature got up to about 13 degrees Celsius.  The trip home took about an hour and twenty minutes with traffic on the Interstate like a parking lot in a few places. 

 

Observation  - We watched the opening ceremonies for the Winter Olympics last night and I’ve got to admit that I was really impressed with the extravaganza that the Vancouver Organizing Committee put on.  Even the American broadcasters, applauded the ceremonies.  

Last Day in San Antonio and Arrival in Houston

Thursday, February 11, 2010

It started raining at about midnight last night and continued all night and into this morning.  The temperature has hovered in the low 50’s Fahrenheit or about 7 or 8 degrees Celsius, so we are not getting any snow.  Although in Dallas they have received 12” of snow, we were lucky that we did escape from Dallas a couple of weeks ago.  Apparently this snow is moving into the southern States of Georgia, Louisiana and Alabama.  We heard on the news that the only state that has not received some snow this winter is Hawaii.  It did stop raining long enough that we were able to get to the nearby Wal-Mart Supercentre to do some grocery shopping before we head down to Houston, tomorrow.

Friday, February, 12, 2010

It had just started to clear a little bit in the west and we hitched up and headed in the opposite direction.  As we travelled east on Interstate I-10 we didn’t quite catch up to the rain but it became more overcast and the temperature didn’t rise above 6 degrees Celsius. Not exactly what we bargained for when we set out one month ago.   

The drive through Houston was a bit un-nerving as the roads are not nearly as good as in the Dallas freeways and seem to be more congested.  They still drive at least 10 mph over the posted speed limit of 60 mph.  We saw a Nissan Altima almost spin out at one of the exits.  “There but for the grace of God, go I.”   I’ll bet that guy had to stop at a restroom to clean-up!  We luckily made it safely .to our new campsite between Houston and Galveston at the Bay Colony RV Resort in Dickinson, TX.

The Missions of San Antonio or a Touch of Spanish Colonialism

Monday, February 8, 2010

It was another rainy day today with the temperature staying around 7 or 8  degrees Celsius, so we decided to take the day off.

Tuesday, February 9 and Wednesday, February 10,2010

We visited a number of missions around San Antonio that were established as part of a whole series of missions by Spain in the New World. Their purpose was to convert the natives to Catholicism and re-create Spanish life here in the Americas.  The San Antonio missions were established in the 1730’s although the Alamo was built in 1718. 

A typical mission consisted of the Church and the surrounding “barracks” where the converted natives dwelt, all safely behind the limestone perimeter walls. Some of the natives were drawn to the missions by the safety and security that it provided. The land that surrounded this mission was used for planting crops and grazing animals.  In addition to one or two Franciscan Friars there would be a few Spanish soldiers.  The soldiers would teach the natives how to defend the mission against the raiding Comanche, Apache or Kiowa.  They would also be trained in the Catholic catechism, various building trades and assorted crafts and arts. Reading and writing in Spanish and Latin was also taught.

Many parts of the missions have fallen into disrepair and the National Parks Service is working to stabilize the remaining structures.  All of the churches and many of the other buildings were covered with brightly covered frescoes. Some of these frescoes were strictly to beautify the rough limestone and others to hide building mistakes or imperfections.  Only in some parts of the Mission Concepcion can you still distinctly see some of the fresco work, while at the other missions they are all but invisible.

The missions were artificially irrigated by “acequia” or irrigation ditches and were able to grow a wide variety of crops to sustain the burgeoning population. At a couple of the missions aqueducts were created to fill the irrigation ditches from the rivers.  Some of these ditches, and aqueducts are still in use today.  The Sheep, goats and cattle roamed outside of the mission walls and created great wealth for the missions.  The aim of the mission was to secularize the surrounding lands within 10 years.  In most cases this took longer but the lands were ultimately distributed to the population of the missions.

FACT –We fuelled the truck at a nearby gas station..this was the cheapest diesel yet…$ 2.58 / gallon.  (Gas here was $ 2.38 / gallon.)

