Drive to San Antonio, Texas

You know, there have been way to many holidays these past few days. President's Day, Fat Tuesday, Lent, The day the battle of the Alamo began, and the birthday of George Harrison, a member of the Beatles, a band I don't think many people have heard of. But to the Alamo. The day of the Alamo, the day the battle began, was on February 23rd, 1836, only a few days ago, incidentally, because this blog post is about our arrival at the town, of San Antonio. I won't talk exclusivly about coming into the cool little town as much, but will talk a little bit in detail about the beginning of the day, perhaps spending a paragraph or two at the most on the beginning part, and pushing in some details here and there, but not too much. In the morning we woke up, and after doing that kind of lounged around, deciding that after only a few days in Texas, we would be going to San Antonio, lair of the famous fight of the Alamo. We took showers, and did other things, like taking the dogs out for the final time of San Jacinto River park. There are a lot of San TOWNNAMEHERE cities in Texas, and we would see more along the trail. I wonder what San means. Maybe someone can tell me, perhaps? But there are only those towns by the Mexican land, so it must be a Mexican name or phrase.

Where was I? Ah, yes. Mom wanted to do some laundry, and there was a whole building dedicated to it, so we decided to try it out. I went, with all the bleach and such, having only done this like two other times. We had to go behind the one office under an outside porch with picnic tables, past the pool, and turning left where some plants and a rock path was, between the two buildings. We then turned right once more, and then walked in. We had a sack, cross-patch material, and very large, like Santa Claus or something. Mom had quarters in a zip lock bag, and I had the bleach. We walked with the sheets and clothes in our sack, as we entered the white little building, and the table and chairs on our left, with another table on the left wall, and then the remainder of the room filled with washing and drying machines, plus in the left back corner a video game arcade machine, Pack Man. In the right back corner was a door to another room, locked. Another one was on the left wall, facing by a corner some washing machines. We put down our sack, as Mom told me to put them in the washing machines, and she put the quarters in after closing it. Then Mom left, with me watching all the clothes (only a little amount in proportion) in the washing machines, as she went to get more. There was a nice lady in there, young, brown haired, and I was reading a boring part in A Tramp Abroad, so I ventured to talk to her.

I talked about how I hated laundry and that it was a girl thing, as she said she did it all the time. Her husband worked as a construction dude, and they were engaged, and in the process of planning their wedding. I found that out in the subject of books, and she said she didn't really have time with them, because of planning the wedding. Her name was Katie. She left after taking some stuff away, but she would come back later. I read more of the book, and when Mom returned she put more in and gave me a few quarters to play Pack Man. I was pretty bad at it, but I'm no gamer anyway. I liked talking to Katie though. And then, a short haired white haired plump women, who I would later know as Eugene came in. As Mom went back once more, putting the clothes in the drier, I offered my seat and Eugene sat down, saying I was much the gentlemen, as she looked at a Bass Pro shop. We talked about everything from books to her wedding anniverary coming up to the trip to where they were going for the big 50th - the 49th was fast approaching but they were already planning the next one. She didn't want to go on a cruise because on the news there was a crash; I'm sure you've heard of it. But it was nice to talk to Eugene.

She was talking about how she liked the book, Little Women and I said my mom liked it, as the one machine on the drying stock of drying machines stopped, and she looked and saw a few articles of clothing. She asked me if it was my Mom's, for if it was I would have to take it. I wasn't sure of the unfamiliar underwear and purple stuff, but it might be Rebecca's... you know what, I told myself, I would just wait 'til Mom came... she would know. When she came in with a few more quarters, she told me that it wasn't, and so we left the clothing in there. So, long story short, we went back and forth, taking clothes and taking them back, and Mom forgot the bleach one time and I got it, and Rebecca came after a while and helped us with the clothes. We went the front way in front of the office, and one time when I went alone a dog tied to a column put his nose at me, and it was very scary. I went away quickly. He wasn't there right now. Eugene left in her hunter pickup truck, and I wished both Katie a good honeymoon, with a good annivarsy to Eugene. An old marriage and a bright new relationship. The stuff of nations. But anyhow, we took the hot newly dried clothes, and we had to hold it carefully to not give it wrinkles. I hate laundry.

Later in the day we payed our fee at the R.V. place, saying goodbye, as we took the stuff in, with my gloves on, and we then drove off, attaching the jeep a little way's out of San Jacinto. I blogged as we drove the few hours to San Antonio, going through the square with a brown rock wall fence, where the Alamo was. We saw some river and some other buildings, brick or glass. I was excited to go to this famous place. At a KOA, with the rain coming down hard, and the gravel so muddy, we parked beneath trees, and blogged later in the night as we also watched some T.V. Well, the next day would bring... some interesting things. Goodbye for now.

MY WHISKERS ARE SPEAKING TO ME!!!,

Andrew.

Galveston

Galveston is a little island off of Texas, facing the Gulf of Mexico. It was hit by a hurricane in the early (like 1910's) 1900's, and has the most beautiful and pretty beach houses, of old descent, maybe in the South West. It is one of the nicest places in Texas, for beach goers, and it has a Railroad Museum, an oil rigging museum, and also a sub that is dry docked. We would have a pretty fun time there, in Galveston, Texas.

On the 29th of January, we took showers and got dressed, and the morning passed without much incident. Rebecca and I were pleading Dad to take us to Dallas, even though other people had said that it was like any big city. You see, in Maine on a Whale watching boat, in the middle of August, we had met a girl named Lauren (see blog entitled, "Whale Watching") and had stood at the railing with her for the whole time, looking at countless whales, talking at intervals, and really getting to know her. She likes culinary stuff, and after the whole ordeal we gave her our phone numbers and kept in touch for the whole trip. She told us she lived in a place called Farmer's Branch, Texas, right by Dallas. So that was why Rebecca and I were pleading Dad to maybe let us go in the area, and see their family, because she was a nice girl and we had seen the Penny's in FL after seeing them in Detroit, and had also seen many of Mom and Dad's friends along the way. He was unsure though. But we got ready to leave, and I picked up the book of Mark Twain, A Tramp Abroad, that I got in Hannibal Missouri. I had read like a paragraph the day we had arrived in San Jacinto, but then I couldn't do more because it was dark and we were looking at a gas factory. But I was determined to read some today. Oh and by the way I had finished the Tin Woodman of Oz book. Good book for kids. I recommend it.

We drove out to an IHOP (International House Of Pancakes) while I texted a girl named Zoe, who was in a movie class with me at Red Door, and one of my other friend's gave her my number, and we have been talking ever since. She was actually a character in Stuck in Space, an alien called Graca. I talked to her as we entered the IHOP, and we had to wait a long time on a bench with a large kid my age by us, and the lady with the podium to our back. She then led us to a seat, and we were not far from a window, and we looked a little bit at the kitchen behind us. The cool thing with IHOP is, that it is an INTERNATIONAL diner, so that means that most of my readers, no matter what country they are in, will most likely know what they look like. Less work for me. A nice guy who I later knew as Robert, African-American, served us, and I looked at the menu and got some blueberry pancakes. Boy were those good. We talked a little, and I went to the restroom, having to dodge a lot of people with plates on the way there. On the way back everything passed without incident; it was actually pretty smooth. It was a good meal and a good time with my family, and Dad told me a few more funny stories. We walked out, as stuffed as teddy bears. Never has the phrase rung so true, "Come Hungry, Leave Happy. IHOP"

Dad had told us at breakfast that Galveston was only a little bit away, and we drove over a bridge to the notorious island. Our Aunt Tammy has a grandmother that lives there, and the Jeff Clan, and I've said this earlier, visited her on Christmas break. As we passed into the little island, that is a good way's away from Corpus Christie(we didn't actually get to go to this beautiful place) I texted Aunt Tammy and told her where we were. She didn't end up answering, but oh well. On the island was a nice sidewalk by the water, and many people were out and about. Facing the water were a lot of nice beach houses, perhaps Mom will post some of the pictures. They were very pretty. I liked the whole bulky porch thing, with nice painted wood; we had seen some of those in New Orleans, and you could see that in "3 Hour Bus Tour of NO". There were also some hotels and casinos along the way also. Rebecca and I, a little bored and not allowed to read about Frankfort and The Gutenberg Bible in A tramp Abroad because we had to look around and be attentive, pretended to be safety people and put a regulation on every single thing we saw, saying that there was something wrong with EVERYTHING. Oh was it fun.

