Saturday Gambling and Laundry

We woke up this morning about 6:30 and laid there for some time thinking about having to get up and then saying we don’t have to  get up if we don’t want to…but then knowing we should get up and start our day. We both feel  terrible if we lounge around too long in the mornings. So up we came and I went down to turn the coffee on…I had loaded it up last night before I went to bed.

It was not too long and we settled back in the recliners to have our first cup and start to plan the day out. We still had not done our laundry so that was in the plan latter in the day and going over to the casino was number one on the list.

After coffee and the skull session on what the day would hold for us Sherri went and got dressed for the fleecing we were about to receive from the machines across the way. I, on the other hand did not get dressed up to play…I just got me a shower and put on the same casino clothes I had on yesterday.

Well I was fleeced to the tune of $5.00 and Sherri broke even so we decided to go to Roxie’s  and get a bite to eat. Sherri got the Fried Chicken Salad and I got the Mushroom Burger with fries. After eating our lunch we returned to the gambling floor to see if we could give them any more of our money. Sure enough the machines were still a little hungry for our hard earned cash so they took some of it…not all because we decided to get out of there before they left us destitute in the parking lot out front.

That was good….we had enough money left over to do our laundry. We loaded it all up and went to the laundry mat. Three washers and four dryers later we finished our laundry and returned home to make the bed and fix us a snack.

We have a lousy connection here in Marksville…for anyone coming here with a Verizon Air Card be aware…not too good on signal here. It is slow and I could not even get on chat last night at all. I hope that we have a better connection at the lake when we get there.

Tonight will be hamburger patties and salad with vegetables. We have been eating out way too much and a night at home will be nice. Ok then until tomorrow afternoon or night whenever we arrive at Lake Tawakoni I will once again post for you and bring you up to date on the excitement that surrounds our adventure….

Somewhere in Time   

Early Morning Headed North

Yes this was an early morning wake up so we could get ready to travel north to Marksville Louisiana. I got up about 6:00 am and got me a quick shower…why I have no idea…I had to start packing our gear away so we could take off this morning. The humidity was so high that as soon as I started getting things put up I broke into a sweat that soaked my clothes.

I had dumped the night before and put away the sewer hose the satellite dish and the extra water hose. Pretty much was already done so that we could suck the slides in this morning and be ready to go by 7:00 am. Everything went off as planned and we were in fact on the road by 7:00. We only had about an hour and a half drive this morning to Marksville and the traffic should be light.

In fact the traffic was light and we had no problems getting on I-49. We were soon up to speed… cruise control set and we sat back for the ride north. The Interstate is a fairly good road from Lafayette all the way to Shreveport. Not much in the way of rest areas…only one to be exact and that is just out of Opelousas about 25 miles on the right going north. This is a great place to pull in and relax for a spell and the last place between Lafayette and Shreveport. We did not need this stop, however, and were soon exiting on exit 46 to Bunkie. We took Hwy 515 from there on into Marksville and were soon pulling into the Casino RV Resort.

This is a Pass Port America Campground and with the discount we will pay $11.00 a night for two nights here. We were assigned sight number 6 which is right at the entrance to the grounds and a good location for catching the shuttle. Oh yes we were going to be headed over to the Casino as soon as the rig was secured in the sight and we had bathed and changed into some clean clothes. Speaking of which we do need to do a load of laundry while we are here. Well we will do that after we give some of our money away inside and get some grub from the buffet.

We spent about 5 hours gambling and eating  and found ourselves ready to get back to the RV as soon as we gave them the last little bit of money we had left. We caught the shuttle and headed home. Upon arrival Sherri started putting things away and I kicked back in the recliner for a short power nap.

Later this evening we have to make our Wally World run and then get back to see if we can chat tonight. I missed chatting last night because of our late return from exploring.

I’ll try out the signal on my Air Card later and see if we can chat…until then we will be here…

Somewhere in Time 

Trip to the Island Tabasco Island

This morning we slept until 6:30…and you say well that is not late….but we went to bed at 9:30…yes 9 hours of sleep….My goodness we must have been tired. I got up and went down and made our coffee and then I got my shower and got dressed. Sherri was right be hind me getting her shower and then she got dressed and started getting the laundry ready to take down to the laundry mat.

