And then there was Sunday & Louisiana

Sunday was one of those days we don't want to happen very often and wish we could have a redo. We were up early, we wanted to get across Houston early to avoid the traffic, well that didn't happen.

Our first inkling it was going to be a bad day was when we got our first ouch in the new rig. All set to go and we were getting the rig hitched up when I heard cracking, what we didn't realize or take into account was the canoe on the big truck and the new rig set further over the hitch, end result a small unnoticeable unless looking for it crack in the gelcoat. At least Dave is a handy guy and will work on it when we get somewhere for awhile.

Ah but the saga continues, we headed out the drive onto the frontage road and Dave says there's a problem, seems the hitch and the trailers king pin plate were not working together, back to where we had just left. Our neighbors Sharon & Jim were sitting outside and very surprised to see us back already. We soon realized our hitch used a special capture plate, thank goodness they never moved the old rig into the gated yard, we were able to remove the plate and with Jim's help eventually modified it to fit our new rig. 3 hours after our expected departure we were on the road again, thank you Sharon and Jim for your support both physical and mental-we hope to see you down the road again one of these days.

About 50-60 miles into our journey near Winnie TX we got caught up in traffic, something had brought it to a complete halt. After a few hours I called a nearby RV park just in case, they informed an 18 wheeler had jacknifed, they did have room in case we decided not to drive all the way to LA. About 4:30 after 3.5 hours sitting we finally got going, we opted to head on over to Breaux Bridge LA, we arrived around 6pm way later than we ever like to arrive but there was still a bit of light. So that was our Sunday, so glad it finally ended, what a day it was. Through it all though we were able to keep our cool and worked well together. 

Monday we took our time getting the day started, we were in no hurry to do anything. We decided though we wouldn't stay at Pioneer Acadian Village RV Park the whole week we planned, went and checked in and said we'd be leaving on Thursday. The park is right next to I-10 so lots of noise, it is a great place though for an overnight or two, good Louisiana crawfish, boudin & cracklin nearby. 



Monday afternoon we headed into the town of Breaux Bridge to see what was around, we ended up at Lake Martin looking at birds and taking a short walk along their levee.

We were also scouting out places to do some canoeing. Dave spent some more time working on the hitch a bit, finessing things for a better fit. Dinner was at Crawfish Town USA, Dave liked the crawfish better at the hole in the wall in Houston we ate at.

Tuesday late morning we decided to canoe the Bayou Teche, while most of this area has houses on the route we decided to head out anyway. We drove one truck about 10 miles down the road, came back to the rv park where we could put in at their dock. The owner of the park actually saw us off taking pictures for her website. We had an enjoyable ride, birds, dogs and cows were our wildlife sightings for the day no matter how much Dave tried calling for the gators. 4 or so hours we found where we had left the truck, while not the most scenic it was nice to get out on the water, haven't been in the canoe since November at Elephant Butte.

Wednesday we headed to New Iberia where we took a tour of The Shadows an old home on The Bayou Teche. No photographs were allowed inside and the house was having its roof redone so no picture of the home, it was a nice home to visit though I don't know if it's quite worth the $10/person but it does go to preserve and maintain the old home. The home was owned by the Weeks family who had sugar cane plantation in the vicinity, the home has survived the civil war, hurricanes and time, it was in the family for four generations before being donated.

Afterwards we headed to Avery Island, home of Tabasco and Jungle Gardens.We enjoyed a free tour of the Tabasco factory and browsed through their country store where a few things found their way home with us.

Jungle Gardens were started by the McIlhenny family, founders of Tabasco, as a sanctuary for migrating birds, they also have some resident gators and flower gardens which I'm sure are more impressive during their blooming time. We enjoyed a few hours wandering around the grounds and thought the admission was well worth it.

Thursday was our next travel day, with a bit of trepidation we got ready to hitch up, success on the first try, looks like his finessing the other day has paid off. We arrived at Buccaneer State Park with out incident, just my kind of travel day. We are here for two weeks, hopefully the bugs won't be too much of a problem. Spent the afternoon getting stuff together for our closing next week on our property at Gulf Waters. Need to get some stuff notarized and in the mail next week and we should be set.

Until next time...