Mata what?

Good evening, Campers! It’s Silver Cliche’ here again. We are checking in with you tonight from Matagorda Bay Nature Center in beautiful Matagorda, Texas. 

First off, if the Houston police come to your door and ask if you know me or my whereabouts, say “never heard of him nor have I been reading his blog”. Thanks... I’d do the same for you... depending on what they said you had done, of course. I guess that condition in my support requires a confession. Fair enough. I’m a scofflaw in Harris County and suspect it’s only a matter of time before they ‘cuff me and drag me in. While driving on some combination of I-10, I-65, I-45, I-610, State Road 288 and Alt US 90 through Houston, I missed an exit that the GPS wanted me to take. It could happen to anyone driving a 50’ long 7 ton rig that’s 8 1/2 feet wide in a 9’ lane in traffic in a strange city while debating the true meaning of “I’m going to brush the dog”. I think you understand what I’m saying. I missed a left exit no less. So, the GPS first asked me why I did not do what she told me to do. Thanks, Google... that helped! Then she said she had a plan and I damn well better follow it this time because if I didn’t she might just quit bailing my ass out of my mistakes. I followed it precisely including going under a sign that said “EZ Tag Only - No Cash”. Did I obey that? No I did not. Was I deliberately ignoring the law? No I was not. How could that be? Well, in addition to the EZ Tag requirement there was a sign that showed the current cost and it said “No Toll” so I applied logic. Whether I had an EZ Tag or not the result was the same. Therefore, at that moment I did not need one. The prohibition was null and void and I proceeded. About a mile down the road another sign said “Toll $1.45”. I had fallen for the oldest trick in the book... the “Texas Gotcha”. Now I’m sure there is a picture of my face and the Airstream in the hands of every Texas Ranger whether they are moving by car, boat, helicopter or pony. But I think we have given them the slip. We’re hiding out in Matagorda in a campground with about 80 rigs including at least five Airstreams. It’s hard to find a needle in a stack of needles. Your move, lawman!

So, most of this trip has been unseasonably cool given the latitudes we’ve traveled. That changed at 12:58 AM. The four of us were asleep in the Airstream at Sea Rim State Park in Sabine Pass, TX. That’s right, the same place that warns you about crabbing when alligators can hear you. The sleeping order was the one we’ve settled into. Here’s a pic of the new bed arrangement that I took before the trip started. 

That’s our new queen-sized Nectar mattress as viewed looking forward in the trailer. Our heads are toward the window and, beyond that, the truck. To the right is the custom 11” thick foam dog bed cut to fit the curve of the trailer’s wall. The plan was to have Mrs. Cliche’ on the left (it has space to dangle her feet over the bedside), me on the other side, Romeo in his 18” round nest bed on the dog bed next to my shoulders and Zachary in the rest of the dog bed. As in war, plans like that last until the first shot is fired, then the pieces start moving on their own. The above plan is implemented nightly when we turn in and I kick the dogs out of my side of the bed and into their assigned positions. Within minutes of the time I fall asleep (Mrs. Cliche’ has been monitoring this nightly), Zachary leaves his assigned position and takes the watch for all of us in the center of the queen bed with the tip of his snout aligned with the foot of the bed. This puts his powerful hind legs somewhere near my waist and his tail near my nose. Working with the skill of an orthodontist, or a boa constrictor, he applies mild continuous pressure to my midsection to slowly move me from “my side” of the queen onto the dog bed. This strategy is more or less successful for him depending on the length and depth of the first phase of my sleep. Last night at 12:58 AM an amazing lightning strike hit somewhere near the trailer. It was accompanied by strong wind and intense rain. It was also accompanied by Romeo leaping from his nest and across my shoulders to dive under the covers on Mrs. Cliche’s side of the bed. Most surprised of all was Zachary (who doesn’t share Romeos fear of thunder) who was interrupted mid-plan. By 3 AM the storm had passed but so had our prospects for more cool weather. I awoke at about 6:00 with my legs in the dog bed.

The morning was densely foggy. I got none of the pics I wanted. I do have one to share that I took during a brief clearing. It’s an iPhone 12 panorama. I used to do lots of panoramas with my Canon EOS, but Cannon dropped the software that stitches individual pics into panoramas. Hopefully I’ll have a substitute soon.

If you want more of the “Sea Rim in the morning” experience just stare at the side of an elephant or the hull of a battleship. There... that saved you a trip to Sabine Pass.

The drive was a bit long and somewhat tedious despite passing through the center of America’s 4th most populous city. It rises quickly and fades fast from an almost featureless coastal plain. Mrs. C’ did catch a few more pics of the booming energy economy of Texas. We figured we ought to record it before it is extinguished. Ask a coal miner.

So, where exactly are we? Matagorda, Texas. Don’t feel bad, I never heard of it either until I saw it on a map of campgrounds. Evidently, no recent hurricane has hit precisely here. Lucky them. It’s probably easier to show you with two Google map screen shots. The blue dot is us about halfway between Galveston and Corpus Christi.

And a close-up shows this park, the Gulf of Mexico and a huge amount of outdoor recreation. I’m a bit concerned about our proximity to Red Drum point. I saw “ The Shining”. I see the similarity between Red Drum and redrum. If we don’t return, tell the authorities to drag Jack Nicholson in for questioning. 

Anyhow, tomorrow we are supposed to press south. We may just not do that. Looking ahead, the weather is about to turn wicked hot in the southern tip of Texas. For the next several days we have no specific reservations and anywhere we might land would not have electricity. The one feature we can’t support with the spiffy new batteries is air conditioning. But we have power here... and they have space... and we may lay low until the heat moves through and we can either do without AC or make a plan that keeps us comfortable as we move around America.

Tune in tomorrow to see how that worked out!

Later...