But it wasn't at all sensible. It was like, "Oh my gosh, that person is not wearing knight armor, he could fall and break his finger" or "that is a loose wood, a kid could just come by there and be scraped in the eye!" or even, "that tree could be hit by a bird and that bird could be slipped by a pedestrian and that pedestrian could be fallen and their family would have grief!" It was very fun as we came into some of the back neighborhoods of the island, like all the little shabby homes, and came into the little city town part. We had to stop eventually, however, because Rebecca didn't want to continue and I had a small headache. In the GPS, we put in the address for the sub, deciding that we weren't going to go to the RailRoad museum, the reviews weren't good and I had been to a Railroad museum earlier, and nobody really wanted to go to the Oil Rigging one. And so, we were going to the sub. Down away from the neighborhood, by the coast, I saw like three huge cruise ships, one with a flag thing, called Carnival. It looked like there was a water slide also there also. We thought about abandoning the R.V., dogs, and jeep to go on the cruise, but this idea was discarded. We did think about going on a cruise ship some time after the trip. A little dream, perhaps.

Well, we went through a gate, and a guy told us that we pay him, and did an uneconomical amount that we paid him. We were now in the place where the sub was. It had been cool to look at the beach houses and the neighborhoods, also the hotels and cruise ships, and it was very pretty, but this was the punch line, the reason we came, the fruit of the loom, the bird to the bees, the mouse to the pad, and the wing to my plane. The sub looking. There was a little parking lot facing the bay. This was a State Park, and there was a building, a house really, with some stairs going up to a second floor, and some nice paint. I was talking to Zoe about possibly writing a second Stuck In Space, and maybe making Graca, her character, get captured and the kids going back to save her. I had tried other ones, failures really, where Dr. Goo comes back into the past searching to destroy Dr. Venati, and things like that, but I always stopped after a few pages. I was determined to write the next one, it had long been expected by people so I would write it. I told all this to Grac...I mean Zoe. As we got out of the car, I said goodbye to her, needing to go to the restroom. We couldn't see anything beside some jiffy johns, porter poddies, so I went in one by the picnic tables, trees, and little hill going down to the bay, and I don't want to even begin to describe that bathroom. Too gross.

Mom and Rebecca, in their exquisite and proper state, did not want to engross themselves in the creepy disgusting jiffy john, therefore demanding a real restroom, for their specific tastes. A worker told them that on a ramp were some nice restrooms, rectangular things the same size and shape of jiffy johns, but cleaner and more white. So, they went up there as Dad and I went up the ramp to the dry docked sub, which was long, with a flat surface, and black, with a red stripe. They had that tower thing also, but looking vaguely like a shark. On the right of the entrance, was a little monument, and there was a rifle, with an army hat, and some boots. It was the sign of the loyal soldier. I thought it was cool and earlier had shown it to Mom, and we took pictures. We would see it later, of course, in the trip. Dad and I went up together, and looked upward as we stood in the middle, looking at the tower. There was an entrance downward to the left, and also to the right. One at the bow and one at the stern. Earlier I had also seen a little wooden walkway up to an entrance on the side of the sub, downward, and had been confused at this. Well, we decided we would go down to the right, that way, and were going down that way when Mom and Rebecca got out. I waved at them, as they inspected around, looking at the railings, and the lack of huge chain anchor that Battleship Texas had at the bow. But we went down, with Rebecca and Mom bringing up the rear.

There was water at the base of these mildly steep stairs, and it was a little puddle. I took in my surroundings, seeing the same kind of cots I had seen on the Battleship, connected to the ceiling. Also there were cylinder steel structures, torpedoes, that were a little backed away from a cylinder hole, where they would be lowered into the water, down into the more base of it, and shot out at an enemy. There were all sorts of dials and even a little steering wheel. I couldn't imagine myself being down here, in the midst of all the water around me, and not be claustrophobic. You had to be a small person down here. We passed on, and heard a girl and some other people coming down. There was only an oval opening in the wall, as I looked on the left and right of me at open doored, with no doors, toilets, on both sides, and it was like fitting an elephant in a tea cup, man it was wet and worse than the jiffy johns. And you don't wanna even know where that poop and stuff goes. Shivers. We had to put our feet up high, and go through with camera. Mom was the last one. Now on our right was a little room with counters and shelves, where they made food. I backed up while holding Mom's camera, crashing into the back counter. Mom took it as I then heard kids and then saw him. Darth Vader.

Or at least it looked closely related. It was someone my size, with a sort of black gas mask on, and black overcoat, with black hair. I said, "DARTH VADER!!!" as I stumbled backward and ran away. His little sister, Darth Pretty, was by him. She had brown hair, and had black on too, with a pink unicorn. The symbol of hatred and evil. The kid though, took off his mask and said hi. Had a pale face. He said, "Hello cowboy."(I was in my cowboy attire.) I flashed my gun about, and said that he had a nice space station going. I talked to him a little longer, about how cool it was, and we had a little dialogue, after I then went farther on. It was quite tight down there, I must say. Mom was looking at a little video where there was a table, and they would all eat there, at different times. You know, the submarine didn't have any labels like the Battleship had, which is a little weird. But it was worth it to explore. It was very long also. I thought about how I could never be down there for that period of time, and then I remembered reading a book by Jules Verne called 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea and how they were captured by a man named Captain Nemo on a ship called the Nautilus. Good book. But that was the first time I looked in a sub. I also thought about the Bob King dude we had met in Alabama from Kansas who was on a sub. A nuclear sub. But it was really cool to see how they lived and worked, and it was a little less cool than the battleship, but still awesome.

We looked at the opposite end of the submarine, and more dials and even a really cool submarine launch spot was shown to us. We came back into the open air again, after seeing some other rooms. It was good to be away from the blackness of the sub. There was still one more part to discover and explore. The tower part, where the captain's quarters were supposed to be. Rebecca and I went up some steps, now looking around the sub. We were outside of a balcony, if you will, and there were staircases down on the other side, with also some big guns that Mom and another lady were talking at, on the right side. Me and that kid had a duel with guns, hiding behind the opposite sides, going with our fake guns and occasionally darting our head, gun trained, seeing if our opponent was there. At one point I heard footsteps and around the corner said bang as I shot the fake gun, and was disappointed to see a little girl, her sister. I apologized, then shooting and making my opponent fall down flat and die. I later told him good acting, and Mom and the other lady said we only had a few minutes 'til we had to go. I found out the kids' names were Derek and Maddie, and I think you know which were which. Just to annoy the girl I said, "Abby?" and "Addy?" It was fun.

We looked, all four of us after the trip was explained, at a little personal bed that the captain had and some shower. It was all very interesting. There was a bridge we inspected too. After we went down we said goodbye to the goth Mom and kids(all were wearing black, so what can you expect?) We, before leaving to the car, looked at the wooden pathway, and R.V.'s were across from it. Up at the door, it said, PRIVATE: DO NOT ENTER, but they were old words and were grey and scraped off. I opened the door as I heard shower water, seeing a long table and a whole big room. We heard a ladies voice saying us to scat, and I backed up as Rebecca looked at the old lady, as she told us this was private and to go away. Rebecca apologized and we left. We thought the letters were from another age. They should make the sign more updated. Oh well. I never saw the lady's face, but Rebecca did. I wish we had gotten a picture. Oh well. Long story short, we left the cool submarine, in the jeep, and took some pictures by the bay as Rebecca told me numerous stupid jokes, something she had done at the Monument Cafe the day before, talking about robber ducky's who stole soap (get it?) and other things. One of them was (and it is not my political view but just a funny joke):

Hilary Clinton died and went to Heaven. At the pearly gates, Peter was there and had a wall of clocks behind them. "What are those?" Hilary asked.

"Oh, these are our lie clocks. Every time someone lies, the hand on the clock moves. Like here," and he showed her one, "is Mother Teressa's clock. The hands have never moved, because good Mother T.(I'm abbreviating it because it's so hard to spell it) has never lied. And here," as Peter showed another, "is Abraham Lincoln's clock. It's moved twice so that tells us that Abe only lied twice in his entire life."

Hilary speculated, "Where's Bill's (Bill Clinton) clock?"

"Oh Jesus took it off and to his office, and is using it as a ceiling fan."

That should get some laughs.

