Another First -- Visiting Louisiana .. Part 1

This is our first time ever to visit Louisiana! How I wish I had kept track of all the highways we traveled, but I was already so far behind posting updates on my blog that I was too tired to do one more thing. I just sat back and enjoyed the ride, and snapped pictures! John mapped our route using his Samsung Galaxy 6 Edge phone, so I did not need to follow along on an Atlas. With the right apps, those Smart phones can do it all.

Leaving out of Livingston, Texas, our friends advised us to take highway 190 towards Jasper, Texas, to stay out of areas where some highways might still be flooded.  The water was really high as we crossed this big old iron bridge heading east.

Crossed this big old iron bridge as we drove east

I took several photos of flooded areas in Texas as we continued east.

Flooded area along highway

Another view of flooded area along highway

Newton, Texas 

The water tower at left back of photo confirms this is Newton, Texas. The historic clock bell is setting under the roof at the lower front left of the building. I barely had time to focus when I saw this interesting building on our right. This shot was a hurry-up and snap-the-photo and hope for the best.

Historic building with clock bell as we came through Newton, TX

Soon after Newton, we crossed the Sabine River into Louisiana.

Welcome to Louisiana 

Here we were in Louisiana for the very first time. Another first with more adventures to come.

Welcome to Louisiana

Our intent was to make a left turn right after we went through DeRidder, Louisiana, and follow 190 south, but I was not looking at a map and had no clue where the road turned left. All I knew was I was watching for a road sign that would show 190 turning left. Soon I realized that we were no longer on 190. The road signs said we were on 27.

What happened?

Where did 190 turn? We figured out the road turned left very soon after we veered right. Two semi trucks were sitting on the right side of the road. They were very large and apparently blocked the sign, as they waited to turn left to follow two cars stopped for a train moving on the track. Since we missed the turn to follow 190, we continued on 27 and ended up in DeQuincy, where we turned east on 12 to get to 190. It was still a pleasant drive, but I understand we missed a scenic piece of highway.

We still saw beautiful scenery! 

Happy 50th Wedding Anniversary to our Friends!

We arrived at our friends place in time to help them celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary at a surprise party that evening in their honor. They actually had two cakes.

50th Anniversary Cake

Mardi Gras King Cake

Mardi Gras King Cake with cream cheese filling

The Mardi Gras King Cakes come with a choice of filling, and they all have a baby Jesus inside of them. Whoever finds the baby Jesus is supposed to have good luck.

Parked in the clearing by the tall trees

Parked in the Shade of the Tall Trees

It was so nice to be parked in the shade of the tall trees. Many thanks to our friends for their hospitality. One night, our host asked as he was firing up the grill if I had anything I wanted to fix on the grill.  It didn't take me long to grab a couple of chicken breasts from the refrigerator and get them on the grill while he was grilling steaks for their anniversary. What a nice grilled treat!

Juicy steaks on top and Chicken Breasts grilling on the bottom

Behind our trailer across the drive to the left they had a gazebo where we gathered. I do not know how many world problems we solved, but we did a lot of visiting and telling stories as we enjoyed being outside with nature.

Angel enjoyed being outdoors too!

To the left of the gazebo across the drive was a wee rock garden and the homes where the gnomes lived. If you click on the photo, you might see their little green tractor to the left of the stepping stones.

Gnome Homes and rock garden

Scenic Sites Near Lake Charles

Early in the week while out and about, our friends showed us some of the sites.

Southwest Louisiana Convention & Visitors Bureau

The Southwest Louisiana Convention and Visitors Bureau was located right along Lake Charles. It  had a lot of indoor exhibits as well as things to see outside.

Southwest Louisiana Convention and Visitors Bureau

This table on the inside had shoe boxes on both sides. School children decorated them with many themes for the Mardi Gras celebration. The white paper in front of each box was there so visitors could vote on the box they liked best.

School Children decorated shoe boxes for Mardi Gras.

Close-up of one of shoe boxes on the table

Another close-up of a box on the table.

Close-up of another box on the table

Life size statues depicted the winners at the previous year's Mardi Gras.

Display depicting King and Queen winners at previous Mardi Gras

Outside the gift shop was a statue of the pirate, Blue Beard.

Statue of Blue Beard, the pirate, outside gift shop

The alligator, guarding the elevator

Artist, Bernard Allen, was born in St. Francisville, Louisiana. He and his brother would ride their bike to school every day, past the Rosedown Plantation. Every day he would see a man fishing on a pond on the plantation grounds. That is where his inspiration to carve "boudreaux" came from, in honor of the man he saw fishing every day. He became an artist at age 14 in 1979.

