Movin' On to Slidell, LA

Tuesday, March 16, I woke up at 7:00 on a board, behind the bikes. The digital picture frame is not on, not even unpacked. I get it out with the heater and figure out it is still on daylight savings time. It's always something. I stare at it and drink my coffee. Bob get up. We stretch, clean up yesterday's dishes, have a light breakfast, pack up and leave by 10:10 a.m.

We travel 175 miles east on I-10 through Lafayette and Baton Rouge to I-12. The rest area/travel center they promised is not at Mandeville so we have no break. We finally stop after that about 30 miles from our final destination at a Chevron. We use our own restroom as we are in a 15-minute zone and some guy is hogging the only diesel pump. We get back on the Interstate and eat our leftover muffalata sandwiches on the road.

It is weird to pass all of the little RV Parks and towns we stayed in with the Casita. It seems like another lifetime ago. At Slidell (we called it Slimedell when we were here back in the 1980's with our St. Louis friends, Jim and Donna, because the water was so smelly--high sulphur content) we took I-10 west four miles to Hwy 433 to our destination today,.New Orleans East Kampground, 56009 Hwy 433, Slidell, LA 70461 (985) 643-3850, St. Tammany Parish.

We pass Pine Creek RV Park on the way and it looks better from out front. A lady in the office, Cathy, leads Bob to site #23 while I sign us in. I'm not sure I like that. We like to do this setting up thing together with the two-way radios. Our site seems to be nestled amidst the worker bees here. They just graded the gravel on the site and she comes over to rake some loose rocks for us. We are set up by 1:50.

I put up the decor, we move the bikes outside and Voila! It seems like home again. Cathy brings over a wooden platform to put in front of our door in case it rains since they just graded the site. We take a short walk. It clouds up after our sunny drive today. The high was 72 degrees after a low of 50 in Egan. It's 3:54 p.m. and 64 degrees with 34% humidity. Bob Googles for Rouse's, an upscale grocery here, on Gause Lane at exit 266. We head up there and find a great store. We'll have to come back as we're too tired to browse. I snapped a picture of this in-store promotion to win a Smart Car. Thought Nan-Marie and Tom would get a kick out of it.

Back home for leftovers. I walk once around the campground for a half of a mile. This is not our most scenic place but we've been in worse (e.g. Ft. Stuckin!) It is a cool 60 degrees at 6:12 p.m.

The Peddlar show, Robstown, TX

Sunday, February 21, I was up at 7:00 to sip coffee, get on-line and work on journal pages. First I send emails to Glenda and Holly regarding my new Great Nephew! Holly's son is named Ethan Edge (his middle name is her maiden name.) At 9:00 I walk with Nan and Roxy. It mists and then gets worse so we only go around once. My hair gets drenched anyway. Back home I clean up so we can leave at 10:00 in The Smart (as they call their Smart Car.) It is my first time to ride in one and I find it very roomy and good for my back. They have 20,000 miles on it in just over a year.

We cross the bridge to Corpus and go north on I-37 to SPID to 44 west to Hwy 77 (in spite of the Garmin wanting us to go another way. We find the Fairgrounds at 77 and 44 but can't find the right building until we drive around back. We arrive at 10:45 so we have a 15 minute wait outside. It is not raining and soon the gates open. We use my coupon to get in 2 for $5.00. First stop of course is the restrooms and then we browse the booths.

There is some great jewelry here. And we try all of the dips, cheese ball mixes, jellies, etc. We get New Canaan Farms Cherry Preserves and Pumpkin Butter. Roasted nuts and Chocolate Amaretto nuts catch our eye so we take a break and get Cokes and munch on popcorn on the bleachers above the crowd. After our break we find a whole other building in the back. So we have another pit stop and take our packages to The Smart and head back in to do the rest of the booths.


Nan gets a unique black fossil medallion, silver blue earrings and a buffalo charm (Oops, perhaps I'm blabbing as Tom will probably read this! But she has already worn two of them as of a week later when I'm posting this.) Everything I buy you can eat; cheese ball mixes, dip mixes and jams. We head back to the car in bright sunshine at 3:15. A guy waiting for his wife in a truck parked next to us says "Everybody that comes by sure takes a look at your little car." Nan says "Yeah, I get that a lot!" Nan is nice enough to stop in Portland so I can hop out and get a newspaper.

We check with the guys about going for Mexican. Everybody's in for 5:00. Bob set all of the clocks to the same time. We are having trouble with our Atomic clock so he's trying to synchronize. He did various other things on his list while we were gone today. It's 4:46 p.m. and 70 degrees. The high was 71 and the low was 59 with 68% humidity. I have a new picture of Ethan from my nephew Travis. What a cute baby boy!

The four of us head to Pepito's where Bob and Tom have the Shrimp Tacos. I have one of my favorites; Cucumber and Cilantro Chicken Enchiladas, Nan has a tasty looking combo. Back at the RV Park Tom joins Bob for beer and the Olympics while Nan and I go for a walk with Roxy. We join them to watch the Men's Ski Cross. I show Nan the jewelry my friend Marilynn made for me. We see the first set of Ice Dancing. US defeats Canada's hockey team. We all call it a night.