We went back across the ferry, and went into Houston, the city, just to check it out. It was pretty nice. We were coming to see M.D. Anderson's, where both my Aunt Beth from my Mom's side got her cancer treatment and her tumor was thrown away, and where my Uncle Dean got care for his some kind of blood thing. It was cool to be where their lives were saved, and I talked to Aunt Beth over texting. There were great big office buildings and doctor rooms, which were as big as skyscrapers. There area was very huge. There were also sky ways across the buildings, such as we had seen in Minneapolis. On the sign saying: M.D. Anderson's Cancer Center, there was a red line crossing out Cancer. It was really cool. Well, we saw a little park that was lower than us, with a basketball court and fountain. It's a pretty nice city. After that we went home, and so ended the day. It was cool to go to the sub and see it; I had never been in one before. The island was fun, and pretty, with nice houses. Well, goodbye for now. Blog you later.

Bad idea to open a window on a sub....,

Andrew.

San Jacinto War Monument and Battleship Texas Part 2

(SEE "SAN JACINTO WAR MONUMENT AND BATTLESHIP TEXAS PART 1" BEFORE READING THIS.)

Then we saw it. Black and huge, like the Titanic, with all of the sails and levels, but only black, or from where we could see it was black. This was the Battleship Texas, and we were going here to have a tour around this very famous boat or ship or whatever the official word is. I was a little tired from going to the San Jacinto War Monument, but it was about noon and we had made good time and were now going to do the rest of the day here. We had all wanted to go out to lunch, but the place we looked at, The Monument Cafe, was not open, and we wouldn't want to go back over the ferry to just do lunch, and besides, we might not come back to do the Battleship Texas. I had a small headache, and everybody wasn't in their best mood, but we would try to do this tour over an old ship. Had done ships before also, from little speedboats to U.S.S. Constitution's in Boston and one in Chicago. So this was a little bit of old hat for us also. But on the others we hadn't gone up or down, just stayed on one level and talked to a few people. Maybe here in Texas, it would be a lot larger. We had no way of knowing as we approached the huge craft, with flags and circles with what looked like cannons on them. I hoped that it wouldn't be two old, you know. But there was trees and a parking lot where some picnic tables and a building were close by. We came over there, and then after that got out of the car, with cameras, phones, and other things. This would be an interesting time.

Needing to go to the restroom after drinking some water bottles from a long parched mouth, we went to go by this little building, which served as a going to restroom place. Mom and I, the most full (and don't make me explain how we were full) water people, went first, away from the others. I had a little pistol, for I wanted to have fun there and pretend to be a cowboy on a battleship (never seen that before have you?). I also got a pocket knife. So these restrooms had little slots for windows, and also red brick architecture. Going up some stairs to the right, I also saw a bronze statue on a little concrete area amidst all the park stuff. We went up the concrete steps of the building, then looking around and seeing those doors to the restroom. Right then not feeling like it, I actually sat up by a column on a shelf that was by the stairs, while Mom went to the restroom. When Dad and Rebecca arrived, I went in with Dad, in that smelly area with the gnats, and all the names on the wall and the dirt and odor filling the room. Later on in this blog, you'll read about even worse restrooms. Worse than that? How is that possible? If you want to know, dear reader, please read on. But for then, done with going to the restroom, we walked down the stairs of that building and then went to the statue.

As it was a Saturday, we knew that there were going to be schoolchildren, and this was evident in that we saw some boy scouts, with all their uniform and stuff. Now, I would of been a boy scout, probably, had I liked all the badges and the beige clothing, and all the oaths and everything, plus the knots. But I hate all that, especially the knots. I can't even tie my shoes well, if you can believe it. I could never be a sailor; I am not a knot person. Or tying of any sort. But I am getting off the subject here. What I meant to say was that they were looking at the statue of the guy in tights with a musket, and of course a weird hat. The bronze inscription read something about it being a Revolutionary War Mason, and of course the scout leader explained what this was, that it was a club almost as cool as their own, almost, of course. It was interesting to look at for a little while, but we didn't gaze at it long, just went up a concrete walkway with rail, and looked at another brick building, which was small and had a gift shop in there. I looked around a little, and mostly little toy ships, t-shirts and other things were there, nothing really else. Although there were other things. By the exit in the front left corner, where a counter and an old lady sat down, I looked at some cute animal flashlights on that thing that spins that nobody knows the name for. It rotates...um...it'll come to me sooner or later. Anyway, uh... man now I have to start a new paragraph. Oh well.

Dad went through a long strenuous process, showing certain passes and doing other things. In the meanwhile, I silently chuckled while listening to young kid talking to a blonde haired kid (my age) and another black haired kid with a dark shirt and kind of goth looking features, like 14. We would see another guy like this in another blog you'll have to read to find out about. The kid was facing those two, and said, "Jack, (to the blonde haired guy) there was a guy in a cowboy hat, and he looked just like you!!! (child-like innocence.)" Then, the black haired guy turned the little kid around, towards me, as I smiled and looked at them. "THAT'S HIM!!" the toddler proclaimed. I said to the blonde haired guy that I saw a resemblance, jokingly and kind of sarcastic. He didn't get it and just said, "I don't think so." Oh well. Sometimes they can't play along, but we actors can. You'll read a little dialogue between me and a professional actor later on in the blog posts, way later on. The kid then laughed and we didn't talk after that. Our tickets all in order, we walked out of the place and then came across a sidewalk where they were looking at the water, and then past the bikers, and got onto the wooden walkway, of dark blue navy paint, and then walked up it, the rails there, trying to not stick our legs through the openings, where water gushed below us. Scary. We were on, the Battleship Texas.

Alright so there it was, the big singular tower in the middle, with the staircases, and other things. By us on both sides of us were huge cylinder guns, with rotating wheels and many dials. All of this was blue, but it had prior looked black. Surrounding these guns were blue circular fence, with an opening and ladder, sometimes. There was a man in uniform, short sleeved with a name tag, that worked there. By that tower, he picked up torpedoes as large as him, but you could never really do such a thing; these were empty and one was fake. This man told us many interesting things about the ship, how it's sister was the Battleship New York, and how it sank, and it fought in WWI and WWII, the only battleship able to say such a thing, or have such a title. He also told us that in one room on this level was a movie that played continuously. We thanked him, gave him the tickets, as I got up on one of them there guns. I got into the circle, and then got up on a small seat, where other foot places, like in a car, were at the bottom. There were some cross hairs, and all this was of blue metal, dark, as I mentioned before. I imagined myself bombing a coastline as I took pictures for Mom, here camera taking me. For the rest of the time, I would get on these guns.

Under a roof now, but still with a railing overlooking the water and seeing the open air, we looked at some rectangular panels that told about some things, but not many, as we wanted to see this movie they spoke about. In a small room with many chairs and a little T.V., we watched the program that was running when we came in. Dad, who had left when we were taking pictures, was seated, and Mom and Rebecca were too. I had to run by myself over the actually short area. I sat, as some other people filed in and leaned up against the back. The movie was from History Channel, and talked about how the ship was on Iwo Jima and bombarded the coast as the Marines held up the flag. It was crazy to think that this boat had that part in history. It also helped in other places in the Pacific, but after that was called to D-Day, and distracted some of the Germans while the Allies got on France. I couldn't believe I was sitting on such a great vessel that had such a major part in winning the War. Dad said that maybe if it wasn't for this craft, we would be speaking German right now. I don't know if I would be THAT extreme, but pretty close. Then the movie went over to talk about the different captains, and how in the 70's they dry-docked it and gave it all the new paint, apart from the concrete it did half earlier. Then about how the U.S. Government called it a National Monument, and that the Texas State owned it now. But then it started over. I had gotten it in the middle.

It talked about the beginnings and WWI, then. I shifted in my seat, looking out the windows at the panels. A lot of kids were there that day. Then it came to the part where Mom and them had come in at, and they started to leave, but then Mom said that I hadn't seen it yet, and they remained 'til I had. After that, we got out of the room. In front of this room was a strip of area, just a little cooking place, with all the old counters and pots and stuff, and a chain link not letting people come through. I wondered if this was from the past or was a current thing. But we passed on, seeing more of these guns that destroyed so many things, and so many people, also. There were stairs going up, with rails, very steep, and rectangular shapes, that also had stairs, and they were in the deck, going down into another floor. We went up to the front, where there was a pointed bow and some more railing. I did the whole Titanic King of the World thing that you always do on a ship, to be romantic and adventurous, and we took some moor pictures, looking at these thick cables that held the sails up, and we took more pictures in these diagonal guns facing upward. On the back there were horizontal guns that were facing the stern, and they were 44 Magnum, as the movie and that guy holding the torpedoes told us.

