29 Jan 2019 - Windy and Short Night

29 Jan 2019
It was a short night.  The wind from the polar vortex was relentless with sustained winds in the 20's MPH and gusts in the 40's MPH or more.  Temps were in the 40's but wind chills much lower than that.  That does not sound like much, but our 15,000 lb fifth wheel shook unbelievably.  I was not concerned about our safety but more so of damage to the rig. We were not the only one's up and watching.  The smaller campers were connected to their tow vehicle and it was a good thing.

Many little camper remained connected to their tow vehicles. 
This was taken this morning when the worst of it had subsided.

I captured some video but it did not load here very well.  This is a picture of wind whipping a palm tree:

The wind tapered off slightly after sunrise and continued to taper down the rest of the morning.  I captured some video of the waves hitting the sea wall that connects to the old sea plane ramp.  The sea was angry!!

Later this morning we headed out to the Naval Exchange (NEX) and Commissary to pick up a few items.  Then we walked over the the Panda Express for a quick lunch and return to the RV.  

As the afternoon progressed the sun warmed us up a bit and we took Liberty on a couple longer walks.  Here is a picture of the pier which is now off limits due to it's deterioration.

The pier.

The old seaplane ramp.

Early night tonight.  Tomorrow we will tour the WWII aircraft carrier USS Lexington, docked at Corpus Christi.

27 & 28 Jan 2019 - Last Night for San Leon, Hello Corpus Christi TX

27 Jan 2019
Sorry folks, got busy last night and did not update the blog.  Not much to report from yesterday as we did not go anywhere other than to fuel the truck and get ready to leave.  Doreen did laundry.  I emptied and flushed the #2 tank, stowed hoses, tire covers, etc and made preparations to bug out this morning.

28 Jan 2019
So at 0828 hrs this morning we said goodbye to Big Spot RV Park in San Leon (Galveston ) TX  and boogied on down the road to Corpus Christi and the Naval Air Station (NAS) RV Park.  The drive was uneventful.  We stopped once to pee the dog and refuel at a Buc-ee's Beaver gas station at Wharton TX.

Wow!  This place was amazing!  Ultra-clean inside and outside, and look at the flippin' price of diesel!  

That's not a misprint, sports fans!  $2.279!  Most other stations around here are anywhere from $2.50 to $2.99

We arrived at the NAS Corpus Christi main gate at 13:30 hrs and were challenged by the gate guard with the "Good afternoon sir.  Do you have any weapons with you?"  Our Core Values kicked in and of course I declared.  So an hour later we were finally on the way to the campground, after diverting to Security Forces.  They in-check and store weapons there and you can check them in and out as needed and when you finally depart.  Not so bad.

Next stop was the Morale, Welfare and Recreation (MWR) office to sign in and get our camping spot.  They have two campgrounds here.  Nothing fancy.  30 amp electric + water + sewer+ paved spot for $17/night.  The spots are short, in fact I parked with my wheels on the slab, rear levelers in the grass, and truck parked aside the RV. 

 The good news is there is quite a bit of room here.  We will be here for 12 nights, so it is nice that we are spread out a bit.  The 30A vs 50A electric is not an issue as chances are slim to none that that we will run two air conditioners at one time.  In fact the forecast is near freezing mid-week.

Wide open spaces to the north

Tons of room behind.  We do have a neighbor to the south

The RV park here is located right on the tip of Corpus Christi Bay, on the Naval Air Station.  There is what seems to be a constant gentle breeze here.  

 When it is warm that is all fine and dandy, but they are predicting gale force winds here tomorrow and temps in the 40's.  "Gale force" is defined as a 7-10 on the Beaufort scale (32-63 MPH)

We got all set up here and then Doreen called to see if we could get Liberty into the base vet, but they did not answer their phones.  So we got a hold of a a veterinary not far from the base.  Liberty has some sort of irritation or infection going on primarily with her right eye.  Southside Animal Hospital could get us in if we could have her there by 1700 hrs, so off we went.  

 We saw a nice veterinary who had been schooled at Texas A&M.  He quickly checked her out including some dye in her eyes and using an ultraviolet light to see if there were any sores there, and there were not.  He gave her a steroid/antibiotic injection and also some eye medication and sent us on our way. 

Using a U/V light to detect eye sores

That's a wrap for today.  Tomorrow we will likely take it easy, make a NEX and Commissary run, check out the base and make plans for the rest of the week.  We are here for 12 nights so we have tons of time.  

