Friday morning we got to the French Quarter as soon as possible. Our list of things to do was very long and we wanted to accomplish as much as possible.
Jean Lafitte National Historical Park and Preserve has six locations. When we were in Lafayette, LA, we visited the Acadian Cultural Center. This morning we went to the French Quarter Visitor Center which shares the history and traditions of New Orleans and the delta region.
We arrived in New Orleans on Wednesday, January 11 after quite an eventful trip. After we got set-up, we decided to drive through the French Quarter to check out the lay-of-the-land, so to speak. Our new resort provides a shuttle service but it is $25 round-trip and would lock us in to staying in the French Quarter for the day. We hoped to pay less than this and have a bit more freedom.
This next part is going to sound negative. Please keep reading.
This morning we left Frog City RV (http://www.lafayettervpark.com/) in Duson, LA, which is between Rayne and Lafayette. It’s another very nice, clean park (the showers are some of the best we’ve seen) that is in a great location. It’s close to Lafayette, Avery Island and Baton Rouge. There are also a lot of neat little stops around the area.
We have definitely reached an area that is in peak season for RV parks. For a few months now we have been in parks with maybe 20 campers at the very most. The last couple of parks didn’t have 20 available spots. It’s interesting to check out the other campers’ license plates. Our new park has the most diversity. On our walk tonight we saw campers from Manitoba, New Mexico, Idaho, South Dakota, Manitoba and British Columbia to name a few.
We had a beautiful day for moving. The weather couldn’t have been more perfect. Once again we drove over The Basin Bridge that goes over the Atchafalaya Swamp. It was definitely flooded from all the rain and seemed even more beautiful today. The grass was so green. We kept a look-out for alligators but still didn’t see any. The bright sunshine made the Mississippi River in Baton Rouge look like a river of diamonds. Just when I think we have driven out of fall, we find more trees that still haven’t lost their leaves. The trees bordering the Mighty Mississip had yellow leaves but they looked like they were made of gold as the sun and river reflected off of them.
While the trip was beautiful it was also very eventful. We were very thankful that we didn’t have the high winds that had been forecasted. It was one less thing to worry about. Soon after we were nearly involved in an accident, we came to a patch of very bad roads. We hit a large bump that tipped our bikes of our rack. Fortunately, a passing motorist flagged us down. Stopping as soon as we could, we found our bikes in much better shape than we expected. One bike lost a reflector and one of the handlebars on Barry’s bike was worn down a bit. While hurrying to get the bikes re-secured, Barry burned his right hand rather badly on the handlebar that was hot from being dragged on the pavement. Of course this all happened when we were very busy with business calls and on a very busy expressway.
A couple of weeks ago I was cleaning out our medicine cabinet and nearly threw away a homeopathic burn remedy that I’ve had for about 7 years. I didn’t think it would be any good but decided to keep it until I could find a replacement. It’s supposed to be applied immediately but that was impossible as we were in heavy traffic for about 30 minutes before we could stop again. I applied it anyway and it almost immediately took the pain away. I then put on a generous amount of salve and wrapped it. So far—so good! It looks like he may have a ‘brand’ from where he grabbed the bike but at least he’s not in pain. We’re very thankful for God’s protection today!
I probably won’t blog until Saturday morning because we have two days of sight-seeing scheduled. I’ll take good notes, so I don’t forget anything!
It rained hard last night—all night. There were times when I wondered if we might wake up and find ourselves floating in the Gulf of Mexico. We didn’t, of course, but the campground was flooded. I hadn’t noticed until this morning that the park has a slight incline. Fortunately for us, we are at the top of that incline. Many campers on the lower end were surrounded by water several inches deep. We think it might be a good idea to invest in some galoshes in case we ever find ourselves in a similar situation.
Barry had another very busy day. After the girls and I finished with school, he decided we all needed to take a short break. Earlier in the week the girls had seen a billboard advertising a candy store with the world’s largest gummy bear. We drove to Candyland Cottage & Ice Cream Shoppe in Rayne, Louisiana. They weren’t disappointed. We didn’t buy the the bear but they did see him and a lot of other very unique confections in this quaint and adorably decorated shop. It was hard for them to choose! Barry and I saw candy that we hadn’t seen since we were kids. The girls got a good laugh at the antique Candyland board games that were on display; especially when they saw the type that Barry and I had while growing-up.
On our drive to the store, we were surprised at the amount of flooding that had occurred in only about 16 hours of rain. It was also amazing how blue and clear the sky was compared to how it had even been this morning. I had noticed on our drive to Baton Rouge how in some areas the grass was so green and lush that it looked like pictures I have seen of Ireland. It was even more so today. It was a beautiful drive!
I failed to mention yesterday that we tried gumbo. It was very good. Barry tried to get some alligator for us to try but he was told that it’s out of season. We remembered this evening that we hadn’t tried the prickly pear jam we bought in Texas. It was a little on the sweet side but it was very good. It tasted very much like pear preserves.
