This Trip Comes To A Close.......

Some pics of the resort of Galveston Island and no I didn't ride the roller- coaster here it has a straight up straight down part and goes upside down...well that's just plain silly !!!

The beach at Beach Town a suburb of Galveston Island
We have had a great time staying at The Jamaica Beach RV Resort here on Galveston Island it has by far been the best campsite that we have used so far on any of our trips.......good amenities and level paved standing, 2 swimming pools and a hot tub, it is also just across the road from the beach. They have a large library of DVDs for campers use and also put on a free outdoor movie twice a week.  We stayed here for 9 nights to wind down and finish off our trip, it was in a quiet area about 15 miles from the main resort of Galveston so would not suit everyone but perfect for us........
one highlight for us was to go to their Thanksgiving lunch, having never before been in the USA during Thanksgiving we wanted to be part of it. The owners supplied the meat and potatoes/bread and we all took a side dish to share.  The next evening they supplied Gumbo with the left overs and some added sausage and shrimp, very yummy and not too hot and spicy for our taste
Well folks I am typing this sitting in a hotel room at Houston airport.......we have had a great trip, we met up again with our dear friends in Georgia and spent some quality time with them  all on Daufuskie Island. We travelled the Antebellum Trail from Georgia through Florida, Alabama, Louisiana into Texas.
It has certainly been a shake down trip for the camper, we are now far more experienced than we were a few months ago !!! In fact we met up with a Canadian couple who have been doing this for less time than us and were asking us what to do !!
This morning after final packing we drove up to a storage facility near Houston a nice short fairly easy drive apart from our Charmin' Garmin who told us to exit off  Beltway 8 when she shouldn't have so we had to get back on and pay another toll, 3 tolls in one short piece of road and of course we have 3 axels !!!!  However the woman in the kiosk was very helpful and told us which exit to take off the Beltway then the I-10. In Texas they have Frontage roads that run alongside of the interstates but are one way, as we came off of the I-10 we could see our storage facility but had to do 2 big U-turns to get to it. Yorkie-Man had done his homework and checked it on Goggle earth yesterday so knew what to expect and what to do. Phew......we got there in one piece and said  goodbye to our home on wheels and our lovely truck
Now our thoughts turn to home and seeing family and friends again......
28 sleeps until Christmas............
More from The Happy Campers when we return hopefully at the end of January to continue across Texas but for now safe travels everyone :)

Houston..."The Eagle Has Landed"

A fairly easy drive up from Galveston (yes we are still singing the song!)  to the Johnson Space Centre near Houston.
We are pleased though that we did the journey as when leaving Galveston (that song again! ) it wasn't too clear how to get onto the I-45 and we ended up in a shopping mall which was fine with the truck but could have been interesting when towing the camper........

Rocket Park at JSC

As Yorkie Man said it took an incredible amount of power to get such small capsule through and out of earth's atmosphere :0
Unfortunately although we are pleased we came  I have to say it was not the best value or organised tour, rather disorganised and the staff really needed to go to the Disney School of Customer Service ! The biggest disappointment though was to hear that the planned man flight to Mars won't be until 2035 and they are not signing up any seniors !!!! Bang goes my hope of going into space :(

From NASA to Kemah Boardwalk which is a neat area of shops, restaurants and a fun fair . A pleasant area to walk about..... 

The Boardwalk Bullet a very fast steep wooden roller coaster  which I decide to ride.......

It's a long walk to the top but do I look nervous !!.......the track is just under 3500 feet long

Michael said when the car goes up the steep incline the whole structure moves about 2 feet !!

That's me in the middle in the green/turquoise. I cropped this pic to bring me in closer and then added and it's gone in above this pic but they are having a few problems here with the internet today and as I want to publish this post before moving up to Houston tomorrow then I'm going with it

Although I have been on roller coasters before, I've not been on one that is this high or fast........ I wanted to do this before I'm too old........a tick off the bucket list

I survived.....:))

This is just down the road from Kemah Boardwalk and shows how the oil industry and recreational areas seem to live together quite happily.........

Camp Harris and Local Area

Camp Harris at Jamaica Beach RV Resort
We don't need to put out our awning as although lovely weather it's not so hot we need the shade so we walked along to the local  hardware store and bought a pole for our flag....

Sunset over the campsite

Today we drive west on the coastal road, mostly holiday homes and dunes all very nice and quiet.
Point West is a subdivision with rather posh houses and condos

A "very crowded" beach near Point West....

