Beautiful Bayous and The Big Easy!!

Mon Mar 14th - a perfect morning in Bayou Segnette State Park.  We've been itching to ride our scooters, so we'll save the French Quarter and the rest of The Big Easy for tomorrw - today we're taking off for a nice long scoot, exploring bayou country and the Jean Lafitte National Historical Park and Preserve . . . 

Riding out to the park on Barataria and past Crown Point, we saw beautiful enormous homes on sprawling estates . . .

. . . and all with these fabulous big old trees.

Entering the Park

Fishin' along the bayou.  We were thinking of taking a little hike
 until this jolly fellow mentioned seeing water moccasin here!

Trixie went along with us on our ride today!

Soooooo pretty here!

Harold likes seeing all the palmettos in the swamp . . .

Jean Lafitte National Park has these great boardwalk trails
through the swamp - we sure enjoyed this one!

 . . . another bayou - more fishin'!

We were watching him and he was watching US!

Can you see the wild blue iris (lower right)?

Scooting along, we rode down beside one of the zillions of waterways . . .

And at the end of the road - some locals offering swamp boat and air boat rides - and a funky little shop with some really unique merchandise . . . alligator claw keychains and necklaces, Mardi Gras masks and more . . . 

. . . genuine alligator head, anyone???

. . . or how about one of these authentic voodoo dolls??

Well, time to call it a day - I should mention here that today HAROLD saw two little alligators along the way.  Anyway, it was a super-great scooter-riding day!

Tues - Up early and into The Big Easy as we had plans for a City Tour today! Climbed into the van with our guide, Gene, who gave us a great ride and told us way more about New Orleans than we can possibly hope to remember!

In the French Quarter

more French Quarter

so many of these gorgeous balconies!!

We were a week late for Mardi Gras - but in the
  French Quarter, evidence of the big celebration remains. 

Another typical French Quarter residence

Above & below - some of the "Brad Pitt Project"

This is in the Musicians Village, created after 

Hurricane Katrina to keep the music in town!!

New Orleans is home to some unique cemeteries & here
our guide Gene, far right, is giving us the history.

New Orleans City Park is awesome - and
twice the size of New York's Central Park!!! 

Above & below - in the City Park

Along renowned St. Charles Avenue

Gorgeous ironwork all over the city!

Lake Ponchatrain - it has a 25-mile long
bridge across it!!  Imagine!

In the very delightful Garden District

Sandra Bullock's house in the Garden District

This Garden District home is all decked out for Mardi Gras!

After the tour, waiting for the streetcar
to take us to explore the French Quarter.

Mississippi River

Looking out at the "Mighty Mississip" from the streetcar

We all went out for a little exercise at our campground.
That's the Bayou Segnette!
(Next day we saw two big alligators here, and will post pics later if they turn out!)

After a memorable dining experience -
 simply scrumptious sauteed shrimp!

Okay, so now it's Thursday already and, regrettably, that's it for us for New Orleans.  It was FABULOUS and we would love to stay longer as there's SO MUCH GREAT STUFF to see and do here!!!

But Florida beckons so here we go - on the road again . . .

Bayou country . . .

Sat Mar 12th - Last stop in Texas was Beaumont Dunkin' Donuts where we chatted with a couple of locals - talked mostly about oil in Texas (what else?) and how nearby Spindletop  was the birthplace of the modern oil industry in 1901. Also, Al said we will see alligators on our planned route along the Creole Nature Trail (La 82)  in Louisiana.

John & Al told us about Spindletop

Leaving Texas from Beaumont - oil refineries all over the place!

another one . . .

and another . . .

ditto

Closer to the Gulf now - waterways everywhere!

Lots of these long low bridges -
this one at Sabine Lake

Texas behind us . . . and now on a scenic byway
into "Louisiana Outback" along the Gulf of Mexico

All along this route we saw the off-shore oil rigs of the Gulf - LOTS of them!   

. . . every building on stilts!

This drive took us through the Sabine National Wildlife Refuge and then by ferry over to Cameron and the Cameron National Wildlife Refuge, so we saw lots of birds - mostly beautiful white egrets (we think!) but many others, too - also, cattle grazing (Brahmas!), shrimpboats, lots of fishing and some "crawdaddin'",  and more and more structures on those stilts.

Not far from shore at Holly Beach we stopped for lunch near here - walked a bit on the beach and picked up a few shells - even more picturesque than I can capture with my camera . . . 

Swamp and marshes on both sides of the road!

And THIS is where I saw my FIRST alligator - big and gray and sunning himself on a log floating in the marsh!  And then I saw THREE MORE alligators -  sad to say I didn't get a picture as we were just driving by and there they were.  I didn't really want to stop and get out!

And snakes!  One slithered across the road right in front of us - and we saw some on the marsh banks - - - this had Harold singing a new refrain . . .

"In the swamp, in the swamp -
where the snakes and gators romp . . . "

Then moving a bit more northerly towards our day's planned stop, Abbeville, still plenty of water in the form of swamp on both sides of the road.  Then we crossed over the Intracoastal Waterway and found more solid ground at the roadside. Amazingly, some beautiful estate-style homes along the way, but also more of the ramshackle huts that we've seen lots of in the South.  

. . . coming in to Abbeville

So here we are at Abbeville RV Park.  Below is our campsite on Crawfish Lane - very pretty here, very quiet (except for the birdsong which is delightful) and only 75 degrees but steamy with humidity!

Sun Mar 13th - Started with a nice long walk .  Did I say this already . .   Steamy!  And it's still morning!  But it's beautiful and all so "tropical" and new to a couple of Washingtonians!!  Swampy along the road we walked, happened by a few snakes and lizards, big black butterflies and some funny little "mud-piles" (which we later heard are snake holes!), and bird song all along the way!!! 

