A birthday, a visit to Nederland and a big bee

After going thru a period of blogger block, which was immediately followed by a bout of grandkid crud, I am finally getting around to finishing the San Antonio trip.  The main reason for this trip was to be with our youngest daughter Katie and husband Dain for her birthday. It was a great week of visiting, but somehow once again not many pictures were taken.  This may be because I prefer outdoor pictures as much as possible and the weather was truly cold for Texas. We did manage to visit the nearby horse racing track on race night.  We have only been to one horse race at a county fairgrounds in Iowa a few years back but never at a real horse track.  Perhaps it was the small crowd and unbelievably blinding lights, but I just did not find it very exciting.

While touring the large numbers of shopping opportunities in greater San Antonio, we did stop for refueling at the largest gas station I have ever seen.  It is a Buc-ee's.  The store is as large as a Wal-Mart and has 120 gas pumps.  It is also the first gas station I have been in that carries a complete line of hunting equipment including large size deer feeders.  It has a little something for everyone.  With great access for RV's will be using them where ever we find them.

We were planning an extended trip in Texas after finishing our visit in San Antonio, but it was just too cold.  So we headed towards Florida.  Anneke wanted to stop at a town she had seen on the map near Beaumont, Texas.  The town of Nederland, as one would suspect, was settled by Dutch Immigrants in the 1800's.  They were followed by many other groups including those who came to be known as Cajuns.  When oil was discovered in the area, the town was quickly surrounded by the oil industry and remains so today.  The town itself is trying to hang onto that quiet small town feel.  There is a town park with a Dutch history windmill with gift shop.  The park also has a cabin that was typical of the early Cajuns that settled the area.  We enjoyed a tour of both by friendly town volunteers. 

Since we hope to make the journey to San Antonio on a regular basis, we think we have found two RV parks that will allow us to make the nearly 800 mile trip in three days.  The Gulf Coast RV Resort is located just off I10 west of Beaumont and has full amenities including FHU, free cable, free WIFI, pool, and a free Texas waffle breakfast.

The second one is not available to everyone, but it just in the right spot for us.  It is the Navy SeaBee construction base in Gulfport, MS.  It is nearly new, as it was built after Katrina did major damage to the area.  It is a great stop for those that have a DOD id. 

We wish you all a Happy Thanksgiving.