Go West old man!: TEXAS, Galveston Island State Park

It was a leisurely drive from Mandeville across Louisiana this morning. No construction, no detours, no traffic jams… just nice casual driving. We stopped at the Welcome Center in Orange TX and once again met a great lady there. She showed us a route that got us off the interstate and onto the island beachfront drive a lot sooner. Even though it was a longer route it was much nicer. I had seen the route on my route finding research but it had a ferry for which I did not find any information. She assured us it was free and took up to 65’ rigs. Those were my concerns, we are about 55’ and I didn’t want to drive 70 miles to a ferry dock to find out we were too long or that the trailer would cost a bundle. Free-- I had not even thought of that! And it was a beautiful drive along undeveloped deserted beach right next to the road. OK, truth is this area has been eroded by the sea and storms so it looks pristine again. Works for us!

The ferry was fun too. There were lots of sea birds including a flock of pelicans and two dolphins swam across the bow just as we departed. Nice crossing. I got soaked with some salt water spray by standing close to the bow, loved it!

Drove by Galveston city and down 13 miles of more developed beachfront to Galveston State Park where we’ll stay for a couple nights while we check out Galveston. We went for a long walk on the beach before dinner and had a fine sunset while dinner was cooking. Our neighbors here are the same people who were next door to us last night at Sam Houston Jones state park. They are from Ontario and are also 2 weeks out from home.

Our stats now are 3,123 miles and 64 hours of driving time.