Beaumont isn't the most attractive place in Texas, being a major refinery town, but Jim and Bobbie were passing through on their way to Louisiana, so I went down to see them. We spent a lot of last winter together, and manage to meet up just about everywhere in the country wherever our paths cross. I got a great meal out of the deal, and we managed to set a vague date for next winter to meet up again in Texas. Such is how it goes with this...
I enjoy hanging out in the various Escapee parks because there aren't any hassles and they're cheap. So I use them to rest up from driving and touring around, doing laundry, truck and RV maintenance. Livingston itself isn't especially interesting, but they do have an HEB grocery, by far my favorite supermarket chain. The usual big-box stores, too, of course. And it's nice not to have to fill my gas tank very often. My friends Jim and Bobbie will...
I finally made it to Livingston, the Escapees headquarters site and where my mail goes. I'll be here at least a week. It was nice to get back into Texas Hill Country, quite a change from flat. And, the BBQ roadhouses started appearing, which will serve nicely as a healthy recovery from the Southern food I was getting so attached to. As I got close I wondered how long it will take me to get out of Texas as it's always much longer than I...
The tornadoes seem to be north and west of me, but I'll have to pay attention until they clear. I really like the weather forecasts here in the East. They're usually spot-on and the timing is accurate to within just hours. Five days ago the forecast told me there would be a thunderstorm here in the afternoon, clearing by tomorrow morning. So I did my travel planning accordingly. I travelled on the good day, and this afternoon the storm came in....
I passed a lot of churches this morning, along the back roads of Louisiana. One of my favorite things is watching people going in and out of church, especially blacks. The ladies are dressed beautifully, but no matter how great the gown is, the hat must take the cake. It's quite a sight to see so many gorgeous ladies out in the parking lot with hats that defy description, but command awe. Men are in full suit, complete with a fresh flower in the...
This is where Paragon Casino and RV Park is in central LA. Its one of those post-Katrina models that are large and nice, and cheap. A storm is coming through tomorrow so I'll sit it out here. I took the scenic route from Vidalia, basically driving the main levee of the Mississippi. It was astonishing to see the size of the floodplain, and the height of the dike. The river is big, and to imagine it reaching the tops of the levees is disturbing.
When cotton was king, plantation owners made a huge amount of money and to show off their wealth they built mansions in Natchez regardless where their holdings were. The town is fairly small with the typical disparity between rich and poor obvious. The National Park Service has several properties here, and helped build a very nice visitor center in partnership with the town. Plantation owners didn't plant or grow or harvest cotton, they bought...
Just as I was starting to write something one of the biggest barge thingies came into view. 28 barges, pushed by a very large towboat. Figure each barge is 50,000 tons. No one accuses the Mississippi of being a pretty river, but it's the most interesting. I figure I'll be in Louisiana for several more days, giving me that many more chances to eat Southern. People in the South are heavier than elsewhere in the country, which is a no-brainer when...
I like Mississippi, I understand it more. It's a very unpopulated state with vast regions of pine forest and wet, swampy lowlands. It's not a rich state, but the disparity between wealthy and poor is quite noticeable. There are a lot of poor people in Mississippi, and it's not confined to race. Food is Southern. Basic 1-and-3, BBQ, shellfish. Actually, fast food is the most popular; every town has more chain hamburger and pizza places than seems...
The onion place, it's just across the Mississippi from Natchez, MS. The RV park is next to the river and I've got an up-close view of the towboat and barge traffic, like the nifty place I had in Cincinnati next to the Ohio. But here there's a lot more traffic. I wish I had been trapped here during the storm because I'd have something to watch. I'm here to see Natchez. The sun will be out tomorrow, but it will be cool, maybe quite cold while I'm...
This is getting old. Another day of thunderstorms and rain, another day of weather alerts. I was interested in tornado warnings where I am, but was watching the radar for Hattiesburg as well. They are recovering from tornadoes the other day, and it would be horrible to be hit again. It's all supposed to pass tonight, so I'm moving tomorrow to Natchez because I want to see it. It will be cold (snow flurries this weekend?) but cold is better than...
Wow, I wasn't watching for this. I have enough battery power to function quite nicely for four days without sun. Like, not even worth monitoring. I use little power, and always the sun comes out for at least a couple of hours every couple of days, enough to charge the batteries. But LED lamps started blinking a bit tonight, indicating a low-voltage condition. When I looked, the batteries were low, 60% of capacity. Luckily I had installed an amp...