Mileage: 55,964 Walmart Sealy, Texas

As we left Grand Isle this morning, I saw this sign for Port Fourchon. This area really is the “Gulf’s Energy Connection!”

It took us about 3 hours to reach Route 90 again. We could have gone more quickly if we had been in a hurry but we stayed along the canal. There were fishing boats and ships and houseboats and trawlers to look at. It was a nice ride.

Once we were on the highway, we were surprised by the amount of industry there is in southern Louisiana. Lots of energy companies, trucking companies, ship builders, and trains. We also saw sugarcane being harvested and sugarcane fields burning. There were rice fields as well.

We reached the Texas border at about 3:00. The welcome center was very nice with a boardwalk into a cypress swamp. There is a warning by the front door to watch for snakes…welcome to Texas!!

We spoke to one of the welcome center hosts. She had lots of good information for us. She advised us to stop before Houston to avoid the “very ugly” rush hour. She told us about the free safety rest areas along 10W. Anyone can stay for free for 24 hours. We decided to nap and wait for traffic to calm down before driving through the city.

The rest area was very active with trucks moving in and out and many idling as they sat and rested. We left as the sky darkened. We did encounter some Houston traffic but it wasn’t too awful!

We were going to stay at the second safety area overnight but because it was so noisy, we opted for a Walmart instead.

Tomorrow…more Texas. It is 880 miles on 10W from the Louisiana border to the New Mexico border! Of course we have different ideas…stay tuned!