Flooding and Detour

We had planned on driving east on I-10 out of Houston and heading toward New Orleans. But due to all the rain, I-10 was closed at the bridge over the Sabine River.  According to the Department of Transportation, the recommended detour involved going northeast to I-20 and Shreveport Louisiana, then back south. This would have been over 300 miles out of our way.

Craig did some homework the night before our departure and found a route that only took us out of our way by about 160 miles.  

The land was flooded as far as we could see. This was not even a major river crossing.

Knowing that our next park reservation was farther than we usually drive in one day, I left one night unplanned. I wasn't sure, with having to get through Houston traffic, how far we would get. For just an overnight, I like to check availability as we drive. I usually can find a Passport America park along our route.

Many of the trees are budding and showing lots of little leaves. Others, like these are still bare. 

It was a good thing we were open, because although we went over 350 miles on the first day, we did not get all the way back to our planned route. I found a small commercial park just outside of Baton Rouge.

We noticed this herd of cows standing in the middle of a flooded field and wondered why they didn't go to the higher grassy area that was within their fenced pasture. We saw several groups like this. As far as I could tell there was no feed station where they were. 

A friendly tree.

Even though our stop at Fountainbleau State Park was only for two days, we were glad to see the RV area was not flooded, and the big old trees gave us a sheltered feel.

I bet this tree would have some good stories if it could speak.

We stopped here two years ago on our way back to California from Florida. It is across Lake Pontchartrain from New Orleans.

Our reason for a visit to New Orleans, this time, was to eat at Cochon Butcher, another of the restaurants on Craig's Yelp Top 100 list. 




Although it gets rave reviews, I found the food to be too salty and too greasy for my taste. But it was one of those places we wanted to experience. Most are unique and wonderful. This one was not.

[From Craig] One of the neat things about full-timing is you can treat a place like New Orleans as a cornucopia of things to do and places to go, or you can stop for a single restaurant if you want to.

Monday dawned cool, crisp, and sunny. A beautiful day to drive. For us, the destinations are important, but the travel between is the adventure. 

We are so lucky.  Life is good.

Fontainebleau State Park and WWII Museum

We arrived at Fontainebleau State Park a little after 3 PM on Tuesday  It was only 206 miles, and the roads were smooth and the traffic light.








Because our time here will be short, we decided to take a walk after we got here to explore a bit of the park before dinner.

We thought we had seen some very big live oak trees in Georgia and Florida. But the trees at Fontainebleau were even bigger.

Notice how tiny Craig is just to the right of this giant.

In California there has been an epidemic of Sudden Oak Death Syndrome since the 1990s that has killed many of the Live Oaks in the state.   I really hope it never infects the oaks in the American South. These huge trees are a national treasure.

Fontainebleau State Park is on the northeast shore of Lake Pontchartrain.  I remember when the levees failed during Hurricane Katrina in 2005. I knew it was a big lake, but I didn't realize just how big it really is. According to the internet it is 40 miles long and 25 miles wide.

No wonder it destroyed a lot of homes when it flooded sections of New Orleans.

The late afternoon light was very interesting, so I made a companion image our new header. 

There was enough daylight left to take a short walk on a couple of connecting trails along the lake. One was called the Alligator Marsh trail, but it was too chilly out for any alligators to be out of their watery homes. Craig was glad because it was getting dark and he didn't want to step on one by accident.

We drove the 24 mile causeway across the lake to New Orleans on Wednesday with a plan to visit the WWII Museum and take in a couple of evening Mardi Gras parades that were going to be held near the Museum. Although the parking fee was high, $20, we were able to do both without moving the car.

If you are an American History buff, this museum is a must-see. I rather like one subject museums such as this because they can go into depth in a way a multi-subject museum cannot.

To be honest, we did not take many pictures that were suitable for a blog. 

But this one shows an exhibit I found interesting if not a bit disturbing in its somewhat distorted attitude.

Each of the lines in the three cases was a line of little soldiers.