Rebecca and I wanted to go to up to those big towers, by those stairs that went up there. But Mom and Dad were less than voluntary for that excursion, so they would watch us from where that guy was sitting, on some big rectangle blue thing, and that thing that looks like a tuba or larger. I am not a person to name things, I just describe them. They would take pictures of us. Okay, so first, we went under another roof, but still in open air, on this maze-like boat, and we went up a few metal bars called a ladder, and looked through a little hole, seeing glassed-off dials, numbers, and holes where the torpedoes went to destroy enemy ships. I imagined myself in this hot area, sweating my water in my body off, so tired and dirty, without a shower. I don't think I could stay up here, loading the weapons. Rebecca had gone up first, so I kind of hung up there as she went down. There were little areas where a certain floor was, and I stayed there while she went down. Bad idea for us both to go up. Well, later, we tried to find the staircase that took you up, and then saw the steep ones on either side of the tower, and we held onto the rails while making the ascent. On the next level, there was still a lot of area left, and very big, just a smudge smaller than the other one. There were still guns that I got in, and even a very old one, all crusty and paint coming off, that you could see was an original. Rebecca kept telling me to come on and stop pretending I was Indiana Jones, as I jumped around and shot my gun, going and shooting, not being careful. Would my carelessness cost me?

Okay so then we could not find the next staircase. We waved to Mom and Dad, retraced our steps, looked around, and could not now find the dang thing. Finally I asked some people which were by that old gun I spoke about facing the bay, and they were talking a little also. Then they said right behind us. It was a serious blunder on our part. We looked behind us, at a staircase right up against the tower, and went up to the front of the ship, well in that direction anyway. We thanked them as we went up, and climbed yet more stairs. I was a little uneasy going up these stairs with the breaks in the steps, and had to be extra careful. I was a little afraid, you know. We walked up, bit by bit, now on a narrow line of balcony, over everything else, with railing, of course. We looked through past the tuba and waved to Mom and Dad, and peeked through the locked windows of the captain's quarters, as I did a little shoot-up playacting, as Rebecca hugely scolded it, telling me to be more careful. There was some stairs on the left side of this little thing, but also a path going around the full length of this upper level. Earlier we had gone through yellow lines and tried to desperately find the way up, for what? Because we couldn't go up any further, the lines had chain linked. Well, I had been up one of these things on a battleship, and the foreshadowing you saw when we went to Pensacola Naval Aviation Museum is now reflected here. Dad was wrong, I would go on something like an aircraft carrier in my life... the beautiful battleship.

So we went back down, and I was afraid of Rebecca behind me, pushing me down, so I let her go first, and then a Mexican family, for I didn't want them pushing me down either. I brought up the rear as I made my way down, holding on both sides of the rail, thinking of ponies to not make myself scared. So we went then down two more levels, and came to Mom and Dad. We had done the top half of the Battleship, now all that remained were the corridors down in the bottom of the ship. This would prove to be the most exciting part. Throughout the time I had pretended I was looking for the captain and being a sailor, imagining their life here and what it would be like. I couldn't even begin to even ponder it. I wanted Dad and Mom to make the ascent upward, but Dad would have none of it. the iPad was the only ascent he would make. Mom did agree with us to come down into the bowels of the boat, and go downstairs. There was a flap up door that went over the entrance, and it was not over it, and a little staircase, dark. I couldn't see it, and there was a low ceiling and a CAUTION sign. I took a few sighs, telling myself the trip was about adventure and I needed to do it for the blog, and I looked one last time at the bright blue sky around me, thinking that maybe this would be the last time I would see the light of day, as I took the first step into the darkness below.

The first floor down, as we reached the bottom of the staircase, wasn't too large. There were more stairs down. We went around in a little circle, and saw a few rooms, for charts, with old tables and cabinets, plus a few other things, like a mail room. Soon we had to go down again. Like I said, not large. The next floor would bring all the cool things with it, and all the dangers and thrills also. Going down once more, we passed people who said it was really cool down there, and things like that. They said that this level was named Main Street, because of all the business and activities on the floor. Looking around after the descent, we saw many rooms along the sides of the area. There were those scouts again, talking to a man. We talked about living down here, as we read the small panels that told what a few of these rooms were. In the middle, hanging by the ceiling, were brown little mattresses that hung gracefully, and had little crosshatch black leather to hold them up and support it. If you were one of the about 1,100 on the boat in WWI or WWII, then you would pull this down and sleep on one of these cot things. Man, I probably couldn't do that. You also had to be pretty short, you know. All the crowdness and other things- this would get worse later on in our stay.

To our right was a little doctor's office, and there was a chair, some liquids, and a weighing thing, all white and very old. There was a bare table that you would lay on, unlike the clean ones that we put the thing over it nowadays, nothing like that. Most of these rooms had doors that had a bar through it, open, but you can't get in. I read the panels, and one of those I don't really want to mention what it was. It was a small room, with a long sink, and many needles. You can make the assumptions yourself. I'll give you a hint, smart people of the Internet, it had something to do with girls. Changing the subject, we walked along the hard floor, and it got a little hot down there. I suddenly wanted to go back up. But I could not. We kept going around in this large circle, and then we saw many things. Like a little kitchen in the center of this Main Street, or a large pantry we looked out, a general store, where there were canned soups and cigarettes, sadly. Also there were cards if you lost your other one, and then right by it there was an old laundry mat. It wasn't too big of a room, actually, and we saw where they would hang it up, and also the oldest and weirdest looking laundry machines I've ever seen, all circular and decaying. It was funny to learn on the panels how they lived down there.

Then, I saw it. It was one of the grossest things I saw...a bathroom green in color and no stalls, just shower heads and toilets and one large sink serving as a universal urinal. Mom said that there must of been no privacy for the people on the ship. It was so disgusting, and so unimaginable for people of the 21st century to even think about that. I mean all using the same showers, with no things making you not seen, and all the people who would have to use one urinal... it made me shudder. We passed through a couple of these on our way around, joking about them, in different areas. So then we continued along, seeing a bunk room, with desk and table, and all those cot things, and some boy scouts were in there. A guy was explaining to them that if they made reservations and went through the process, they could sleep on the Battleship, and they would experience what it would be like to be a sailor on the ship, and things like that. Only special groups, like the boy scouts, could do it. Okay, so now being a boy scout presented it's advantages of adventure...but I still don't like uniforms or knots. We passed on as they talked, now seeing the chart room, and some meeting rooms for those special officers. The captain had his own private quarters, and it wasn't here. We had seen that area, but couldn't go in, as I mentioned earlier.

There were green doors, with little tags on them, telling the names. These, according to the panels telling all about this stuff, and they had little openings, but the doors were locked, and I couldn't see in any of them. We walked a little farther, seeing what Mom supposed to be a door at the end of a long corridor on the right. They went back while I was reading a panel, and I told them I would be on the way. My phone was on low battery, but I would be right behind them. But before leaving, I inspected that door once more, and it pushed right open. My eyebrows raised. I then went up over the little part, and saw a more twisty very small hallway. There was a large wooden door. It seemed the end of the line. But this one came through, after a man was on the other side. Was this Private, for the employees. I opened and fell over. Then I took in my surroundings, while seeing a man in front of me. It was a marble floor, with a glass display case, and in there were silver beautiful little things, like plates, candle holders, and glasses, and an open floor, on the left side of this room, and on the right side a pretty table. The signs said that this was where they would dance and do skating, and there were also little trophies and things. I only had one word for it: WOW.

I read a few of the signs, and it was very interesting. But I was a little worried that Mom and Rebecca wouldn't know where I was. After a while I came back through the door, but I saw another too. Going through, I retraced my steps as I saw some tan girls looking with a phone at a torn whole in the tiny slots of an officer's door, and it shone light. When they had gone, I looked through, and they said it was just a tiny room. It was a good twist of luck, as I looked in there and saw a little bed and drawer. It was awful creepy, looking into a dark room, crouched down, alone, with no one else there. But I overcame that. I passed on, past the staircase up to the surface and past the room that I am not giving you a name of that involves girls, and I found Mom and Rebecca, who were yelling at me and saying why I drifted off. I told them about the secret entrance, and I showed Rebecca the dark room, and then took them through all the doors and where all the silver was. They were laughing at their own ignorance of this, as we went away. Well, we were now by that kitchen again, by another staircase going down, and the boy scouts went down that. I looked down. It was very steep, and hot air burst from it like air on a windy day in the Rocky's. Rebecca wanted to go down there, but Mom did not. Down there were all the hot engines that powered the battleship, so far away from the surface of the world, in the chambers of metal and heat, that made people as hot as....well I'm not allowed to use that kind of language in the blog. It was as hot as Heck.

