On the Road between Big Bend, TX and Baton Rouge, LA

I made three overnight stops on the drive from Big Bend National Park in Texas to Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

The first night I stayed on the beach at Mustang Island State Park, Port Aransas, Texas.  Mustang Island is adjacent to Padre Island National Seashore. 

On the way there I stopped in Oakville, TX at Van's, an old roadhouse style restaurant for BBQ. My Brisket Plate lunch included sliced brisket, 2 slices white bread, potato salad (I asked for tater tots, but the waitress said I'm out of tots, honey), creamed corn, a pickle spear & jalapeño, with unsweet tea to wash it all down. It was good, but not the best yet.

At Mustang Island thousands of people were attending Texas Sandfest on the beach over the weekend.  I drove almost 2 miles down the beach until the crowds thinned out and folks enjoying Sunday afternoon by the water were starting to go home.  Here's where I set up for the night.

Dusk on the beach:

And the return of the sun the following morning:

At Port Aransas I took the ferry across Corpus Christi Channel to get on the highway heading east along the gulf coast.

In the morning my route took me through rural, agricultural areas on 2 lane highways. Now and then I'd pass by a little town, or just the memory of a town that used to be.

My second stop for the night was at Fort Clark Springs near Bracketville, TX.

What was once a fort is now a spacious community that includes an RV park.  It would have been nice to stay a little longer to explore the community and check out some of the buildings from the fort. 

My neighbors there were traveling with their '65 Airstream Globe Trotter, a classic!

Stop three was at Cedar Hill County Park in Wallisville, TX.

It's a beautifully maintained park on Lake Charlotte, and I got a glimpse of what was coming in Louisiana.  Everything is green, the park has wooden walkways for viewing the lake or for fishing, and another viewing platform over a portion of the swamp.