Day 7: Schriever, LA → Anahuac, TX.
Without a doubt the strangest day of the trip. I promise this will all slow down, and I’ll start posting just a few times a week, sometimes even less. As you’ll see, this day could be spread out over a number of posts, but I am going to keep it all together to take you on this very strange ride with me….
Heading west in Lousiana towards the border of Texas, I took a winding path that landed me in beautiful spots but also a bit of trouble. I’d scouted the route out looking for places to take some walks with Zeke to break up the trip a bit. If I had gone directly, we had a little over four hours of driving to do.
First stop was in Lafayette, LA, where we took a long walk around Girard Park and then wandered onto the campus of the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. It felt so good to be outside in warm air with flowers blooming after the long cold winter working on the van in the driveway of upstate NY.
Continuing westward to Lake Charles, LA, I began seeing the oil refineries. It was a sinking feeling seeing this stark landscape and beginning to get a sense of some of the harsh reality of our reliance on oil. The road I was on passed right through the Citgo Refinery infrastructure in Lake Charles. I stopped for photos and then did a U-turn to take a few more, attracting the attention of Citgo Security.
I put the camera in the van to keep it safe. The first security officer called in backup. I regret that I was as compliant with their requests for my ID and an explanation of what I was doing. This road and the refinery is right out there on Google maps for all to see, but I didn’t know that at the time, and they were pressing me. In the end it was all cordial, but they indicated that this encounter would be reported to Homeland Security. OK then.
South we head to the Sabine Wildlife Refuge. It was a beautiful drive through marshlands, but the boardwalk trail was closed. We continue further south to deserted Holly Beach. I had just let Zeke off leash (where he promptly found a filthy puddle to roll in) when I started getting tornado warnings for my immediate area on my phone. There had been well-publicized warnings for this day for tornadoes much further north. Not here.
Mind you, this is entirely flat land, an hour from anything, with all the houses up on stilts. Where to go? Out as fast as possible. After looking at the sky and maps and trying to understand the predicted danger area, I wrangled the dirtiest dog ever into the van and started driving west along the gulf as fast as I could.
When it was clear we were safe, I stopped at the Louisiana-Texas border and found this curious scene. Welcome to Texas!
Our destination for the night was Frascone Winery in Anahuac, TX, on the bay east of Houston. Another Harvest Hosts stop, it was a down-to-earth, friendly place. Decidedly Texan and independent in spirit. I was a little disappointed when I was directed by phone to a concrete parking lot with other RVs. But when the owner saw how small the van was, she invited me onto a scenic little piece of grass next to a little stream heading out to the bay.
I enjoyed talking with the owner, who was lovingly tending her garden which had been heavily hit by the big Texas freeze just a few weeks earlier. There was one thing on the menu… alligator eggrolls! Seemed only fitting on this odd day.
We were treated to a stunning sunset… viewed first from the dock on the bay, and then from my camping spot for the evening.
So very interesting!