During our coffee drinking we kind of changed our plans on what we were going to do. Sherri had been wanting to go down toward the coast and see some of the sites down there. So many had said we needed to go to Avery Island and see the Tabasco Factory. I have heard of Avery Island all my life and seen Tabasco on just about every restaurant table in the south…so I said lets go and see this factory.

We set the Garmin up to take us to the factory and take us there she did. At first we thought Glennie might have us lost but then she turned us right into the driveway as though she had been there before.

Sherri and I took turns doing the traditional posses outside the gift shop.

 

And took the pictures of the Welcome sign out front of the plant.

Sherri posses next to a pepper plant which we were unable to get into the bed of the pickup

You know I don’t have a clue if this is the front of the plant or the side or back or what. We did enter from this side for the tour so maybe it is the tour side of the plant?

This lady was stuck in one of the machines when I snapped this picture.

This is the Bottletopper  Stopperhopper

And then we have the Finalboxtabandershiper at the end of the line that sends the finished product to the Shiptoshopper unit.

These are the traditional placards found around the approach to the plant where they don’t have enough money for guides.

Then we drove down to Cypremorte Point Beach State Park on the Gulf…but as luck would have it the bridge was out…They couldn’t put a sign 15 miles back at the sign directing you to the park…my goodness then they would not have had the money for these signs telling you that the bridge was out…Notice they have 3 signs here saying basically the same thing. 

Gee no one working on this bridge…maybe they made a mistake and shut down the wrong bridge.

Not all was lost we found some beautiful homes to look at in Franklin Louisiana. The main street in town was loaded with giant Antebellum Homes some built as far back as 1837.

I had to take this picture on the fly….cars behind us must have already seen  these homes cause they were wanting me to move along.

This is the front yard of one of the homes there. I bet these trees were there before the homes were. No telling what stories they could tell of Confederate and Union soldiers riding up here back during the Civil War period. Man I love this kind of history!

We ended this adventure at Posada's Mexican Restaurant. We packed away some good food and then pointed the truck towards home. Tomorrow we leave this wonderful part of the States and travel north…we will see you soon…

Somewhere in Time 

Cabin Fever For Speedy

We had a long day yesterday with Sherri working and then we drove to Jennings to meet Phyllis and Leonard. With the long day and all we decided to stay the night at the Motel in Lafayette. Well that was a mistake because Sherri nor I slept real well and when the alarm went off this morning Sherri was not at all rested and we had to rush her to work because we were late. Well it did not turn out to be a good start to a work day. I did get her dropped off and then I went back to the Motel to work on some computer stuff that I had. We are on a Wifi there and I can down load without using up my KB’s with their connection.

The hours drug past while I was waiting for Sherri to get off work. I looked up everything I could think about and then started spinning around in my chair to see if I could make myself dizzy. I would get up and walk around and entertained myself for some time.

It was about 12:00 noon when the maid came by and wanted to know if I wanted room service. I was so glad to see someone that I wanted her to just set and talk with me for a while. She was really behind in cleaning the rooms and I think I creeped her out somewhat…me setting in the chair at the desk spinning around and plucking on the computer now and again. I could see that she was a little nervous so I got my keys and went down to Albertson’s to get me some chips and a cold drink. All I had was a waffle about 6:30 and I was getting pretty hungry by this time. I got my stuff at Albertson’s and struck up a conversation with the girl that ran the self check out stands. I told her I did not know how to check my self out and would she help me…Well now if that did not sound weird…I am glad they did not have me removed from the store after that one. I decided about this time that it would be best if I just eased back on over the the Motel room and lock myself  up in the room until Sherri got off.

I don’t do alone too well unless I have something to entertain me. I can see staying in a motel room is not going to work for me. Tonight I am going home and staying there no mater what the plan is.

Sherri did finally call me and I was so glad to have someone to talk to. I went to the store and picked her up and we returned to the motel to make eating plans for the evening. I was really excited about going out to eat with people and having someone there to visit with. We decided to go to the Casino in Opelousas. They have a real good buffet there and then Sherri wanted to hit the machines for a short time.

We got there and met Brenda for dinner. After we ate we did go and play the machines some…I lost $5.00 and was just sick about it. Sherri won $78.00 and she was pleased but being so tired she wanted to head home and relax.

