Padre Island National Seashore

We arrived at the Gulf Coast in the afternoon. When we looked it up, we found a lot of places to camp for free. We decided to start at Padre Island National Seashore near Corpus Christi and gradually work our way east.

As we got closer to the Gulf of Mexico, we started to see fog. We were excited at the prospect of camping right on the beach. We had to check in at a self-serve kiosk. We were happy there was one form left to sign in. We could stay for 14 days.

We found a spot on the beach. The view was gorgeous, despite not being able to see the horizon because of the fog. There were gulls and sandpipers at the shoreline digging in the sand. As I photographed them, I saw large, dark shadows moving down the sand. When I looked up, it was a flock of brown pelicans flying over.

We sat out on the beach, enjoying the warm air and the sound of the water lapping on the shore. The fog lifted, and we could finally see the horizon. It was short-lived. While we conversed with one of our neighbors, the fog returned with a vengeance. We almost couldn’t see the water anymore. It was so thick our glasses steamed up, and our hair was wet. It was like being in the center of a cloud. Everything was wet, but it wasn’t raining. We decided it was time to retire for the night.

We woke to the lovely sound of the waves hitting the shore. It was still foggy when we got out of the truck, though not nearly as thick as it was the night before. The fog quickly burned off. We spent most of the day sitting on the beach, soaking up some sun, and enjoying the constant flow of pelicans flying over. They were regal, flying low, slow, and silently by, just above our heads. I decided pelicans are my new favorite bird.

The spot was so beautiful that we decided we would stay for the entire two weeks we were allowed. We went into Corpus Christi to stock up on supplies so we could do nothing more than relax for a few days. We were happy to see our spot on the beach was still available when we returned. We knew cooler weather was on the way, so we sat on the beach for a while, enjoying the stars before calling it a night.

A Drastic Turn In The Weather

The following day was far different. The wind was howling, rocking the truck vigorously. The temperature had dropped 35-degrees, and the rain was pouring. We toyed with the idea of getting a cottage for a couple of days to ride it out but, when we checked the weather, we discovered the weather would stay nasty for the next week. We quickly made the decision it was time to head east.  We picked up our mail, thankful that it arrived that morning, and were on our way.

We followed the coastline for the first part of our trip. We used our gas app to find the best price on our route but soon realized that all the stations were significantly higher priced than what the app said. We have used the app all over the country, with this being the first time it has not been accurate. We noticed it was the same the rest of the time we were in Texas.

While the rain wasn’t bad the first part of the trip, it started pouring down as the afternoon went on. The wind blew so hard it lifted the windshield wipers, so they left the water on the windshield, making it difficult to see. We did not want to drive after dark in those conditions, so we decided to stop for the night in Houston.

The Wyndham That Was Not A Win

I found a Wyndham hotel at a great price. We figured that, under the Wyndham brand, it should be a decent place to say. We were wrong. The first room they put us in smelled like an ashtray, and the tv was missing. When I told the front desk clerk that the room was unacceptable, he quickly found us another room.

This room was cleaner and had a tv, but there was a mirror sitting on the floor. We took the stained blankets off the beds. We thought about bringing up our wool blanket but decided to turn the heat up instead. Unfortunately, no matter how high we turned the heat up, the room never got any warmer. The only good thing about the hotel was we didn’t have to check out until noon, so we could wake up and leave when we were ready without feeling rushed.

A few days before, we had been in the mood for Jimmy Johns. There wasn’t one anywhere near Corpus Christi. On the other hand, Houston had more than a few of them, so we stopped on our way out of town. It was delicious.

Louisiana

As we continued east, the clouds still filled the sky, but there wasn’t as much rain as we had seen the night before. After seven and a half weeks in Texas, we crossed the border into Louisiana. Shortly after, we left the interstate to continue on more minor roads to our destination. I had picked out a few places to see while we were in Louisiana, the first being Avery Island where they make Tabasco sauce.

As we passed the road to Avery Island, the sun was rapidly descending in the sky. We decided to continue to our camping spot for the evening instead of stopping. We don’t like to look for campsites after dark on unfamiliar BLM land.

