San Leon is south of Houston, just 80 miles from Lake Conroe, so we had an easy trip here even though there was a light rain all the way. The RV park we're in was somewhat of a disappointment---until we saw the rest of San Leon. Hurricane Ike came through this gulfside town 17 months ago and the town does not seem to have fully recovered from it. It's pretty depressing. For example:
And this:
On Tuesday (the 2nd) the day we got here, we ventured out to Kemah,
a nearby town---much larger and nicer---also on the gulf but much more fully restored from the hurricane damage.
We had a terrific late lunch at Joe's Crab Shack on the Kemah Boardwalk.
Dinner was unnecessary afterward.
On Wednesday we went to the Johnson Space Center.
(It is, of course, the home of "Houston, we have a problem.") We visited the Mission Control room that was used for the historic Neil Armstrong landing on the moon.
On a tram tour we visited the building housing one of the apare (i.e., unused) Saturn rockets. 
It was just two days after the announcement that their manned space program funding was going to be cut off. The people we talked to were not particularly concerned, which I thought was strange until I realized we were dealing with people who were employed by the visitor center (operated by a separate foundation and not by NASA). These people's job security is just fine, thank you, since the public will undoubtedly still come even though one NASA program is being cut. The rest of the JSC will continue its mission.
The JSC was very interesting; much larger than I expected. There are 10,000 employees there, but the employee parking lots were only half full. At its peak, this must have been an exciting work environment.
We are definitely not here at the gulf area during the high season. There are no crowds anywhere.
On Thursday, we took Becky to Houston's Hobby Airport to fly off to Los Angeles to spend time with her buddies at the Organization of Women Executives' annual spa weekend at Bacara in Santa Barbara.
That means Daisy and I will probably veg out for the next four days. Becky will be back on Monday. On Friday, Pat, Bill, and I decided to visit nearby Galveston. Since none of us had ever been there previously, we were not able to tell the difference between the Hurricane Ike damage and normal deterioration. There were some pretty grim areas. There were also some fabulous old mansions built by the very rich more than 100 years ago. (One was 28,000 square feet.) They are largely being maintained as museums. We took a side trip by ferry to the Bolivar Peninsula. Before we went, at least two people asked us why we would want to go there, since much of it had been destroyed by Ike. They were right; there is little of interest there. But it was a free round trip that took little more than an hour, and we didn't even have to leave the car while on the ferry.
Saturday was a beautiful (read: DRY) day so Bill and I decided to go pick up the new washer/dryer I had ordered and see if we could install it. The entire venture was successful, requiring only one trip to the hardware store.
We were supposed to be here for only seven days, but the office messed up and set us up to stay for eight days, while charging us for only seven days. We decided to stay the extra (free) day, therefore, before returning to Lake Conroe.
Sunday was the Super Bowl, of course, and Bill and I observed this annual foodfest in appropriate style. Pat stayed in their rig, observing blessed silence. Both Bill and I were neutral concerning our support. (If the game does not involve the Bears or the Lions, who cares?) But both of us were pleased with the outcome and, more than that, thrilled that the game was not the usual blowout. Becky was still in the LA area, and she went to a Super Bowl party at her brother Pete's home in San Gabriel.
Her sister Wendy has a new Audi convertible.
Becky's dad
and her brother John
were also in attendance.
Monday was the day Becky was to return, so I had to tidy up and otherwise prepare for her arrival. Pat, Bill, and I were two minutes from the arrival area and Becky called to say they had never left the ground in Austin (the intermediate stop) due to problems in Houston. They had been told that, because of weather, no planes were leaving Houston so no planes could land there---the gates were all full.
We temporized by having dinner at the nearby Holiday Inn. Becky then called to say things were all messed up (they had been loaded on the plane, then off-loaded, then re-loaded) and we might as well go home until further notice. Home was 45 minutes away but we couldn't think of a reason to stay at the airport, so we left. An hour later, when we were five minutes from arriving home (with a slight (20 minute) detour due to having made a wrong turn leaving the airport) Becky called to say she was waiting for us at the airport. She had not been able to alert us after the decision had been made to take off immediately. We returned to the airport and picked her up at 8:45 pm. Whew!
(To be continued.)
January 19 through February 1, 2010: At Lake Conroe, Texas:
We arrived here without incident. When we were here six years ago, there was a lot of wet ground from a rainy spell. I'm not sure it ever dried up. It's just as wet now. But we adapt. The facility is nice, other than some of the interior roads and site pads, which are almost unusable, but the property is convenient to shopping and dining. And it has pickle ball, which makes Bill happy. It would also make Becky happy, if her foot would heal faster. Other than shopping and eating, we've been mostly hanging out. The foot doesn't stop Becky (and Pat) from going on long bike rides (one was 18 miles). On Saturday (the 23rd) we had a delightful lunch at Applebee's in Conroe with Karen Fitzgerald, an old friend of Bill's---from the 6th grade.
She lives in Houston now. She brought a slew of pictures from the old days, and the two of them did a lot of reminiscing. She's coming to our park on Thursday to see how we all live.
On Tuesday (the 26th) we went to Katy, Texas, west of Houston, to get Bill's car door fixed (it couldn't be opened), to see some more RVs, and to have lunch with Rollie Spradling,
a former co-worker of Becky's at the Bright Angel Lodge at the South Rim. Interesting guy; a lot of fun. On Thursday, we bought a couple of new furniture pieces for the living room---a pair of cubes to replace the coffee table and a new pedestal table to go between the two lounge chairs, which we have switched with the couch so the couch is now at the rear of the living room
and the chairs now face the TV set and fireplace.
On Thursday night, we had a brilliant lightning show, a lot of resulting thunder, and it rained like crazy here. Daisy joined us in bed for comfort. (Hers, not ours). To continue the revamping of our massive home, we ordered a combo washer/dryer so we don't have to use the facilities at the RV parks. This change will require substsntial changes in the closet usage, since much what I have been using will be taken up by the new appliance. Becky has agreed to attack the mountain of shoes she has, and to otherwise give up on some of the clothes she hasn't worn since we left Pasadena. Likewise, I will transfer some of my stuff to the "basement" storage. Tomorrow, we leave for San Leon, Texas for a week. By the way, Becky went to the doctor again today. Her foot is completely healed. Hooray!!!
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