We got home and took hot showers and then got on the computers for a bit. It was not to long before we nodded off…

Somewhere in Time

Sherri Goes Back to Work

Today is Tuesday and Sherri has to go back to work. The alarm went off at 4:00 am this morning and it should have gone off at 4:30. We just laid there for 30 minutes and then I got up and put the coffee on. Sherri got up got her shower and got dressed and then I put on some clothes. We sat down and drank a quick cup of coffee together and then it was time to get on the road.

I dropped Sherri off at her work and then I went back to the RV to  hang out some clothes we had washed. I got on the computer made a few reservations for our Texas stays. It was time to take my walk so I took off this time around the ponds. It is a good two miles around the ponds and I did the two miles in about 40 minutes.

I made it back OK and took my shower…slipped on some clean clothes and then fixed my lunch. I ate Sherri’s left over’s from dinner yesterday. Not bad Italian food from Olive Garden. I did the dishes and made the bed after lunch and then packed some clothes in the truck for our stay at the motel tonight. We are meeting some of our Dreamer friends… Phyllis and Leonard in Jennings about half way in between Lake Charles and Lafayette. They are from New Jersey and are down here visiting Leonard’s Uncle who had a heart attack and is not doing very well at all. Please say some prayers for this family.

We met at the Wally World and then followed them to a Sea Food Restaurant… Fish Tails down the road. We had a wonderful meal and a great visit. It is so neat to meat people that you have been talking to clear across the US for years but have never seen face to face. Thanks Phyllis and Leonard for such a wonder time.

It is amazing how much RVers have in common. We traded stories about children and RV experiences and had some good laughs. It was hard to part company but then we knew that we would one day meet again along life’s highway…

Somewhere in Time

 

Parting is hard when you have so much to talk about. I guess we will have to finish this conversation on the Internet.

Phyllis corrects Leonard on a story he was telling …us guys never get them right.

Come on Sherri we have a long ride home and we need to get going…These Louisiana folks just keep on talking…Leonard is from Southern Louisiana and Sherri is from the North.

Rested and Relaxed

Monday there was no alarms to wake us up so we slept in till 6:00. Sherri had wanted to get up earlier so she would be tired when she went to bed Monday night. Tuesday was a work day after being off for four days and she wanted to be refreshed and ready to go back to work. We missed the planned wake up time but all was well she felt better from her bout with sinus infection so she could rest and then be ready for the big day Tuesday

We made some coffee and and got our showers, dressed and sat down to plan out our next few weeks. Next week will be her off week so we are planning on getting some things done out at the lake. We want to get our culvert in and our electric. The plan will be to leave here and head to Marksville…Paragon Casino…a Passport America park. We can stay there Friday and Saturday for $11.00 a night. We will leave there Sunday morning for Lake Tawakoni State Park. The plan is to stay there for 3 nights…while there we will  try and get our chores done at the property. Wednesday we will leave for Hickory Creek COE at Lake Lewisville just north of Dallas. We will stay there until Sunday at $9.00 a night and then head back out East toward Paris Texas.

The stay at Hickory Creek will include some doctor visits and a stop at Cristina’s Mexican Food Restaurant for some good old Mexican food. We are excited to get back to our old stomping grounds where we know were every thing is.

Well that about covers the plan…so now I need to get my stuff together and get ready to go over to the Motel room and watch some movies. We are planning on meeting Phyllis and Len between here and Lake Charles this evening. They are Dreamers and we have chatted and visited on the Forum some. We look forward to meeting them. I will have pictures so stay tuned…

Somewhere in Time   

Sunday is Doctor Day

Sherri was not feeling well yesterday and today she is not much better…so we decided today would be doctor day. She gets a sinus infection at least once a year and this was the time of year that she got it. I know how she must feel because I get sinus headaches too and mine just last a few hours….so hers lasting two days…well I could not imagine that.

While Sherri was getting ready to go I decided to look up the National Park just outside of Lafayette. I have been wanting to get me a pass for the National Parks and when reading about this area I noticed the Park just south of us here. I called them and found out that I could get the disabled Access Pass from them at no charge because I am a Disabled Veteran. How cool is that?

OK so we headed out to the doctors office and got Sherri a Steroid shot…she soon will be hitting home runs for the Rangers…HE HE…that should clear her problem up today. Then we set the Garmin for the National Park and it found our way there with no problem.

Upon arrival at the Park Sherri had to give me parking instructions and we got that done and went inside. The Ranger at the desk told us that she could fix me up with the pass but while she was getting the paperwork together we could watch the Video on the history of the Atchafalaya Basin. This was a very interesting bit of information and we both enjoyed it tremendously. After the movie I got my Access Card and we headed to the grocery store in Breaux Bridge to buy groceries.

