March 28, 2016
Space Center Houston
Houston, TX

"Houston, we have a problem...." not really, but we had to take the time to go visit NASA's famous Johnson Space Center. Located an hour from Katy, TX we took the Sam Houston Toll road around Houston to I-45 heading towards Galveston. Space Center Houston is the official Visitor Center for the Johnson Space Center.

Parking is $6 and adult tickets are $25, so the cost wasn't bad. The first thing you see is the Space Shuttle Independence mounted on top of a Boeing 747.

 

The facility has many displays and interactive exhibits as well as tram rides that take you over to Johnson Space Center for a tour of the original Mission Control Center, Rocket Park housing indoor and outdoor displays, and the Astronaut Training Facility. They also have two theatres showing films about the history of the space program as well as presentations on the ISS mission and Mars rovers.

Here are a few pictures.

We had a really good time and enjoyed the experience. Having previously visited Cape Canaveral for the STS-104 shuttle launch as well as the Canaveral Visitor Center, I would have to say this place was not nearly as nice but it was a good place to visit and I would recommend it.

March 26, 2016
Katy Lakes RV Resort
Katy, TX

We continued west today covering 158 miles over a 3 hour drive. Still on I-10, we passed thru the area along the LA-TX border that was flooded. The road was open but there was a lot of construction as they work to restore the road. We passed thru Beaumont, TX and then worked our way into Houston. I-10 takes you right thru the heart of downtown. There was a lot of traffic but the drive was uneventful. On the west side of town I-10 becomes a Toll road but not in the traditional sense. They have toll lanes that can be used during high traffic periods so you can avoid it by paying a toll. Our RV GPS kept trying to route me to the toll lanes even though you have to have a transponder to pay the toll. Garmin needs to work on that bug.

We had departed from Sulphur around 9 a.m. and got to our destination a little after noon, so I think we avoided a lot of traffic.

Katy Lakes is another diamond in the rough RV Resort that we found via RV Park Reviews website. Located on the west side of Houston, they are a small park with  195 sites. This is a newer park with very nice facilities.

Registration Office

Bath House, Rec Center, Laundry

Pool

Lake (big pond)

All roads and sites are concrete and they have back in, pull thru, and executive sites. We chose the executive site cause that's just who we are ;>) 

They have a double wide parking space at one end and the site is extra long (85 feet, I believe). It's nice to have all the space you need and still be able to sit outside, grill, and pop a few tops...

Houston is the biggest city we intend to drive the RV through in our travels and that is a good thing. I prefer more rural, less populated areas that have many restaurants, shopping malls, theatres, and professional sports teams.... is that too much to ask for? Oh well, we will be here over the next week and hope to see everything Houston has to offer. Then it's off to San Antonio.......

March 25, 2016
A+ Motel and RV Park
Sulphur, LA

We did another short hop west on I-10...about 95 miles, and we found ourselves at A+ Motel and RV Park. The name sounds like a less than stellar location but it is really a very nice, small RV park.

All  the facilities are well maintained. They have 2 pools.

A fishing pond.

And asphalt roads with concrete sites.

They have pull through and back in sites, and except for a few too many short turns where the roads are bordered with a few boulders to ensure you stay off the grass, they accommodate big rigs pretty well.

I have to say so far Louisiana wins the prize for worst interstate roads. There were several locations spanning many miles where the concrete roads gave you a washboard effect, battering you as you drove down the road. Most of the bridges did not smoothly transition to the highway causing almost a pothole effect. I was lucky to be able to do 55 thru most of these areas. The interstate had been closed going from LA to TX but the water has receded and the road is now open. Hopefully they are in better shape than what we have experienced so far.

We will only be staying the night here in Sulphur because we have more rain forecasted for Sunday. We will make the journey to Houston tomorrow... Our choices were to push on to get there tomorrow or wait until Monday. We chose Houston on the weekend instead of a weekday....hopefully we chose well...

March 16, 2016
Cajun Palms RV Resort
Breaux Bridge, LA

We traveled another 155 miles west today on I-10. We went through Baton Rouge and stopped about 15 miles east of Lafayette in a town called Breaux Bridge. Cajun Palms is the name of the RV resort and it is a high end resort with all the amenities.

Even the registration office is nice...

All the roads and sites are concrete and very well maintained. They have a huge pool, miniature golf, water park, fishing lake, clubs, and activities. Here are some pics of the pool, lake, and cabins.

Most sites are pull through but there are some back ins. They even have executive sites that are covered completely or have just a covered awning. Our site is nice but it's a little shorter than we would prefer. However, we were able to park both vehicles on the site and still have plenty of room for lounge chairs and a grill....what more do you need ;>)

We left Buccaneer State Park 2 days early because we are expected to have 4 days of rain. We wanted to get here before it started. This area has had a lot of rain and flooding in the past week or so and there were signs on I-10 saying the interstate is closed at the LA/TX border. We'll be here for 9 days so we hope that will be reopened before we have to venture further west.

March 14, 2016
New Orleans, LA

Today we drove the 56 miles to New Orleans. The trip down I-10 showed us that there are still a lot of damaged houses and buildings that have not been rebuilt. We drove to 501 Basin Street where the Visitor Center is located. There we bought all day tickets for the City Sightseeing Hop on Hop off tour bus. This is similar to the tours we took in DC, Charleston, and Savannah run by Old Town Trolley however this tour bus was not a great experience. The buses were double decker with limited seating and only ran every 30 minutes and based on capacity you might have to wait another 30 minutes for a second bus....not good.

 

The route they take goes through the French Quarter, French Market, Jackson Square, Downtown, Astrodome, and Gardens. Since we just had the day, we chose to visit the French Quarter, French Market, and Jackson Square.

The architecture was very unique, just like you've seen in pictures and movies.

 

We spent most of out time on Decatur Street which borders the Mississippi River.

By the time we got to the French Market it was lunch time so we had our first taste of the local cuisine at The Gazebo Café.

Most of the places had some type of live music playing, of course, Jazz, Blues, or Dixieland.

We ordered the local favorites, Jambalaya and Muffaletta.

 

The Muffaletta is an Italian sandwich with cheese, ham, salami, bologna, and olives...and that was just a half order..... Both were very good.

Next to the French Market is Jackson Square which is a nice park dedicated to Andrew Jackson.

We couldn't visit New Orleans without stopping at Café Du Monde for Beignets...

They were really good and very messy...powdered sugar everywhere.

And of course no trip to New Orleans would be complete without a visit to a cemetery.

They were lined up to get in.... never expected that, and of course the live music. By the way the white pyramid inside to the left (you just see the tip) is Nicolas Cage's..... of course he's not there yet....the things you see and learn in New Orleans ;>)

We had a great time visiting the City and checking off another bucket list item.