Louisiana fun

We slept poorly again but weren’t up as early as I planned.  We finished off some of the breakfast items, Evelyn finished covering all the drains with Saran, I turned off the water and electricity and set off 3 insect bombs before we left at 8:30.  Since we were staying at a Comfort Inn about 20 miles closer than usual, I thought it would not make a lot of difference.  It didn’t.  We arrived in Winnie, TX around 4.  We had no trouble and made good time.  Even though we had decided we wouldn’t, we ended up eating at Al T’s. a Cajun restaurant that serves a big Cajun platter that we had eaten before.  It was about twice as much as we should have eaten.  We keep talking about losing weight but can’t seem to stick to any viable plan.  This different motel was outstanding.  We may have to begin using this level of Choice Hotels in the future.  I know for sure we will stay at this one if we come back next spring.  We went to bed early.

We were up at a normal time but were in no hurry.  It is a short trip to Lafayette.  In fact yesterday may have been the longest day or driving on the return trip.  It was such a short day that we took a trip from exit 20 down through a natural wildlife reserve to almost the Gulf.  The landscape was made of marshes and ponds that attracts the migrating birds.  We found a small restaurant in a town called Creole for lunch.  I had gumbo that was the strangest I have had.  It had no discernable roux, the major ingredient in gumbo.  That is what gives it the burned flavor that distinguishes it from chicken/sausage soup.  The flavor was good but not gumbo.  We returned to near the Interstate, but I made a wrong turn and drove on another back road.  The soil is as rich as that in the Valley, and the farms looked very productive.  The return to Interstate 10 was disastrous.  When we were around 20 miles from our exit, we hit a traffic jam that must have been caused by an accident although we never learned what it was.  We had planned to rest before going to the international festival, but used the extra time in transit.  We stayed in our usual Sleep Inn in Scott, LA and drove from there to downtown Lafayette.  The evening was quite temperate, and the festival was crowded.  Evelyn doesn’t enjoy walking around in large crowds and drinking beer.  We did make our way to both of the band stages where most people gather.  After about 3 hours, she decided we should leave.  I had a good time.  The beer had to be paid for with purchased tickets, and I had bought $10 worth.  I only used $5 because beer was only a reasonable $2.50 per can.  We had planned to return tomorrow afternoon and planned to use the remainder then.  We watched several episodes of Duck Dynasty before going to sleep.  The TV picture was green.  I will report it tomorrow.

We slept poorly again and didn’t rise early.  Evelyn was especially tired, so I brought her breakfast in bed.  Actually, few can eat in bed, but I did bring it to the room for her.  In both motels this trip I had fresh scrambled eggs and sausage of some kind.  When we left I had some errands to accomplish.  First I wanted to go to a junk yard and get a scissors jack.  I finally found a junk yard and was sent into the area to find my own jack.  I have never walked in such trenches made by huge front loaders.  I am surprised I didn’t sprain an ankle.  I tried many trunks but couldn’t open many of them.  Finally I found one and bought it for $10.  I need it to lift the trailer so I can connect it to the ball hitch.  We drove farther than needed to a CVS pharmacy to get some items Evelyn needed.  I had a coupon for 25% off.  We finally found one and bought the items.  It was almost noon and noticed a Popeye’s Chicken across the street.  We had brought coupons from Texas and thought they were nationally accepted.  They weren’t.  The manager was very gracious and accepted them anyway.  We like Popeye’s chicken.  We went to the Piccadilly cafeteria to get a gift card for Simon and put it into the box containing the costume he had loaned me last spring.  Since he has decided he wants to never see me, I took it to his house and put the box on his car.  We drove away and never saw him.  I pray he reads the notes I put into the box and enjoys the etouffee he usually ate when we met for lunch.  It is getting late and the drive tomorrow may be long, so I will finish the record of the day tomorrow evening in Meridian, MS.