HOME SWEET HOME…FOR AT LEAST NOW

Monday, October 31 – After a little research on the Escapees' Forum about where to go for our annual state inspection, we ended up going back to Harrison Body Shop in Livingston, TX, the same place we had our inspection done two years ago. We arrived about 8:30 a.m. and moved right in for the inspection. Everything was up to snuff, and we got stickers for the motor home and our car. The tech even remembered to warn us about the dip between the driveway and the street that many motor homes get hung-up on and end up scraping bottom. They have two other exists and if you use them, you shouldn't have a problem.

After our inspection we headed over to the welcome center to hook-up the toad and head to Houston. Once again, even though there was some traffic, and we were driving in the fourth most populous city in the nation, we easily sailed through the city on Route 59 to the Houston Elks Lodge located in Stafford, TX, (just on the southern out-skirts of the city). The camp sites at the Elks are all full, but luckily they have two gravel sites on the end we can use until one of the concrete pads open-up.

We talked to Matt, who we met the last time here, and he said he was pulling-out tonight after work. We would be able to move into his site....this is the site we normally have when staying here. He pulled out just as it was getting dark, so we parked our car in the spot until morning. We'll move over there first thing tomorrow.

So we are in our “home port” until after the holidays. If you're passing through Houston on your way to warmer climates, stop and say hello!

Our site at the Elks.

Bella always enjoys herself when we are here. This time the is a pile of limbs close to our spot. She has taken it upon herself to clear out any moles, chipmunks or anything else smaller than her.

Here is her watch and wait pose.

Her sneak attack approach.

Her…I've had a long, hard day position.

We are sorry to report that she hasn't caught a dang thing…YET!

Just incase you are interested, here are some facts and figures about Houston…

The Houston Metro Area covers 8,778 square miles, an area slightly smaller than Massachusetts but larger than New Jersey.

Founded in 1836, the City of Houston has a 2010 population of 2.1 million, according to the U.S. Census Bureau -- www.census.gov. Houston's population in 1850 was listed as 2,396.

The metro area's population of 5.95 million in 2010 is 6th largest among U.S. metropolitan statistical areas, according to www.census.gov, and a 26% increase since 2000.

If Houston were an independent nation, it would rank as the world's 30th largest economy

More interesting facts in the following blogs. All information is taken directly from the The City of Houston Official Site for Houston, Texas.

Thanks for stopping by. Hope to see you back real soon. Have a great day!

NATIONAL NAVAL AVIATION MUSEUM

Saturday, October 29 – We headed out early this morning bound for Kinder, LA, and the Coushatta Casino RV Park. After about three and a half hours of driving, we filled up at the Indian Casino gas station for $3.58, the lowest diesel price we've seen in quite awhile. We then pulled back to the campground only to find out they are FULL. What the heck! That's never happened to us before. The reason, we found out, is this weekend is the Annual Coushatta Pow Wow.

Well, we considered dry camping in the casino parking lot, but we wanted to watch some NCAA football and didn't want to run the generator for hours. So, we headed down the road to our next intended stop, Livingston, TX, and the Escapees Rainbow's End campground. That made for an eight hour driving day, which is way more than we like to drive in one day. We were on back roads and there just wasn't anywhere to stop.

We settled into site #68, and will be here until Monday morning so we can get our annual inspection stickers for the MH and Honda. We walked around the park to see what's happening. We ran into our friends, Marc & Joyce. The place is fairly crowded. I guess people are on the move to the South to avoid those cold temperatures.

As promised two blogs ago…After the air show, we headed across the parking lot from the Flight Line to the National Naval Aviation Museum. Again FREE admission and an amazing museum. There is so much to see, it is impossible to see in one day. The hundreds of aircraft on display have all been restored to original condition.

Fat Albert
 

Looking down at one section of the Museum.

There's just about every naval aircraft ever flown in combat, aircraft you can sit in for a picture, flight simulators, a huge display of aircraft carriers, and so much more.

The Navy/Curtiss Aircraft was designed during WWI as antisubmarine aircraft. It was a long-range patrol flying boat. The wing span 126'; length 68'; height 24'; max speed of 85 mph.

One of the most amazing displays is the Blue Angel Atrium where four jets used by the Blue Angels are suspended from the ceiling flying in their famous close formation. You get to see up close that eighteen inch separation of formation flying they are so famous for.

