Category: United States

  • Galveston Arrival

    Jason and Kristle were our new couchsurfing hosts. Jason is in school in Galveston, but is now changing majors to meteorology, which requires a transfer to another university in another part of Texas. It’s only a three-hour drive away, but it’ll mean big changes for them both.

    Jason loves birding, and currently has a job with the Audubon Society at the bird sanctuaries in High Island, along with other tasks they set for him.

    Kristle is a full-time teacher, teaching English and social studies to seventh graders. It keeps her plenty busy.
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  • Winnie TX

    After settling comfortably in our chairs after dinner was cleaned up and making phone calls to let everyone know we’d made it okay, I headed off to use the facilities across the park. As I returned a few minutes later, I saw that Chelsea had a visitor. Radiating energy, attired in spandex bike shorts, with a huge golden retriever by his side, our visitor and Chelsea were deep in discussion.

    Introducing himself as Rick, he told us he’d recently gotten seriously into cycling – in fact, he’d ridden today in his first pair of bike shorts. We chatted for quite a while, then Rick pulled out a half bottle of wine, and we stayed up chatting even longer. Finally we started tying down our rain fly and getting ready to finish the nightly tasks while we talked.
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  • Getting to Winnie TX

    We can’t believe our good luck. We’ve been in Winnie for several days now, really enjoying the company of our hosts, Rick and Liz, never mind the delicious meals and air conditioning and wonderful animals they have. We’ll be heading out tomorrow for the Galveston Ferry, and we’ll stay in Galveston for at least four days if we can find accommodations.

    So how did we end up in a home with such a nice family, instead of staying at the campground? Let me back up a bit.
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  • Johnson’s Bayou LA and Port Arthur TX

    We’re in Texas!

    We left Oak Grove yesterday morning, after taking time to clean our room and bathroom, eat a quick breakfast, and watch some Dancing with the Stars wrap-up interviews on TV with Jo-Ann. After big hugs with Donny and Jo Ann, we took off about 8:30.

    We started off in really good moods, as our packing and organization on Tuesday was the best we’ve ever done. We had clean laundry, food and equipment and clothing packed, the latest blog posted, and four photo albums posted, and we still had time to watch the finals of Dancing with the Stars and get to bed only an hour later than our usual time.
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  • Leaving on Wednesday

    We continue to have a really busy time here, especially since we are getting ready to go. We’re packing and getting our food ready for the trip, and I’m calling campgrounds and looking up hosts on Couchsurfing. Chelsea is doing our bike maintenance tasks. It’s amazing how much time it all takes.

    Birding – we saw a flamingo!

    We managed to see the Cameron Prairie Wildlife Refuge last week, and while it doesn’t strictly count as birding, we really enjoyed the displays about Cajun life in the marshes (new after Ike and Rita). We did see a belted kingfisher (stuffed) so now we can recognize it, along with a marsh wren.
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  • Chugging along in Oak Grove

    We’re chugging along here in Oak Grove, making preparations to leave on May 20. We’re lining up places to stay and looking over the mileage and distances on our daily stretches in between stops. We’ve been riding every day, covering our usual 22+-mile route, and still dealing with 15-30 mph winds (which are head winds or strong side winds most days).

    Though the winds are a nuisance, we are pleased about how strong we are getting. We can really feel a difference. Since we haven’t ridden hills in forever, we are glad for the strength-building workout.
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  • Another Wonderful Weekend

    After having a week filled with writing and tasks, we thought we’d take Saturday completely off, doing as little as possible. Much to our surprise and delight, Donny came by midafternoon and invited us to go birding and adventuring with him, over towards the Texas border.

    Oak Grove to Texas and back

    We crossed Calcasieu Pass on the Cameron Ferry – Chelsea and I love ferries, so that was a treat. At the ferry crossing, we saw many boats for the oil industry, from spud barges to lift barges (see notes below), to work boats (bringing supplies and materials out to the oil rigs in the Gulf) and crew boats (bringing the crews and supplies out to the oil rigs). Bird-wise we saw great egrets, lots of gulls, a yellow-crowned night heron, and lots of brown pelicans (which made us feel at home).
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  • Busy Weekend

    Our weekend was extremely busy, filled with activities out of our local area. After a great breakfast at home, we started Saturday early with a two-hour car trip to Youngsville, up near Lafayette, to repair a hurricane-damaged stained glass window from the Baptist church in Oak Grove.

    The stained glass shop was really beautiful. It was spacious and airy, with many over-sized windows letting in sunlight and showing off the beautiful stained glass and etched windows the owner has created. We loved the clear glass etchings he has done, especially a particularly gorgeous bayou scene.
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  • Bike Rides and Birding

    We’ve begun riding four to five days a week around Oak Grove and Creole and it’s been well worth the effort. We ride seven miles east out towards Grand Chenier, turning north just before the Mermentau River Bridge. We’ve got about a mile of east/northeast before turning north on Pumpkin Ridge Rd (a hurricane evacuation route for those between Oak Grove and Pecan Island).

    After three miles north on Pumpkin Ridge Rd. we ride due west on Chenier Perdue/East Creole Hwy to Creole, where we head south for two miles, then east for the final mile home. The round trip is about twenty-two miles.
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  • Oak Grove – staying a bit longer, and glad we are

    We’d planned on leaving Tuesday or Wednesday , but got so busy over the weekend that we knew we wouldn’t be ready to go. There was another four-day storm front coming in over the weekend, and we weren’t looking forward to being out in that, either.

    Monday, Jo-Ann asked why we were leaving; asked if it was urgent that we go; and asked us to stay for a while longer. We need to increase our income (the rent income we’ve been relying on has been unpredictable), and we need a place to write our articles, e-books and trip book. We decided to say yes to staying.
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