The fisherman was very patient with the heron trying to take his fish from the line...quiet fascinating to watch

Derby and Joan, well Derby, Joan is taking the picture,  lunch and chillin'......
We did go for a good long walk along the beach too.....

Look closely.......

Some remedial work required and no as much as I like water-towers you would not get me doing that !!!
We had another first, the campsite at weekends have a big outdoor screen and show movies......we wrap up well against the chilly evening and take our cups of grog and settle down to watch.....
Tonight it's  Brave, the latest cartoon from Pixar. It's set in Scotland with voices by Billy Connelly, Emma Thomson and Robbie Coltrane to name a few....it was really funny and hit the spot......

A Great Journey to Galveston Oh Galveston...

Oh my another steep one !
We're back on the road after a good overnight stop at Beaumont TX,  it was a really good campsite and free breakfast ! Not come across that before......
The girl at the visitors centre yesterday and the campsite owner both said to get to Galveston via the TX124 and 87 and then the ferry across to Galveston. We had planned to go the longer I-10 route skirting Houston  as not yet had the courage for getting on a ferry !!! They both insisted the road was scenic and quiet and that the ferry easily took rigs our size, so in for a penny as they say. Boy were they right it was a great drive, very quiet roads both down the 124 and along TX87 the coastal road.....we also had our first sightings of Texas Longhorns

The Inter-Coastal Waterway along the TX87

Bradda Ed is happy.
Along the very bumpy parts of the I-10 earlier in our travels he was certainly shaking his  booty !!

Nice and straight and quiet......

Well we're here at the ferry terminal....deep breaths ready to board !!

Well if he can get on........

Cars are still coming off as they load us on...
Whilst waiting for the ferry to dock we had a good chat with a local guy who we actually ended up following onto the ferry.....

Piece of cake !!

We also saw dolphins as the ferry left the harbour but I wasn't quick enough with the camera  :0

Well packed in.....it's a 15/20 minute crossing to Galveston Island and it's FREE
We lubricated our voices yesterday evening ready for the song !!!  Funnily enough  while travelling yesterday and listening to Willie's Roadhouse on Sirius XM Radio they played Galveston :)

End of journey at Jamaica Beach RV Resort. Just one stressy moment when leaving the ferry and getting onto the right road but every journey has at least one stressy moment !!
This is a really nice campsite. one of the best we have stayed on, near the beach and away from the "resort" busy area of Galveston. We got a really good winter weekly rate and plan to chill, check out the area and get our home on wheels ready to go into storage........more soon from the Happy Campers :)

On The Road Again.....Louisiana to Texas

My goodness that looks steep !
When you are towing a 5th wheel  it's not the going up it's the coming down the other side but Yorkie-Man has it under control :)
Back onto the I-10 today for short 2 hour drive over the border to Texas......

Yes Sulphur by name and sulphur by smell.......

Here we are in Texas, it's been an easy and interesting journey, we lost the heavy tree lined landscape for  open farmland and then in the Lake Charles area it was very industrial very much an oil town, most of the trucks are transporting heavy machinery

This is just an overnight stop, no reflection on the campsite it's good but tomorrow we move onto Galveston our final destination for this trip before making our way to the storage facility near Houston
More from The Happy Campers soon.......  

Lafayette Louisiana

These photos are all taken at Vermillion Ville which is about 5 miles outside of Lafayette
It's a Cajun/Creole Heritage & Folklife Park

Y-M outside of The Palmetto Hut. They are in the process of building a Native American Village as part of the park when all of the tribes involved can agree !

This one is for Bill......the writing on the barrel isn't really showing but it's a Tabasco barrel.
The Tabasco factory is in Louisiana 

The healers house. 

This is the oldest and largest house at Vermilion Ville owned by Amand Broussard
It is a self guided walking tour but we "pick" up a "guide" part way round which was brilliant  as we learnt far more about the houses, culture etc. Most of the houses have been salvaged and moved to Vermillion Ville, some are replicas 

The out-house of La Maison Broussard.  Amand had 14 children so perhaps that's why there are 3  seats inside !
Reminded us of Chicken Alaska, not multi seats though !!
It was a really good tour,......Gumbo and Red Beans and Sausage for lunch both a bit too hot spicy for us but at least we have now tried Gumbo. We still need to try Jumbalaya.........