Southern States – Page 2

Water, Water Everywhere

While Night RV Park provided the required “any port in a storm” we did not want to fill our fresh water tank from their hookup so we were glad to be able to move on.

Our first stop was Walmart to replenish our supplies. We’re having trouble getting some of our basics so are shopping more often than we’d like. When we pulled into this one in Denham Springs, Louisiana, the very full parking lot reminded us it is Saturday. It is easy to loose track of the days when one looks much like another.

That afternoon we pulled into Fontainbleau State Park looking for a spot for the night. This park is on the north shore of Lake Pontchartrain, the lake just north of New Orleans. We were somewhat concerned that it might be full on the weekend. That turned out to be the wrong concern. What we should have been concerned about was all the rain they’ve had lately. They assigned us a spot with two alternates to choose from should the first one be too wet. It was very unlevel with a tree branch that kept us from getting to the most level spot in it. The one across the road looked better so we tried it then called the office to see if we could have it instead. Nope, the people who reserved it prepaid in full so they couldn’t release it to us in case the people came tonight even though they didn’t last night. So, we checked out a third spot, this being one of the alternates they gave us. It was level and the electrical post was not sitting in a puddle so we started unpacking. But the EMS didn’t like the electricity–102 volts is below it’s minimum. Since there was a 50 amp outlet as well as the 30 amp we needed, Dave plugged our adapter into that–104 volts–the minimum required to keep our EMS from cutting us off but not enough to run some of our gear. We discussed the implications of that: no A/C–not a problem; it’s too cold to need A/C. No microwave–OK I can skip bacon for breakfast or we can cook it in a skillet on the gas stove. Everything else we were like to use should be OK on low voltage or use the 12 volt battery system. So we decided to stay. Then a neighbor came over and told us low voltage had caused $300 worth of damage to his TV/VCR system. So, we unplugged and stayed anyway. We boondocked with paid hookups at our door. We did fill our water tank the next morning before departure, though. And we’d used a discount card to pay half-price for the camping. It was expensive water but we slept long and well and that counts for a lot.

Today we crossed the Pearl River which is the border into the state of Mississippi. We had left US 190 to take I-10 across so we could get a state highway map. They are harder to come by on the US highways than they are on the Interstates. That turned out to have a bonus. The turn to the Welcome Center was also the turn we needed to make to get back on our preferred route. So now, map in hand, we headed south to US 90 and took it into Bay St Louis where we turned again to go to the Alice Mosely Folk Art and Antique Museum. The street we turned onto was a major through street with a stop light on US 90 but it was just barely two lanes wide. In Minneapolis, it would be an alley not a street. We also had to dodge low hanging tree branches so we were all over that road. I sure am glad Sunday is a quiet traffic day. I was not so glad to learn the museum is no longer open on Sundays. If you want to be entertained by Alice Mosely’s art and the captions chosen for them, please, go here:

http://www.alicemoseley.com/page/page/1632926.htm

Then we took the bridge across the bay itself which looked to me a lot like crossing the Mississippi.

We stopped at KFC for lunch. Their buffet had corn bread as well as chicken & noodles which reminded me of my Grandma. She made really great corn bread and ever greater noodles. Down home food down south. Could life be any better?

The we continued east on US 90. When Dave checked this morning they said they were still clearing sand from the highway from the recent storm but it was only causing minor traffic slow downs. Those slow downs were done by the time we got there but there was plenty of sand in the gutters. It wasn’t surprising considering how close the road is to the beach. Here’s the view from my passenger side window as Dave drove through Pass Christian.

I wish I could have taken pictures out Dave’s side as well. The view there was mixed. Some old houses that survived the hurricanes. Some new ones just being built. Some that may have been new but built of materials to make them look old. Some empty foundations. Some empty lots for sale. One house where all the walls are there but the doors and windows were missing. One with an RV parked next to the owner’s swimming pool indicating where the house used to be. It was a sobering sight.

Then we turned north on US 49 in Gulfport, Mississippi, headed for the Desoto National Forest where we are now camped in their Big Biloxi campground. We plan to stay here long enough to order our mail to be ready for us further down the road in Summerdale, Alabama. There’s an Escapees’s park there called Rainbow Plantation we have been hearing good things about so we want to check it out. After seeing some sights between here and there, of course.

TTYL,

Linda

Rain, Rain

The second night’s ball play was not nearly as amusing. A group of guys had slow pitch softball batting practice on the diamond in front of us. They were good. They kept hitting the balls over the fence. Yup The fence right in front of us. Those ball just kept right on coming at us and the other three RVs parked along the fence. Fortunately, they never did hit one of us but we spent an anxious evening waiting and watching.