PB2Y-5R Coronado was outfitted as a flag transport and shuttled high-ranking officers. In August 1945, the aircraft and its crew flew to Guam, the forward headquarters for Fleet Admiral Chester W. Nimitz, the Commander in Chief, Pacific Fleet and Pacific Ocean Areas, and soon embarked Nimitz's deputy, Rear Admiral Forrest P. Sherman, for the flight to Tokyo Bay to attend the formal surrender ceremonies ending World War II.

Coronado is the HUGE one.

The World's First Operational Jet-Powered Fighter…Me-262 which flew in 1942. Tope speed 540 mph.

"Long-nose" version of the F11F Tiger that was flown by the Blue Angels during the period 1959-1958. It was the last Grumman-build aircraft flown by the famed U.S. Navy Flight Demonstration Squadron.

Treasures of Lake Michigan…a stunning underwater recreation of salvaging aircraft found in Lake Michigan. Using special lighting, they made the planes look like they were still underwater. Just an excellent display!

With its distinctive green and white paint scheme, the latter color on top of the aircraft applied originally to early model helicopters to make the occupants cooler in the days before air-conditioned compartments, the helicopters that fly as “Marine One” are among the most famous aircraft in the entire world.

President Franklin D. Roosevelt was the first President to employ an airplane for travel while in office, the use of a helicopter for short-distance travel first occurring when President Dwight D. Eisenhower climbed aboard a Bell UH-13J Sioux with its “fishbowl” cockpit for a flight in 1957.

This VH-3A served during the presidencies of Richard M. Nixon and Gerald R. Ford.

On 1 May 2003, the aircraft made history when President George W. Bush was a passenger during a carrier arrested landing on board the flattop. In so doing he became the first sitting chief executive to trap on board an aircraft carrier. As is customary, during the time President Bush was aboard the aircraft, it was known as "Navy 1."

Of course, we all remember the famous banner that was his back drop onboard the ship.

The Navy's Last Flying Boat…SP-5B Marlin. Its height is over 32' and wingspan of some 118' entered service in 1952. In addition to antisubmarine warfare missions, SP-5B marlins supported Operation Market Time, monitoring shipping traffic in the water off South Vietnam.

Can you find Marsha in this picture?

There is just so much to see in this museum that Marsha couldn't snap the pictures fast enough. If you are EVER in this area, this is a MUST see! Remember it is all FREE!

Thanks for stopping by. Hope to see ya'll back real soon. Have a great day!

CLOUDS…WHO CARES?

Thursday, October 27 – Soaking up more sun on the beach! We tried to get Bella (our cat) to give it a try.....nothing doing! She was scared to death and wanted to go back home...NOW! She prefers to sit in the window of the MH and watch the ocean from there.....scare-dee cat!

She wasn't sure of the sand.

This is the closest we could get her to the water.

We had a friend that joined us for most of the day. He entertained us with a dance every so often.

We try to sample local cuisine in the different areas we visit, so while at the beach we decided to go out for a local fish dinner. Marsha Googled for the best seafood restaurants in Bay St. Louis, and we chose CUZ'S Seafood Restaurant. This is a family owned establishment. They specialize in fresh fish, shrimp, crawfish, crabs, oysters, gumbo, and over-stuffed po'boys. Paul had the Trout basket, and Marsha enjoyed the Shrimp basket. Both were delicious.

Friday, October 28 – With the sun coming up over the water,

it appeared to be another gorgeous day.

Hold on…what is this? Threating skies?

Fine, we will make the best of it. So what does one do on an overcast day…clean pine needles, of course.

We cleaned 2,000 pine needles just in a short hour and half. Although we cleaned 6,600 needles. Now each pine needle actually contains three needles. So Marsha has some 21,000 needles at an average of 16" each to make her future baskets. She is in heaven…but…she now has to wash them all and let them dry for at least two months. Wonder if she can hold out?

We took another ride today along the water to see how progress is going after the last hurricane and the big tropical storm they had last month. Looks like they are getting some of the beaches back in shape.

Yesterday we saw a little restaurant called da Little Café. It claims to have New Orleans style Beignets. We said, "What the heck let's give it a shot." WOW…they are in every way as good and just MAYBE better than the ones we had at the famous Cafe Du Monde in the French Market. We each had one of their loaded hot dogs…excellent!

Since this is our last day in Bay St. Louis, we decided to see if we could break even on our initial investment of $20 each at the casino. Our final total…Marsha $31.73; Paul $1.67. Not too bad for three days of sun and fun!

Thanks for stopping by. Hope to see ya'll back real soon. Have a great day!