Today, Saturday, was one of those long travel days. Our destination was 5 hours 45 minutes away according to the GPS. We were underway before 8:00 and felt good about the day. We fueled up and after driving in a brief bit of rain, the sun popped out and all was right with the world. The technology said we would arrive at 1:45 - then 1:48 --then 1:56... I was beginning to see a pattern. Our destination was a Harvest Host location, an historic plantation in Louisiana. The problem is they closed at three and we need to stop for fuel at least a couple of times. After a while, we realized that we were going to be cutting it very close. This is no way to travel. This leads to tension. We called the plantation and canceled our stay and looked for some where else.
A nice camping spot in Acadiana Park
We found a nice little park in Lafayette called Acadiana Park, and you can arrive here after hours. Now we were not rushing to get somewhere with a deadline..this is better. We made a decision to change our plans and adopt a rule to make our day shorter. From now on no days with more than 3 or 4 hours drive time, this will allow is the ability to see the country with more side trips and stops along the way. We changed a couple of other reservations cutting our drive times in half. Our campsite is a beautiful spot with a cool nature trail right across from our site. We had a good supper and a relaxing evening after a hike along the trail. We watched the next episode of a documentary on Netflix and turned in early. This is how it should be.
Don & Kriss’s house
The following morning, Mothers Day, I made Carol a breakfast of omelet and toast and coffee, we showered and got into adult clothes because today we are visiting relatives. We were visiting my older brother's ex-wife Kriss and her new husband, Don. We were also going to get to see my niece Kelli and meet her daughter Ava for the first time. The last time we visited with Kelli was in 1994, and the last time we visited with Kriss was in 1999, so it has been a while. They live at the end of a 40 mile long dead end street, well maybe a 20 mile long dead end, but the bad pavement makes up the difference. But what a little piece of paradise it is. This is Cypremort Point, Louisiana. All beach camps on stilts with a working shrimp and sport fishing harbor.
Washing crawfish
The ground level is just a couple of feet above the sea which regularly washes across everyone's yards. We arrived just past noon and Kriss was waiting out front for us. Fortunately the GPS took us straight to the door, it would have been embarrassing to get lost on a dead end road. We must have passed Don somewhere on the road as he was heading the 26 miles back to New Iberia (nearest shopping) for crawfish. Well the conversations started to bubble up and soon everyone was cross talking and remembering days gone by. Kelli and Ava arrived and the conversation grew louder. Then Don arrive with a huge sack of crawfish and the afternoon got underway in earnest. I have never had crawfish before and had no idea how you cook them or even how you would go about eating one and now I was carrying a 30 sack of crawfish to their doom. It was the first time I had met Don, and I could tell right away by his cajun accent and his confident motion that this was not his first time handling crawfish. Under the house (remember it is on stilts) Don had his own outside kitchen and it was filled with outside kitchen stuff, and memorabilia, like segments from an 19th century anchor chain and a piece of driftwood that looked like a duck head..just lots of interesting stuff. Don's cooking pot was a gas fired kettle large enough to cook just about anything. Once it was fired up in went potato, corn on the cob and onions along with special cajun flavoring powder sauce stuff. In a short while it came to a full boil as Don sorted out the crawfish in a deep sink, looking for dead ones to be discarded.
30 pounds of crawfish, what a feast
These looked a lot like the crawdads we had in the creek when I was a kid back in Illinois, but larger and they are dark reddish and the ones I remember were much smaller and greenish. The internet says they are the same animal. We sorted and sprayed and sorted and sprayed until the water ran clean and the dead ones were cast aside to become food for the local otters and raccoons. Don and I got to know each other better and the ladies swapped stories as the pot boiled. The afternoon was melting away. When the veggies were done they were replaced with the crawfish and more of the special spices. Not too much not too little. I was just a bit anxious about eating crawfish as this was a completely new experience and this is precisely the animal we used as bait when I was a kid. Don dumped the pot out onto the table, completely covering the table several inches deep with boiled crawfish and and vegetables. Paper towels were passed around and lessons on eating were taught. Soon the two novices, Carol and I were cracking twisting and peeling with the best of them, and conversations and memories were flying back and forth. The afternoon continued to melt. After a while, once the 30 pounds of crawfish was reduced to one tiny bowl of leftovers, pies were brought out and the chatter continued along with every possible combination of poses for the cameras.
Kelli, Carol, Kriss and Ava at Don’s high water hurricane sign
Sadly Kelli and Ava had to leave too soon. It was so very good to meet Ava and to have even a little while with Kelli once again. Even though it had been so long since I had seen Kelli, it seemed like just yesterday and our conversations started as though it was yesterday. So much has changed and yet so much is the same. Once Kelli had headed back down the long dead end road chatter began again. We took a tour of Cypremort Point and saw all the sights, the houses and boats and destruction from the several hurricanes that have passed through here.