I was fine with going, but none the less was a little scared. The man told us that it wasn't worth it to just see engines and such, but we could go down anyhow, that it wasn't worth it to just have steepness and being scared. Rebecca and I preceded to go down, but the man said we couldn't go without Mom, and Mom said later he was trying to be nice to her, by allowing her not to go. But Mom volunteered none the less, and we went down. It was very steep, and nauseating. On the break between more stairs, we looked to our left and saw a little chamber over the rafters, and a little room. There was some more things in there. Well, the next steps were even more steep, so Rebecca backed out, saying it wasn't worth it and we could go back up again. I could've gone on, but I was really scared also. Back up on the cooler temperatures, we didn't see the guy any more, the cleanshaven white haired man, but talked to a skinny bearded man about movies and documentaries they do in the ship, as we had seen a couple of people with a camera and clipboard earlier. He had a lot of info he told us. I waited when asking questions, for a break in the conversation when I could shoot one. I asked about daily life, and he said cooks could be doing engine or torpedo work when they weren't making lunch. Mom asked about some of the dry-docking things. Then we went up the stairs, into the fresh wonderful air and bright of day.

Dad was sitting on a big block of blue square, which was something else, and he was actually speaking to the guy who warned us of the engine. I came up first, done with talking to the other man. Mom and Rebecca followed. The man asked us if we had backed out and we said yes. Then that man, and the bearded man(who actually came up and talked some more) talked about places in the nearby island of Galveston and what you could do there, a sub, a railroad museum, and an oil rigging museum also. The cleanshaven man told us that the Monument Cafe, the restaurant we had planned on going to, was very pricey, and not to go. We thanked them, as we came down off the boat, the Battleship Texas, and went into the store for a little while, then Mom went to the restroom. I was really parched, and got the hot water of a Dasini as I drank it. We then went off in the jeep, and Dad said, despite the man's critique, we would go to the Monument Cafe. There was nothing else around. So then we left. I liked the San Jacinto War Monument, we saw a lot of artifacts, a great interesting movie, and had the wonderful view of the freight city. The Battleship was cool, to enjoy it's halls, and see how the sailors would live and work, and it is truly a wonderful ship, having survived two world wars. I wonder if this special ship will survive WWIII. Hmmmm....

But seriously, we had a great time wandering the maze of the ship, and it must have so many stories. We came to the blue restaurant, with the second floor, and they make you go up stairs to get to the restaurant. We were seated and we all had a good meal, looking out at the barges passing by. It may have been expensive, but there sure were a lot of people. We spied on old people coming in, and balloons and things saying "HAPPY 90th Birthday" and stuff like that. We looked at them for a while. But then after a good meal we left. We went back over the ferry, and came back to the R.V. park as we relaxed and didn't do anything really worth the blog. The next day would bring subs and old houses, movie ideas and movie masks, goths and mean ladies alike, and pancakes. Goodbye for now.

You know how they say, "Don't mess with Texas."? Well, I think you should say don't mess with Texas Battleships! They've survived two world wars!,

Andrew.

San Jacinto War Monument and Battleship Texas Part 1

HAPPY PRESIDENT'S D! !!!(that's supposed to be a white word 'day' and I did it in white because our three colors are red white and blue, so it makes sense.) We love and hate our president's so! Love George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, and Thomas Jefferson. We hate others. I have been to George Washington's house, Abraham Lincoln's, Ulysessus Grant's, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and have been to a place where Theodore Roosevelt stayed, in North Dakota. Also to the house of the Bush's in Kenny Bunk Port, Maine. We have also been to where JFK was assassinated, and to Independence Hall, where a lot of future presidents stayed and signed the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution, and of course we've been to Washington D.C., so we have really been where every president has been. Oh, and we went to Jefferson Davis's house, although he is not really a president, he was a president of the Confederacy. But anyway, Presidents have a hard job, going to meetings, declaring war, trying to help people, so next time they mess up, give them a break. I'm sure most of my readers couldn't do the job any better. So, the five living U.S. presidents are Jimmy Carter, George H. W. Bush (Sr.), William Blythe (changed it at fourteen to his dad's surname Clinton) George W. Bush (Jr.) and Barack Obama, who some Republicans say that he isn't going to be the active president for long. But we love and hate our president's. So let's be nice and not give them bad press today.


Santa Anna had killed the people at the Alamo, and later had done the same to others who thought when they surrendered they would get fair treatment, and now he had played cat and mouse with General Houston, and his farmers and ordinary men. He had them now by LynchBurg, as Houston was trying to get help by the newly found government of Texas, in Washington, Texas. You have to know that mostly traders, farmers, and cattle drivers, Americans and foreigners, plus Indians, were really the population of Tejas, (pronounced by the Mexican as Tay- hah) a colony that Mexico held. The Americans wanted to break away from Mexico, after Santa Anna became dictator and started the whole corruption of Mexico, and he made them really irritated. So they declared Independence. And now Santa Ann was chasing them, and they had a lot of skirmishes as they tried and tried to get closer. At the battle of San Jacinto, with the Texans on high ground, by the river, away from Washington, in the early morning, Houston and his regular guys who were just really passionate, surprised the Mexican army in their sleep and took them down. Only three guys on Houston's side died, and a lot more on the Mexican side. So guess what? Santa Anna survived, and was brought to Houston. Houston actually let Santa Anna go, if they would let Texas become independent and not order any more troops toward them. Even though killing all the people at the Alamo and being a ruthless dictator, he lived actually to a grand old age, sorry jerk. Anyway, so we were going to go San Jacinto on the 28th to learn about this heroic battle, and drove in the jeep, all dressed in our finest clothes. I wore the cowboy thing again, this time with a brown jacket, because we were in Texas. On our way over we passed by those gas factories, and then also saw a giant white thing that looked like the Washington Monument. There were some people on a ferry, and they let us get on, then telling us to turn our engine off. In the middle of this was a box that had staircases, and they put up a gate as we slowly drifted away from the platform, filled with a lot of different stuff. Ropes, cables, machines to push us. Then we drifted along the small bay, seeing different boats of sort and things like that. We didn't get out of our car, and it wasn't long either, only about 3 minutes maybe. After drifting, we came to the other side, got off, and drove off. Then, we saw the Monument of San Jacinto.

There was a long blue pool, rectangular, and then there was a pinnacle, pretty much exactly like the Washington Monument, except there was a huge bulging star, 3-d, that was on top of it. We drove over there, in the parking lot leading up to the stairs to the monument. Mom decided to stay in, for she thought it wouldn't be too interesting and she was not feeling so good, with a cough and a headache. Very understandable indeed. So, us three, went up the steps, as an African American family went up the steps too. Dad took their picture as they thanked us. Throughout the whole visit, they would annoy us a lot. But I'll talk about that later. Trudging up the steps, we then looked up and around, seeing the inscription and reading all about the war and such. Hard to read but good literature. After going to the left and right, and then finishing reading this inscription, which was very old in fact. After that, we walked through two wooden doors, thinking maybe this would be like Abraham Lincoln's tomb, silent, eerie, but pretty in it's own right. We had no idea what would be waiting for us. As we walked in, we saw a domed lobby, with a door going forward, a door to the right, a door to the left, wide open, and on the left front a counter with young lady and computer. We walked towards her, as we asked what was here. "Well, there's the gallery full of artifacts, (she then named the prices) a movie telling you all about it, and a special exhibit, and on the tenth floor is where you can look all over San Jacinto."

Dad decided to do all of it, the gallery being free, the movie a little bit, and then there was the tenth floor, or the ride to it, that we payed for. For some reason, although the special exhibit had nothing to do with the War or even the battle, Dad payed for that also. It was people of Texas who made their mark. Interesting but nothing to do with what we were here to do. Oh well. But anyway, we decided to use our good thirty minutes or less to look at the gallery, or the museum, if you will. Already people had told us that EVERYTHING was bigger in Texas, so now looking at the museum we were going to put that to the test. Now, we turned right and faced many glass cases with artifacts in them, and also panels telling about them. There were a few areas where you could have them on all sides and then there was cases all along the left wall, plus a little table with a cash register and a lady. Well, we looked a little at this, and I read everything, as is my style, reading about how the Spaniards founded Mexico, conquered all the Native Americans, and then founded the colony of Mexico. It talked about in turn how the Mexicans actually declared independence from the Spaniards, which ironically in turn made the Texans revolt and get away from Mexico. It talked about notorious people, maps and guns, plus sabers also. Very interesting.

