Canyon Lake, TX t o Theodore, AL

Canyon Lake to Kinder, LA
Got on the road about 9:30. Took us about 45 minutes to get to I10 and then it was just heading east for the next six hours. Our stop for the night will be in Kinder, Louisiana which is near Lake Charles. This will be a long day for us - over six hours driving - but, we would rather the first day be long and have it easier the second day.

We rolled along easily until we hit Louisiana,. The first 20 miles of LA was rough - lots of road work. We wondered if it was due to the hurricanes. Whatever the cause, it was lousy, the kind of road where you are going babump, babump, babump. Really gets on your nerves. And, we kept hoping all was well in the RV! At the 20 mile marker the road smoothed out. Unfortunately, about five miles later, we were back to babump, babump, babump! It really gets on your nerves after awhile, too.

After a couple of traffic jams and construction tie-ups, we got to our night’s stop - Quiet Oaks RV Resort in Fenton, LA. Well, that was an adventure in itself! The word “resort” is very loosely used, too. We think most of the sites are taken with FEMA trailers for those displaced during Hurricane Rita. The site we were given was on a beach! Not really, but the amount of sand on the sites made it seem like a beach. And the sites were so close, it took Randy close to 30 minutes to maneuver into the site. And that was with someone from the campground guiding him in!!! Needless to say, we will not be staying here again.

Once I was able to get into the RV to survey any damage done during our bumpy ride, I was pleased to see that only the blade was snapped off of the ceiling fan. That is usual anymore - Randy has replaced a bracket on one of the ceiling blades on almost every trip. We cannot figure out how the brackets snap off, but are grateful that it’s only the bracket and not the blade itself.

We settled down around 6:30 and got something to eat. Thankfully, we were able to get ABC & NBC on the TV, so we were able to watch Lost and Law & Order. All is right with the world. AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!

Kinder, LA to Theodore, AL
Got a very early (for us) start to the day. We hit the road about 7:45am. Didn’t plan it that way, we just woke up early and decided to get started. Took advantage of the early start and treated ourselves to breakfast at, - can you guess??? - I’m sure you can - yep! Cracker Barrel!!! We have now crossed off another CB, this one in Lafayette, Louisiana.

After our bellies were full, we got back on the road. It proved to be a fairly easy drive. The road was much better - asphalt instead the bumpety-bump concrete. Very easy traveling. We were on a very long bridge while we crossed the Henderson Swamp. Got a couple of pictures of it. Was very weird to see trees just growing up out of the water. Didn’t look like a swamp to me - more like a river. But, what do I know? It’s Louisiana!

We didn’t see much hurricane damage in Louisiana. Our journey took us north of that area via I20. Once we got back on I10 and into Mississippi, however, we could see lots of tree damage. We still weren’t right on the Gulf, but all along the highway there were trees down and/or split in high and bent. Lots of highway signs were down and splintered along the roadside. I’m surprised they haven’t been fixed. I’m assuming this is from the hurricane, but I guess it might not be. All of the state park signs have “Closed” signs across them. Can’t imagine what the Gulf region looks like.

Our trip ended without complication around 2:40pm. We got to Payne’s RV Park in Theodore, Alabama. It’s a nice park - family-owned. We’ll be here until Monday, then on to Summerdale, AL which is about 40 miles from here. We’ll be at another Escapees Park, Rainbow Plantation for about a week or so. We’ve just about hit our fuel budget for the month already, so we’re gonna stay put for awhile.

Don’t look for much on the blog this weekend. We’re going to veg with Dan & Debbie, so not sure there will be anything exciting to report. But, I guess you never know . . .