Sunset at Cypremort Point
Don and Kriss survived three hurricanes within a one year period. This played a major part in the decision to move off the point and to a house in a town near Lafayette. They have sold this place, and are closing on this house on Tuesday, the day this will likely hit your inbox. The stories of the the worry and the tidal surges and the destruction seem to me unbearable. Don has been here 13 years I think he said, through all the hurricanes during that time. They lost walls and roofs, boathouses and boats and who know what else. Insurance in this area is just not available, I cannot imagine the worry they must feel every time the wind and waves start to grow. God bless you guys. However a new chapter is starting for Don and Kriss and we wish them all the best, a new life without worry of flooding... it has got to be a great weight lifted off their backs. We chatted well into the evening and of course more food appeared. We had Muffulettas (a Sicilian sandwich popular in Louisia) and snacks and drinks as the hours ticked by and more memories were shared.I really have no idea how late it was when we finally called it quits for the evening, but it was too soon... so the conversation started all over again in the morning. Kriss was kind enough to let us wash a load of dirty clothes, and we shared stories and looked at photos and snacked our way through most of the morning..our early start was delayed by one more story, then, one more story..those who know me will understand.
Heading back up the long road to civilization. . .
Once we found our way back to civilization, we made a quick stop at a local grocery store and then to I-10 heading west toward Texas. We started another mystery audio book, which of course was interrupted by conversation, text and phone calls. We may be far from home, on a lonely highway in the south but we are still connected. We arrived at a winery in Anahuach Texas right on Trinity Bay north of Galveston. This is a great stop. They offer full hookups and their wine was quite nice. We ate some alligator egg rolls with our wine tasting...you just never know what a day will bring. Carol bought some spicy meade and some olive relish so we can make our own Muffulettas. We had also met a young couple and their daughter who were traveling by RV. The bought the RV when covid hit and have been on the road since. He works online so as long as they have a signal he can work. They figure they will continue to travel at least through this year, and are loving the RV lifestyle.
Waiting for Alligator Egg rolls and tasting wine
I tried to post this blog last night. It is now Tuesday evening and we are settled in at another Harvest Host, Dell’s Olive Ranch in Elgin, Texas. We had a great travel day beginning with a completely unhurried start. And our travel tie we had cut in half so it was a no rush day. Houston was quite a surprise as we came upon it sooner than we thought and it lasted forever. Interstate 10 was 12 lanes at times and they were all filled. The GPS moved us along and soon we were on route 290 heading toward Austin. Our first stop was at a Buc-ees, a truck stop we had heard about on the Leisure Travel Van blog. The author said that it was a must visit stop. Well they were right. It was huge - everything is bigger in Texas - it had over 100 gas pumps, no really! We shopped and gawked at all the stuff they had. Amazing. Carol bought a cinnamon/pecan roll that we shared and it was absolutely delicious and we bought sandwiches and snacks. I filled the DEF and tended to a couple of other things and we were on our way.
Buc-ee’s - a must stop if you are traveling in Texas
We listened to our audio book and chatted. Carol was looking at a guide book and discovered the Blue Bell Ice Cream Creamery in Brenham, Texas which was right on our route and just 8 miles up the road. We took the exit and drove to the creamery which was huge, apparently Blue Bell is a big deal in Texas. We had our lunch in the parking lot and then walked up to the creamery for dessert, and only $1 a scoop and these were not skimpy scoops. We got vanilla for Harper. I had cookies and cream and Carol had Blue Monster..only available at he creamery. I will save Carol the embarrassment of showing you a picture of her blue lips, tongue and teeth. Their ice cream was delicious. High marks all around for Blue Bell.
Well ok, I may have posed for this shot. . . .
A quick stop at Walmart and long slow stop for fuel and we were rolling once again. And as it was a planned short travel day we arrived Dell’s Olive Ranch at 3:30 and had plenty of day left. Frank met us at the gate and we parked in a covered RV shed and even got 30 amp service for $5. Frank met us after we got set up. We sat on the front porch of his ranch house as he told us of how the orchard came to be. As he was telling the story I kept looking at his orchard…all the trees were dead. He eventually came to that part…and of course I should have figured it out..the deep freeze that Texas had this past winter killed all of his 1200 trees. What a shame. Frank said that they all had sucker shoots coming up from the roots and should be small trees and producing in a couple of years. We wish him the best. As Frank was telling his story the weather began to really move in. Dark skies then a steady rain - the wind began to pick up, then the lightning began. A blast hit the pole at the end of the driveway - once again we are without power. We then sampled some of the best olive oil ever, in the dark, and of course bought some for the Doodle. I am writing now hoping I can get all of this to upload as once again I have a very poor connection. So we will see.
