Texas...Days 4 and 5

On day 4 of our Texas trip we went to the Houston Zoo. It was a pretty nice day and one of the best parts was our Oregon Zoo membership was able to get us into the Houston Zoo for free! Can't beat that! It was a weekday, so the zoo was not crowded at all! It was so nice to enjoy the day at a new zoo with no crowds. The zoo was in a very large park that also had a little train. We were able to take the train all around the park and see all of the sights.

The next day we drove a little ways, about an hour and a half, to Galveston. This is where we went to Moody Gardens that has an amazing 12 level aquarium. The aquarium itself was the shape of a pyramid. It had all kinds of fish, of course, but also had seals, penguins, turtles, and many different sharks. It was a great aquarium.

Also in Galveston was the Beach. We stopped at a store and bought a couple of buckets and shovels to use in the sand. The girls spent a long time walking in the water and collecting shells. The shells here in Oregon are always broken from the rough waves. In Galveston we found many shells that were whole. This was a new experience for me too. We also walked out on a paved Jetty. Galveston had a lot of damage done to it during the Hurricanes 2 years ago. There was still evidence of the damage that the storm had left behind. There was a very large hotel that was right out over the ocean. It is now closed due to the damage that the storm caused. There was a huge hole in the side of the hotel that we could see. The bridge that had to be crossed to get to the hotel was completely gone. The hurricane had really done damage to this community.

I really think this is where I would like to visit and stay overnight if we are to go to Texas again. The beach is a place were I just love to be and I wish we would have had more time to stay and enjoy it.

Here are some pictures, once again in opposite order.