There were also some Bibles and robes, from the Catholic priests that accompanied the conquistadors. Even though the place was specially about the battle, this was cool because I learned a lot from it and I knew not much of the information. Then it talked about how the Spainards had a war going on and how they let Mexico revolt, and then I read a little bit about a guy named Stephen Austin who's dad was told to settle a colony of 300 Americans in what was known as Tejas, (or TAY-HOSS) but due to his untimely death, Stephen went in his place. It was very interesting, but then sadly Dad found me, and said we would come back after the movie. Then,we went to the right of the little lobby, and waited as a person took other people's tickets. Everyone knows that feeling of boredom when standing in a line. But eventually we came into an up floor theater, with a stage and podium. We couldn't do the first two rows, because they were reserved for the wheelchair accessible. On the screen was a cool title saying: TEXAS in awesome text and lettering. Some people came up the stairs and a woman tripped, and Dad joked with them a little before it settled down, the lights dimmed, and a man came up and explained some things. Then the movie began.

The movie was very well made, with maps and reenactments, plus animated features. It went over the whole Alamo thing, plus the whole thing I had read a little bit about in the museum, the founding of Texas and social tensions specially. Also about some people arrested, and how Texas revolted and called for independence. Then the movie began to focus on how Santa Anna came up and chased the Texan army of regular day people, farmers and traders who wanted a change(it seems that in every independence war those guys win, the American Revolution, The French Revolution, and now the Texan revolution.) Cat and mouse was interesting, with some battles and many cowardly retreats. It all came up to the final battle at Lynchburg, or San Jacinto, anyhow. The Mexican army, in all there big tall hats and muskets and army uniforms, put a flag up saying no mercy. There were a few skirmishes between the Texans and the Mexicans, but no really good ones. Santa Anna laid his stuff down, saying that they wouldn't attack any time soon, and we saw the big field, where the Texans had the high ground and the Mexicans were by all the trees. It was like three o clock. The battle would only last 18 minutes. And then, it happened.

But before we get to that, let's talk about the Texans side. They were all ancy for battle after all the retreating, and Houston had to make a decision about what he was going to do. Help wasn't on the way any time soon, but he had to avenge those at the Alamo, and also he couldn't keep this up forever. Would the Mexican win this war and take the unprepared and not military guys out? Or would the Texans prevail on this hope against hope mission? Only time, would tell. But as I was saying, it happened. A young boy of only 16 blew a trumpet, as thousands of desperate soldiers, with guns firing and swords waving, came down upon the snoozing and in tents Mexicans, who's guns were up in a triangle, kind of like a tee pee. Caught off guard, they grabbed their guns, sweating and their hearts racing. Some were shot as lead bullets came into their chests, and blood splattered across their bodies. Instant or very quick death. Others were not so lucky, running and retreating into the woods, as they were shot by a gun in their foot and had to go away and away, and then slowly decay off in the woods somewhere, scared, alone, and ready to die but death being so far away. Others were pierced by swords, as amazingly only three Texans died in the battle. Santa Anna, survived.

He was brought toward the camp of Houston, in handcuffs, rifles against his back and blood in his clothes. He, the self-called "Napoleon of the West", had been defeated by a couple of traders, country men, farmers, and dirty Americans! You couldn't imagine the shame and loss of dignity that this great Mexican faced. He could not look anyone in the eye without some sense of no pride. Most of his dudes were dead, and Houston, after Santa Anna being so merciless to the people at the Alamo and others, was probably going to execute him on the spot. Santa Anna spat. As he came toward the camp, Houston talked to him calmly, and said that Santa Anna could go home, and if he didn't terrorise the Texans or do anything bad, and called all his troops back, then he could go home. Santa Anna did go home, but he didn't keep his word. I have so many mean names I could call him, but I'd rather not, it wouldn't make for a good blog post. So I will call him a sorry jerk, as he lived to like 81 years, in a good little cottage. Jerk. Anyhow, we watched the wonderful movie, with the real live action people, and the good narration. It flowed like a canoe on the Great Lakes, very graceful plot and order. I really liked it. I could see it again. And again. And then one more time. Between long intervals, of course.

So after the movie, we went through some other doors and came out into a gift shop. No time. We must now go onto the tenth floor, and see the whole area over the rivers, and it would kind of be like maybe Bunker Hill (without walking up hundreds of stairs, and that isn't an exaggeration) or the Arch of St. Louis, where in one we went up stairs and in the other we traveled up a kind of Ferris wheel compartment. Read those blogs for more information. But anyway, we stood in a large area, as this place was all one big circle, with the lobby right behind us. There were many paintings of the battle and also little dioramas that were all around, and we looked closely at them for a few minutes before the elevator dinged and the doors opened up. Some other people went in, as we moved to the front of the line, where all the rope was separating. A few minutes later we got in for the real time, with a grey haired man with jacket who also had a stool in the front corner. There was a book called Texas, by James Micherner or some name. I had seen one of his books,"The Source" in Trenton, ME, and had then seen it at my Aunt's house, the Jeff Jordan Clan's book. From then on I had seen the book he had in his hand and others written by this illustrious author. But we talked to the guy, and he said he rarely get's bored, as we sped up to the tenth floor, looking out the little slot windows and seeing staircases, utility supplies, electric stuff, and staircases, All concrete. And then the doors opened, again.

There was a low ceiling room, with carpet and many people, like the family we'd taken the picture for. It was kind of like a half circle, in a way, with a small T.V. showing a movie and big window places, plus those things you step on the platform and look into the silver thing where you put in the coins, and you can see very far. There were also panels telling about the area's produce and what there manufacturing is, as well as who made it and the dimensions. Because of the star, the Texas Monument is bigger than the Washington Monument, which is funny. Just goes to show that everything is bigger in Texas. EVERYTHING. Well, we would see if this statement rang true in the later days of the trip. Now, we watched the little movie, which was basically a shortened version of the movie downstairs, focusing only on the battle, not all the background. Then I looked out of those windows, and saw the whole town of San Jacinto, with all the boats and barges and factories, and the glittering city of Houston, with all the skyscrapers, in the back. Everything looked smaller than toy boats, all the bridges and towns and little buildings and everything, it was so funny to look down on it and it be so tiny. I felt on top of the world. This feeling was a little bit of old hat for me, because I had been this high before, but one never really forgets that feeling. Ever.

We took pictures on our phones and cameras, our only sadness that Mom was once again not here with us (She hadn't come in the St. Louis Arch because she was afraid). We put the coins in, looking to the far left and seeing a neighborhood and all the gas stuff, and to our front being all the shipping and river things. Then to the far right just water and some sailboats. It was a beautiful view with the sun coming down on the water and reflecting the rooftops of all the houses, like in a dream, or in Peter Pan, as they looked over London, in our own little world, away from the trials of the earth, sky giants, on our own island, laughing at the foolishments of men. We stood there in this special little moment, smiling and liking the time together, but soon Dad told us of it about to be 1 or 2 and that we needed to go on a battleship later, so we had to get off eventually. We went back down into the elevator, and stayed for a little while down in the museum part, looking at busts of Houston and learning about his past. Then I read a little about Antonio de Papua María Severino López de Santa Anna y Pérez Lebrón, and how he rose to power and destoryed their constitution, creating himself as dictator. I learned his full name, wrote it down in my phone, and that's how I now have it. I just can't believe how long of a name that is. It would be like Andrew David Paul Anthony John Peter William Jordan Bourne, or something of the sort. And I made that up. My name isn't really that.

I finished up reading in that little room, and we passed by the vacant table guarding the special exhibit, dropping our tickets down, to signify we were honest people. We read a little bit about people who made their mark in Texas, like the space program and sports people, plus mayors. We didn't stay in there long, so I don't think it was worth it. We circled around and went into the opposite side of the monument, inside, and looked a little in a gift shop, where there was a lot of cooking stuff and t-shirts. I took a picture of a book about Andrew Jackson I thought of getting after the trip, not ready for it yet. I've been doing that lately. I also texted a girl named Lauren, but I'll explain more about her in another blog post. We then excited that way, having bought really nothing, and went outside. On those steps I foolishly walked and walked, and then looked down, after looking at a lady I thought looked like Mom for a long time. I was about to walk into air, and fall down to a little green corner. I sighed, and told Dad and Rebecca. They wouldn't of known either. All tired, we got in the car, as Mom told us she had gone in later, needing to go to the restroom, and also talked to many people on the phone. We told her we wished she had gone up with us, up on the tenth floor, and had also seen the movie, as we explained the battle. Searching for somewhere to eat, and thirsty and a little tired from walking around. But that, as we would find out later, would have to wait. Dad was planning to now go to the Battleship Texas. And that would be one of the biggest ships we would see on the whole trip. It would be one more reason to say: Everything is bigger in Texas.

