I suppose it could have been worse and in some ways, we are thankful that we had a place to park but Buccaneer State Park wasn't our cup of tea. So it's up, do a quick preflight and we're on the road. Our goal was to head to Lafayette and stay at a small farm for an overnighter. For us, it will be basically a small place to park and sleep. No facilities or amenities of any kind because the farm is closed for the offseason.
We head out and pick up a route that will evetually merge onto Interstate 10 once we are near New Orleans. And, even though I have had recent dreams of a hot bowl of Gumbo, as good as a bowl of local gumbo sounds, as it turns out, it's Sunday, and a lot of the local gumbo shops are closed. AND crawfish have not quite grown large enough at this time of year to be available for eating! What the What? Timing is everything.
About mid-morning, we decide it's time for a coffee break so we stop at our little secret coffee place, McDonald's. Yep, I know we'll probably get crap for this but McD's has great coffee for cheap, (we stay away from the food menu) and it has become almost a ritual for us. It gets us off the road after a couple hours of driving, gives us bathroom break and a stretch of the leg. So here we are in New Orleans in a McDonalds and the place is packed. So Yvette's in the powder room and I'm standing in line waiting to order and it's very apparent that I am the only one who is not dressed for church? I mean, I'm no slob, but everyone was dressed in their Sunday best. Kids to adults, all dressed as if they were all in a photo shoot. And it was kinda cool. One nicely dressed gentleman walked in, spotted me and walked right up to me with a huge smile on my his face, stuck his hand out and said, "Good morning, hope ya'll are having a wonderful day." I took that mans hand in mine and shook it just like my mother taught me, firm, but not too firm because as she used to say, " Your hand is a reflection of your character, it's not a fish." "I'm having a much better day now that I know you're in it.", I said. We both laughed. It was then and there that I knew how cool this journey was going to be. Best coffee I've had, ever. I've also decided to try and take more photos of the people we meet.
So, back on the road right about the time we hit Lafayette, the sky's opened up and for the next 20 hours, we saw about 3 inches of rain. But it didn't our spirits much, as soon as we parked the rig for the night, we had to decide how to answer the growl from our stomachs. For dinner, we opted for an Uber ride to a cool place called Bon Temps in Lafayette, a small Cajun joint that had some interesting dishes and drinks that we were told was "Award Winning". We use the UBER system when it just isn't practical to navigate in-town where parking might be an issue for the Turtle and The Tiger. And, we can have a cocktail or two guilt-free. This ride to and from ended up being about $12 round trip. The meal was great though I must admit, I don't think it was entirely "Award Winning."
This is what you drink after a day of crazy driving
Crawfish Etoufee Pot Pie
Chicken Sausage Gumbo
The next morning we will set out for Texas. But as we fall asleep, neither one of us knows exactly where in Texas. We will figure it out in the morning, or maybe late morning.