Paseo del Rio (the River Walk) , the Alamo – All on Saintly, Super Bowl Sunday

Sunday, February 7, 2010

We got up fairly early today to head into San Antonio.  There was quite a change in the weather overnight so, it was quite cool and overcast this morning. The temperature didn’t rise much above 7 degrees Celsius.  On the agenda was the River Walk and the Alamo.

Because it was a Sunday and the weather was cool by Texas standards there wasn’t a lot of activity in the downtown area when we arrived.  We parked in a city owned parkade for $8 for the day across from the Hyatt Grand hotel. We wandered around the downtown a little till we landed up at Alamo Plaza – the home of the Alamo.  We had been told by a number of people that the real Alamo is not like the one that we remember in the movie of the same name with John Wayne as Davey Crockett. (Yes Davey Crockett was a real person who died defending the Alamo – he was not just a fabrication by Walt Disney.) There are some huge buildings that completely surround Alamo Plaza but the plaza actually creates a nice buffer zone around the Alamo. 

The Alamo was originally a Spanish Mission – with thick exterior limestone palisade walls – the “movie Alamo” shows the defenders in the church itself, but this was actually  where the few women and children were sequestered during the battle.  Inside the church a docent behind a large scale model of the battleground, described events that led up to the battle and the battle itself. 

Prior to 1836, Texas (or Tejas) was a Mexican state, although it was populated by Anglos from the United States by almost 10:1.  Mexico had just won its independence from Spain and had just been through a revolution itself.  The Mexican leader, Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna, had nullified the Mexican constitution and was ready to put down the seeds of revolt in Tejas.  (Keep in mind that most of these Texans were from the United States which only 60 years earlier had declared it’s independence from Great Britain; they weren’t in any mood to be pushed around by a distant, dictatorial regime.)  When the Texans defeated the brother-in-law of Santa Anna in a battle over a small canon; Santa Anna marched out of Mexico toward the Alamo, near San Antonio.  Santa Anna laid siege to the 200 defenders of the Alamo, bombarding it constantly for 12 days.  On day 13 Santa Anna launched his 1,600 man, ground attack on the Alamo.  The battle was over within 90 minutes – all the active defenders were either killed in battle or executed as traitors immediately.  James Bowie, who made the Bowie knife famous; lawyer William Barret “Bill” Travis and David Crockett, a former US Congressman from Tennessee were all dead.  “Remember the Alamo” became the rallying cry for the Texan Revolutionaries.  Forty-six days later on April 21, 1836, the Texans defeated Santa Anna’s army at the battle of San Jacinto, south-west of present day Houston.  The independent Republic of Texas was born.

After we had walked the grounds of the Alamo we walked along the Paseo del Rio (the only Spanish that I’ve learned) the River Walk. The San Antonio River runs through the middle of the city and is crossed by many bridges in the downtown area.  It is only about 30 feet across at any point and curves very gently in its course.  The river has been extended by an artificial horseshoe-shaped channel with each leg extending about three city blocks, that forms a box shape.  The River Center Mall is located at one end.  All along the route are literally hundreds of restaurants.  From burger joints to high class fine dining, from TexMex to the Hard Rock Cafe.  Most of the restaurants have outdoor seating for guests and most have hostesses or greeters stationed right along the sidewalk just saying hello to the passers-by, no hard sell just greeting. Many of the restaurants have sheltered areas and large propane heaters to extend the season.  One TexMex Restaurant had ponchos and blankets that many of the customers were wearing when we were walking by.  Periodically there are stairs that lead to street level where you can explore the streets above.  There are numerous water taxis/excursion boats that run along the route and will let people off at various stops.  During the evenings the River Walk apparently really comes to life with bands and mariachi groups.

We returned home in time to enjoy the Super Bowl and the American commercials.  It was nice to see the New Orleans Saints take the Lombardi Trophy home…Mardi Gras is starting early!! I heard one announcer call it Lombardi Gras.

Observation -Masonry is big down in Texas. Almost every city that we’ve been in has a huge Lodge.  In little Waco we saw 2 very large Masonic Buildings. There was a Masonic plaque mounted on the exterior walls around the Alamo with the names of a number of known Masons who died in the Alamo.