Return from Mid-America (Lafayette, La – Ventura, Ca)

Wed 4/30/14 – Sunday 5/4/14

As I write this on Mother’s Day (5/11) after a week to “acclimatize” from over 5-thousand miles of road trip I realize that “the love of travel” was just another of my mom's gifts to me.

Sail, rail, bicycle and motorcycle all offer great means of “getting out of Dodge” and each has many plusses and minuses. But having my 14-foot “aquatic RV” in tow behind my 4-cylinder Honda CRV seemed almost perfect for me (alone - but without the good company of Dan and Steve, the trip would not have been half as much fun and enjoyable).

I would have liked to stick around another week for the big annual Cedar Key Boat Show but my great job was expecting me back.

So my solo return across the southern US along bland I-10 (once I stayed out of red neck bars : -) was pretty uneventful but it’s fun to take notice of the “finer” reminders that I’m not yet back on the “left coast” yet.

 

Welcome Center men's restroom



Mississippi men's room

Texas men's room "Convenience Center"

the cost of ice - when it's 95!

 

the long ribbon west



a trucker babe I picked up outside of El Paso

I made another stop at Bear’s in Tucson and it’s great to see his recovery going so well. The Windward Skunk has quite a history and Paul also gave me an insider’s tour of some of Tucson’s musical history and his large part of it.

 

 

My last day of driving over ten hours was exhausting but it was good to be back home. I’d still like to post more about what worked (almost everything) and why, and also about weather, time zones, and bugs – soon.

 

Muffuletta Madness (Moss Point, Ms to Lafayette, La)

Tuesday 4/29/14

As news headlines confirmed, that storm over me last night moved eastward and grew much worse, pounding the Gulf Coast with 28-inches of rain! I called Steve to check on his bayou home in Panama City; no flood damage but roof leaks over the dining room. Watered-down soup seems minor compared to the severe damage reported around Pensacola.

New Orleans is a special city to many people. My late girlfriend, Lisa, was born and raised there, her father a prominent doctor, living for many years in The French Quarter, just behind Central Grocery. Why mention a grocery store? Central Grocery makes a sandwich as unique as Nawlins itself, the Muffuletta. So, hungry and in no rush, I made the southerly detour to pick up lunch, dinner, and lunch again (it’s that big) and reflect on good times past.

 

 

Good times in my past also include Louisiana Cajun country, shrimp ‘etoufee, and dancing to Zydeco music, so I made a point at stopping near Lafayette to find some live music. It was the same KOA that Dan and I first stayed at on our way east and I groaned then to read that one of my favorite musicians, Keith Frank, was playing a festival that weekend, but we needed to keep going.

 

This time I groaned to miss him playing again – next weekend! Well, Tuesday night or not I was determined to find some live music. Listed on the web for Zydeco is The Cowboy’s Saloon and all the trucks in the parking lot seemed to confirm its name. Inside was loud with not Zydeco or Cajun music but a mediocre Country band, oh well. A few Southern Comforts and Buds (tap beer? “we ain’t got none”) and they didn’t sound so bad and the rough-and-tumble, tattooed women were looking better too, especially one of the bar maids with two gold teeth – at least she had them evenly spaced. As I was the only person there in Topsiders and kaki pants and one other person with a ponytail (and she had a very big boyfriend : -) I eased on back to Hobbes.