We headed South on Interstate 45 then East on Texas 105. This is a two lane road, well paved and with little traffic. It passes farms, ranches and many small towns with names like Cut and Shoot and Sour Lake, which is the birthplace of Texaco Oil Company. We saw Fat Frog's in Boothe, Tx, where you could stop and buy your fill of mayhaw jelly. Being a city boy I didn't have a clue what a mayhaw was let alone that they made jelly out of it. Turns out it's made from the berries of a swamp tree! Debi and I are on a mission now to taste some of the southern favors...mayhaw jelly, tupelo honey and crawfish. The last one I might have trouble getting Debi to whet her pallet with!
There were a couple of interesting RV parks along this route. One was called "Laid Back RV Park", Cleveland, Tx....we did not stop...the other only had about 5 spots and it was called, appropriately, "Small RV Park"..outside Beaumont,...we didn't stop there either. If you're headed East and want to avoid the Houston traffic, you might try this route. It runs from Brenham all the way to Beaumont in the East, where it connects back up to I-10.
We arrived in Kinder, Louisiana around 3:15PM, after a stop in Beaumont for fuel and to get rid of the "love bugs". I found very little to "love" about these insects. Apparently they like to mate and fly around together by the hundreds. I can assure you Texas has lost about a million of the little devils. I scraped them off the front of my coach! For those who don't know what these critters are, they are a small black bug that looks kind of like a small wasp. They are acidic and create a mess on the front of the coach. When killed, their acidic makeup changes and can damage the paint on your vehicle. Fortunately, when we got to our campsite I was able to finish getting them off the coach using my brush and special soap. I had just finished brushing the front and working up a suds when it really began to rain. I put on my swimsuit and finished the job. The rain only lasted about an hour then it quit, so I got out my towels and polished the coach so she looks new again!
Overlooking Lake Conroe....as you can see, the skies looked threatening so we decided to pack it in and head East toward the sun!
Here is a picture of Texas 105. This highway is a quiet alternative to Interstate 10. It runs eastward from Brenham to Beaumont, where it hooks up again with I-10.
Best picture I could get of Sour Lake, which boasts of the longest producing oil fields in the US and birthplace of Texaco Oil Company. The picture below explains why this was the best picture I could get....
If you click on this picture to enlarge it, you will see all the wonderful love bugs I killed. It took me over 30 minutes at the truck stop to get them off. By the time we arrived at the campground, they were back! Ugh! I gave them another name, and love was not in it....
Welcome to Louisiana....
Note to elected officials....why not have a rest area just inside your state line on the major hwys where folks can stop and take their tourist photos without endangering themselves or other traffic on the highway? Another sign like this one could be placed at the rest area and all the pictures could be taken while out of the way....just a thought.
Headed East on Interstate 10 in Lake Charles, La. We did not take the Lake Charles Loop as we will do that in the toad. We are climbing the bridge that spans Lake Charles itself overlooking the City.
Leaving the City of Lake Charles, we headed north on US Hwy165. Some of the roadway in Louisiana rivals those found in California. Not in a good way either. The humidity has increased, but it's still comfortable.
Our "home" for the next week or so....even though it's a casino owned RV park, it has the ambiance and feel of a resort. There are over 100 park models throughout the resort and it has a beautiful pool and clubhouse. The casino is nearby as well as a huge music complex.
Once I got the old girl washed up, she looked new again. Nice grassy areas between the sites and plenty of room for any size rig. Full hookups and 50amps. We can get the laundry done and run all three air conditioners if needed....life is good!
So, what is your "special soap"? We got our of Alabama on a cooler day so the bugs had stopped for a couple of days. We were lucky! Glad you are having fun! Miss ya! Hi to Debi!!
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