I get off work at 5pm go home wait for the traffic to die down and head out around 7 pm. I have loaded the van up the night before and my lovely wife has made the menu. Thanks H :)
I have never seen the Texas City Dike before so I make the detour and go check it out. I am glad I went at night I have never seen the set ups these people have down there! 50,000 candle power+ gas generators attracting fish!
This picture doesn't do it justice the little "dots" of lights that look like "KC" lights are actually the kind of lights you see road crews use at night and there is just a few in this picture. These people had the operation down pat!
BTW this is where your gas comes from, if I had taken a picture just a little bit to the right you could have seen the factories. I took a picture but it came out blurry.
Onward to Galveston.
I had it in my mind to sleep on the Sea wall of the island which turned out to be a great thing, sleeping with the sound of the waves in your ears. H was a little concerned about the police or some baddies harassing me. It was very pleasant with a 24 hour gas station close by in case nature called in the night.
Although, I could not pop the camper because the weight of the kayak was too much for me to lift. This meant I had to rearrange my sleeping habits. It was tight, but after reading for a bit I slept like a log. The inverter worked out great, my C-pap machine ran all night as well a fan. If you are ever sleeping in a public place and have to leave the windows down just remove the locking slips :)
I set the alarm for 4 am (although since I was already there I could have slept til 5:30 or 6) and I will next time I do this trip. I wanted to find a new place to fish and drove around a bit. I found a place called Jamaica Beach south east of Galveston City that had a public boat ramp. The only sign I found said you can't park there more than 24 hours, which was great for me! After I got set up to go out I put the solar charger on the battery and the solar shower on the roof. I then headed out.
Galveston Island used to be a great wild place that had grass lands all over it. This is going fast because developers have started putting up expensive houses where the marshes used to be. Now I don't know how much abuse these houses can take but when a hurricane knocks them down or a storm surge pushes them out to sea like leaves on the breeze I know the people that are smart enough not to "build our house on the sand" (I know I have read that some place lol) have to help foot the bill.
I paddled through and out of the 'hood on stilts took a left (south/east) and into the wind. After battling the wind I was finally into the marsh. It was great sun on your back movement all in the water, unfortunately the movement didn't like my lures. I saw a hugh red tailing in the grass but it wasn't interested. There was so much movement in the water I was getting splashed but no takers. I decided to float back in 2 - 10 ft of water. Something was happening there! I had multiple hits and 2 takers but I didn't set the hooks right. I could see shadows chasing each other down there it was pretty exciting!
I got back to the bus at about 2pm, drained the water from my equipment, the solar shower was nice and warm, popped the top, laid ed out my wet clothes out to dry, climbed up into the bunk enjoying the breeze and read a book while dozing off. The only negative thing was some parents let there kids have the key to the beach house, they where very loud screaming (probably drinking) jumping from the second story patio into the water below. If I was fishing from my house (as the people next door where) I would have called the police for disturbing the police. I would have been happy to lie there til the sun started going down but my Marine radio started going off reporting a nasty storm headed my way. Which hit just as I got all my stuff packed stowed.
It just rained for 15 mins, but I was glad I wasnt out on the water (or packing my equipment) when it hit. I was headed back to the sea wall when I desided to check out GISP (Galveston Island State Park) I got clearance from the park rep to take a look around. They gave me a chk it out pass. GISP is just insane with thier charges for what you get, I talked to some people campming there and they said the showers/ bathrooms where only cleaned after they complained about how bad they where! Please write your congres person and demand more funds for our state parks funds! They are very understaffed!
- $5 per day, per person 13 and older this can be voided if you have the state park pass.
- $20 per night; $25 per night for premium sites for electric/water (30 amp-80 sites 20 premium, 50 amp-40 sites 10 premium. Premium sites are on the Gulf side of the park. Is for the families that want to play on the beach
Bay side of the park. If you just want some quiet and fishing area. However please be aware of the snakes in this area. Fish with an area light and bring lights for your camp ground.
- $20 per night; screened shelters No Pets allowed in these sites.
- $20 per night; overflow sites electric/ water.
Anyway while I was looking over the park I used the shower area to get what the solar shower missed.
Have a good one!