Sherri was still not feeling well so we just rushed through and got the basics we needed. On the way home Sherri said that she thought that she might just be hungry and wanted to stop at Poche’s Restaurant for the Sunday Special….Shrimp and Catfish….and let me tell you it was too good. I ate everything on my plate and Sherri took a to-go box home with her for Monday’s lunch.

We then headed back to the RV for some needed rest and relaxation. I napped on and off while Sherri shopped around in Yoville and bought her a new house. She let me know that I would have to go to work in the Widget Factory to buy her some furniture. Oh well I need something to do…LOL

I see all these birds but I have no idea what they are. I love to watch them out my back window as they walk the bank and catch fish…much better than I have.

We took our mile walk just before the sun went down and by the time we came full circle in the Park I noticed that the moon was coming up over the tree line. I took some pictures that are not the best but I had to give it a try. I need to find the attachment for my camera that goes onto the tripod. I put it up and can’t find it now.

I have all these settings on my camera but I don’t know how to use them. I try my best to get good pictures but they just don’t work for me. Oh well this is the moon in case you have no clue.

I jumped on chat to wish Dee a HAPPY BIRTHDAY but had to leave early to take my Pork Tender Loin out of the convection oven. We had that green beans and a tossed salad for dinner. It was very good and then topped it off with Ice Cream.

That just about sums up Sunday here in the Southern part of Louisiana. I will update you later on our Monday….

Somewhere in Time

Saturday and not all is well

 

This morning I was the one up and got the coffee going. Sherri slept on the recliner last night. She has not been feeling well. Yesterday afternoon she started complaining about her head hurting her. She said that she thought it was her sinuses and she had a headache and just felt tired all over. She did not take her sinus medication yesterday so I am thinking the smoke from the casino and the fact that I out did her gambling made her sick. Well maybe more so the smoke…HE HE.

Anyway I got up and found her in the recliner sleeping so I decided not to bother her. I made the coffee and then went and took my shower made the bed. When I came back to the living room Sherri was still sleeping away so I washed the dishes in the sink and then thought I would start my next journal entry. The coffee was ready so I got me a cup and sat down at the computer to type away. Coffee was good and I enjoyed a cup by myself. When I had finished that first cup Sherri was aroused by the aroma and I noticed a tiny slit forming along the eye lid…that is when I thought it would be safe to ask her if she wanted me to fix her a cup…she said yes and I brought it to her. I really enjoying taking care of my bride. I know she does not feel good and she needs some pampering when she feels like this. After all she supports me now so I need to take care of her.

We enjoyed our coffee together and decided to stay in today and rest. Well she was going to stay in and rest I had to get some things done outside before it got too hot. The first thing that I had to get done was walk my mile around the ponds. Next vacuum out the inside of the truck. It does not take too many trips to get the floor nasty with leaves and garbage. I got that done  cleaned the awning swept the rug and straightened up the lawn furniture. I then went inside and got the AC filters out cleaned them and vacuumed the inside carpet. Sherri did not need to be around dust this morning and I made short order of that.

  

Sherri relaxes in her recliner…not feeling well.

Ok by this time it was time to get a bite to eat so I made me a TV dinner and Sherri ate the left over Gumbo from last nights dinner. I told her to go ahead and take her sinus medicine and lay down and take a nap…which she did without too much argument. I on the other hand cleaned up the kitchen and then it was my turn for a nap.

Not much happening today so I will sign out of here and come back tomorrow. We really need to go the grocery store tomorrow and get some supplies. I was going to cook out tonight but with Sherri not feeling good I will just fix me some breakfast food. Until then we will leave you

Somewhere in Time

 

Friday Funday

Sherri was up and out the door this morning early…I was still in bed when I heard the door shut. She had made the coffee poured her a cup and ventured outside before I could roll out of bed. I must be getting the hang of this  retirement thing.

I did get on up and take my shower make the bed put on clean clothes did the dishes and then poured me my first cup of coffee for the morning. By this time Sherri was on her way back in looking for me. She heard me moving around in the house and wondered what in the world I was doing. She poured her another cup and we sat down to plan the day. We could not decide on where to go…so we decided to do laundry first.

