Ellie's Great Adventure: Homeward Bound.

Nov 9, 2021

Introduction

This trip completes the final leg of Ellie’s Great Adventure.

Part 1: The North Road
Part 2: Northwest to Pacific
Part 3: Highway 1 and 101 to San Francisco
Part 4: Exploring the Southwest
Part 5: Homeward Bound

In this leg of the journey, we drive along the border and then up the Gulf of Mexico before returning to Ohio. Along the way, we see warm sandy beaches, a rocket ship and much more.

The Journey

When we left off in part 4, we had stopped for the evening in Del Rio. We completed that drive by heading to Boca Chica Texas and the SpaceX Starbase.

Starbase Boca Chica, TX

To reach Starbase and nearby Brazos Island State park, you drive out on a sandy Highway 4 past security checkpoints. The Starbase and vehicle assembly areas are right next to the road, with Starship a literal stones throw away.

We parked east of the base and walked out to the Brazos island beach where Ellie played in the surf before posing for some pictures with rockets.

+ 6

Mustang Island State Park, TX

From Boca Chica, we drove north to Mustang Island just south of Corpus Christi. We camped here for the night and Ellie again enjoyed playing in the surf. I think she prefers the Gulf of Mexico to the Atlantic or Pacific.

Aransas National Wildlife Refuge, TX

After camping, we drove on to Aransas where we spent a few hours in the wildlife refuge. Ellie saw several alligators, a deer, and lots of unusual birds. On one trail, we had to turn back because the gators were well hidden and a little too close for comfort. At one point, I realized a large alligator was on the bank just 8-10 feet away hidden behind some brush. Yikes!

+ 8

Galveston / Bolivar Ferry, TX

As we approached Houston, we headed out to Galveston to both dodge Houston traffic and enjoy a drive on the island. This led us to take the Galveston / Bolivar Ferry which bridges the inlet to Houston’s bays.

Ellie always seems to enjoy ferry crossings. Popping her head out the window, catching smells on the breeze and watching the birds fly by.

After crossing, we continued on to Lake Charles, Louisiana where we stayed in a heavily storm damaged La Quinta. Seriously, a large part of the building’s exterior was just gone. It was in a sketchy area, and they had minimal staffing, but the building was new and the room was actually quite excellent.

Bass Pro Pyramid, TN

Leaving Lake Charles, we began a hard drive homeward with our next stop 500 miles away in Memphis Tennessee. After staying the night, we stopped by the Bass Pro Shops Pyramid, the “Great American Pyramid” nestled on the banks of the Mississippi River.

Originally, it served as an arena for Memphis’s pro and collegiate basketball teams. After they got a new stadium, it was used as a mega church for four years before the city leased it long term to Bass Pro Shops. Inside, the shop is a place to behold. There have giant aquariums and a creek runs throughout the main floor. You can take an elevator up to the Pyramids summit and look out on the river and the city.

You can find pretty much anything you might want for hunting or fishing there. I thought about getting Ellie a training duck, for training retrievers to fetch downed ducks for hunters, but they are designed to discourage shaking the duck and Ellie rather enjoys that part (with her stuffies). So I just bought her some jerky and picked up some nuts for the real treat later.

Memphis / Fourth Bluff Park, TN

For the real treat, I took Ellie to Fourth Bluff Park, formerly Confederate Park, to see the Squirrel Army of Jefferson Davis. They took the statue of Jefferson Davis down (thank goodness), but his Squirrel Army remains, and they are some of the friendliest squirrels you will find anywhere in the country.

Ellie and I sat there for an hour or so tossing nuts to the squirrels, luring them in closer and closer, so she could see and smell them up close. In her younger days, she was quite the terror to our backyard squirrels, gleefully chasing them up fences and into trees. Now she, mostly just enjoyed their presence, watching them inch closer and closer, until they were just 2-3 feet away.

Home

It’s hard to top a park full of squirrels, so after Memphis we drove more or less straight home to Ohio. The first picture is from a walk shortly after we got back. In the second, she’s enjoying a hamburger on her 12th and final birthday.