Labor day weekend

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This is how our trip goes
From Home to Village Creek SP to Brazos Bend SP to home This picture was taken at Village creek the day we packed and leave.

We have been watching what hurricane Gustav was going to do. It was small, We did not think the storm would hit us there (Village Creek Sp). I asked Sam if he wanted to go somewhere else. He said "No" it is not going to make it there and if it does, we will just pack up and head somewhere else. Driving that way, we noticed there was not a whole lot of traffic going, but there was lot heading west into Houston (Hmm). We got to the park in about 2 hours total, we spent probably an hour just to get through downtown Houston (we live on the west side). Village Creek has one little loop and the sites are very close to each other. they have a tent pad, picnic table, and a fire ring with a bench. It's very wooded and quiet. There were lots of mosquitoes! We did not go and see what the bath house looked like. There were lots of great trails to walk or bike on. On the way to the trails there was a sign warning us about the "poisons snakes", but we did not see any. They said they had a swimming area, it must have been really far as we did not find it but loved the walk.

Sam took his fishing rods and Kayak and he was having a blast. Half way to the swimming area and the kids got really tired. So we found Sam and took the kids to where they had the sand bar. Susie and me headed back on foot to meet Sam, by the launch area, and he took Susie and me over where the kids were. We had a blast, here the water was fresh color brown with lots of sticks. The kids were playing with the sand and I was burying Susie. Then Matt and Ethan liked it so much they started getting buried and I see why.. under the sand was cooler! The kids got in the water while Sam was fishing and Susie was chasing Sam's lure. We headed back to the site and had lunch. Afterwards, we put Mr Ethan for a nap.

The Park ranger comes over and says "we are going to evacuate every one tomorrow morning at 6 am". Sam said "well, we'll just go tomorrow".. and Me "No, we are leaving that area now, lets go somewhere safe". So we started packing and (I have always wanted to do this.. pack and be done quick! I have seen a lot of pop-up campers do it, put every thing inside, and when they get home they clean it). So it took us less then 20 minutes! By the time we passed the office, it had been 30 minutes.

We got to the freeway and it was packed! Cars were moving, but not fast. We saw a lot of trucks getting off the freeway (across the ditch) onto the feeder. Sam sitting there watching, having fun saying ...."Come on, some one get stuck" ..... (he wanted to do it too..). The feeder was empty, no cars driving. The trucks driving off the freeway would get off the freeway and back on miles ahead but we did not do it. We had our second house behind us, and did not want to get stuck. We drove for like 3.5 hours and then.. there was no traffic.. I-10W was closed down to one lane (construction) so all the people that where evacuating got stuck in the freeway thanks to the city. The hurricane is coming and they don't even open it. We got out and did not have to worry about it anymore.

We found a state park that had only one site available. We were not ready to go home yet. We stopped at Brazos Bend where our second chance to see an alligator. We really got the best spot, away from every one. There was a huge field of green with big beautiful trees to shade us while setting the camper up. I made fried chicken and beans for dinner. We had a great night watching Gustav, trying to see which way he is going. We had fun taking the kids for a walk, ended up by the park. We let the kids have some fun playing in the park a while. That evening we sat up watching deer and armadillos chilling out and ran into some friends!

Our Friends have a home close by the park and they came visited our campsite. Like always, we kept them up late but we didn't even notice it was midnight! We have a great time with them and I think they do too. Told them we will visit them and see their chickens and rabbits the next morning. We walked the park trails first to see if we can see at least one small alligator. We did not see any at first, but then there was some people fishing and I saw one moving. Then another moved and we heard a splash.





We heard nothing after that, then you see one moving away and we left on the way back to the campsite. On the way back we got a good look at one laying on a log and we stopped. Took a great picture and Sam wanted to take a better one and when he moved closer they moved. Turns out there was two, we did not see the other one as it blended in with it's surroundings. Now we have a picture yeah!!!!

We visited Mark and Andrea and let the kids brush the Bunny's and pick up the chickens and feed them. We got to see all the vegetables she had it. It was beautiful, makes me want to make my own garden again. A new project for when it's cooler. We drove back to the campsite and had lunch. Then packed up to go home until the next time we camp.