Wednesday Feb 6th 2013 - Galveston in the rain

Wed Feb 6th 2013

Our route - A to F - DONE... next stages F to J Mar - Aug (with 6wks in UK Apr/May)

What a fabulous day. Woke up to rain and wind … lots of both. After brekky we headed out (troopers that we are) and drove to the far end of the island. We were amazed at the variety of buildings, and the way they are built in case of flood or hurricane. Now, the question is this… in a hurricane one would think to hunker down in the basement, but in a flood one would think to climb to the top floor and wait it out. What do we do in a hurricane with flooding????? Just asking!!!!!

Anyway… below are number of very interesting homes we saw along the way today. We had lunch at Nates Seafood in Jamaica Beach and had Gumbo… (Shrimp, sausage and chicken in a deep brown broth … fabulous!!) Stopped at ‘Wallymart’ on the way back to the ‘condo’ and bought some supplies for the cruise on Saturday. We won’t have internet on the cruise (just because it costs too much and takes up valuable cruise time) … so we will not be updating the blog from Friday 8^th until we return on the 16^th. We are on the Crown Princess out of Galveston and stopping in Roatan Honduras, Belize and Cozumel. Really looking forward to the break (that was a joke by the way)!!! 

Glad to get back to the 'condo' and have baked chicken dinner with Kale and Sweet Potato.... healthy and yummy!! Evening updating blog and catching up on email etc. 

THE FOLLOWING ARE HOMES WE SAW ALONG THE WAY TODAY... 95% are built on stilts with solid support from their garage if they have one. Some very funky looking homes.

OUR FAVOURITE HOUSE - LOOKS LIKE IT"S STICKING ITS TONGUE OUT!!

By the way... people here really do say "hi y'all" as you pass them on the street with a smile. Just saying... it sounds kinda normal!!!

Tuesday Feb 5th 2013 - Galveston by bike

Tuesday Feb 5th 2013

Woke to dense sea-fog. The sun tried all morning to burn through it. We spent most of the day on our bikes and I forgot my camera, so no photos today. We went to The Academy store (sports and recreation) bought some sunglasses, swimsuit and T’s. Short break at the ‘condo’ for lunch and back on our bikes for a tootle in town. Stopped at a Mexican restaurant (Gorditas) for a bite to eat for dinner and.  Not a great spot, actually very disappointing… we miss Las Pinas already!!!! Rode back to the ‘condo’ using our new bike lights!!! We only rode about 25km on the bikes today, but it was fun exploring the town. It is full of lovely old buildings. We explored the port area as well as the sea front on the other side. 

It is a sea-side paradise here, and we can imagine that in season it is fairly buzzing. This week though it is empty, which is great for getting around, but lacking in some of the atmosphere. It is Mardi Gras week and apparently there is not a space to be had this weekend. Unfortunately we will miss the big parties on Saturday as we will be onboard ship sailing toward Roatan... hmmmm!!!??!!

Mon Feb 4th 2013

Monday Feb 4th 2013
Up at 7:30, breakfast and pack up. Ready to leave by 10am. We will miss this place, and the lovely people we met. All our future neighbours have a tough act to follow!! The drive down to Galveston was long, 5 hours, but fairly easy. Janice actually did the lions share this time for a change. 

Just arrived at Sandpiper RV Resort, Galveston, Texas

The sign of the day was actually a road sign for the next exit "KICKAPOO RD -  EXIT 1MILE"  Now how would you like to live on Kickapoo road?????? Spelling it out every time on the phone or over a counter!!! I wish I had been fast enough with the camera on that one!! We arrived late afternoon and set up, then went for a short jaunt around town on our bikes before heading back and we barbequed the bratwurst and smoked sausage we bought at the Friesenhaus restaurant/deli in New Braunfels. It was even better than we imagined and we drooled and smacked our lips in total taste ecstasy. Watched a bit of ‘telly’ and relaxed for the evening.

The whirlpool and pool at the resort

Who is that good-looking guy hanging out at the pool??

