Poches RV Park

Poches RV park is in Louisiana and in the middle of nowhere. Once we got there it was beautiful. We parked the camper right next to the water. Bass, Crappie, and catfish are plentiful. The next morning we used the park shower facilities, had breakfast and headed out for our next stop Pasadena Texas. Roxanne grew up there and is anxious to see her old neighborhood.

On the way home we visit a mansion in Louisiana

While traveling through Louisiana we stopped by Houmas House plantation. We spent a few hours touring the plantation and then had a nice lunch. Red beans and rice. The first picture is one of many nice homes in the area. Next stop is Poches RV park for the evening.

Mt. Olive Mississippi

1. Mississippi spider about 3" across HUGE! (Golden Silk Orb Weaver)
2. John Brewer, Jim's dad
3. John Brewers Cabin. Solar Powered, ALL the comforts yet very remote.
4. Gracie 5 yrs Jason & Crystals oldest daughter
5. Eli 11 mos Jason & Crystal's youngest son
6. Kinsey 3 yrs Jason and Crystal's middle daughter
7. Scott Stephanie's husband
8. Stephanie with daughter Nat 1 yr 10 mos Scott's 2 favorite girls
9. Just me
10. Roxy
11. Uncle Walt
12. Aunt Kay
13. From Left to right Nancy, Cathy, & Peggy. Aunt Kay & Uncle Walt's Daughters
14. Nancy's husband David

Well, We’ve been here since the 10th of September. It’s now the 28th of September. I’m learning the art of R-E-L-A-X-I-N-G. I have slowed my breathing, unfocused my gaze on the horizon, and am noticing the fire ants at my feet! Mississippi has a lot of bugs. They have red bugs, (chiggers) and ticks, huge spiders, and mosquitoes, and love bugs. You need to wash your car often cause if you don’t the bugs will devolve the paint on your car.
Like my eye opening lessons of Europe, I am learning that my belief that everyone East of the Grand Canyon was a Hick. Wrong answer! Everyone on this side of the Canyon has a Wal-Mart in their hometown with the same stuff as Susanville & Reno. Some folks around here think Wal-Mart is tacky, low quality, and downright un-American albeit a handy necessary evil that will do in a pinch. Buy American, buy quality, and you won’t be sorry. Definitely in the Bible belt, folks are very politically opinionated and if you ain’t for McCain you ain’t shee-it. They all have dish TV and they watch QVC. They all have solar doo-dads stuck in the ground bordering the flowerbed just like Milford. The significant difference is that they all tawk funny. They say Y’all a lot BUT these folks know how to eat. Catfish, turnip greens, red beans & rice with Tobasco Sauce, boiled peanuts, and Seafood Gumbo. My taste buds are confused. Cousin Jim thinks that in a crowd my physical presence is lacking, and I require something…….. to make me stand out a little more. The solution is a Fedora hat. Taking into consideration my height, weight, shape of my face, and skin tone the proper hat has been selected, purchased, and shipped from the Akubra hat store in Australia Http://www.hatsdirect.com . The style will be a fur felt federation four. The color is dark brown the size is 57. There is no guarantee that I will become Dashing, or Suave, however I will become a new member of a growing number of men in the U.S. that believe a good looking, quality hat beats a baseball cap any day, anywhere. My new hat should arrive in approximately 9 days.
Moving on. Roxanne has been living up to her reputation and has been baking non-stop. Food I take for granted is appreciated by the locals, and relatives are driving from great distance just to get a taste. Here I thought they wanted to visit with me. Actually we are having a great visit. An interesting part of our visit is that the younger crowd has their own kids and they are ALL precious. It’s kind of like a grand kid fix. That’s the one down side of being on the road. We miss our grand kids so much. We have a picture of Megan, Hunter, Gage & Gracyn next to our bed at Aunt Kay and Uncle Walt’s.
We have wireless DSL Internet (Thanks Chrissy) so we check our email daily. Chrissy, Aunt Kay & Uncle Walt's neighbor offered wireless internet access when we first arrived. Just another example of how friendly folks in Mississippi are. Actually Chrissy is John Brewers Granddaughter.
Sometime next week we are going to the Coast. When there we will go to a Casino. Another item on the agenda is for Uncle Walt, who is retired from the Air Force to take us to the Base Exchange. Known as the BX. It is a store that has everything and the prices are supposed to be really great.
It's Sunday October 12th and we leave Mississippi tomorrow. We're anxious to head towards home but sad to leave family. Today will be spent visiting, loading up, and making plans to get together as soon as possible. Roxanne was trying to get Aunt Kay and Uncle Walt to commit to an Alaskan cruise next July. At first they said OK. Aunt Kay started having second thoughts of sea sickness, walking long distances, and recent gallbladder surgery affecting her eating habits. Roxanne will continue to encourage Kay to go. We'll just have to wait and see.
Next stop......... The Alamo

Vicksburg Mississippi

The 444-mile Natchez Trace Parkway commemorates an ancient trail that connected southern portions of the Mississippi River, through Alabama, to salt licks in today's central Tennessee. Today, visitors can experience this National Scenic Byway and All-American Road through driving, hiking, biking, horseback riding, and camping. Next stop Mt. Olive, Mississippi.

