Traveling thru TX after Hurricane Harvey

[duckwonder]

Hi all.  Getting closer to being able to hit the road.  I'll be driving west and headed through Texas.  Since Harvey, I'm hearing there are plenty of folks still evacuated and/or waiting to start re-building their homes and that Texas state parks were opened to evacuees.  A very good thing, I think.  Not sure what's going on with gas there, if there is a real long-lasting shortage or if it's temporary.  Don't know how long it takes you all to get across Texas, but it will take me awhile.  As I'm not a big fan of rv parks and short on cash anyway and there's not much BLM in TX, I'm wondering what folks are doing to get through the state, especially for overnights.  The usual Walmarts etc I'm sure are full along the I-10 especially anywhere near Houston.  Normally I would take I-10 but don't think I will this time, maybe I-40. 

Can anyone speak to the status of things or suggest good places to camp while traveling through given the hurricane and its effects?

 

[tx2sturgis]

Normally I would take I-10 but don't think I will this time, maybe I-40. 

Can anyone speak to the status of things or suggest good places to camp while traveling through given the hurricane and its effects?

If you do come across on I-40, be sure to read my review of Lake Meredith north of Amarillo. Gasoline is plentiful on this side of Texas.


https://vanlivingforum.com/showthread.php?tid=26630&pid=333906#pid333906

 

[duckwonder]

If you do come across on I-40, be sure to read my review of Lake Meredith north of Amarillo. Gasoline is plentiful on this side of Texas.


https://vanlivingforum.com/showthread.php?tid=26630&pid=333906#pid333906

Good to know, will check out your review.  Have seen a couple vids about Lake Meredith, that sounds promising.  Glad ya got gas over there Tex.

 

[tx2sturgis]

 Glad ya got gas over there Tex.

Stay upwind my dear!

 

[Van Man Dave]

I'm in Houston right now. No problems getting gas at all but I hear the campsites are pretty full due to the evacuees.
(actually staying in a motel for work)

 

[mr_elijah_gardner]

If you are passing through take the 40 you will be through texas in a very very short period of time.

 

[duckwonder]

I'm in Houston right now. No problems getting gas at all but I hear the campsites are pretty full due to the evacuees.
(actually staying in a motel for work)

Glad to hear gasoline is making a come-back!  Yes, I'm glad there are so many campsites in Texas...I hope as many people as possible are helped by the state parks and other campgrounds, and good to hear you are okay.  Survived Katrina, so, you will all get through this in a bit of time.  Best to you.

 

[Van Man Dave]

Glad to hear gasoline is making a come-back!  Yes, I'm glad there are so many campsites in Texas...I hope as many people as possible are helped by the state parks and other campgrounds, and good to hear you are okay.  Survived Katrina, so, you will all get through this in a bit of time.  Best to you.

Yes, and the gas prices are really on par with elsewhere. $2.40 ish......
Amazing amounts of debris are still around, lots of traffic and a lot of community spirit, people helping eachother out. Neat to see the positivity coming out of a messy negative situation!
I'm actually here working to get the cell towers back on line, 2 down, 16 to go :-/

 

[duckwonder]

Amazing amounts of debris are still around, lots of traffic and a lot of community spirit, people helping eachother out. Neat to see the positivity coming out of a messy negative situation!
I'm actually here working to get the cell towers back on line, 2 down, 16 to go :-/

After Katrina I was amazed at how extensive the damage was, and it does take quite some time to recover.  The people are what make everything possible and I agree, it is really cool to see folks pull together in these situations.  Good on you with those cell towers, I'd say your impact and ability to make a difference is HUGE.  16 to go, one at a time.  Peace.

 

[InterBlog]

If you are not one for campgrounds and if you have off-grid capacity, I'd suggest Cabela's stores, Cracker Barrels, and TxDOT Safety Rest Stops.  With the latter, they generally allow overnight parking as long as you are not conspicuously camping and there is no suspicious activity (such as people walking to and from your rig, which looks like drug activity).  

Be aware of the hazards.  In certain Texas public rest stops, there are rattlesnake warning signs all over the place.  People come to rest stops, their undisciplined children throw food all over the place, the rodent population explodes, and then the rattlesnake population explodes.  It's a genuine problem.  There was one rest stop at which we stayed, and a rat attempted to enter our rig within the first 30 minutes we were parked.  I literally had to move the rig to another portion of the rest stop because he was so determined.  (In that instance, no hungry rattler materialized as I had hoped).  

As a new poster, I've had post links disabled recently on this forum, but Google TxDOT Safety Rest Stops and you'll find the map.  I Wallydock only as a last resort.  Those parking lots tend to be crazy.  Cracker Barrel used to publish paper maps of all their locations, but they reportedly abandoned that practice in favor of an app.

 

[mpruet]

Hi all.  Getting closer to being able to hit the road.  I'll be driving west and headed through Texas.  Since Harvey, I'm hearing there are plenty of folks still evacuated and/or waiting to start re-building their homes and that Texas state parks were opened to evacuees.  A very good thing, I think.  Not sure what's going on with gas there, if there is a real long-lasting shortage or if it's temporary.  Don't know how long it takes you all to get across Texas, but it will take me awhile.  As I'm not a big fan of rv parks and short on cash anyway and there's not much BLM in TX, I'm wondering what folks are doing to get through the state, especially for overnights.  The usual Walmarts etc I'm sure are full along the I-10 especially anywhere near Houston.  Normally I would take I-10 but don't think I will this time, maybe I-40. 

Can anyone speak to the status of things or suggest good places to camp while traveling through given the hurricane and its effects?

Houston is always rough to get through.  There was a panic on gas after the storm, but that is over and things are pretty much back to normal. 

Texas is very good about allowing overnight parking in the rest stops.  Several of the rest stops also have dump stations so overnight parking is not really a problem.

 

[lenny flank]

Along the same lines, this NASA photo shows the devastating effect that Hurrican Maria had on Puerto Rico's power grid:

In the US, we tend to take our infrastructure for granted, and don't realize how fragile it is.

 

[Van Man Dave]

After Katrina I was amazed at how extensive the damage was, and it does take quite some time to recover.  The people are what make everything possible and I agree, it is really cool to see folks pull together in these situations.  Good on you with those cell towers, I'd say your impact and ability to make a difference is HUGE.  16 to go, one at a time.  Peace.

It will definitely take some time getting all the debris cleaned up.... and I really appreciate your kind words  
One of these tower sites had 11 feet of standing water in the vicinity! Crazy!!
I'm in awe at how many smiling, friendly faces I've seen out here, considering the major losses we have witnessed.
I'm gaining a great perspective seeing these folks dealing with so much, it makes my problems seem so miniscule!

~Peace!~