PS: Happy 91st Mum... miss you!!

Sunday Feb 3 2013 - Packing and Chilli cook-off

Site C64... our site for the last few days at La Hacienda

Sunday Feb 3rd 2013
Today was our last day at La Hacienda, and although we were pretty well packed up from our trip to the dealer on Friday we still had some stuff to clean up and organize before leaving in the morning. So most of the day was spent saying goodbye to the people we had met at the resort, and phoning folks at

Site C58. We have booked it for Feb & Mar 2014

home and abroad in case we don’t have a good internet connection in Galveston. At 3pm the chilli cook-off started and there were about 20 different chillies to taste and choose a favourite. There was an amazing variety, from very spicy to mild and back to ‘blow your taste buds for six’!!!!  

View from the back of Site C58

Even a couple of white chilies,  a vegetarian chilli and a chicken chilli. There was also a table of salads, sausages, snacks, desserts etc. At 5:30 the game started and much cheering, drinking and laughter. A great time. Our golfing buddies Chris and Donna won the ‘pool’ for the first quarter and the final. $75… not bad!!  And for those who notice the captions on the photos, YES we have booked to return to La Hacienda next Feb and March as mentioned earlier. But all we risk to lose is a small deposit if we cancel, so as space is limited and goes fast we decided it was a wise move. So friends and family... make some plans if you'd like to come see us. Of you don't fancy slumming it on our pull out couch, there are some lovely little cabins throughout the resort for rent at a reasonable price!!!! Hint hint, nudge nudge!!!

Ready to hitch up to the truck 

Entrance to Resort - Office on right laundry/showers on left

One row of the chillies.. mmmmm!!!! Crock pot city!!

The tasting table

Saturday Feb 2 2013 - Sun, fun and Karaoke!!

Saturday Feb 2nd 2013

No photos today... the SD card in my camera is faulty.. so gotta get a new one. It was such an amazing, sunny hot day we decided to sit in the sun, have a swim in the pool, BBQ a couple of steaks and head over to the Karaoke night in the pavilion with a few friends from the resort. Had a great time singing along and enjoying some talented entertainment (and some not quite so talented.... but brave).
We did however make the big decision to book here for next year before they are sold out of good sites. We have booked site C58 for next year February and March!!! We love it here and haven;t explored the area as much as we much as we intended... still lots to see. Also a big music festival called South by South West happens in Austin toward the end of March every year and we want to see it next year.
So if we decide to keep on traveling, which looks likely, we at least have somewhere for those 2 months. POssibly Florida in Dec/Jan.

Fri Feb 1st - Dealer's/Gruene

Friday Feb 1st 2013

Left our home at Evergreen RV Center for the day

Great day today. We took off at 6:30 am and headed to Evergreen RV centre in New Braunfels to have the leaking kitchen slide looked at and have them reseal the underbelly of the rig after the 'big flood' and have an air conditioner installed in the bedroom. After some confusion and insistence by 'princess Janice' that we have a wall gauge for the air-con.... they set to work and we took off to explore the area. 

BEST COFFEE EVER!!!!

Found a neat little Historical Village called Gruene.. settled by the Gruene family from Germany (lots of German influence in this part of Texas). We wandered the village and had the very BEST cup of coffee we have had in Texas at the small coffee shop. Janice decided it was time to become a real Texan and bought a cowboy hat. 

Company while we had coffee

This little friend had an unusual song.. and LOUD!!
Any ideas what it is????

Walking through Gruene, Tx

Got myself a hat at the General Store

Now officially a REAL Texan!!!

At the recommendation of the people at the coffee shop we headed to a German restaurant in New Baunfels for lunch.... WOW... I think it was called The Friesenhaus.. but not sure of spelling. Schnitzel and bulbous sausages Sauerkraut, red cabbage, german potatoes etc ... MMMM!!!
We returned to the RV dealer and they were just finishing off.  We headed back to the resort, happy with the day. We walked over to Las Pinas  for a late dinner... and our last taste of their amazing salsa. It really is amazing salsa... the best!!!!