Transylvania

Maddy the fruit bat was really at home here. Roxanne says I look grumpy. I think I'm a real happy guy! Next stop Vicksburg.

Leaving Little Rock we went by Lake Providence Lauisiana

Hurricane Gustauv caused a levee to fail and Lake Providence filled beyond capacity. Many homes near the waters edge were flooded and folks had to evacuate.

Ducks at the Peabody Hotel

Well I pulled into the Valet Parking at the Peabody Hotel in Little Rock with 5 minutes to spare. The Valet let us park out front seeing as how we were only going to be inside for 10 to 15 minutes watching the ducks. I feel better now. We are back on schedule with no schedule except to beat hurricane IKE to Mississippi. We almost bought the T-shirt cept they didn't have a 2-X. Hope you enjoyed the ducks as much as we did. Off to Mississippi. Here we go.

We are in Mena Arkansas

We left Betty & Berry in Stillwater Oklahoma for Mena Arkansas to see Roxanne’s Cousin Bruce Strong and his wife Gloria.
Bruce has been raising a steer for Berry. Betty & Berry decided to follow us to Mena Arkansas to see the progress on their investment. Seems the steer is on track with weight but has short legs. I haven’t decided exactly what that means but everybody seems a little concerned. After visiting Saturday and part of the day Sunday, Betty & Berry left for home with a five-hour drive ahead of them. UPDATE: On their way home Betty came back into cell range and had a message to call the nursing home where her dad was staying. Upon returning the call Betty was notified that her Dad, Albert Fischer had passed away. Our condolences and prayers are with Betty and Berry during this sad and difficult time.

Bruce has a pond about 75 feet from the house. The pond has Bass, Crappy, Bluegill, and turtles. There is also a creek behind the house. I took some time and panned for gold. I also set up a sluice box. The creek gave up NO gold.
We had a Bar-B-Q Sunday afternoon with Bruce, Gloria and neighbors Van & Lee and their three children. The storm Gustav arrived about 7:30 PM in Mena and our Bar-B-Q was cut short. We all went inside. We had a really nice visit with everyone Sunday Evening.
It’s now Monday morning about 10:00 AM and the rain has not stopped and is expected to go on till next Saturday. So far it’s been a gentle rain but it’s becoming a downpour.
We have 3 more storms headed our way. The news says they are Hanna with 70-MPH winds, IKE with 60-MPH winds, and Josephine with 40 MPH winds. All this means we are a little hesitant to leave Arkansas and go 10 hours closer toward the Storms as they hit the Gulf Coast.
We decided to leave and arrive in Mississippi before the storm arrived. The thinking is we will be able to get fuel food and roadside help before the storm hits and once it hits we could run into problems like no power at gas stations to pump fuel and we could be stranded. So....... We're on the road again. First we are going to stop at the Peabody Hotel in little Rock Arkansas to see the ducks walk the red carpet. The whole show takes 15 minutes and it's on the way to Mississippi so we'll waste a little fuel to see a duck?? See you in Mississippi.
Quick rundown on the pictures here in Arkansas.
UPDATE: UPDATE: UPDATE:
I started the truck and while it was warming up Roxanne and I went to say our goodbyes and get hugs. Maddy in the truck was at the window and stepped on the door lock button. It was raining, the truck was running, Roxannes keys were in her purse locked in the truck. The delay is going to cause to miss the @$#@$#%@ DUCKS and it's ALL MY FAULT! (somehow) So there we were trying to call the dog to the window to step on the UNLOCK button. Wasn't happening? I went to call the auto club to break in. The order was placed and I saw Roxanne running towards the house with a big grin. Seems that Maddy had stepped on the passenger window down. Roxanne opened the door and we canceled the auto club dispatch. We lost a half hour. If I drive fast we might see the ducks. The road trip is getting a little tense. 37 years of marriage is in the balance. If I make it in time we may last another week!
0. Country life in Mena Arkansas from a chickens perspective.
1. Velma Strong. Wife of Roy Strong (Bruce's Dad)Lives on property with Bruce and Gloria.
2. Maggie Little Rat Terrier Gloria's dog
3. Jake and Sadie Bruce's dogs
4. Roxanne keeping in touch with family back home.
5. Fish for dinner
6. Me with fish for dinner.
7. Train Station Mena Arkansas
8. Bruce shows Roxanne Little Mo Falls
9. 10. 11. More pics of little Mo Falls
12. Roxanne doing what shey enjoys most, cooking for family.
13. Bruce enjoys a little TV
14. Pigs Porkchop and Hambone wait to be fed.
15. Bruce's pond about 75 feet from the back door of our camper.
16. Our camper with pond in background.
17. Bruce and Gloria's home.