Jan. 13 - Here we are in San Antonio. Rather, in the area, in a very good r.v. park. Wifi, t.v., concrete pad, swimming pool, spa, and other stuff. We drove across from Galveston today, where we'd spent the last three nights. We like to do secondary routes, so did our best to find a two lane route. After going through half the suburbs in western Houston, we finally found route 90, which we followed for the day, through rice fields for the first part, then ranches for the balance. :Lovely rolling countryside, for the most part, with some interesting little towns along the way: Eagle Lake, Sublime, Halletsville, Gonzales, Seguin.

Speaking of Halletsville, we needed an oil change. Checked with an r.v. dealer near Galveston, and he wanted $200. for an oil change. No to that! Found a little shop in Halletsville, not unlike my buddy Chris Jones place, and got the job done for $41. Gotta love that! All it took was a young lad willing to climb under the r.v. on his back. No problem. And what a great group of guys in the shop. The owner came along and gave us tips as to where to eat in San Antonio. Fun stuff.

We enjoyed our drive from Eunice to Galveston, first of all through the rice fields of Western Louisiana, and then down a narrow little road to the Gulf, where we were practically on the beach for miles. Across marsh areas to get there, full of ducks, and along the shore, where we saw drilling platforms a mile or two away. We'd been tipped by a fellow from Colorado we met that we should take this route, as there's a neat little ferry that we had to take. Fun it was. Cost a buck. The neat thing was the way it worked. The ferry does a 360, and by the time it completes the turn, we're on the other side. Three minutes max!

As we moved towards  Port Arthur, Texas, we passed through more evidence of one of the soft underbellies of the American economy. Propane processors, gas processors, oil refineries, wall to wall. Blow all of that up, and it would bring America to a standstill. For awhile, anyway. Hope it never happens. We needed another ferry as we proceeded along route 87, across Galveston Bay. The harbour at Galveston has now become a cruise ship harbour. Two of the big liners come here to start their cruises, and we were lucky enough to see one of them in harbour. Made me think about our new port in Picton. Maybe in addition to bringing in salt and bauxite, they could become a cruise harbour. Wouldn't that be good for Picton?

We enjoyed Galveston again, finding some big changes sine we were here a dozen years ago. Hurricane Ike came through 7 years ago, and flooded most of the city. Nothing like the storm in 1900 that wrecked the city and claimed 6,000 lives. Only two died because of Ike. We wandered about downtown, went to the film depicting the big storm, thoroughly enjoyed an afternoon in the newly revised Tropical Rainforest display, and enjoyed a 20 mile bike ride along the seafront. We had a great r.v. park right on the waterfront, which included a hot tub that we enjoyed.

Went to a bar called Hemingways, and met a neat guy there. Aaron, who was behind the bar, has a Masters degree in Biomedical Technology. After several years in the industry, he counted up 320 nights in one year spent in hotels, and decided enough was enough. Now he owns a seasonal restaurant, is about to open a second, and is off to a new career. He's the second young guy we've met who reached burn-out and made a distinct change. Good for them, I say, having enough nerve to bail out and try something different.