This is a closeup. Each of the toy soldiers represented 1000 troops. As you can see in the top image, the US armed forces were vastly outnumbered by both the Japanese and by the Germans, much less by their combined numbers.

What I found disturbing is the failure to show the English, the Australian, Canadians, and the other countries that participated. I suppose this is the US WWII museum, and these other forces were included in other exhibits, but this made me feel like we stood alone, which of course we did not.

Because we got a bit of a late start, we did not have time to go through all of the museum.  

I can't help wondering if in fifty years there will be a similar museum detailing the wars in the Middle East. 

Hopefully it will show a peaceful resolution and we will see the Muslims as people and the radicals as the evil enemy, just as we now see the Germans as people and the Nazis as the devil's henchmen. 

I hate to include these thoughts in a cheerful travel blog, but personally I think it might be time to send our young men and women to fight and die. The radical Islamic movement will not go away and will not stop its terror, any more than Hitler would have stopped on his own.  

But we cannot, should not, and will not do it alone. It may be a regional problem, but it will take the countries of world to solve it.

They Came! They came!

Yes!  The county came and trimmed the trees. 

YEAH!

Music to my ears.

The deer at the end were a few locals seen along the road as I went home.

 I have booked a space at the Moss Landing KOA for Friday and Saturday nights.  It is nearby and my friend Levonne and her husband are there.  

It Doesn't Take Much ...

To make me happy.  


I've been checking the Alfa very careful every day and I haven't found any new mouse signs. The traps and bait remain untouched.


Happy Happy, 
but I am not letting down my guard.


With mice in mind, I have been thinking about being extra clean and careful with food and snacks in the Alfa.  (I am not known for being a great housekeeper, but this is a new challenge and I want to do it right.)


One appliance I have been concerned about is the toaster.  We make toast several times a week, and I will be keeping the toaster in the kitchen cupboard.  


In the house I keep it on the counter and I notice that there are often crumbs around it. I have always just wiped them up as part of the cleaning the kitchen. 

Then I had an idea.  Put a tray under the toaster to catch the crumbs.  I could wipe it out after each use, keeping the counter and cupboard crumb free.


 But to find the perfect tray?  

"Flash of genius..." The lid of one of those cheep plastic shoeboxes makes a perfect tray.  I'm going to use it in the house so I will develop the habit of wiping it out after each toaster use.  

I had a second wonderful discovery this afternoon.  
I went to the World Market store looking for a narrow basket.  I found an inexpensive basket, AND I found a set of two 8" pizza stones.


My medium size pizza stone does not fit into the RV oven, but If set these on the bias they will both fit into the oven at once, or since I have a double shelf for the convection microwave  could use them both in it.  


We really like to make homemade pizza.  I have a number of great recipes including one with caramelized onions with walnuts and balsamic vinegar, and one with only feta cheese and dill weed. 


Pizza is always better when made on a stone and now I will be able to do it in the Alfa. Now I have to find a miniature pizza peel!

Something that did not make me happy.  On Friday the guys from the county were seen on Hutchinson Road. They came, they looked, they did not trim any trees, they left.  Craig called the supervisor this morning and couldn't get thru again.

ERRG!

Good News, Bad News, Good News

Good news:  There was no mouse activity lat night.  Traps undisturbed.  Bait untouched.  No black bits anywhere.


Bad News: We had our first good rain Monday night.  We had the slides closed.  Since it was going to rain again last night, Craig wanted to sleep up in the Alfa.  When we went up and put out the slides we discovered the rug was wet behind the pilot seat and about three feet along the edge of the slide.  There were no wet spots on the ceiling.  There is a little wet on one of the walls were the water seems to be wicking up from the floor wall joint.  


It rained very heavy last night.  The wet area did not get bigger or wetter, so we think it only leaked when the slide was closed. 


Good News:  I've gotten one good answer from BearII on the RV Dreamers forum as to how we can fix it.  Seems his Alfa fiver had the same problem.


Good News: The furnace works in the Alfa.