"Boudreaux" is hand carved, made of solid cypress that Bernard purchased in Louisiana. It took him three days to hand carve, and not one power tool was used.

Close-up of display in the Visitors' Center

"Yur on Cajun time"

Jazz Blues display at visitors' Center

Artwork in Ladies' Restroom
We called it 'me and my sisters'.

Sign overlooking grounds and the water

Alligator-shaped bush 

Look close (click to enlarge and escape to return) to see the small alligator sunning himself on the bank in this photo. The larger alligators had already been removed from the pond.

Small alligator on the bank

Ducks in nearby pond

Flying Sponge Bob Kite

Flying another colorful kite

Antique car seen as we were seeing the sites

I love wind chimes, especially the large hand-tuned ones, so had to grab this photo when we were out. They are like deep thoughts blowing in the wind.

Hand-tuned wind chimes

In the next post we will still be at our friends' place in Louisiana. If you remember from our travels, we have more things to accomplish before we leave, but I will talk about them in the next post.

Thank you for following along, and many thanks for clicking/buying through my links, even if you buy something other than what you click on, as I may make a few pennies when you do. Every little bit helps. Remember it does not cost you any more.

Texas Highways, Scenes, and Rest Parks ...

Driving across Texas, this time in mid-January 2017, was at leisure. Traffic was light so we could enjoy the scenery. No need to hurry. Weather was beautiful. It was a clear day with very comfortable temperatures. Overnight stops were either at rest parks or paved areas made for multiple vehicles to pull off the highway.

Our stop at the first rest park in Texas, where we saw the sign
telling us Texas allows overnight parking at their rest parks.

Another Texas rest park, this one with trees, where we pulled
into the lanes for longer vehicles while giving Angel a break.

In case you thought Texas was all flat, have a look at the rock that was cut to put this highway through.

Beautiful rock

Nice scenery

Enjoying another pretty road scene

The next rest area was long with a lot of concrete and parking. It had large areas off to our right where the grass had been mowed, making it very nice for walking Angel, which also gave us exercise. It afforded beautiful views both ahead of us as well as behind us. This was a great place to stop for the night.

Great stop for Angel's walk and a night stop

View looking to the rear with lots of area to park

Since we were the only ones parked here, I took advantage of the opportunity to remove a rug from our stairway entry. I went to the rear opposite side of the RV to shake it in the wind moving away from me.

What? Not Again?

I got a whiff of propane in the air. Another propane leak? We had just paid $228.20 at RV Lifestyles in Quartzsite to have a propane leak fixed and this smell was coming from the same location! We had no choice but to again shut down everything, that is, all things, using propane. Fixing the leak would have to wait until we could get to our friends' place in Louisiana.

So for the second time this year, we turned off the RV refrigerator which was running on gas. We moved everything from that refrigerator to the refrigerator in the trailer, which was running off of solar. This meant every time we ate I had to run back to the trailer, unlock the door, hop up in to the trailer, and retrieve everything needed to fix a meal, and carry it back to the RV. When we were done eating, I had to do it all again to put things back in that refrigerator, until we could get the propane leak fixed. The good thing was we had a back-up refrigerator and did not have any food spoil.

Brakes went Metal-to-Metal

The brakes on our motorhome went metal to metal as we continued around Austin.

We took great care and kept our fingers crossed that we could make it to our destination in Louisiana. If you remember from my other posts, we knew when we left Blue Mesa Ranch near Gunnison, Colorado that this was inevitable. Then it was a matter of how far we could go before needing it! We were fortunate to make it this far. Brakes were not the only items that needed attention.

The next night we stayed in the Walmart parking lot in Bryan, Texas.

Bryan, Texas, Walmart near recycling area at right of their lot 

We continued on this beautiful stretch of two-lane road shaded by pine trees on both sides of the road.

Pine trees shade this beautiful stretch of two-lane highway

Crossing this bridge afforded us more beautiful views on our way to the Escapees Park in Livingston, Texas.

More beautiful views as we continued toward Livingston, TX

Escapees Park in Livingston, Texas

We arrived at the Escapees Park in Livingston, and claimed our hugs, for which Escapees members are famous. We then proceeded to our boondocking campsite across from the laundry room. This gave us an opportunity to do laundry before continuing on to Louisiana.

Escapees building, Livingston, Texas, where members pick
up mail.

Clubhouse at Escapees Park in Livingston, Texas

Escapees members view movies on this big screen TV in
the clubhouse.

Beautiful clouds as we left Livingston, Texas, enroute to Louisiana

Clouds in the sky as we left Livingston

In the next post, we will enter the state of Louisiana and arrive at our friends' place. Follow us to see what we do, where we go, who we see, and more...

