2010/05/10 Day 21

Hello Oddasee Followers,

Today was pretty mellow with a bit of driving. Our time in Texas was action packed and full. We saw a lot and loved many places, things and people. Texas is big. We were often forced to travel on Interstates and will absolutely not miss Houston's silly highway system -- get me the traffic engineer -- Dude/Dudette.... what the hell were you thinking? We were glad to cross the state line and head into Louisiana. 

The difference was almost immediately apparent. We took some back highways and went down to the Gulf and a bay or two. Note: We have a new barometer to use to describe certain attributes of a town/village/city/berg. We have visited many towns along our route. Some are alive and thriving. Others have been pretty sad and empty; especially the old or historic downtowns. There have been some that are simply spent, whipped, tired and just done; there have been a couple that have been so pathetic we call them "Wakita-ed"......

Then there's Port Arthur, Texas -- the birthplace of Janice Joplin. The downtown is a ghost town and mostly in ruins. We're not talking little old western ghost town but one with 10 story hotels, large banks, post offices and large commercial buildings. It was kind of creepy and would make a great set for some post-apocalyptic film/movie. Beyond sad. Beyond pathetic. Full on Death-ville. No wonder the girl could sing the blues and rock hard. We didn't even take photos; they would not do justice to the scale and grayness of this lost soul of a town.

Other than that we spent most of the day driving on a scenic highway through a swamp dominated area along the coast. There were large spaces between "towns" and virtually no businesses for many many miles. We visited Intracoastal City -- it's at the end of the road. It serves as a pick-up spot for off-shore oil rig workers that are whisked away to work via helicopters. There were also a few fishing boats that seemed to be working in the midst of many that were not.

Photos include:

1. Roadside Muffler Men called "Those Introspective Art Guys" - say what? You give them a look and see if you tell me what that means.

2. We also found one of the large promo guys referred to as a "Halfwit". Looked like Alfred E. Neuman to us.

3. Our outsider artist of the day, John Gavrelos, was found in The Lonestar Steak and Seafood Grill in Beaumont, TX. When we pulled up we thought our directions must have been wrong. Then in a corner window we found what we sought.... another wow! The display was sadly placed in a back room with barely adequate lighting. The buildings and figures were mostly carved in wood and the theme was dominated by biblical themes. The impressive sight was astounding in scale (25 -30' long - 6' deep - 6' high) and intricate details on thousands of figures and numerous structures. Sadly it was falling into disrepair. Seems the son and grandson of the artist are just not interested in preserving this treasure. Also, the restaurant was full of Mother's Day celebrators and not a one bothered to come look at the display. We feel very lucky to have seen to see it before it disappears.

We also touched the first saltwater of our journey. There was a beach, seashells and tides. Our walk along Holly Beach was rejuvenating and hopefully only the first of many ocean adventures. Then later a short ride across the bay on the Cameron Ferry.

Spending the night in New Iberia, Louisiana. Ready for new adventures in a state that neither of us visited before. Tomorrow in Susan's birthday and we hope to make it memorable.

Thanks to you all for continuing to share our fun road adventure.

Love and hopefully some great seafood tomorrow,

Who Dat Rodney and Bubba-Susan