We
survived the night without a tornado spinning our RV apart, and
continued east on I-10 through Houston. The lightning, hard winds, and
driving rain of the day before had given way to overcast skies and
scattered showers. We counted the Sam's Clubs and Walmarts we passed
between Katy and downtown Houston. It looked like many shopping centers
had recently been built. Passing through Houston, I tried to stop to
see the San Jacinto Monument, but was unable to figure out a way to get
to it that didn't require a ferry ride. The best I could do was take a
picture of it from the mainland, as seen above. At 570 feet, it is the
tallest column in the world, and commemorates the 1836 battle which
secured Texas' independence from Mexico.
We continued on to Beaumont, where we ate lunch and did a little shopping. The rolling plains we had been driving through since leaving Austin gave way to woods of mixed types as we approached the Big Thicket. We drove about a half hour north out of Beaumont and reached the Big Thicket National Preserve visitor center. We were the only ones there, and watched the movie, wandered through the exhibits, and finished the Jr Ranger program.
The kids also made paper Ranger hats, as shown above. It was fun having the Ranger all to ourselves. Susan spent a lot of time talking to the Ranger about the effect of recent hurricanes on the Gulf Coast area. The Beaumont area was hard hit by Hurricane Rita in fall of 2005. Big Thicket, established in 1974, was the first National Preserve. The designation was designed to give some protection to the plants and wildlife of the area, but less than that of a National Park. An amazing diversity of plants and animals from many parts of North America live in the Big Thicket region of southeastern Texas.
We
survived the night without a tornado spinning our RV apart, and
continued east on I-10 through Houston. The lightning, hard winds, and
driving rain of the day before had given way to overcast skies and
scattered showers. We counted the Sam's Clubs and Walmarts we passed
between Katy and downtown Houston. It looked like many shopping centers
had recently been built. Passing through Houston, I tried to stop to
see the San Jacinto Monument, but was unable to figure out a way to get
to it that didn't require a ferry ride. The best I could do was take a
picture of it from the mainland, as seen above. At 570 feet, it is the
tallest column in the world, and commemorates the 1836 battle which
secured Texas' independence from Mexico. 
The kids also made paper Ranger hats, as shown above. It was fun having the Ranger all to ourselves. Susan spent a lot of time talking to the Ranger about the effect of recent hurricanes on the Gulf Coast area. The Beaumont area was hard hit by Hurricane Rita in fall of 2005. Big Thicket, established in 1974, was the first National Preserve. The designation was designed to give some protection to the plants and wildlife of the area, but less than that of a National Park. An amazing diversity of plants and animals from many parts of North America live in the Big Thicket region of southeastern Texas.
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