I gathered all the clothes together and Sherri separated them out into loads and I took them down to the laundry. I took my computer with me and wrote yesterdays journal entry down at the laundry mat. While down there Rodney called to find out how we where doing. I told him about the RV Park here and how much we were enjoying it. Rodney and Becky will be leaving for Yellowstone next week. They are taking their G-Kids up there and will spend a couple of weeks.

When I finished the laundry I loaded it all up and went home. By this time Sherri had made a game plan for the day. We were headed for the casino to leave a donation to the local Indian Tribe. We don’t spend much money there and we love to play the machines. I normally take $5.00 with me and when that is gone I am through. I usually can spend all day at the casino with that $5.00 bill.

This  time I did and I  turned it into $28.00 and bought Sherri and I some Sea Food Gumbo…..Wow was it good!

After the Gumbo feast we headed on back home to relax. We purchased a new outdoor mat for the patio and wanted to see how it went with the trailer and the awning. We mostly just lounged around on the porch the rest of the day…I drank a beer and we just visited until the neighbors baseball game got too load and we went inside for some old folks quiet time. This is the weekend and as you can see from the picture below the park is filling up fast.

Dee Walters called me back…I had called her earlier about the Carriage RV they had been looking at. I had to ask her and Jim some questions and we visited for a little while..enjoyed hearing your voice Dee.

I got on chat Sherri got on Yoville and we just enjoyed each others company without saying anything. I caught up on some journals and then it was time to go to bed…

Somewhere in Time   

Exploration Day

Wednesday morning came early for the two of us. We are use to getting up early now so we were both up at 6:30. The first thing on our list of things to do was check out of the motel where Sherri was suppose to be staying. She has to rent a motel room to get her expenses for the week…does that makes sense? Oh well rules are rules and se have to follow them. Anyway we got up and got our showers drank some coffee and headed out to the Comfort Inn to take care of that.

After we got here checked out we decided to eat a good breakfast and found a IHOP on the Garmin that was not too far from our location. We went there and had a real good breakfast with all the trimmings.

Our next chore was to find a Post Office to mail Sherri’s expense report off to the home office. Now that is when the problem started. I had programmed the Garmin to take us to a Post Office down Evangeline Thruway which would have been on the way to St Martinsville…our first destination of the day. Well as my luck would have it there was no Post Office at that location t hat we could find…and that is when the battle ensued . Sherri is the planner of the group and not me….so when my first plan of the day fell through I received a block of instruction on how I should have plotted the course to the Post Office…of which I took real good notes and from now on I will follow those instructions. You have to understand I am new at this exploration thing and not being a good planner I really messed up the day.

Oh that was just the beginning of my problem. Not much else that I did in the way of navigating the exploration was done correctly and it made for a day of scolding and more blocks of instructions of how to. In all honesty I did a very poor job of planning but over all the day was exciting to say the least. We got t0 see s0 many things that neither of us had ever seen and I really enjoyed the day with my wonderful wife and I sure did learn a lot about how to plan out an exploration trip. From now on you will see a much better person in charge of navigation while exploring our surroundings.

I took several pictures which I will share with you. I will caption them for you so that you will have some idea of where we were…not that I knew where I was….Oh well you will get the idea.

 

Our first stop was theEvangiline State Park just outside of St Martinsville. This is the visitors center.

This is the center piece of the park when you drive in. Wow I love these old trees…this one is about 500 years old.

Replica of a period house in the Arcadian settlement

Sherri jumped a snake here at this bridge and the screams could  be heard for miles around…they said they heard them up at the visitors center.

Our next adventure was in New Iberia at the Shadows on the Teche

 

House looks pretty impressive from the front but it is not very large inside. The rooms on the bottom floor do not connect? You have to go outside to go from room to room…what kind of a deal is that eh. Lots of history in these old houses and it was interesting to see.

View of the back of the house from the gardens. This home set on the Teche Bayou and the grounds were beautiful.

This tree was 500 years old…imagine what it had witnessed over those years.

This is the Bayou that the home sets on. Absolutely breath taking views from all angles.

Spotted this plaque on the way back home and just had to stop and get some pictures of the old trees on this road.

 

This road went on forever and was lined with all the giant oaks.

This giant tree had a bird house carved into the side of it. What a deal for you bird lovers out there…

Well better head home laundry is done and so is this segment of our adventure….hope to see you again…

Somewhere in Time.