Tomorrow we leave this campground for another. We are nearly packed up. When we heard the rain was coming, we had to pack as many things inside the camper or Suburban as possible. It makes for a tight fit but tomorrow will be very easy.
The weather has cooled down quite a bit and while the humidity is a little higher than what we are used to this time of year, it is more tolerable. We should sleep much better tonight. The sound of the rain hitting the camper was very pleasant last night but I’m afraid that it if should rain anymore that we would end up floating in the Gulf!
We’ve found the weather reports in the different areas we have visited to be very interesting at times. Our current forecast is : “a large shield of rain…occasionally moderate to heavy…with embedded thunderstorms.” That about sums it up. It’s been raining for hours.
The weather gave us a good excuse to stay inside and get a lot of school done. We plan sight-seeing for most of Thursday and Friday so we are trying to get a little bit ahead with our studies and instrument practice.
Barry made omelettes for supper tonight with the remaining Boudin (a sausage famous in this area). He seasoned it with ‘Slap Ya Mama’ and Tabasco sauce. Mmmmmm. They were very good but I’m glad we won’t be eating like this all the time.
On Monday, December 19, we woke up to rain (Surprise! Surprise!) so Barry spent the morning working while the girls finished school. After lunch, we headed to San Antonio Missions National Historical Park. Fortunately, it quit raining.
The Missions are a very different park in that you have to visit each of the four missions separately, driving to each one. The missions are a set of four Catholic missions (The Alamo is technically the fifth one but is not a part of the National Park Service) that were established in the early 1700s by Franciscans and Spanish representatives with the purpose to acculturate and Christianize the native population and make them citizens of Spain.
I haven’t blogged because we have put all our energy into two areas: school and the sights in and around San Antonio.
I don’t know where to begin. We fell in love with San Antonio. We arrived at our campground in Schertz, TX, in the middle of the afternoon on Sunday, December 18. We set-up camp and headed right to the Alamo. I think I mentioned in one of the previous posts that we had just studied the Spanish Missions, The Alamo, and The Texas Revolution in U.S. History, so this was perfect timing. The Alamo and the grounds around it are beautiful and very interesting. An informative movie by the History Channel and various displays helped explain all that happened at this historic site. You couldn’t help but feel a great sadness for those brave men, women, and children, sense their desperation, but also admire their grit and courage.
I know that I’ve mentioned clean cities, universities, and attractions in other blogs. This may seem strange but we have been to a few places where cleanliness has stood out so much that it was the first thing we noticed. Of these places, Austin, Texas, wins the award for the cleanest of the clean!
We enjoyed everything about Austin. What started out as a somewhat cloudy day turned out to be a beautiful, spring-like day in the 50s. Every now and then we would see a tree still in full color to remind us that it is technically fall. We spent as much time outside as we could.
We know that we won’t be able to see everything we would like as we travel the United States. We’ve been in seven states and feel like while we’ve seen some amazing things, we are only scratching the surface. Our goals for each state help us choose which places to visit. The state capitals, National Parks, Presidential Libraries, and major historical highlights of each state top the list.
The Texas State Capitol is amazing! It is very big and is somewhat different that other capitol buildings we’ve visited. Our first stop was the very well done Capitol Visitor Center. It has exhibits on different aspects of the capitol building and Texas history. I was very pleased when we saw exhibits on the very sections of history we had read about last week in school.
Self-guided tours of the grounds and capitol building are offered but we chose to take a guided tour that gave highlights of the origins of some Texan Christmas traditions. I was a little skeptical about the Christmas part. I wondered what could be so special about Texas Christmas traditions over any other state. It turned out to be very interesting. When we think of Texas, we think of a strong Mexican influence. Our guide and exhibits along the way, pointed out that Texas also had a strong European influence as well. It was interesting to learn how each group had a part in framing Texas Christmas traditions.
Our tour also included a tour of the Senate Chamber, The House Chamber, Rotunda, and Foyer. It was neat to find out that the capitol was designed by architect Elijah E. Myers from Michigan who also designed the State Capitol in Lansing. His original design included skylights in both chambers. The Texas sun made it impossible for the politicians to meet so a roof had to be put over the skylights. We could have taken elevators up to the beautiful Chambers but we choose to take the stairs with their old fashioned banisters. Texans are proud of their history and they show it through the many paintings, statutes, and décor that are found throughout the capitol.
The grounds around the building are worth a visit in and of themselves. There are several government buildings that border the manicured lawns and gardens. Statues tell of the bravery and grit of several aspects of Texan history. We were delighted to see Santa ride up to the Capitol on a horse and a wedding party using the beautiful grounds as a backdrop to their special day. None of us wanted to leave so we took the long way to the parking garage.
We drove by the University of Texas and Memorial Stadium on the way to the Lyndon Baines Johnson Library and Museum. I highly recommend touring this very fascinating place. Presidential libraries and museums are not only about that particular president but about life in the White House and a history of the time in which that president served. They deal with a very small period of American history in great detail. You not only learn about what that man did as president but get a glimpse into his personal life as well. We found the exhibits that dealt with Lady Bird Johnson, the Kennedy assassination, and a very 60ish oval office to be especially interesting. There is also an actual moon rock and presidential portraits of every president and first lady from Washington to Clinton. If you visit, make sure you leave time to watch the movie on LBJ’s life.
