Trip leg #1 Roadtrip 2009

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This map shows our route the first few days this past summer from Texas to Kansas. The slideshow below has the pictures from this leg of the trip.

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Original posts for this leg:
Night 1 - Texarkansas, Arkansas
Night 2 - Henryetta, Oklahoma
Night 3 - Manhattan, Kansas
June 11 - Still in Manhattan, KS

Slowing down

I've been asked to continue this blog, so I guess I'll give it try, although our travels have slowed down.

We did go to a chili cookoff this weekend near Wills Point, Texas. No pictures though. I cooked chili. Lester cooked our lunch. We had a great time even though I did not place. Out of 32 chili's I came in somewhere in the bottom 19th to 32nd place. Chili tasted okay, just not good enough for the cut. Not surprising, I just dumped and poured this time. I only have one point this chili year (October 1 - September 30). We have only cooked 3 or 4 times now this year. Mostly we cook for fun and to donate to whatever the charity of the day is. This time it was the Myrtle Springs Volunteer Fire Department. Of course placing is fun too.

Since the beginning of April we have gone out of town all but four weekends. This coming weekend Lester will fish and I get to stay home! Then we head to Michigan for daughter #4's wedding. You can bet we'll have pictures for that trip! Meanwhile, the alarm is set as I prepare to head back to work tomorrow. Lester will be celebrating not being joined at the hip anymore at the golf course. Something is not right about that!

Garfish Rodeo 2009

We had a fantastic time at the Garfish Rodeo at the Blind River Bar in Louisiana!!!!!!!! There were thirty-five boats with about 60 fishermen entered in the rodeo. Almost 3,000 pounds of fish were weighed-in! I think the big fish was 99 pounds. Garfish are caught by placing bait-fish such as mullet on large hooks which are suspended from jugs (recycled soda or bleach bottles). After being weighed-in some of the fish was filleted, cut into chunks, seasoned with mustard and hot sauce, dipped in "dust" (a commercially prepared fish fry batter) and fried in a big fryer. Dust is a word coined by one of the fellows in our group who has limited English skills.....the word works! The Garfish was served along with about 40 gallons of Jambalaya. The group I was with prepared the fish while another group did the Jambalaya. I don't know how many people were there for the party, a few hundred at least. A great time was had by all! A few pictures:

A couple of turtles on a log.
A small fishing camp on the river. Many are actually built over the water.
Alligator Bayou lives up to its name in the morning hours. We saw several gators!
Undisturbed waters with reflection!
A splash of color among the shades of greens and browns.
One of those pictures I put on here just because I like it!
Garfish weigh-in area at Blind River Bar.

July 22 - Home!

Got home yesterday! There were a lot of bridges on the final two days. That and rain....

A rather fancy railroad bridge in Louisiana. I think this was across the Mississippi River near Baton Rouge.

This is the bridge that never ends. It goes on and on again. Some people started building it not know when to end. They built and built and built and built, and the bridge it never ends.... (Lyrics by Brenda. Adapted from "The song that never ends" theme song of the Sherry Lewis Show. Composer/Lyricist Norman Martin.)

No clue where this bridge was at!

This is the ONLY bridge we had to stop under to avoid rain on the whole trip! This was near Marshall, Texas our last overnight stop. We also stopped for about an hour in Tyler, Texas at a Cracker Barrel restaurant to wait out the rain yesterday.

Our final stop on the trip was as Cici's in Rockwall, Texas. Treated mom and dad to lunch at mom's favorite place!

Home sweet home! (Collin Park campground.)

While this was the end of our 6152 mile trip, we will be returning to Louisiana the first weekend of August with the truck and boat. Will post the last of our summer fun picks after that trip.

July 19 - The Big Easy!

Pictures from our day trip to New Orleans:

We took a carriage ride through the French Quarter. It was fun and informative! That's Betsy and Trent in the seat behind us.

Howard the carriage driver.

Tennessee Williams lived here when he wrote "A Street Car Named Desire".

The Clover Grill on Bourbon Street, a good place for breakfast in the quarter if you don't mind real dives!

An elementary school in the French Quarter. Reminds me of the school I attended in Metairie, Louisiana as a child.

Lester feeding a treat to Shine, the mule who pulled our carriage.

Another bridge. This one is across the Mississippi River. View is from the Woldenberg Riverfront Park in New Orleans.

The house I lived in as a kid in Metarie, Louisianna. The pile of wood shavings out front are from a huge tree that was recently cut down. The tree was not much more than a sapling when I was young. The house was a green wood and there was a carport in the section to the right.

A shopping cart escalator in Target. Who knew such things existed!

July 18 - We did time in Angola!

Prison 101: How to get inside

Have background check. Bring golf clubs! We had a great time playing golf at Louisiana State Prison--Angola's Prison View Golf Course today. It is located within the prison and is operated as part of the employee recreation program. Although the day was hot the game was not, but that did not diminish the fun we had that was partly fueled by the idea that we were inside the prison grounds. Snagged a good t-shirt from the Angola Museum gift shop: Angola - A gated community.

Some pictures from the last few days:
Greene County courthouse square in Eutaw, Alabama. Some unique buildings.
Dunn's Falls and gristmill near Meridian, Mississippi.
Our granddoggy Casey!

Son-in-law Trent all duded-up for our golf outing.

The view from Hole #1 at Prison View Golf Course.

Daughter #3, Betsy, reclining in golf cart.

How close is that guard tower and fence?!?!?

July 17 - Hanging out near Baton Rouge, Louisianna

I know we must have pictures to upload but give us a day or two. We are spending time with daughter #2 who lives near Baton Rouge. It is nice to just to relax for a few days! Tomorrow we play golf at Angola Prison....who can resist an opportunity like that! Will head home next week, Lester is more than ready while I could keep going and going!