Vinton, Louisiana

Sunday February 24… 11:00pm

Had a great sleep at Walmart. One of the quietest Walmart’s we’ve ever parked at. You’d never have known it was open 24 hours a day. But we got up early anyhow and drove towards the port area of Galveston to go for a
walk. There are two large cruise ships that have their main port in Galveston, and they do regular one week sailings to the Western Carribean from here.

A statue to comemerate they people that died in the hurricane in the early 1900's

Cruise ship in Galveston

We headed north east from Galveston, and there’s a 20 minute free ferry ride a few miles outside of town. We had to line up for almost a half hour, but we must have got their just before the crowds because there was a lot bigger line up when we were ready to board. It was too bad, but it was really foggy for the crossing, and we couldn’t see any of the other ships. And even when we got off the ferry, the drive for the next hour or so was also really foggy, so we totally missed whatever scenery there was to see.

Sherman lined up for the free ferry

Stopped at the welcome center as we crossed over to the Louisiana border, and made some lunch there. Checked the tourism info, and found a community park that has an RV section, and it was supposed to be $10. That’s not too bad, but when we got there we found that they had raised their prices recently and now it was over $13. We turned it down and went for plan B.

A few miles further on, there’s a racetrack and casino slots…similar to Rideau Carleton in Ottawa, but also with a large hotel built into it. They have a section for RV’s, and so we parked up for the night. Went inside to see what the casino was like. Signed up for their “rewards” program (which is free anyhow), and got a free t-shirt because February was my birthday month. Then, we found out that this casino also has free drinks…beer, liquour…whatever you wanted, even if you just wandered in to browse. We went for the penny slot machines and each put in a dollar. Played for quite a while, and walked out $4 to the good. Went back to Sherman and had some dinner, and then went back in the casino. A couple more free drinks, and another few minutes on the penny machines, and walked out another $6 to the good.

Not a bad night…parked for free, made $10 cash, had 4 free drinks, and got a free t-shirt. Not a bad night. We like Louisiana!

Watched the original “Rambo” movie….First Blood with Sylvester Stallone from 1982 or so. Got it for $5 at Walmart, and wanted to see it again because it was filmed in Hope, B.C., and we had visited there back in November. Sure enough, lots of familiar scenery in the movie…and I don’ think the town of Hope has changed all that much in 25 years.

Total Nights Sleeping in the RV… 129…

February Fuel $ 399.00

February Grocery $ 240.83

February Overnight Costs $ 37.00