POMPELIAN VILLA IN PORT ARTHUR

A cool night - down in the high 30's but the sun rose and the temps warmed up nicely to just barely 60 and there was just a gentle breeze!! A great day to go explore the town.

This house was built in 1900 as a winter home for the gentleman who invented barbed wire. Hard to believe that our house was built in the same year!! Our house doesn't look anything like this!! This villa's exterior is all original and it does not show the magnificence of the quality of antiques that furnish it. Some pieces are from the 1700's. The docent was very knowledgeable about the people who had owned the home and about the furnishings. The 10 rooms encircle the peristyle which has this fountain as its centerpiece.

Thursday morning we will move out of Texas and on into Louisiana - but who knows where!

GALVESTON ISLAND SUN RISE

The winds rocked and rolled us to sleep on Monday night and we woke up to this sunrise on the beach Tuesday morning. The fog rolled in and the winds did not let up in spite of it North to Port Arthur into winds that averaged 20-35 mph. There goes the gas mileage in the truck! And gas prices went from $2.97 in Port Lavaca to $3.09 in Port Arthur.

We have parked at a lovely municipal RV park on Paradise Island which is right across from Port Arthur and the intercoastal waterway. Our door faces Lake Sabine.

Dellanera City Park in Galveston

Moving day again -100 miles! Foggy till noon and overcast but 70 degrees for the whole day! I collected shells at one of the public access spots while Harry checked the map and we are now parked right across the dune from the gulf. We have wifi but it's iffy!

SUNDAY ON THE BOARDWALK

I was up early on this warm sunny Sunday morning and I headed to the boardwalk which starts right behind our door! The wind was calm and the bay was smooth. As I walked around the boardwalk, the first rays of the morning sun were just coming thru and I saw at least 20 Snowy Egrets, Great Egrets, White Ibis and a Rosy Spoonbill sitting on the railing in front of me. Of course I didn't have the camera with me and yes- all the birds flew away when I got too near. I finished my 1/2 mile around and quickly went to get the camera. On my second time around, about a dozen of the white birds had returned to the railing and I was ready!! I took several pictures before they flew again and then as I was finishing up my walk I noticed the gang had gathered again in one of the many small ponds that are there in the marsh. More pictures! See if you can find the Rosy Spoonbill!

We even put the kayaks in the water for the first time! We tried a boat launch on the Chocolate River/Bayou but it looked like chocolate and Harry was not comfortable with it so we came back and put them in the bay, right off of our beach. We didn't see anything different but we saw it from a different angle. Harry was all tuckered out so he found his book and his chair in the sun and worked on touching up his winter tan. The beach was full of families and the townsfolk all came out to enjoy the boardwalk