I often have a soundtrack running in my head relating to whatever we are seeing or doing. Today’s soundtrack is “Nowhere to run to, baby. Nowhere to hide.” It is storm season here and, apparently, everywhere. It rained REALLY hard last night and is going to continue to do so for the next couple of nights. Dave keeps checking the weather maps to see where the best place to be is but there’s nowhere good around us. Hey, it’s supposed to snow in Oklahoma!

We decided to hit the road anyway since we are pretty much in the open here except for the dead tree we are parked under. Maybe we can find a more sheltered place further down the road.

In Port Barre we checked out a city park called Birth Place Bayou Teche RV Park. It’s another not much other than water & electric for $10 a night park. Unless you like to fish or canoe. They had facilities for both of those. If you decide to camp here you call the police and they come collect the fee. But we needed to do laundry and have lunch so we decided to do that first.

Dave took one look at the machines in the Washateria and came back out. He said he wasn’t sure they’d make it all the way through a cycle.

Then he walked next door to Subway only to find they are closed. So we drove to where another one was supposed to be but it wasn’t.

So, once again, we headed on down the road.

We checked out the Corps of Engineers Atchafalaya Basin but they have no campground, only dispersed camping by the boat landings. We decided we didn’t want to be at water level through tonight’s storm so we moved on again.

Finally, the sun broke through, just as one lane of the highway closed. We aren’t doing so well, today.

In Baton Rouge, Louisiana, we got back on I-10–first time since West Texas. Then we crossed the Mississippi River–first time since St. Louis, back in October.

Then we worked on being in the right lane at the right time to end up on I-12 East as far as Exit 7 where we turned off to go to the Night RV Park.

They are full. But, they have an overflow spot. The manager’s driveway has water & electrical connections. So, we are tucked in between their garage and carport feeling safe from any winds that head this way. And the storm continues and our hazard radio keeps making very loud announcements. So I packed my bug out bag in case we needed to leave the RV during the night, turned off the radio, and went to bed.

Now it’s morning and we didn’t have to bug out. We aren’t leaving either. The storm is headed the same direction we are so we decided to let it get ahead of us. We have good internet here so we’ll just stay put and, hopefully, be safe.

TTYL,

Linda

Opelousas, Louisiana

Opelousas, Louisiana, is quite the place as you’ll see if your check out their website: http://www.cityofopelousas.com/

South City Park here “has the following amenities:

Swimming pool
Tennis courts
Playground
Handicapped accessible playground
Baseball fields
Bar-b-que areas
Large Pavilion
Teen Center
Neighborhood Center
Donald Gardner Stadium
RV Parking”

The handicapped playground includes, among other items, swings for people with various disabilities including one that can hold a wheelchair.

A sign there provides instructions for visitors.

Local residents can get their own key.

We camped here last night. Here’s a glimpse of our evening entertainment as viewed from the cab our our RV.

The game looked like junior high school girls’ fast pitch softball. The blue team obviously has a coach that’s been teaching both theory and technique. The team understood the need to steal bases to move into scoring position and how to cover one another’s fielding positions. The red team has a coach. I think. There was an adult with them. The blue team arrived early and warmed up looking very unskilled which is apparently a warm up thing because they improved dramatically as soon as the game started. Red team members continued to arrive after the game started but their play got better as the game went on. I think the red team was learning from watching the blue team. You can easily guess which team won. By a huge lead. But, most of them looked like they were having fun and that’s the most important thing.

Today we set out to visit museums here.

The Opelousas Museum and Interpretive Center is not large but what it has is well presented. It charges no fee but has a donation box so you can contribute based on your experience there.

The Louisiana Orphan Train Museum is not quite open yet but promises to be worth a stop when it is.

We only got to see the outside of the Creole Heritage Folklife Center because we couldn’t find a place to park our RV. Opelousas is an old town so most of the streets are very narrow and the trees hang low over them. This is one time it could have paid off for us to have a towed vehicle for sight seeing.

Now we are back in our RV spot in South City Park closing and opening our windows as the rain starts and stops. I wonder if there is a game scheduled tonight? If so, I wonder if it will get rained out or if we will have another evening’s free amusement. There’s no pizza left but we do have popcorn.

TTYL,

Linda

Eunice, Louisiana

The Internet at Quiet Oaks RV Park was so unreliable that we gave up early this morning and headed on out–about 10:30 a.m. Hey, that’s my early!

In Kinder there’s a pizza place with a phone number for “Room Service”. Now I have pizza on the brain.

As we drove through Elton, Louisiana, I saw two brick jail cells in a park by the railroad tracks. We were past them before I had time to realize what I saw. If any of you pass that way would you please stop and find out why they are there?

