STUCK OUT IN HOUSTON

Yesterday we left the yard in Whitsett and drove to Houston. Our plan was to stay at the Elks lodge. But it was full. We sat in the parking lot and called several other rv parks but they were all full. They are building a new pipeline and the workers have taken all  the sites. We found a place in Beaumont at a Passport America campground where we are staying three nights. 
Went out to dinner at Cheddars. Had to wait about half an hour for a table but the food was decent.
Today we went out for a late breakfast at Waffle House, one of our favorites. Than on to the very large mall. Linda was looking for new jeans and a blazer. Found the jeans but no blazer. Stopped at the Verizon store and found out that our contract was up on the mifi device and that we could use that to upgrade to a new phone. I got the Samsung Gallaxy 4. Bigger screen and more features. Linda will upgrade in June.
Tomorrow down to Port Arthur for sightseeing and the museum of the gulf. http://www.museumofthegulfcoast.org/
 Tuesday we will move to the Elks lodge here in Beaumont for several days. Not very nice, but cheap at $10 a nite.
Lots of good restaurants here and some touristy stuff to see.
Have a great day
Love to all of ya
Jim and Linda

251 MILE DAY TRIP

Yesterday we took a day trip down to the Corpus Christi, Padre Island area. It is the first time in a long time that we have done a day trip and it was nice to get out and about.

Remember you can click on a picture to enlarge it.

We were looking forward to driving along the beach on Padre island, but the road runs down the middle of the island and there is nothing but grassy stuff the whole way. We did take one of the beach roads and found out you can drive and camp on the beach but decided against that.

We went to the national park entrance but it was closed, but we were still able to drive in and were very surprised to see all of the cameras on the entrance.. what the hell is this about? One of them did take our picture on the way in and out.

From Padre island we moved on to Mustang Island which is much more populated. Lots of houses, condo,s and resorts. By this time is is getting on to about 1:30pm so it was time for a lunch stop. Pulled into Moby’s seafood restaurant because the parking lot was kind of full. Good call. Very neat place.

Linda ordered stuffed crab with coleslaw, garlic bread and fries

and I ordered coconut shrimp with the same sides

Both meals were very, very good and we enjoyed the décor as well.

 

After the great lunch we headed north again and ran into the ferry. Had not planned on a ferry ride, but there it was and it was free. A very short wait and short ride of about 10 minutes. They were running 4 ferries and they hold about 16 cars or two semi’s and a few cars.

After the ferry ride, it was time to start heading back home. It is about 80 miles from Corpus to Whitsett and a very boring drive thru south Texas.

Today is a sit at home day, and tomorrow a very busy day with a stop at the dentist for Linda’s crown, ENT doctor to have my ears cleaned, Vet for dog shots, Walmart, laundry, liquor store….than it is out of here on Friday heading to Houston.

Hope you have a wonderful day’

Love to all of ya

Jim and Linda

WE'RE DONE

We got relieved from our gate Thursday afternoon and headed back to the yard in Whitsett. We told Mark, the manager, that we would like to take the weekend off as we wanted to go up to San Antonio and visit with our niece Ally and her husband Paige and their new baby boy Finnegan.
We went up Saturday about noon and had a very nice visit with them, heading back home about 5 pm. We stopped for dinner at an Italian eatery on the way.
Monday morning I took the truck into Pleasanton for an oil change, and while waiting got a call from Diane at the office saying they had a rig for us. That means they had a new assignment for us at an oil rig. These are plum jobs and are usually pretty busy. But I told her that we would like to pass on it, and that we would like to not take another job. I asked her if that would be a problem and she said that she could find someone else to take it.
After getting back to the yard, Linda and I went to the office and made it official that we would be leaving later in the week. We did ask if it would be ok if we stay here until Linda got her crown for the tooth she broke and they said o.k..
That should be sometime this week and if so we will leave here on Friday and head out. Not sure where yet, but I do want to do the JOHNSON SPACE CENTER  and spend a few days in the Houston area sightseeing. Here is a link    http://spacecenter.org/
We told them we would be back about March 10th for about three weeks.
Hope all is well with you
Love to all of ya
Jim and Linda

17 DAYS, WE HOPE

If you keep track, the last post said 23 days and that was 12 days ago. In the mean time Linda broke a tooth and had to go see a dentist in Pleasanton and have a crown done at a cost of $900. So we will extend for a week to make that up.
Neither one of us wants to extend for even a day, but as they say," ya gotta do what ya gotta do"....ain't it the truth!


Weather is holding good for us and business is about the same. One of the guys who comes in regularly told us last Friday that we were going to be relieved. But they have had some issues and it looks like we may hang on for a few more days. No one really knows, I think they are all speculating.


We have talked about if we are relieved early that we would just move on and maybe come back after we leave Betty's on March 6th for 3-4 weeks. We will have to see how it falls out, and how much money we spend during the month of Mardi Gras at Betty's. There is a happy hour every day that sometimes extends into the night and sometimes starts early. Plus all of the day trips and parades. It could get expensive. Than there is the Mardi Gras ball that we are going to have. But that's another story,


Love to all of ya
Jim and Linda

23 DAYS, BUT WHO'S COUNTING

We leave on the 26th. Hopefully our relief will be here in the morning.
Things are still slow here and the days are pretty boring. The nights are really boring for Linda and she complains almost daily about the crap on tv. She does scan the guide and records some programs, but not enough to hold her interest.

Our fellow gate guards down by the tracks have been gone for about three days and just came back home. They have a lot down in the valley about 120 miles southwest of here (between Brownsville and McAllen) and went down to visit it.
They brought us back some fresh fruit from their trees: grapefruit, oranges, and lemons,

Normally when Linda goes to bed at about 3:30am both dogs go with her. But the last week or so Walker has been staying with me. He sleeps either beside me or behind me on the love seat. It is nice to have him for company.

And sometimes he can't decide who he wants to sleep with, so he sleeps on the steps, half way between us.

 

 

 

And, here are a couple of sunrise pictures.

 

 

We are looking forward to getting out of here, and in reality, the weeks seem to go by fairly quick......it's just the days that are so slow.

Hope all is going well for you

Love to all of ya

Jim and Linda