TO BE CONTINUED....(SEE "SAN JACINTO WAR MONUMENT AND BATTLESHIP TEXAS PART 2" FOR THE END OF THE STORY.)

Antonio de Papua María Severino López de Santa Anna y Pérez Lebrón! Boy that's a long name! In middle school he must of needed like a whole page to write it,
Andrew.

Two Boring Days (Sorry to Admit, but these days were boring)

This blog post talks about two days in one, one where we went to Scott, LA, to go to a repair shop where they told us they would fix our hot water heater, that sadly was acting up again! We were so tired of it, you know, and wanted it to be done already and have it hot again. We had spent so much money on it not working, and were very mad. The next day, we would go to San Jacinta, Texas, to stay there to go somewhere the next day, which, unlike these days, would be really fun and exciting, so if you only have a few minutes or want to read something good, go to those blog posts, if there does happen to be two. If I haven't posted it yet, then I'm sorry, and you can read this. I might be confusing you. I tend to do that a lot. But maybe you'll not think these are too boring. NOW FOR THE DETAILS!!!

Thursday 26th, Drive to Scott, LA:

We woke up, but took no showers, as it was cold water, and walked out the dogs. This would be the last time we would see in the morning of the stay in New Orleans, and I looked at the courtyard, and got a little sad, because I had liked this R.V. Resort better than others, and was a little teary to leave it after only a few days, it's pool, and the area. I had loved my stay at New Orleans. Although we had not done everything you could do in NO, we had all we wanted to do, except one thing, which was going on a carriage tour, and it was only thirty minutes for something we had already done so there was no reason to do it. Almost everything. I could always do more there. I was in a white t shirt and sweat pants, and Rebecca was in sweat pants also, in a kind she got at Cape Cod and has had it ever since. Dad and I put everything in, and then took the slides in for the last time at New Orleans. Then, I put my computer which was on the couch and put there when Mom put the T.V. trays up, and then put it on the table, with the mouse and the cord there. Dad put his jacket over the chair, to keep the wood from hitting the wall. Okay, so we were now ready to go. We started up the engine, Mom in the jeep, and we pulled out of the R.V. park, reattaching by that field I mentioned in a different blog. Then, we drove off, on the bridge, away from the Cajun Employees, the refreshing pool and terribly hot hot tub, the gate and barbed wire 7 foot wall, the light posts and the cobblestone streets, Matthew and his family, and last, but certainly not least, the Billboard with the ads and the charm that made me want to wonder and look at it. Goodbye, to the Great French Quarter R.V. Resort. See you later F.Q.R.V.!

So we drove, away from the low ground of the Katrina devastation, and away from all the balcony homes of the French Quarter, and the old southern homes of the Garden District, and the Cemetery (won't be missing that). Away also from the Super Dome and all the big skyscrapers. We then got out of New Orleans. Now, I know it has Bourbon Street, a lot of drunks, smokers, and other people I'm not going to mention, and there are also those people we saw in the last blog, with dreads and lamps over their heads. But, taking away from the weird voodoo things and the other junk it has, New Orleans is a wonderful city. All the music, art, culinary delites, the styles, and other things. People, are generally, if not drunk, nice down there, easy going, and nice enough, like the artist Trevor Scott(we found out his name by looking in the right hand corner of the painting he gave us) who gave us a $40 painting just because Rebecca likes art and wants to become an artist, and all the people who helped us out and were really kind. New Orleans is truly a place of it's own. Right on the Mississippi River, they have a good shipping economy. The primary birthplace of Jazz, it is always musically sound. The Saints, they are one of the best football teams in the country, and NO loves them so. And Mardi Gras, a festival only the best, New Orleans style. The Hurricane Katrina came, and it looked like it had torn New Orleans apart, but it did not. They came back together, united, and the Big Easy was brought stronger with Katrina, better homes, better flood preparation, and more determined people. The Big Easy, New Orleans, NO, NOLA, what ever you call it, will always, reader, be a place for visit. There is truly, no place like it. And I long the day... for my return.

I blogged, and did a little Math and started writing that story, and I called it, "Adventures in Alligator Land" with the main character Trevor Scott. I used the artist's name as the main character. I admit to it. It was fun and a good story. I have thirteen pages on it now. As we came into the freight and oil and boats and factory city of "Red Stick", a lot better known as, Baton Rouge, Rouge meaning red and Baton meaning stick, like in a parade. I might have already told you this, but for those who haven't read the Katrina Exhibit and LA State Museum blog posts, you might not know. But anyway, there were large barges as we passed up on the bridge of the Mississippi (hardest word ever) River, and all the factories steaming out their white gas, with the big cylinder tubes. It is truly an industrious town. I couldn't find one park, really. I know, it's sad. But, another way to look at it, is all the industry brings jobs. But then again the children grow up in all the gas, but they get jobs. This is a tough debate between myself and myself. Better stop now. Back to the blog. We arrived in the boondocks, through forests and little towns, arriving at the point of our departure, at a repair shop in Scott, LA. We tried people at a big one in GA, then a guy in FL, then in MS. If they can't do it, no one can. We wanted to trust the liability of these redneck mechanics. There was a small white sign on a post, and this place with R.V.'s all in a bunch, and a building. Dad drove us in this roofed garage, it seemed, as we got all our stuff and prepared to go out. On our way out, we watched the guys go in. I hoped my computer wouldn't be stolen, and that the dogs would be okay. They don't like being left alone with strangers. Well, we got in the jeep, and preceded to make good time, and just do SOMETHING, if anything.

Hungry as it was 4:30 and we might not get the chance to eat again, we stopped at a Mexican Restaurant overlooking a Walmart. There was a little parking spot and some glass doors that we walked into. An open room, booths, tables, and Mexican Music, plus paintings on the walls. Upon closer inspection once we were seated, I saw they had kind of a rich detail feel, with all the paintings of the towns. I said to our black haired waitress that it was cool, and she showed me a 3-d one that was cooler than all the others. She also told the owner that I liked them. She had gotten them in Mexico. People from Mexico say it like this (Me-he-coa.) Mehecoa. We say it like this, (Mex-ee-co) In the following days, I would find out what they used to call Texas when it was attached. But we got a good meal, and our waitress was nice, and she had to go in the middle of the meal to pick up her special needs daughter from the Private School, and we talked a little bit about that before she left. I read about a character in the Tin Woodman that had twenty legs from a witch's enchantment. Johnny QuiwStep, because he was so fast, with twenty legs. Funny chapter, really.

I got a good enchilada and Mom did too. They were about to close, and then reopen at night (weird, right?) and so we ate quickly. We left and went back to the R.V. repair shop, and they said all these problems as a man came in our R.V. and explained it all to Mom, in blue shirt, with black all over him and a weird odor. He talked very fast also, like the people at Emeril's. He said primarily that there was a crack in the unit and the motor was bad. We hoped this truly was the reason, and that we would have to pay for something that didn't work. Would it again? Only time would tell. Well, we pulled out after Dad paid them, and we got out. Driving a little longer, we got into a small R.V. park with much grass, mud, and dirt. This could be an exciting moment in the blog, but sadly I didn't see it or even know it was going on, because I was blogging. Although I like to do that, still sometimes I miss things on the road. I have my window open though. I came outside as it was dark, and said hello to Mom and Dad. Mom told me, amidst the flashlights, that upon our entry we had gotten stuck in the mud and had to be pulled out by a truck! She showed me the thick tracks where all the grass and brown mud was making a big hole. I couldn't believe my eyes. I am sorry that we did not in fact recount the adventures and make you on the edge of my seat. I have failed.

We went to bed that night, with some T.V. It was a pretty boring day. We had left New Orleans, and it was a great city, and then we went to a repair shop to fix the Hot Water Heater. Hopefully, but only hopefully, would it stay like that. And then we got stuck in the mud at Cajun Haven R.V. Park.