Some mud piles in the grass 

. . . and a close-up - interesting construction!

Then on the road again - over through New Iberia (where the Tabasco sauce comes from!) and then down a simply gorgeous drive along La-182, the Old Spanish Trail!

Passing thru one of the little towns on the Old Spanish Trail

Stopped in little Jeanerette at Little Lil's for a yummy shrimp po boy sandwich!  OMG!  Delicious!

"two shrimp po boys, please"

Lil's - a dumpy looking place, but with rave reviews!

Hard to get a good picture rolling down the road, so not a great shot -
but you get the idea!

A very bumpy two-lane took us past gorgeous antebellum houses with hot-pink azaleas, stately oaks hung with Spanish moss, sugar cane fields and, everywhere, shrimp ("Live or Boiled") for sale. We paralleled the very watery Atchafalaya Basin until we crossed its mouth at Morgan City and then - it was north to New Orleans.

The last stretch of highway here showed us more and more of this watery landscape as swamps flank the raised roadway for miles.  More trees, more Spanish moss and bridges galore - we're in Bayou country!  

Swamp in the city!

Stopped at a roadside stand to buy fresh local strawberries and oranges and pulled into Bayou Segnette State Park - ready to start our adventure tomorrow in New Orleans!!

So, now it's Monday morning and we're getting a slow start - but we have a great plan for today - a long-awaited scooter ride around bayou-country!   Stay tuned!!

From Home to Hideaway and beyond

After a short but very sweet week at home in Vancouver, we're back - in TEXAS, that is!  What a week it was!  Harold relaxed at home and enjoyed some special reconnecting time with Graydon who is only 3 years old so surely must wonder what is up with Gramps and Grammy being gone so long!  I was off for a long scrapbooking weekend at Seaside, Oregon, with daughter Robin and bff Cathy from Surprise, Arizona - so much fun, quality time and we even got lots done on our scrapbooks!!  Plus we made a stop at the very interesting Coast Guard museum in Astoria on our way to the coast.

Robby & Mom in Astoria

Cathy (hiding her face!) & Robin in scrapbooking room

with (at times) about 150 other "scrappers"!

It was cold and stormy when we got to Seaside, but weather improved and we enjoyed this nice view from our hotel room . . .

I sure enjoyed the (too-short!) time at home with Graydon, Alessa and Jade, and it was so fun to see my special friends Jan, Lee and Anita when they dropped by. But sad to say I missed out on a visit from Carolyn - and also sorry I missed out on the chocolate chip cookies that were coming with her!

We didn't like saying good-bye again to Graydon and Alessa.  I didn't take many pictures at home but managed to snap this one as we headed out to the airport Tuesday morning - -

Alessa, Gramps, Grammy & Graydon

Back in Texas (Tues Mar 8th) , Renee collected us from the airport and the next day, after one last visit with the Williams family, we gathered Trixie from the kennel and the RV from storage and made a bee-line for Hideaway.  We were headed there to pay a visit to Harold's cousin and his wife, the Jim McCaleb's.

Well, it wasn't exactly a bee-line - - - more of an S-line.  Back in Texas we'd noticed that spring is here!  Trees - pear and redbuds and who knows what all - were blooming - grass and trees going all green and new-looking!  We opted to skip the Interstate and enjoy another drive off the beaten path.  Our route took us through Terrell, Elmo, Wills Point, Fruitvale and then we rolled through Grand Saline, where  we were pleasantly surprised to find ourselves driving by the old Morton Salt Mine.  And eventually we arrived in Hideaway!  All along the way, here and there, the piney woods, colored bright with redbud, had Harold bursting into song - "In the pines, in the pines . . .where the sun never shines"  Well, it was a drive to remember. 

And THEN - a super time with Jim and Claudine at their lovely and comfortable home in delightful Hideaway, Texas!  We talked, ate, laughed, ate, talked, went sight seeing and just totally enjoyed their friendly hospitality.  Claudine fed us deliciously! We also had some great eats at The Back Porch - a Kilgore tradition - and learned a LOT about the oil industry at the East Texas Oil Museum in Kilgore. A fabulous exhibit and WOW what an amazing story.  Ate out a couple more times and Harold got his fill of his latest craving - catfish!  It was a fun visit which passed way too quickly - but we look forward to another meet-up in the not-too-distant future!  

Cousins enjoying a sunny morning on the patio

At The Back Porch

Oil derrick in front of the East Texas Oil Museum

See Jimmy under the RV?  He & Harold repaired the damage
and we were on the road in no time! 

Before we knew it, Friday dawned and it was time for us to hit the road again.  Jim helped Harold with a minor RV repair and we were headed south again.

The drive from Hideaway took us through Tyler and then Jacksonville, Lufkin and finally into Woodville where we settled in once again at Camp Wal-Mart.  A gorgeous drive this day as the landscape changed - growing greener and even more lush as the road took us through rolling hills flanked with piney woods, small family farms and the occasional little town - the kind you miss if you blink!

Along the way - fruit and vegetable stands and little unassuming cafes  boasting cat fish and barbecue - also, duck ponds, barnyard animals, many old tumble-down farmhouses, shacks and barns and other reminders of yesteryear - and more than a smattering of steepled country churches.  There's no doubt about it - we are now in the deep South!

Sat Mar 12th - It's time to put Texas behind us!  In Beaumont Dunkin' Donuts at the moment (Starbucks eluded us somehow), but moving on into Louisiana towards our next planned stop at Bayou Segnette State Park.  Today we'll explore pieces of the Creole Nature Trail along the Gulf of Mexico, meander through a birder's paradise and maybe, if the travel books are right, even see an alligator or two!!!