Day 160. January 13, 2014. Swampy swamp

Another day at Fausse Lake State Park, in SW Louisiana.  It rained all night.  The campground had already had lots of standing water; now even more 

It rained most of the day so we decided to just stay here.  We did some work on the camper.  I made some chicken soup, did laundry, and  read.....very slow-paced day.  

George figured out how to put up the awning between downpours

Finally it stopped raining in PM.  It is supposed to clear off tomorrow so we can visit places around here as planned.  

Day 159. January 12, 2014. Crawfish, Boudin, and Cajun Dancing

We are at Lake Fausse Point State Park about 150 miles SW of New Orleans.  Most of the other campers here are hunters and fishermen.  They all wear their camo clothes.  All super friendly.  Our neighbors caught a big catfish in the river right in front of our Airstream this AM, and gave us some, breaded and deep-fat fried.  We are not that fond of catfish, but of course, acted happy to get it.

They also recommended a lunch place.  We are pretty remote, so it took a while to get there, driving along the levee.  It was actually a grocery store/food bar.  They sell boudin (pronounced boo-dan) which is super popular.  It is a kind of sausage, with several varieties.  We bought some  crawfish boudin which we will grill one night.  For lunch, we split a crawfish étouffée.  The counterman was concerned that it wouldn't be enough for 2 people.  Ha!  It was a ton of food, served on styrofoam plates and sporks.....not fancy at all, but good and cheap!

Then we drove to Breaux Bridge, the crawfish capital of the world.  It is a cute town.  Each store front is decorated for Mardi Gras, coming up in February.  There are also Mardi Gras stores to buy costumes, decorations.

Then, the most wonderful thing happened.  We were glancing through their free newspaper and read that there was a Cajun dance in the PM.  So, we went to this dance hall called La Pouisserie, which is "Dusty" in French.  The dance hall has been around for about 60 years.  When it first opened, the hardwood floors sat atop dirt, so when the dancers started dancing, it got really dusty.  The band was called Ivy Dugas and the Cajun Cousins.  There were about 100 folks there, mostly middle-aged, dancing every dance.  Most of the dances were a type of 2-step in which the couples circle around the dance floor.  The band included an accordion, fiddle, drums, electric piano, and guitar.  Some of the songs were in English; most  in Cajun.  It was a neat experience.  

We came back to the campground and made a fire, watching our armadillo friend

We warmed up the catfish (and fried cheese balls) our neighbors had given us.  They were quite good!

Day 158. January 11, 2014. To Cajun Country!

It poured during the night.....the thunder and rain sound so nice when one is safely escounced in a tight Airstream!  

As we were getting ready to leave this campground outside of New Orleans, a couple from Belgium that we had met in a campground in Georgia in November pulled in.  Such a small world.  They are using the campground as base and are making day trips into New Orleans.

We drove southwest, and stopped at a restaurant called Zydeco for lunch.  Most people were eating their seafood buffet, which was loaded with crawfish, lobsters, clams, shrimp, soft shell crabs, and gumbo.  Instead, we had BBQ shrimp.  It was so good.  I would like to learn to make it.  It seemed like boiled shrimp in a hot sauce/butter/ worchestire/garlic  sauce.  You sop up the extra sauce with bread.  We ordered 2 draft beers (Abita from Louisiana) and these huge glasses arrived.  We were shocked when we got the bill....$2.50!

We were heading for a state park I had found that is centrally located in Cajun country so we can stay in one place for several days and make day trips.  We stopped for gas in a small town (tank was below empty) and asked directions.  A guy with tattoos on every imaginable spot on his body and a full  set of gold-plated teeth told us about a short cut.  I was filled with dread.  He was vague about the condition of the road....thought part of it might be gravel.  It was not an official road, but a one-laned route on the levee with potholes and mud on either side.  After driving for an alarming amount of time (the tattoo guy said it wasn't far), we flagged down a truck going the other way.  I think the driver was straight from the cast of Duck Dynasty.  He said we were going in the right direction.  Finally we arrived.  Nice state park.  We are the only car from out-of-state.  We chose a "premium" (more expensive) site on the river for $10/night.  It is really swampy.  

For dinner, I made chicken cacciatore, trying to use the spaghetti sauce I had made a few days ago.  I added the leftover sauce from lunch to kick it up.  George grilled the chicken thighs on the campfire as we watched armadillos root around nearby.  

We are looking forward to exploring this area.

Day 157. January 10, 2014. On to Louisiana!

George worked on the Airstream some more.  Other guys drop around to "help".  By the time we left the campground, it was lunchtime.  We stopped at "Mike's on the Bayou" as they were advertising $7/dozen oysters.  They were delicious, and we actually were served 16 instead of 12!  We also split a half muffaletta, that great New Orleans famous sandwich.  Even a half was too much food! 

We stopped at the Louisiana Visitors' Center for information.  Since we have already visited New Orleans, we want to skip that and get into Cajun country.  We had to drive through New Orleans.  A lot of buildings are still in disrepair.  Since it was getting late, we found a state park right outside of town.  

We had grilled sandwiches made with leftover andouille.  Good!  This campground has free laundry so I took advantage and did some.  Lots of Cajuns here....I can't understand them., but it is fun to listen to them.  They seem to have a lot of fun.  Nice and warm here

Day 156. January 9, 2014. Gulf Shores Nat'l Seashore

We took a long hike in the national seashore park.  We stopped at the nice visitor center and watched a film about the barrier islands.

We spent the PM working on the Airstream and setting up license tags, insurance, etc.  We drove into nearby Pascagoula to the post office.  Afterwards, we went to one of the restaurants that daughter Meredith had researched for us.  It is called Jacks on the Tracks.  It is a funky neighborhood bistro that  calls itself a "Southern juke joint/sushi bar/tapas restaurant, and neighborhood pub".  Everyone knew each other and were super friendly.  They had Green Flash IPA (San Diego) on tap which many consider to be the best in the country.  How amazing!  We had a sushi roll with crawfish called Awesome Crawsome.  It was indeed  awesome!  I think more people should visit here to eliminate perceptions that Mississippi is backward.

For dinner, we grilled Andouille sausage and ate it with red beans and rice.  A raccoon tried to steal the sausages from the campfire!  

Day 155. January 8, 2014. Settling in

We stayed overnight in the RV store parking lot.  It is next to a Hardee's so we were awakened early by voices from their drive-through.  

After a lot of work, they were able to mount the bikes on the Airstream.    Quite a big

deal!

We finished transferring our stuff and went to a campground in the Gulf Coast National Seashore.  Quite nice, and only $11.  

I fixed spaghetti and meatballs in my new kitchen while watching Julia Child on TV.  I was so happy!

Day 154. January 7, 2014. Moving day!

Today is our 5 -month anniversary on the road.  Hard to believe!  

It was very cold overnight.  My dishpan with last night's dirty dishes was frozen solid.

We packed up quickly and took the Aliner camper into the RV store.  We hung out in their store while they did some  work on our car.  When the car was ready, we went to a nearby Japanese restaurant and had udon for lunch.  Great on a cold day.  

Then, when the Airstream was ready, we moved things from Aliner into it.  We have to figure out best place for everything.  Even though it has lots of storage, we have to be careful not to weigh it down much so Honda is ok.  We have TV!  (Although we have promised ourselves that we won't watch much)  

We are camping overnight in the RV lot.  They want us to test everything to make sure all is ok before hitting the road.  Very good customer service!