Livin' the Dream: Houston ... a city of variety

Okay I think I'm almost back on tract with only a few days behind.

Our new camp in Kemah Texas is pretty nice. Well kept and our site overlooks a tidal canal loaded with all kinds of flying and swimming critters. Crows and vultures have been replaced with seagulls, terns, and these crazy fish that just like to leap out of the water.

Home Sweet Home (for a week) ... Kemah Texas

The camp is absolutely filled to capacity but in the daytime few are here. As it turns out, most are temporary oil company workers hired for a big pipeline job in the area that will take many months. They leave early, get home late and are too tired to make any ruckus so it's very quite at night.

We've already discovered the local hotspots for fresh fish and I think before leaving we will have sprouted gills. Good stuff and priced low.

Our first adventure out was a water tour of the Port of Houston. We arrive at the dock about an hour early and discover that this is a free trip. Yup ... free!. I'm immediately positive that there is some kind of trick afoot here. What in the world do you get something for free?, I ask myself. I ponder this question for a few minutes but was interrupted when Sharon began chatting with a group of ladies who were also taking the trip. I was soon engaged in the discussion and I was assured that this was no fluke. It was free and it was worth our time.

The boat was about a 90 footer with an enclosed portion and plenty of space on deck for those hardy enough to stand the slightly brisk weather outside.

The Port Authority of Houston (www.portofhouston.com) pays for this little excursion that takes you some 90 minutes to complete. They toss in an ongoing narration of the passing attractions and provide some liquid refreshments. What a deal! Now if you were expecting sandy beaches, palm trees and beautiful skylines ... forget it. The trip shows you what Houston is good at. And thankfully they are good at it ... this port is how petroleum get done. You'll see the distillation plants, the storage depots, the vast array of ships that move our oil products around. Not boring. Didn't see a person on board who thought so either. Being up close to these oil carrying behemoths of the sea gives you a real sense how much oil we really use in the country. Large storage tanks the size of round football fields (I just thought this one up) are everywhere. It does get you wondering when we hear of gas and oil shortages how that is figured however after taking a trip like this. Anyway ... if you're in town; take this trip. You'll enjoy it. BTW ... regular gas was $3.55/gal and diesel about 30 cents more. I thought maybe we'd get an even better deal since we're so close to the source ... but no luck.

In case you didn't know ... This port contributes over 1 million direct and indirect jobs to the Houston area and over 178 billion bucks of total economic activity. The Port Authority has recently added a new cruise line terminal that will continue to add to the over one hundred cruise sailings already planned this year.

Here's a few pictures I took along the way.