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Dream Catching and Deli Delights at the Adobe Deli in New Mexico

As we continued east through New Mexico, we stopped at the Dream Catcher Escapees RV Park in Deming. Everyone at this park has been friendly and made us feel welcome both times we have stopped here. We planned to boondock here for five days to keep from using gas every day on our trek east, but our plans changed.

Due to high winds on the interstate, we extended our stay to seven days to wait until the dangerous winds died down. While parked, John took the opportunity to make additional, better, temporary repairs to the brackets securing the solar panels on our Haulmark trailer. When we reach our friends place in Louisiana, he will make more permanent repairs.

The site we chose for boondocking was a short distance from the dog run. It was also convenient to the gate we used on Taco Tuesday to walk over to the restaurant for fifty-cent tacos, which were comparable in size to their price. Approximately twenty people participated in Taco Tuesday.  Everyone ordered the fifty-cent tacos, but newcomers were urged to order four since they were smaller than regular size tacos.

After the tacos were served, the fellow next to me asked how I would describe them. My first thought was silver-dollar size. He thought a little, then nodded his head in agreement. I could say it goes along with the old saying 'you get what you pay for'. Actually it was more about the comraderie of the group than the food. I really liked Taco Tuesday at Del Taco better, but I am glad we went, just for the adventure!

Escapees Dream Catcher Park in Deming

This park is easy access to and from the highway and the sites are all very level, with no grassy sites, just gravel type roadways and parking. People can stay here all year, but it can get hot in summer and cold in winter. It is not fancy, but in my opinion, is a worthwhile stop for its friendliness and what it has to offer.

The clubhouse has at least four access doors and seems very large as well as accommodating. The front door takes you to the office where you check in. Another door in front to the right of the office  door lets you enter a large area next to the office, where people can watch TV or join in group games two or three evenings per week. I especially enjoyed playing Mexican Train played with dominoes. A community jigsaw puzzle that I also enjoyed was always in process for puzzle enthusiasts as well as anyone who wanted to put a piece in as they walked by. This area is also a gathering place where people gather around a large round table to get to know one another every day at 4 PM for an hour. Another area is set aside with wi-fi for anyone needing to get on the internet.

Two other doors are at the opposite side of the building. One accesses the laundry area. There is a nice-sized kitchen just off of the laundry area and an interior doorway, that is shut off after hours, that enters an extra large room where tables and chairs can be set up for potlucks, etc. From this extra large room, there is an interior doorway where one can come and go to the TV/game room/office  areas. The fourth exit is accessible from this extra large room by going through a hallway past the restrooms and showers. It has an entry code for guests who need access to restrooms and showers after hours, while the rest of the clubhouse is not accessible.

Adobe Deli

One evening, a group of approximately twenty people went to the Adobe Deli. People like us who did not have a daily driver vehicle were invited to ride with others who had extra seats available in their vehicles. I was glad someone else was driving who knew the way. You will see why when you view the video below. The Adobe Deli was in an old, old school, but it was dark when we arrived, so I did not get any photos of the outside.

The building used to be a school and still has the entry/exit doors in use from that era. Many other scenes from inside the Adobe Deli can be seen in the video and the photos below. The food was great and everyone in the group had a fun evening at the Deli!

Click on the video. Watch the opening scenes to see the route we took to the Adobe Deli, and see more information about the inside and the Deli cuisine.

Welcome to Adobe Deli

French Onion Soup

Loaf of bread -- Being cut into smaller pieces to pass

Extreme Hero Sub with a side of onion rings

Shish-Kabobs piled high, enough for two and
leftovers to take home.

Rack of Ribs, also for two, with enough to take home for
another meal

Windmill fan mounted on ceiling in another room

Wine Cellar

Crocodile in glassed case

Look at his eyes...and teeth!

View of snow-capped mountain in distance

The above photo is a view of the Dream Catcher Park in Deming as we left on January 22^nd.  We followed a shortcut where traffic was minimal as we traveled around the large city of El Paso, Texas, on a Sunday morning.

Shortcut around El Paso, mountain scenery and
continental divide (next four exits)

We stopped at the first rest park in Texas, and was pleased to find a sign that said Texas allows overnight parking at all of their rest parks. Before dark, the sidewalk was lined with other travelers.

The first rest park in Texas was our overnight stop.

In the next post, we will continue our east bound journey across the State of Texas to our friends' place north of Lake Charles, Louisiana.

If you would like to be notified when the next post publishes, put your email address in the appropriate box at the top right of this blog. Be sure to go to your email inbox and confirm your request, so you receive notification.

Thank you for following my blog. Many thanks for purchasing through my links, from which I may make a few pennies which help to defray planned and unplanned expenses.