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1 to 15 March 2014 16 to 31 March 2014

Sunday March 16, 2014

Rainy morning, but we got our ray of sunshine Gabriel, is on skype with is for a while.

By the afternoon the rain is over and we go to Walmart for some grocery shopping. By the time we got back the rain has come back!

The forecast for tomorrow is sunshine, but cool. A good time to visit the aquarium of Houston.

Monday March 17, 2014

The nights are still on the cool side, a nice +7 C at 8h 45.

We are on our way to Houston to visit the downtown aquarium. Houston is the fourth largest city in the US.
So, you can expect heavy traffic during rush hour, but we are not traveling during rush hour!

Here we are!

The aquarium is divided in different sections that represent the many oceans of our planet.
This represent the swamps of Louisiana.

The marine life around a sunken ship.

I cannot remember ever seen a fish like this one, what a nose!

The El Dorado (Atlantis) under the water!

He is not very good looking!

Marine life in the Gulf of Mexico. The old drilling platform and the new one provide artificial reefs for the fish to hide.
A positive effect of the offshore drilling?

A white tiger of the Maharajah temple.

If we wanted we could have touched the stingrays, but we have touched enough fishy things in our lives so we pass.

The visit is done, we are on our way out.

We are still before lunch so we decide to visit the Houston museum of natural science.
The downtown Houston is relatively free of traffic compare to Montreal and Toronto. Almost deserted!
Police on horseback in the city center!

But we first we have to eat and Wendy's is the place to go today!

At the Houston Museum of Natural Science.

Like all science museum you have permanent exhibit and temporary ones.
This one is the gems stones carving from around the world.
This one is from a human hand and it is done just like a real one!

This Louis XIV chair is sculpted from a solid block of Agate from Brazil, real pretty!

The next exhibit is about petroleum drilling in Texas. It is very interesting and it is presented in a non-controversial way. Nobody gets wound up over it like in Canada!

The next exhibit is the hall of Paleontology.
For the life of me I cannot remember the name of this giant ... thing.

Got to have a mammoth skeleton, can you see the human one?

All about the dinosaurs. Really good.

The hall of African wildlife. We really liked it because it is so well-done, but the photos do not even come close to the reality.

The gems and minerals exhibit.

Got to have a hall for the ancient Egypt.

One of the exhibit is about the Americas before Europeans came to the new world. Notice the details in this shoe.

It was a very busy day and we really enjoyed it, a lot of walking and it is good for us...

Tuesday March 18, 2014

Today's forecast is sunny all day. We decide to go to the Houston zoo.
Some road construction in front of the RV park.

Our visit at the zoo starts with the meerkat.

Mommy and baby!

Here is a roadrunner, he was hard to photograph because he was on the move all the time.

Pretty looking giraffes.

I guess the ostrich was not able to put her head in the sand so she is looking at the wall!
"I can't see you, you can't see me!"

The sun is getting warmer and a lot of animals are taking naps.
Even the king of the jungle is preparing to lay down.

An Ankole-Watusi with his BIG horns.
Of course they are using them to defend themselves, but also to cool themselves. A lot of blood actually travels into the horns.

Even the chimps are taking naps.

Us with the big rhino!

Everyone is taking a nap!

It is getting warmer and I need ice-cream. This ice-cream is special, it is made of small little balls of ice-cream and it does not stick together until it melts. It is ice-cream, just in a different form.

Ahhhh!

We have enjoyed this zoo, but one little flaw, the map is really not to scale and not very good when you try to get somewhere.

Driving back home, we stopped at this big thrift store. Everything is for sale for $0.50 and on Wednesday, 1/2 price, $0.25.
Unbelievable!

Wednesday March 19, 2014

Today we are staying at home and do nothing. What I mean is I go for a bike ride, but before I leave, I found this cute little green frog under the cover for the bikes.

Michele is coming down with a cold, we both hope it will be over quickly!

Thursday March 20, 2014

Our RV park is about 10 minutes from the Boardwalk of Kemah on the Galveston Bay.
We walked around the boardwalk for about 30 minutes. It is all about food and roller coasters.

After that, the day being young, we head to Galveston for a visit.

Galveston is the playground for Texan hundreds of miles around. Beaches, a pier with roller coaster, a little resort town.
It is a nice place.

After a busy day, I decide to check out the inside of the door and see what part I need to fix the broken "holder".
Also to check why it is so hard to open and close.

The red line indicate the missing/broken part. I have to order order one soon!

The inside of the door, including the mechanism has never been cleaned. I get to my rags and cleaning solution and get to work.
I even lubricate the locking mechanism. All is in good working order now except for the broken part.

Michele's cold is getting worse. It is just a normal cold, but on the bad side. She is still smiling even with a slight fever.

Friday March 21, 2014

First thing this morning we get to work and wash the motorhome. It really needs it after the months spent in the dust of Arizona.
The roof is the worst place. Three hours later we are done and now we have a very clean motorhome.