I saw an Edsel in a car port with a 4 sale sign on it. I wonder if it had push button shift?

As we drove into Eunice I saw a WalMart sign. Since we had spent part of our pre-departure time this morning working on our grocery list, I suggested we stop there. WalMart is one of the places that give you enough notice of their location that you have time to make a last minute decision to turn in there. They didn’t have my pizza, though.

Then we visited the Prairie Acadian Cultural Center.

Did you know the French Catholic Acadians landed in Canada about the same time the British Protestants were landing at Plymouth Rock? Or that after years of fighting between the French and British, the British forcibly removed the Acadians? Interesting then, isn’t it, that the natives of that country are called Canadians? The Acadians that wound up in Louisiana morphed into today’s Cajuns. Where they are still mostly French Catholics along with being Americans.

All that I learned from one of the movies available for viewing at the Acadian Cultural Center. We would have watched more movies but the Center’s air conditioning was broken today and the humidity is nearly 100%. I did see a bonnet in the museum’s displays I think I should have. It is designed to protect you from the sun while allowing the breezes to pass through. I would look even more weird than usual wearing it, though.

We drove by several cities of the dead. Since the water table here prevents underground burials, there are above ground mausoleums instead. They are well maintained with lots of flowers making them look like inviting places, but I wouldn’t want to live there. OK, that was pretty bad but I couldn’t resist.

As we passed some rice paddies Dave said one of the things he learned at the Acadian Cultural Center is that, in winter, some farmers use those rice paddies to raise crawfish. I have never been hungry enough to be tempted to eat a crawfish.

In Opelousas, Louisiana, we saw a Pizza Hut and turned in to have lunch. But it was strictly take out. So we searched on pizza and learned there’s another one in town only a few blocks away. Yay! We ordered enough pizza to each get a couple of meals out of them. Dave’s has several kinds of meat on it and mine has no meat at all. Things like that sometimes make me wonder how we wound up together–for nearly 45 years so far.

Then we headed to South City Park in Opelousas which advertises 67 campsites with water and electrical hookups for $10 a night. There are two paved parking lots with electrical poles around the edges at the north end of the park and huge, grassy, lumpy, meadows at the south end with hookups scattered all over the place. The ranger recommended not picking the one we were looking at because it will turn to mud in tonight’s predicted rain. So we picked the most level other one we could find and have settled in for the evening.

TTYL,

Linda

Big Thicket

Leaving some parks takes a long time. Not just the fact that we spent several days at Rainbow’s end but the leaving process itself. To start with, I did lots of research while we were there so I needed to print new lists of possible places to go and things to do. (There’s new stuff on my public park camping list if you’re interested.) Then we had to read the electric meter and pay for the camping and electricity we used. Then we stopped at the book exchange for me to trade five paperback books. Then we stopped at the air hose to fill the left rear inner tire that was low–that was a challenge! In addition to the unusual things like dumping the trash. But, we did, finally, get back on the road.

At one point we came to a three prong fork in the road. The one to the left led to a cemetery. The one to the right led to a different cemetery. We took the middle one. Hopefully, it won’t lead us to a cemetery.

That made me think about headlights. It used to be if a whole string of cars coming towards you had their headlights on, you were witnessing a funeral procession. Now it just means they have their daytime running lights on. I wonder if it’s harder to keep other vehicles from cutting into a procession now?

We visited the Big Thicket National Preserve.

This was the first one established in the U.S. back in the 1970s. Apparently the difference between a national preserve and a national park or national forest is the preserve prevents harvesting native trees.

This is one of those places where different ecological systems come together in unusual ways. How many places have you been where you can see pine trees and prickly pear cactus in one park?

Plus, this park has four of the five insect eating plants found in the U.S.

When we left the visitor center, we passed through the town of Woodville–evidence of the lumbering industry in this area that prompted the establishment of the preserve.

As we drove up the road we saw hurricane symbols painted on the shoulders. Signs say those are Evaculanes–to be used for driving only during an official hurricane evacuation.

I also saw a road that made me think of double vision–County Road 4040.

They’ve been repaving this road and they stuck down those reflectors where the center lines will eventually be painted. Every so often one is not quite in line with the others; it looks like the guy installing them had the hiccups.

Then we crossed Steinhagen Lake to camp in Martin Dies, Jr. State Park, a bird watchers paradise. We got here at 4:45 pm but the clerks had already closed their registers for the day so they gave us a map and said to come pay in the morning. I refused to ask them what time they meant so this morning there was a form on our windshield saying we are supposed to pay by 9 a.m. That didn’t happen. But we will stop and pay on our way out as soon as I post this and finish packing up.

TTYL,

Linda