Before leaving Austin, we drove by the Governor’s Mansion which is under construction due to a very extensive fire in 2008. We couldn’t see very much of it but we did learn quite a bit about it at the Capitol Visitor Center.
Austin, Texas, is worth a visit. There’s so much history and beauty to this great city. We’ve loved Texas and feel like Austin was the icing on the cake!
Today we left Whitney, Texas. We were all glad to leave as we spent our entire time there, sick. It also rained most of the time. As we drove away, we saw a lot of neat areas that we missed. The rocky banks of Lake Whitney were so beautiful and filled us with regret that we weren’t able to explore the area.
We realized on the drive to our new destination that fall is finally over. It’s hard to believe that we’ve enjoyed the colorful leaves through the middle of December. Most of today’s drive was on county highways through the back country of Texas. We passed more ranches today—a lot more ranches. None of us have tired of them, however. Most of them are huge, with big gates at each entrance and long drive-ways leading up to incredibly beautiful and large homes. Some of them were so elaborate that we wondered if movie stars lived in them!
The deeper into Texas we drove we saw more palm trees, different varieties of cacti, and (finally!) more Texas Longhorns and Brahmas. The varieties of birds just keep getting more beautiful and more unique. What we didn’t have for color on the leaves, we made up for it with very green grass. It almost looked like spring. With all the rain we’ve had, it wasn’t very surprising.
We drove through several little towns that made us feel as if we stepped back into the time of gun-slingers, saloons, and wagon trains. The store fronts looked to be very old and were very Western. As we were about to approach one very small town Barry noticed a sign that said, “Crawford, Home of President George W. Bush.” It’s a good thing he didn’t blink or we would have missed the entire town. We also drove through a couple of smaller cities with very beautiful and western architecture. The detail on the buildings is amazing and everything is so…well…BIG!
When we got to our new park we finished up school for the week. As it happens, we are studying The Mexican War, Stephen Austin, Sam Houston, The Spanish Missions, the events leading up to the statehood of Texas, the Alamo, etc. Perfect timing as we will be visiting the very places where these people lived and the events happened.
Our cats have seen all kinds of wildlife on this trip. They are curious and seem to enjoy looking out at the different animals. When they see another cat, however, it is horrible! They go crazy. Our male cat starts screaming like a demon and goes after his sister kitty, not realizing who she is. She then starts howling like something from a horror movie. The park we are at has a lot of feral cats. Today has been interesting to say the least. I’m wondering if we will get any sleep tonight. Tomorrow, someone will have to be locked in the bathroom while we sight-see!
With all the sickness and crummy weather we’ve had lately, we decided to take a break and visit the city of Waco, Texas.
The drive to Waco was really quite beautiful. For much of the trip, trees that still had not lost their leaves lined both sides of the road. The leaves were a kind of orange/pink/yellowish color. It was very welcome against the tan colored brush and the gray skies.
Our first stop was the Dr. Pepper Museum. I’m not a huge fan of soda but I have to admit that while it was a bit overpriced, it was interesting. The girls laughed at the tabs that were once used to open pop cans but laughed even harder when they found out that Barry and I remembered using them. They also loved the advertising posters that were from the 80s. All I cold say was, “Yes, I used to dress just like that!” Eva got a bit confused when Barry told her that Dr. Pepper was a fountain drink. She thought there was a bubbler (drinking fountain for those of you not from Wisconsin) somewhere in the museum with soda instead of water! Before we left, we stopped by the real Soda Fountain for small Dr. Pepper floats. We wondered if Dr. Pepper from a fountain would taste different than it does from a can. It does!
Next, we went to the Waco Mammoth Site where the bones of several Columbian Mammoths have been found. Some bones have been taken to Baylor University to be studied and preserved but many are left exposed at the excavation site for visitors to see. Our guide was very knowledgeable and patiently answered the many questions we had. The terrain around the site is very interesting. Thankfully, she pointed out a lot of things to us that we would have missed. We really enjoyed this stop! It was the perfect compliment to the time we spent at Dinosaur Valley State Park about a week ago and to the paleontology badge Eva is working on through the National Parks Service. The site is currently pending approval to become a National Monument.
We drove by Baylor University and were very impressed by it’s beautiful, well kept campus. We all agreed that it is one of the most beautiful college campuses that we’ve ever seen. If it had been a nicer day, we may have walked around a bit.
Barry and I well remember all the media coverage of the Waco Massacre (The Branch Davidians, David Koresh) that took place nearly 20 years ago. He found the coordinates somewhere on Google so we drove by the site. There isn’t much there but it sparked enough curiosity amongst us that I turned on the computer and read some articles aloud on the way back to our campground.
It was certainly a very diverse day as we covered different time periods and very different aspects of history. We learned a lot, got away from the camper, saw more of beautiful Texas, and even got in a full day of school when we returned home.