Friday 27th, Drive to Houston, Texas:

I woke up and Dad and I both went out to take the dogs, and tried to avoid all the mud by staying on the patches of concrete. We had to have short leashes. There was not just mud though, but also a lot of green wet grass. We tried to steer clear of it, but the dogs got pretty wet. We got them toward a pond, where a lot of birds were. Man were there a lot of birds. The dogs barked and tried to chase them, unaware that if they tried to get the birds they would just fly away, in safety. We then went along a patchy wet concrete by the pond, with anthills right and left. Birds, wet grass, mud, anthills. The worst terrain for a dog. But they went to the restroom none the less as we talked a little about the upcoming day. We would try to drive up to Houston, Texas, by going west across the two states. Louisiana was about to be finished, and the Southeast for that matter, as we entered into the Southwest. The Southeast had shown us repair shops, Florida, naval stations, rodeos, and the house of Jefferson Davis, plus all of New Orleans. We had experienced southern hospitality and their charm, and rednecks and hillbillies alike. And now we were going to leave that, for the South, yes, but the SouthWEST. So we took the dogs back inside, wet and their legs dirty, inside, in the crate.

Later that day we pushed in the slides and left for Texas. Now, when I was expecting we were going to Texas, I expected like dirt and desert and brush, cowboys and everything, not a highway with trash and green grass, or a normal rest stop building, with parking places, the sign, and a giant white star in a circular platform. This was the Texas state line. Dad went to the restroom and rested his legs from driving while Mom, Rebecca and I, went out to take the picture. We took one under this star, and then one by the Texas sign, which is basically an American flag, while, blue, and red fat stripes, and then a lone star, because, something interesting here, when Texas got independent from Mexico, they wanted to join the U.S.A(which had a lot of benefits) but on one condition, they are a REPUBLIC and that means with the people's vote they can secede whenever they want to, and become their own separate country. No other state has that power. But for now, we get to enjoy Texas as our own and live there and say we're in the U.S. FOR NOW.... Rick Perry might be so mad at the government he might secede and start his own country, perhaps. Or, he never thought of the idea and I just gave it to him. Oops! (double meaning there).

We took the picture, and with squinting under the sun's rays we barely made it. Also fighting was an issue. It always is. Anyways, we drove off to Houston, who was a general or something in Texas's fight for Independence, and the city is a good ways in the west, a little bit by Mexico, but not much, and it is a safe city. Big Vietnam population though. (I would only find out that way after we had been to Houston, when I was watching an educational crime show, on History Channel or something.) Alright, so, instead of coming into the city right by it, San Jacinta, and hoping for cowboys and desert environment, I got more of what we had seen in Baton Rouge, New Orleans, and other places along the Gulf of Mexico: huge cylinders with gas, rivers and the bay, and barges, freight, and restaurants and stuff that you would see in any other city. I was mighty disappointed, wanting to get off the Gulf of Mexico and maybe see desert. I am sorry, but growing up with True Grit, Lone Ranger, and actually being in a cowboy film at Red Door Playhouse all adds up that I would want to see Desert Texas, not industrial river barge factory freight Texas. I have to admit, I was disappointed.

We got to an R.V. Park, and it was on a back road, although in fact very nice. It was called San Jacinta Riverfront R.V. Park, and there was a nice building that Mom and Dad went into while I blogged my head off. I've been so trying to catch up. But anyhow, we parked on like the second or third row, and all the lots were of concrete or asphalt, with many nice motor homes there. It was a rich plus against all the dirt and mud and little trailers of the last dum... I mean place. So we pulled out the slides and after that did all the sewer and electric and water(a tedious process indeed) and then so preceded to walk the dogs around the R.V. Park and check it out. Mom and Dad were in the middle of something inside, and Dad told us to go by the office before he and her came out. I don't remember what they needed to do, but it's probably not too important. So we went and saw that there was a small playground and pool area, with gate, plus a patio and picnic tables. But a lot of construction materials and what I thought was a huge playground in the back, surrounded by trees. A lot of Latino (not being mean or anything, but that was their nationality) workers around in trucks and stuff. On the front porch was a little parking lot and patio, with some rocking chairs, and I looked inside. Rebecca let me go in, while she had the dogs.

There was a little store with counters to the far left, and a counter in the middle of the room with a lady behind it, and it was high, and she was sitting down. To my right were brochures, and a door. She said hello, and she asked me if I was the kid who had just come in, and I said yes. "So you're dad is a car dealer?" she remarked. I replied yes, and she asked what car I was choosing in my teenager years. "Probably a truck or jeep, but maybe even a challenger." She would later ask Rebecca that question. Well, Mom caught up with us, Dad trudging behind also, and so Rebecca came in. The lady said that there was a library to our right, through the door, and it had a book exchange. Delighted, I searched on a sole bookshelf, with lounge chairs and desks in other areas of the room, filled with silent people. I hate being silent among books. I am very loud among books. Very quiet in a gym though, which doesn't seem to make sense, does it? But I looked among a collection of Star Wars books, and I don't really like the "Extended Universe" that talks about Luke's son and everything. Why can't you just stop a series and all the merchandise already? It's gone too far! But some people, despite all persuasions, don't get it. Sigh.

Mom knocked on the door as the lady told us that our Mom wanted us outside. When out, Mom gave us a scolding about staying in there too long, and we all turned right, among some damp grass. It was the dog walk area, but we weren't gonna go there. Too wet. We retraced our steps and came down back the aisles, and also to the vertical way down, down to the water. We saw so many kids on bikes and scooters, having a good time. Rebecca asked if we could go join them now, but our parents said no, to enjoy this time with them, and that we would have time later, and this was so close to Mexico we had to be careful and not get out of sight of them. In retrospect, I so wished that I had that chance to get on my bike and play... for one last time. (foreshadowing)

We came by a river, on a hillside, with a site with a hot tub to our right, and other skate boarders. I so wished we had played with those kids; we wouldn't get the opportunity later. It saddens me. I will change the subject now. There was a lot of barges and the stuff I mentioned earlier, and I talked a little about how bad a book Mockingjay was on the way down. We also speculated about the science of barges and locks, and Dad learned us a few things. Here's something I have a problem with, people say "learn" to mean teach, but that's the exact opposite of teach, so it doesn't make sense. But anyway, I was with Mom until Rebecca caught up, and we went up the wooden stairs of their clubhouse, which also had an adult pool, flowing a crystal clear water down, clear coming down. We weren't allowed in. There were a few Mexican workers that we steered clear of, and we peeked in the locked doors of the clubhouse, then going back to the left and up a hill, and saw a Chihuahua that barked at us, and walk fast we did. After that we talked to a guy who had an old blue car, and there was a three legged dog right by there. That's sad. But we got back to the R.V., and over a lot of debate, finally decided to go to get dinner. We then drove off in the jeep.

We found an Outback Steakhouse. It was packed, and we had to have a beeper, expecting an hour or thirty minute wait. So many people in the threshold. But then after like five minutes of receiving the beeper, we were called to a booth. It was because a man who had waited a long time had given it to the lady and given up, and so now we had his. Lucky break. We didn't say anything about it, which wasn't very trustworthy, but we were tired. Got a nice waiter but there was nothing else very interesting about the meal. I got a kid plate and did some activities, which had all the Aussie animals and stuff like that. Very fun. So after eating some steak and stuff we got out, into the dark night. Upon leaving a lady, a waitress, handed me a yogurt thing that was Aussie. It was all right. Oh yeah and I forgot to tell you, when we were out of the car, I saw a lady smoking on the front porch, on a bench, and I shouted out, "MONKEY!!!" I am sorry, but I looked at her so shortly I thought she was a giant stuffed monkey. Sorry, but I did. I am still laughing about that today. But anyway, we left in the dark of night and on the road saw the most beautiful thing. I was reading "A Tramp Abroad", a Mark Twain book about his travels in Europe, and Dad said, "Get out of your book and phone (in talking to Rebecca), you'll never see this again." And then I saw it. 

It was like this: futuristic towers with circular lights all on them, very thin, but flat too, like paddled sticks. It looked like something out of Star Wars or a science-fiction book. I blinked and rubbed my eyes repeatedly. It was so bright, and so amazing. Dad told us it was a gas plant, as all the wonderful pale white lights shimmered in the distance. It was unreal, so fake, but real! And we passed by so quickly. But I loved that dreamland; it still is in my head. 

So we went in to the R.V. and went to bed. So in that day we drove to Houston, and into the great state of Texas. And many adventures and trials would come in the next few days, in the Lone Star State. 

Sure, these weren't the best days, but everybody needs some boring days once in a while. 

The next day would bring us to battlegrounds, and battleships. Goodbye for now. 

So if there's all this global warming going on, why don't we just throw the Earth in a giant freezer or give it an ice pack? Just a thought...,

Andrew.