Among the friends we have stayed with on our travels have been people we met through Faith In Practice. First we went to visit David and Ruth Hamilton in Hot Springs Village Arkansas. David and Ruth were facilitators on earlier teams. They showed us around, fixed us wonderful meals and Ruth and I went into Little Rock to visit the Clinton Museum and the Old Arkansas State House. The Clinton Museum was fascinating, including a guided tour by Bill Clinton, exhibits organized on the basis of different themes and lots of memorabilia. There was little mention of the impeachment trial, except to explain it as a Republican attempt to get back at him for Democratic gains during the off-year elections. He made numerous positive comments about Hilary. It was striking to hear his view of diplomacy (meet and get to know leaders so that you develop a respect and can use that to encourage people to take unpopular stands) which stands in stark contrast to the present administration. Arkansas politics were the focus at the Statehouse. There are a lot of famous and infamous Arkansas politicians including Orville Faubus, Dale Bumpers, William Fulbright, and Bill Clinton. The League of Women Voters was founded in Arkansas, which was the 12th state and 2d southern state to sign the amendment giving women the right to vote.
We set off early Tuesday morning October 14 to get to Houston for the FIP Gala. Despite the stock market crash the previous week, about 500 people turned out and FIP raised about $347,000 gross. The next day we headed off to Port O'Connor Texas, where Joe and Vera Wiatt, the founders of FIP, live. We drove through a driving rain storm down to the Gulf coast. They live right on the beach.
This is a photo of the sunrise over the bay. When we arrived a cold front was moving through and there was a wind and the bay was choppy. Thursday night we watched the Coast Guard practice rescues in the bay with helicopters, boats and baskets. 
Joe and Vera are avid fishermen and hadn't been fishing for three months. When the weather cleared up, they took us out wade fishing for Red Fish. You wear booties and wade through water that is mid-calf to mid-thigh deep. You shuffle along the bottom to scare the sting rays away and to avoid stepping on them. The goal is to cast you mullet (a bait fish which Joe caught with a net) into sandy areas where smaller fish would follow it and cause a Red Fish to come out. Both of us caught 24" Red Fish. This is the first time I've really gone fishing and I had a blast. Vera was my coach and I got to the point I could put the bait on my hook, though I couldn't tie hooks on when puffer fish cut them off or remove my fish. It was thrilling to catch these large fish, which really put up a fight. We went out for an additional half day of fishing, but were unsuccessful. Our grins show how happy we were. We then returned to dock where Joe and Bob cleaned the fish and we prepared a big fish fry. Yummy! 
While Joe and Bob were cleaning the fish I watched the barge traffic on the intercoastal waterway. This is an artificial waterway that runs near the shore and is protected from the rough water of the Gulf. There is a lot of barge and boat traffic on it. While waiting I watched petroleum tankers and barges filled with gravel travel up the Intercoastal.
When the guys were finished cleaning the fish they threw the carcasses to the brown pelicans who gathered around. The pelicans are everywhere. This area is along the flyway and we saw brown and white pelicans, Great Blue and White Herons, Pink Spoonbills, ospreys, turkey vultures and lots of other birds I couldn't identify. The pelicans used to be endangered, but they aren't any more.
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