Good News:  The County says it will trim the trees on Hutchinson Road.  When?  Maybe next week!  I'll keep my fingers crossed on both the trees and the leak.


Sleeping in the Alfa during a rainstorm was quite interesting to say the least.  There was very little wind, no thunder, but we got over an inch of downpour.


I told Craig a tree might fall on us in the night, and then our daughter or son would have to update my blog with "Merikay dies in Alfa and she never got out of the driveway!"  

New Bear

Not everything is about the Alfa.

I have continued working on my animal sculptures, and last week finished a new design.  I have always made bears, but was never quite satisfied with the design.

I think on this one I'm coming closer to what I want.


I still see a couple of modifications I will make in the next one, but for now I think of him as my "Better Bear."


I think he looks just a little bit worried and not as happy as I would like him to be.


My goal is to create a trophy head that will satisfy an adult, but also say "I'm not real and I'm not dead."


Tree trimming news: Craig has been playing telephone tag with our contact at the county.  We are now getting the message that he will be out of the office until next week.  Craig has emailed our Supervisor.  I can see how tree trimming can be a low priority these days with money being so tight, but the process has been frustrating.  I wish Craig would consider an off-site parking location.  


Have a good weekend everyone!  We will be working around the house.

No noodles

Although I  located some noodles at another Dollar store, I decided not to buy them. Having read the comments from those of you who are more experienced and wise, it seemed I could come up with something else.


What prompted the idea of getting them in the first place, was the fact that if we ever do get to go anywhere, the first half mile of our travel will be  up a  steep grade.  From my experience driving up this bit of road with a fully loaded van on my way to art shows, I know EVERYTHING will shift no mater how it is packed.


I also know that we will not be filling up the cabinets of the Alfa.  At least not until we are fulltimers.  

I'm thinking in particular about the three large cabinets in the "living room" area.  They are very big and very deep. I don't have any bins for these yet.

I have  bought a COSTCO package of paper towels that I thought I might use along the back.  I can always use the paper towels and they don't weigh much.


For now I haven't decided what I want to put in there, so packing it is theoretical at the best.

What got me to thinking about using the swim noodles as filler was the "attic" mentioned in the reviews of the Alfa line. 


The top edge of the valance on the large slide is open,  creating a long, deep, narrow space.  It is said to be a great place to store  fishing rods or other long thin items.


I thought it would be a place to store some noodles.  


Yesterday I set out for the Dollar Store in  San Jose, but as I was driving I decided on  another solution.  I know some RVers use  bubble wrap to keep things in place.  I use it all of the time for shipping my sculptures, and usually get it for free from friends or by raiding dumpsters behind retail stores.  I never buy boxes.


I did the other errands on my list and went back home.  I took a good size roll of bubble wrap up to the Alfa and cut it up into sections.   I rolled them to about the diameter of a noodle and stowed them in the valance.  


Someday when I'm packing I will have the bubble wrap available to use.  If not, I can always retrieve it and use it to pack a sculpture.


Right now, I just wish I could be packing for a short trip.  I have only taken a few things up to the Alfa. Most things that we will need are things I use every day at the house, and I don't want to start doubling "stuff."  I have also bought a few things for her.


Craig has been in contact with the county.  As of today he is playing tag with his contact and the word is they are still looking at the problem. ....  ERG!

Alfa is Trapped

Several people have asked when and were we will be taking our first trip.  For now, until the trees on a 1/4 mile distance on a road we cannot avoid are trimmed we are staying put.

It is a County Road and we have contacted the proper department to request a trimming.  The big problem is that this 1/4 mile stretch is isolated from other county roads by a section of state highway and several private roads.

I have heard complaints from drivers of "box trucks" about these trees, but I never understood the problem.

This overhang comes from both sides.  It s particularly "evil" because it contains several large downward pointing branches that have been broken off by other vehicles.


There is no other road we can take in or out of our property.  Craig was quite shook by it coming in, and says he WILL NOT drive back out until the tree work is done.  We have already spent a few thousand on tree work on our land, I hate to spend any on a public road.