Port Arthur , Tx.

We were headed to Galveston for the night, but when we got there is was congested and not fun with the 5th wheel and we were both Hangry so we  turned around to go to Port Arthur near Beaumont, TX where we were hoping to find volunteer work.

We pulled into a rest area to grab lunch and I noticed this young girl trying to change a flat tire.  Gary, always chivalrous helped her out while I made lunch.

 We get a space at Port Arthur RV Resort one of Escapee's 1/2 price parks for a couple of nights until we can find volunteer work.

The next day we head up to Beaumont and ask around and are told Operation Blessing is at the Cathedral in the Pines and helping with Disaster Relief so we head there.

 It turns out they have over 200 volunteers working - mostly college kids from out of state.  That and all the construction workers for the refineries, as well as residents still displaced from their homes, explains the lack of RV space available in town.

They have enough help but ask if we can transport some tools to a job site back in Port Arthur.  We fill out volunteer forms so we will get notifications about future disaster relief projects and head back to Port Arthur in our official T-Shirts and head off to deliver the tools and help at the site.

Along the way we get behind this unusual RV

We arrive at the job site and it is a cute little house.  There is a Man and 5 college kids working here.  Their assignment was to remove the plywood from underneath the house, take out the insulation and replace.  They had been working on it for a few hours and were only able to get one sheet off and the insulation they removed was dry.  Gary checked it out and there was no sign of water damage on the plywood, support beams or insulation.  He discussed it with the guy heading the team and they decided it was unnecessary.  The other project involved rotting flooring in the  back entry mudroom.  Gary found the cause of that to be that the handicap ramp was put in level with the door threshold and the threshold was slanting slightly towards the interior.  There was also no roof over the entry.  The easiest solution was going to be to put a rain guard on the roof with gutters but a section of the floor and some cabinetry was going to have to be removed and replaced.  Not an easy job.  Since there was nothing else that could be done that day we headed home.

We did a drive to the Veterans and Rainbow bridges over the Neches River.  It is a through truss bridge built in 1936 with a 680 foot main span with a vertical clearance of 177 feet.    The Veterans bridge alongside it was built in 1988 and the Rainbow bridge was then shut down for repairs.  Now the Veterans Bridge is one way eastbound and the Rainbow bridge handles traffic heading westbound

Heading over the Veteran's Bridge

Returning over the Rainbow Bridge

The U. S. Corps of Engineers created Pleasure Island from deposits dredged while constructing the Port Arthur Canal, completed in 1899, and the Sabine Neches Intracoastal Waterway, completed in 1908.

Along the waterway is the Rose Hill mansion. 

We get to take a self guided tour.  There is a planning committee there trying to figure out how to get funding to restore the house.  Some of it is fairly restored but it needs a ton of work.

As we leave the mansion we are treated to a big ship going down the Canal

Our next stop is the Museum of the Gulf Coast.  It is a great little museum packed full of stuff.

A mural along one wall depicts the area from the dinosaur period to present time

Area wildlife.  I saw on the website after we were supposed to ask about this alligator that was brought back to life.

Gary goes car shopping

The John and Grace Snell Parlor and collection of decorative arts
and glassware

Music Hall of Fame

A Replica of Janis Joplin's car

Hall of local celebrities

Sports Hall of Fame

A large Shell Collection

and much, much more - a must see if you are in the are in the area

We head to boardwalk

When I stepped out of the truck, I landed on soft ground.  After we crossed the road I felt something biting my ankles, I couldn't see anything and thought it was no see-ums.  I kept brushing at them and then noticed a small ant and brushed it off.  As we walked the itching got worse and worse and it spread to my torso.  We rushed back home (hitting every red light) 

My entire torso was covered in one big hive

and so were my arms.  My ears were feeling plugged up too.  I immediately took a couple benadryl and a cold shower.   I do not recommend stepping on a fire ant hill!

On this note we decide to continue on down the road.