After Arizona, Houston is very humid, between 70 and 95% humidity and warm weather (+25C).

Saturday March 22, 2014

Michele's fever is over, but for her, now the cold sores come out. Poor Michele!

A laided back day, a lot of reading, some internet. I forgot! I also start the preparation for our departure tomorrow morning for Breaux Bridge Louisiana.

Sunday March 23, 2014

Eight thirty in the morning with a +20 and a 98% humidity, it is hot!
We are leaving the Houston area for Louisiana.

The first part of our trip is through the back roads so we don't have to drive in Houston at the tail end of the rush hour.
We got to the I-10 just east of Houston. By usingbackroads I mean roads with four lanes and a part with 6 lanes, WOW!
A cute little house on a street corner.

A few hours later we are in Louisiana.

One of the BIG bridge we had to cross. Right now we are at 30 feet above sea level and at the top we are at 190 feet above sea level, WOW!

We have not seen a billboard like this one in a long time. They are more popular on the east side of the US then the west side of the US.

We wonder what king of agriculture takes place in this field. We think it is rice!

We are now in the "Acadiana" region and the land of the crawfish.

Our home for a week.

I will have photos of the RV park and our site next time...

Monday March 24, 2014

A bird's eye view of the RV park.
Now a visit of the park. The RV park has 5 lakes that are stocked with different species of fish from the local area.
From catfish, bass and a few more species, the lake can be fished without a license if you are a camper.

Here is the first building you see when you come in the RV park.
From left to right, the first two are rental cottages, next is the owner's house and the office.
It does have the look of the south, very clean.

Again from Left to right, the office and the owner's house.

The RV sites are located around one of the lake and at the end you have three cottages for rent. What a place.

Another view of the cottages.

Our street with a lake in front and one behind us.

The rec hall is over the water with a wrap-around porch.

Where is Waldo? Or Denis!

Our site. This has to be one of the most beautiful location we have camped.

I have to try my hand at fishing.

After three casts, I got a bass and it is big enough to keep and eat.

10 minutes later I got my second bass, but it is too small and back to the lake it goes.

After that, it is a dry spell. Nothing, nada! Well I got a branch on the other side so here I am passing my fishing rod around a tree to try to get back my tackle.

What an RV park, I can just imagine in summer time when it is full.

In the afternoon we go into town and check with the information center of Breaux Bridge.
When you are here you almost think you are in "acadie" back in the Canadian maritime. Everything is in French, from the name of the street to the restaurants. The people here are very proud of their roots.

Tuesday March 25, 2014

When I got up the air was still and the fog was coming up from the water.

We have a busy day ahead of us.
Some Spanish moss on the fence.

We are taking highway 31 to go to Avery Island and the Tabasco factory. Highway 31 is a scenic byway and very pretty.

We are getting close!

OK! I think safety is a must, but how many valve do you need to make it safe?

The Tabasco factory, it is the only one in the world!

We are waiting for the tour to begin.

As I said, this is the only place in the world where Tabasco sauce is bottled. They bottle over 700,000 tabasco sauce bottle a day.
The label is printed in 19 different languages. Where ever you are, if you have a bottle of tabasco in front of you, it can from here.

Without getting into all the details, once the pepper is mashed, it is placed in a barrel for three years to ferment. Next, the resulting liquid is mixed with vinegar and stirred for about 30 days. Then, it is filtered and bottled for our enjoyment.

With the visit over, we head to the tabasco store.
We can have a taste of all the product they sell.

After some purchased, we are back on the road to our next visit.
We must be in redneck country, see this trailer on stilts!

After a nice lunch at Burger King, we head to our next stop. The oldest continues running rice mill in America.
The Conrad Rice Mill, Konriko, of New Ibernia, Louisiana.

This mill was built in 1912 and in 1981 was placed on the National Register of Historic Places. This means nothing can be modernized.
It will show people how it was done back in the days.
You can see the whole operation in this photo.

The mill only has 15 employees including the owners and the store staff. The tour was really well done.

We still have time on our hands. I wanted to go and see Lake Peigneur.
I remembered reading about the lake that disappear back in the 80's and it is Lake Peigneur.
We are visiting Jefferson Island and the Rip Van Winkle Gardens.

They have many peafowl in the garden.

This is the oak where Jean Lafitte has buried a treasure under an oak tree! So the legend goes!
Some ground keepers founds the treasures and ... did not share and ran away.

The Jefferson house.
It was purchased by an actor named Joseph Jefferson. I will not get into the details, but if you follow the link you will learn more about him.

Michèle has a southern belle.

This oak tree is over 350 years old.

This one is only 53 years old!

A view from the porch and Michèle waiting for the tour to start.

Like most of those places, you cannot take photos inside.

Now to the lake Peigneur!
I remembered reading an article in the Readers Digest a long time ago about a lake that disappear for a few days.
If you go to the link above you will learn all about the accident. The chimney you see in the water is what is left of a big house that was shucked down into the lake.