Stats Update:

Campsite#:  11 of 30

# States Traveled Through This Trip:  9

Baseball Parks Visited So Far This Trip:  1 (Houston)

Point to point travel miles:  2258 miles

  - Avg point to point travel miles:  205 miles

Vicinity miles:  2089 miles 

  - Avg vicinity miles:  209 miles

Total miles driven:  4347 miles

Total point to point driving time:   43 hrs 13 minutes

Total fuel purchased: 352.359 gals

Total fuel cost:  $983.31

Average fuel cost:  $2.796

Max fuel cost:  $3.179

Min fuel cost:  $2.279 (Wharton TX)

Average MPG:  11.85 miles/gal

# Nights at end of this stay:  78

Lodging cost:  $2079.59

 - Average lodging cost/night:  $26.66/night

26 Jan 2019 - Kemah Boardwalk and Railean Rum Distillery

26 Jan 2019
We've had moderate temps the past couple nights.  Lows in the mid-40's and highs in the upper 50's to lower 60's and NO RAIN, finally!  Our friends and relatives back in Iowa have been clobbered with snow and bitterly cold temps, so they have no sympathy for us at all!

Today we started with a short drive from San Leon north to the Kemah Boardwalk area on a peninsula in SE Houston, right on the water.  The Boardwalk is an entertainment area with a hotel, many restaurants and an amusement park.  There is also a nice boardwalk around the area which is very scenic.

Probably a casualty of a hurricane.  For sale cheap?  Probably not!

Pano of the boardwalk

It was a nice morning and a nice walk.  The amusement park was just powering up and there was virtually no one there.  I imagine this place would be packed in the summertime.

We diverted into Walmart on the way back to the RV and picked up some supplies, then headed back for lunch and a short break.

We found a local rum distillery that offered tours on Saturday at 1300 and 1500 hrs, so we drove a couple miles to be there for the 1500 hrs tour.  It was about a five minute drive, so of course we were early. 

The Railean Distillery not only makes rum spirits but also some vodka's and some agave's (they cannot sell it under the name of tequila).   Besides operating the distillery they also operate a bar but due to their license they can only sell their own liquor products.

The Railean bottles for sale

On the weekends they bring in a band

A little pre-tour toddy!

This place is not huge, but it is really unique.  Doreen holding down the bar before the tour.

 3:00 rolled around and we were summoned into the back room, where our tour guyed got things rolling.  He is one of three master distillers here and very knowledgeable in all aspects of the science.   He explained their operation and gave us insight on the process.  We then headed out into the distilling area.

The distillery in the background, operating as we toured.  They are producing rum right now.

The fermentation tanks.  Our tour guide pulled off a glass of the material fermenting and he suggested we smell it.  One elderly gent thought he was supposed to take a swig - Oh did he get a surprise!!

Close up of one of the fermentation tanks.  

Rum is made with molasses.  That is what is on the tank post-it note

The new aging barrels and the raw materials.  These barrels cost about $300 each.  After the barrels have been used a few times they sell them to craft beer producers

Barrels of Blue Agave used to make 'tequila'

Barrels of spirits aging in the barrels

An experiment where they wrapped a few barrels in Saran Wrap to slow the evaporation process. 
The jury is still out on this!

Contents labels with dates 

After touring the distilling area we headed back into the meeting room for the tasting!  We were each given a shot glass and then our tour guide presented each of their products and explained them completely.  It was very interesting and I learned a lot.  The samples were of course just a bit in the bottom of the shot glass, but was enough so you could smell and taste each of their products.  Doreen and I usually shared one sample.

 Their spiced rum is not artificially colored and they use cardamom for flavoring.  Captain Morgan uses a lot of cinnamon for it's flavor.

We had a good time at the distillery and I bought a bottle of their spiced rum for future medicinal use LOL.  

Tomorrow we will wrap things up here, relax a bit and make preparations to pull chocks Monday morning and head on down to Corpus Christi for 12 nights.

25 Jan 2019 - Dinner with Doreen's Cousin

25 Jan 2019
Today was a down day from the standpoint of touring or site seeing.  We both worked around the RV until the afternoon.  I installed a software upgrade to the RAM 3500, vacuumed out the inside and re-paired the RV backup camera.  Doreen worked on finances, made a hair appointment for the dog in Corpus Christi and worked on plans for tomorrow's adventure here in the Galveston area.

Later in the afternoon we headed for Doreen's cousin's house in League City for dinner.  Tammy Mortensen Sharp is Doreen's second cousin.  Her grandfather and Doreen's father were brothers.  We (Doreen and I) used to babysit Tammy and her brother when we were dating in high school.  Tammy, Doreen and I all three went to Northern University High School in Cedar Falls and have kept in contact through the years.  We probably have not seen Tammy in 15 years, so it was really great to be able to get together today.

Tammy, husband Rick and their son Josh were there along with Josh's wife Sarah and their daughter Payton. 

Payton

 They showed us around their house and backyard with an awesome swimming pool.  They had a color changing lighting installed which is sweet!!  They also have a barbecue area and pergola.

