Sanderson to Louisiana

I left off when I arrived in Sanderson, Texas. I’m going to just hit some highlights of the next ten days. 

I spent the night and got a bit lost in Sonora, Texas, which is hard to do, then romed on up to Leander to visit a friend I hadn’t seen in nearly sixty years. SIXTY! The trip took me through the Hill Country of Texas which was in bluebonnet season.

Then down to Austin where I visited a friend from the mid seventies in Bisbee. I stayed there a few days and enjoyed a lovely visit and great views of Lake Travis. 

Then down to the coast. The Gulf. 

First to Corpus Cristi where I spent my first night (and only night so far) in a Walmart parking lot. Then to and across Mustang Island and on the ferry to Port Aransas. More coastal driving and a visit to the Aransas National Wildlife Refuge where I SAW A WHOOPING CRANE!!!

I didn’t get a photo, unfortunately. 

I’d climbed a lot of stairs to a lovely lookout when the biggest egret in the world flew into the trees. I then realized no egret was that large, and besides, it had black wingtips. This bird was huge!!! I was mystified until I went down the stairs and saw a sign about nesting whooping cranes. That’s what I’d seen! The photo below is a stock photo.

Across Galveston Island and the ferry to the Bolivar Peninsula.

Once on the peninsula, I bought a $10 beach permit. It allowed a full week of parking and sleeping on the beach, but my one night there, though beautiful, wasn’t really good. Way too windy.

Luna Azul, my RAV, was rocking and rolling all night. Plus it drizzled and blowing sand stuck to every square inch of my poor car. She was no longer azul (blue). Thankfully, rain over the next day or so rinsed her off.

I spent the next night in a sweet little park outside a small town, again a place on the water—but no blowing sand!

And north.

I visited Port Arthur. The entrance was awful—all refineries.

But I spent some good time in the Museum of the Gulf Coast which is an excellent small museum. Highly recommended!

In addition to information on history and culture, the museum’s second floor was devoted to the musicians and music of the area.

The main reason I stopped was Port Arthur was the home of Janis Joplin.

The best part of the display was a video board that allowed viewers to search musicians and music by decade.

In Port Arthur, I also found a Buddhist Temple …

and a beautiful Virgin of Guadalupe.

From there I headed, unfortunately, to I-10 which was just about the only way to get to Lake Charles where I wanted to spend the night.

More soon!