We are right in the middle of the crawfish season and this restaurant was strongly recommended to us.
I ended up going alone because Michele has some cold sores and spicy food is not recommended.
The Pont Breaux Cajun Restaurant.

Tonight is the "All You Can Eat" crawfish special. The inside of the restaurant.

First plate!!! You can only eat the tail of the crawfish so there is not a lot of meat after all. It is served with a half corn on the cub, which is boiled with the crawfish and two small potatoes.
After this place, I get half of a plate and I am full. This is good!!

There is nightly music, Cajun music that is, this is the Jay Cormier & Cajun Born band. Super!
It feels more like a house party than a restaurant. I strongly recommended this restaurant.

While I was stuffing my face in crawfish, Michele was taking photos of the sunset.

A very good day, but I wish Michele had been with me at the Restaurant.

Wednesday March 26, 2014

If you remember we did not know what was being grown in the flooded fields.
Well, you will get a course in rice and crawfish farming.

February:
    The fields are flooded.
    Tractor goes through and plows through the water.

March:
    Rice seed dropped by crop duster.

April:
    Crops fertilized by crop duster.

May:
    Seed crawfish is placed into the rice fields
        50% male and 50% female.
        Each female lays between 150-300 eggs.
    These crawfish will be impregnated before they burrow down.

July:
    Water is drained from the fields

August:
    Rice is harvested.

October:
    Fields are flooded.
    Crawfish start coming back up.
    Eggs area under the tail of the female.

November:
    Early crawfish harvest begins.
    These are generally larger, tougher crawfish because these are the seed crawfish from the previous season.

February - March:
    Second crop of crawfish - babies of the seed crawfish.
    These are generally smaller, but more tender.

April - May:
    Third crop of the year - babies of the babies.
    From this crop will come the seed crawfish for the following season.

So, from the same fields come two different crops.

A do nothing day. Michele continues her fight with a bad cold.
As for me, I am starting a cold too...

Thursday March 27, 2014

We force ourselves to go out and visit something. We are off to the historic downtown Breaux Bridge.
Le Bridge Breaux. The six since 1799, this one was built in 1950. They are looking for money to restore it.

The legend of the Bayou Teche.

The bayou, bayou simply means a river.

As we are walking downtown, we go in this small antic store.

The downtown is very small, some of the building date back from the late 1800's, early 1900's.

Rain stars to fall, time to head back home. Some more old building.

Our friends Charles and Agnes are coming tomorrow afternoon and will spend a few days with us.
We met them two years ago in Corpus Christy. Like us, they are on their way back home slowly.

Friday March 28, 2014

Time to try my luck at fishing. As per usual, I only fish and not catch fish.

Charles an Agnes got here in the afternoon.

Shoot!
We forgot to take some photos of Charles and Agnes. We had too much catching up to do...
It is kind of funny because we read each other's blog it is like we just left each other a few days ago.

We go out for supper, it is a small restaurant with only the locals as clients. Michele had white boudin, Charles, Agnes and I had the fried fish and shrimps.
We were almost done when Michele took a photo of the white boudin.

The white boudin is made with pork, rice and spices while red boudin or blood pudding, is made with actual blood.
Boudin is very popular here in Cajun country.

All evening we have thunderstorms around us, but none directly over us, good!
We are under a tornado watch, our first time for us.
We did not see one and none were seen anywhere near us.

Saturday March 29, 2014

A little bike ride in the park. Another view of our home. Some camper really want to take their toys with them.

We spend the afternoon visiting Charles and Agnes.
We invite them for supper with a raclette.

We really get along good with both of them. We have a lot of fun with them.

Sunday March 30, 2014

We were supposed to leave today, but me and Michele are really not feeling well so we paid for two more days.

The fishermen, but no fish!

We are burning the last of our wood and we are in the shade because the sun is really hitting hard.

Michele went on the other side of the lace to take some photos of us!.

Charles and Agnes fifth wheel.

Our home and us with the fire.

Back from her bike ride, she tries her luck fishing and got ... nothing.

Our friends invite us for supper.
We have Corned Beef Brisket, sauerkraut on Reuben bread with spiced potatoes cooked in the oven.

And the craziness starts!

This was another very good meal. We will buy some of the corned beef for sure.

Monday March 31, 2014

Our health is getting better, but we still have a way to go yet.

More fog this morning.

One more try to catch a fish!

Charles and Agnes are going for a walk downtown and we decide to join them.
Some information about Breaux Bridge and Bayou Teche.

Saint Bernard Catholic church and the cemetery. It is always interesting to look a headstones because you can catch a glimpse at the way of life from a long time ago.

Back home we do some more talking with a cold beverage.

Charles and Agnes want to try some crawfish and a neighbor told them where to get some in town. We decide to have some as well.
Charles got 5 pounds and we got 3 pounds. We ate like there was no tomorrow! Boy it is good.

Before dinner, I did some pre-packing for our departure tomorrow morning.

Until next time.

Life is good...