Tammy & Rick's swimming pool

Tammy is a minister with the Christus Victor Lutheran Church in League City TX and has recently returned from a two week mission trip to Ethiopia.  We got an update on her journey along with a  slide show!  Tammy prepared a chili for us with all the trimmings, which was great!

Doreen, Tammy and Payton

We returned to the RV and enjoyed our weekly showing of 'Gold Rush' followed by 'Gold Rush: White Water'.

Tomorrow we are going to visit a couple more sites in the area and are going to try to make one of the tours at the local rum distillery.  Railean Distilleryd

24 Jan 2019 - NASA's Space Center Houston

24 Jan 2019
This morning we drove north about  30 minutes to NASA's Space Center Houston.

We purchased our tickets online and made our way quickly  into the Space Center main building. The best way I can describe the Space Center is a cross between a museum and a space travel-based STEM facility for kids.  It is very children-friendly with many hands-on displays and many interactive displays.  There are also pay-to-play virtual reality experiences, and of course a restaurant and a gift shop.

Staff recommended we take the tram tour first and then finish in the main building, and there was no waiting at the tram, although we quickly filled the four-car tram with visitors.  There were quite a few school groups there and many foreigners.  Great that folks from other countries have the opportunity to come to the United States and see the sites, but I wish they would be respectful and keep their dang traps shut when the tour guide is talking.  Arg!

The tram tour leaves the Space Center property and travels through NASA's Johnson Space Center. The Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center is an operational facility, with mission control and other functions very active.

As we rode past the various buildings the tour guide described what was going on in them. 

Our first stop was the Christopher C. Kraft Mission Control Center building, which houses active, working mission control centers and where they do mission control training.  If you saw the movie Apollo 13, or are old enough to have watched any of the launches, you likely know what mission control does and how it looks.  It is a room full of consoles, electronics equipment, displays and very technical people that manage every aspect of the mission, from launch to recovery.

Display inside the building

Our tour guide briefed us to be very quiet as we made our way into the building and down the hallway past the operational mission control room that was currently controlling the International Space Station.  We then entered an observation area above another mission control center, but this one is where they train the mission controllers.  It also serves as a back-up to the other mission control.  Doreen and I were lucky enough to get two seats in the front row at the glass!  Made for great pictures!

Where there are two at a console, one is the trainer and one is the student

The colored lines on the status screen indicate there is a problem of some sort, in this case more than one problem at a time.

The mission controllers have a lot of data and systems to monitor.  This is just one position.

There is a lengthy training and certification process where the students are pressed very hard.  They control simulated missions and while doing so they have to deal with various problems that arise.  They must maintain their composure and work as a team to solve them or they will be eliminated from the program.

After the Mission Control building, we traveled to the Space Vehicle Mockup Facility where they have replicas of various spacecraft components.  Astronauts use this facility to train for future missions.  It is also used by scientists and engineers to design future space exploration vehicles.  This is not a museum.  This is real, live, operational equipment in use today.

We walked along an elevated pathway so we had a great view of the equipment.

International Space Station mockup's

The building is packed with space vehicles of all sorts

Orion is the name associated with the future Mars mission

There were astronauts training inside this capsule and personnel outside also

This is a robot NASA is experimenting with.  It is so "smart" it will return a handshake with the same pressure as was given!

Modular Robotic Vehicle in the background

  From here we headed to the Rocket Park.  This building houses one of only three remaining Saturn V rockets, and this one is the only remaining Saturn V who's stages were scheduled for flight.  

In front of the building

The business end of a Saturn V rocket.  Holy cow this thing is HUGE! The Saturn V is the rocket designed to take astronauts to the moon.

Saturn V first stage rocket

Saturn V second stage rocket

Saturn V third stage

After viewing the Saturn V, the tram took us back to the Space Center where we finished up inside the building.

The next big mission will be Orion and travel to Mars.  There was a lot of emphasis here on the Orion mission and it was some very interesting reading.  

This is Valkyre, the robotic helper!  We saw Valkyre on the tram tour.

There were may space suits and accessories on display

A scale model International Space Station display

An astronaut on a space walk

Inside the International Space Station

The Space Shuttle Discovery cargo bay.  Was launched in 1984 and flew 38 missions. 

Ed is his new "uniform"!

Doreen at the stick landing the Space Shuttle!

Lunar Module display!

The mock-up of the Space Shuttle mounted to an actual 737 used to transport it.

NASA's Space Center was well worth the time.  We headed back to the RV and our son Dan had sorted our mail at home and emailed me some documents I needed to finalize our 2018 income tax information for our accountant.  I got that all compiled, walked the dog a few times and chilled for the rest of the evening. 

Tomorrow we are going to have dinner with Doreen's cousin Tammy and her family.  Othe than that we will see what the day brings!