Waiting in South Texas

We are still waiting for warranty work which will be done in the Houston suburb of Katy.  With our original salesman pitching in to get things moving at Thor (the manufacturer) we finally seem to have the attention of the National Sales Manager.  While there has been no improvement in the appointment wait time, we did manage to stir someone who acknowledged that the parts that were sent were useless, and now proper waste discharge parts are supposedly being sent to the service place in Katy, TX.  The cabinet has dropped another inch or two and we are hopeful that the solution is simply bracing, shimming and better securing the cabinet unit.

Making the best of our "cooling our heels" time, we spent time in Port Isabel, Rockport and now Port Lavaca with visits to Port Comfort, Blessing, Palacios and Indianola.  Our current home, Port Lavaca, meaning The Cow Port in Spanish, reflects the days when beef products were shipped out of here through Matagorda Bay and into the Gulf of Mexico.

A view of the bay from our campsite.  Max is in his favorite spot on Pancho's dash

 This coastal area with the barrier islands has lots of history, including Spanish explorers in the 1500's and an attempt by France under La Salle to establish a claim to the coast of Texas and Louisiana.


On a cold winter day in 1687, the small French ship Belle ran aground on the Texas coast, the victim of a run of bad luck and a howling north wind. The  Belle was the last of four ships of the expedition led by Robert Cavelier, sieur de La Salle. La Salle had come to establish a colony near the mouth of the Mississippi River with multiple aims that included providing a warm-water port to serve the fur trade and a base for invading Mexico. France and Spain were then at war, and La Salle, with the backing of his king, intended to challenge Spain's domination of the Gulf of Mexico.

The Belle in the process of excavation

The recovery of the Belle is a fascinating story of marine archeology, which is detailed in the link below.

http://www.texasbeyondhistory.net/belle/

The town of Indianola, now only featuring historical markers, was once the major commercial port in this part of Texas.  It was fought over during the Civil War as the Union attempted to interrupt the blockade runners taking cotton and other goods to Mexico for sale.  After the war, in 1875 a hurricane hit the town.  The damage was significant but the town rebuilt.  In 1886 the fifth most intense hurricane in US history made landfall at Indianola.

At Indianola a storm surge of 15 feet from Matagorda Bay overwhelmed the town. Every building in the town was either destroyed or left uninhabitable. When the Signal Office was blown down, a fire started which took hold and destroyed several neighboring blocks.^[5] The fire destroyed all but two of the town's buildings and killed a large number of citizens. The storm also destroyed two and half miles of railroad track, making communication with Indianola very difficult and complicating rescue efforts.^[6] This storm caused fewer fatalities however (46 in Indianola, compared to 400 in the 1875 storm),largely because the storm struck during the day and residents had time to take shelter. The hurricane also ended a severe drought in Texas.

The storm ended the rivalry between Galveston and Indianola as the chief port of Texas. With the abandonment of Indianola and the unwillingness of the former residents to rebuild close to shore, Galveston became the most important Texan port until the 1900 Galveston Hurricane led to the rise of Houston as a major port.

Prior to Port Lavaca, we spent a few days camping in a community of mobile, stick built and RV lots in Port Isabel.  The nicest spaces, including ours, faced on canals with boat moorage.  Many of the residents are the ever popular Winter Texans.  

View from our RV space on the canal

 While in Port Isabel we visited the headquarters for local shrimpers.  We had an informal tour by an Hispanic man who had worked in the industry for years.  We bought a pound of jumbo shrimp (there were about 10 choices of size) after hearing a bit about the industry and its woes.  He explained that federal policy limiting short term labor from Mexico (this is only miles from the border), fuel prices (in recent years) and favorable trade treatment of imported, farmed shrimp have reduced the fleet by about 50%.  We heard the same story in Palacios, the "Shrimp Capital of Texas."  Our new garrulous friend explained that his shrimpers travel far out into the gulf, gone for 30-40 days, in part because of the proximity to Mexican claimed waters.  All the shrimp boats have the capability of freezing their catch, which is done within one hour of the catch.  I will say they were very tasty, some of the best ever.  A favorite sign in this part of the country is "Friends don't let friends eat imported, farmed shrimp."  A familiar philosophy to that found in the NW regarding farmed salmon.

Shrimp boats in port

At the suggestion of our Camp Hosts (usually couples who manage RV Parks in exchange for rent) we drove to the little town of Blessing, TX.  The attraction was the 100+ year old hotel, run by the local historical society.  Rooms are for rent but the real attraction is the home style, all you can eat breakfast and lunch in the hotel dining room.  We opted for lunch which consisted of salad, beans, sauerkraut, mashed potatoes, grits, rice, corn, lima beans (a real favorite of the BD and apparently a common southern dish)chicken fried steak, roast beef, breaded fried pork chops, white and brown gravy, cornbread, rolls and apple cobbler.  All this for $10 each.

Before leaving the Rio Grand Valley we found a great sign in a local gun store.  It is now the property of my favorite vegetarian.