Worse driving day ever!!

Hi
Yesterday we left Grand Isle. It was raining early, heavy rain. And lightning. And thunder. We put the dish down, just in case and were checking weather on the phones. Than we notice one of our roof vents leaking. Oh, crap! I took off the trim piece and we put towels on the floor. Than discover the roof vent in the bedroom was also leaking. Nothing we can do to fix the problem until the roof dries off and that ain't happenin' for a while.
The radar showed it clearing off for a short while about noon. We quicky hooked up and left. Lots of flooding in the campground.

Shortly after leaving Grand Isle it started raining again, very heavy. by now we were on the narrow two lane with water on both sides, so no stopping. We keep going....no other choice.

Now it starts really coming down, again, with strong winds and HAIL.....found a wide spot and pulled over and kept watching the mirror hoping we would not get rear ended....

That finally lets up and we move on again. It does stop for a short time and we stop at an rv dealer to see if they can send someone onto the roof to recalk the vents. They say no, can't help you. So we keep going.

Some where around Thibodoux, LA we see this really really huge flash of lightning....and a big thunderboomer. We were passing a small truck stop and pulled in. Parked so we were facing the wind and than it really started coming down!!!!! At times the wind and rain were so strong that we could not see the hood of the truck out of the front window....now that is rain.

We found out this morning on the weather channel that they had 4.4 inches of rain yesterday in that area.

Finally it lets up and we decide to move on as it is early and we do not want to sit in this parking lot all night. We get on the highway and there is water everywhere, and a police car blocking the highway!  Road closed!

So now we are draging this 37 foot trailer thru narrow streets in residential areas....oh, yea, lots of fun here. And the roads are full of cars trying to get around the flooded streets as well. We finally get on another highway and after checking the map, we are ok. It is a different way to get to Baton Rouge.

The rain does not let up. We finally see a sign for "rv resort and casino". Of course I miss the turn and have to go down the road and find a place to turn around. This "resort" is all mud. We try to pull into an open site and the trailer starts to sink in the mud.....time to move on.

Just south of Baton Rouge, (we are now on I-10) we see a sign for a campground. So we drive a couple of miles of the road and it is a mobile home/rv park....and it is flooded and muddy....no thank you...we have been thru this already. And continue on.

By now the rain has finally stopped and we survive the drive thru Baton Rouge at rush hour and head north. Still looking for a campground while we are driving. And driving, and driving.

Finally, after 254 miles in 8 1/2 hours we arrive at Natchez, MS. Across the Mississippi river bridge is River View campground back in LA. We pulled in and will spend two nights.
The worse driving day ever.
Hope you have a wonderful day
Love to all of ya
Jim and Linda
PS here are a couple pix of the rigs on the gulf

Grand Isle state park, LA

Hi
We decided to stay 4 nights at the park. It is a short walk over a dune to the beach and Linda has gone down a couple of times to sit and read. I went down once just to see the gulf of Mexico. It has been a very relaxing quiet 4 days and we will leave tomorrow morning for Natchez, MS.

The down side is the "no see em's".....they have eaten me up again.....my arms and legs are full of irritating bites. You do not know that you were bitten until they swell up, turn red and start itching.....damn do they itch!

We had been keeping the windows open as there has been a wonderful breeze, but last night shut all the windows and turned on the air to try and cut down on the no see em's. They are so small they can come in thru the screeens!

We did take a drive yesterday around the island and several miles to another island that is mostly support for  the oil wells out in the gulf. Every morning and afternoon the helicopters start flying back and forth to, we think, relieve the crews on the rigs.

We did some laundry today at the free laundry at the campground. Very nice laundry with two washers and dryers. The restrooms are very nice also.

About a 250 mile drive tomorrow, back up thru the swamp and back waters. We will stay at a campground on the river and should be able to see the barges going up and down.
Take care and have a great day
Love to all of ya
Jim and Linda

Betty's RV park

Hi
After an easy two day drive we got to Betty's rv park in Abbeville, LA early in the afternoon on Wednesday May 1st. The park is only about half full and we had a very nice visit with Betty before we even got the trailer unhooked.
Happy hour starts about 4:30 and there were about 10 people there for it. A great time, and nice to meet some new friends.
The last time we were here, for Mardi Gras two years ago, I made Betty two small benches out of cypress and cedar wood. She has accumulated some more wood and we talked about building three new benches. I got them finished on Sunday. Betty will put a clear finish on the seats and stain the wood on the legs and base.

On saturday we went to the "crawfish festival" in beau Bridge. It took us quite a while to get off of the interstate and into a parking lot. And by the time we got parked it was a very long walk to pay and get into the festival. As is typical of any festival they had vendors set up selling all kinds of stuff, mostly with a local flavor. Some food vendors selling, what else, crawfish dishes. We tried one and I did not like it at all, but Linda did. I ordered red beans and rice and it was ok, but not the best I have ever had.

On Saturday Betty talked to everyone who was staying and asked if they wanted to get some boiled crawfish for dinner. Everyone was very excited about that, except Linda and I who have never had boiled crawfish. But....we were brave and ordered 3 pounds....everyone else ordered 6 pounds. Betty made some chicken and sausage gumbo and some jambalaya for just in case....and it was very good.

Linda and I dumped some of the crawfish onto our platters and learned how to eat them. First you have to push in and twist to break off the tail, than break off the end of the tail, than break the rest of the tail and get out the meat. It is a lot of work for a small amout of meat. They look just like a lobster. but much, much smaller.

After about two of them Linda decided that enough is enough and did not have any more. I lasted a little bit longer eating about half a dozen. We gave the rest away. Now, at least , we can say we did try them.....and never again!

We had a great visit with Betty and new friends and left on Monday the 6th for "Grand Isle state park in LA. About a 170 mile drive, the last 30 or so over mostly water. We paid for two nights, but might stay for one or two more.

Have a great day
Love to all of ya
Jim and Linda