Attakapas Wildlife Management Area

We followed the road to the camping area, but there was a levee with signs indicating it was private land when we reached the end.  We turned left down the dirt road. We have been to other free campsites where the directions were ambiguous. We thought that might be the case here. The road followed the levee with water on both sides. We saw beautiful birds the whole way.

After driving nine miles or so, we came to the end of the road. We turned onto a paved road and circled back to the original road where we started. This time we drove to the right and up the levee to find the boat ramp described on the website.

Chris realized he had seen a similar sign not far back. We returned to the sign he had seen to find the campground. It was just a flat area with a few picnic tables and a water spigot. We followed the directions on the sign and checked in online.

Finally finding the campground as the sun disappeared reinforced the wisdom of our decision to skip Avery Island. I am not sure we would have found it in the dark. Flocks of birds flew around us, looking for a place to settle in for the night, and we could hear the creatures in the field next to us. Our spot for the night was pure magic.

With all the rain, the ground was saturated and soft. After a bathroom run, we backed off the gravel in the dark, causing the tires to spin. We were grateful to have a four-wheel-drive truck.

In the morning, we were up with the sun. We continued on the back roads through Louisiana. It was interesting to see how they built the roads over the swamps, basically bridges. There were places where we were high enough off the ground to be in line with the treetops. I could see the water from the swamps spread wide, full of bald cypress trees. It was a stunning picture.

We arrived in the town of Chauvin. I enjoyed driving beside the canals. They were full of shrimp boats, some bigger than the houses along the way. Every intersection had a drawbridge crossing the canal. We crossed one of the bridges and followed the road on the other side of the water.

Chauvin Sculpture Garden

Most of the houses were high up on stilts to protect them from the inevitable flooding, especially during hurricane season. I couldn’t help but be amused by the beautiful mobile homes high up in the air.  As we neared the end of the road, we found Chauvin Sculpture Garden, created by artist Kenny Hill. The story is almost as fascinating as the artwork.

Hill moved onto the property in 1988, eventually building a small cabin. The artwork started when he made a 45-foot lighthouse covered with sculptures. Over the next ten years, he created over 100 concrete sculptures, most of a religious nature.

In January 2000, the parish evicted Hill from the property for not cutting the grass. Dramatically, he wrote “Hell is Here, Welcome” in red paint across his kitchen cabinets, knocked the head off the Jesus statue, and walked away on foot, never to return. Currently, the artwork is under the care of Nicholls State University’s art department. The display is open during daylight hours every day.

I found the sculptures both fascinating and haunting. Several sculptures depict Hill’s inner struggles. He was not open about his vision for the project. When prompted once, he responded, “It’s about living and life and everything I’ve learned.”

We continued east, skirting New Orleans. I wanted to order food from one of the fabulous eateries there, but it was Mardi Gras weekend, and we had no interest in dealing with the crowds.

Bayou Sauvage National Wildlife Refuge

We stopped at Bayou Sauvage National Wildlife Refuge, where we took a short walk through the beautiful park. We watched a great egret and a blue heron before getting back on the road.

We thought about crossing the Lake Pontchartrain Causeway Bridge. It is the longest bridge over a body of water in the world, so why wouldn’t we? Research showed that, with the nasty weather, it would not be a good idea this trip. Even though we didn’t take that bridge, Lake Pontchartrain was still an impressive water crossing.

Mississippi

We made it to Pass Christian, Mississippi before nightfall. Following the road along the Gulf of Mexico, we found several spots to camp right next to the beach. Some were parallel parking spots right next to the busy street, while others had places to pull into just off the main road. We ventured down to Biloxi, where we found a large area for camping on a casino site that Hurricane Katrina had destroyed many years ago.

We planned to make camp in the casino spot, but then it looked like the neighbors were preparing for a party. We drove back to one of the pull-in areas instead. The truck shook somewhat as cars whizzed by on the road. Concerned about the possibility of being hit by a potential drunk driver on Mardi Gras weekend, a Saturday night, and the night before Valentine’s Day, we found a spot immediately in front of a tractor-trailer that had stopped for the night. With that buffer, we slept well.