2020-09-27 Back to Tickfaw State Park

 Friday night, we had leftover......always good. Saturday morning, some of the group was off on a hike at 10:00AM. They have a nice hiking trail right there at the park. I borrowed pictures from Carolyn since hiking is something I just can't do with my hip problem.

We started gathering for happy hour and then dinner later in the day.

 Diana sent these lovely pink dish cloths for everyone. Thanks so much Diana. Since I was handing them out, I didn't get pics as I handed them out. Everyone loved them. We all miss you at the flockings. Claudia also brought some goodies to hand out.

Remember these glasses from a previous flocking. We handed some out to new members.

Cathy ran the whole flocking out of her cute little vintage trailer. Have no idea how she managed to load in the fans and grills and cooking utensils. She was very organized.

A friend of Cathy's volunteered to come out and cook a huge pot of gumbo for the group. (Whoops, this was Jambalaya not Gumbo) Pinkies donated for the ingredients but he brought everything to cook and serve a great meal.

Later in the evening, we played Left, Right, Center.......you'll never guess who won.

2020-09-25 Pink FlaminGoes Visit Ponchatoula LA

Friday morning, many of us headed into Ponchatoula for breakfast at the Berrytown Corner Cafe. They were ready for us and had a separate room all set up.

They had lots of great choices for breakfast including stuffed beignets as well as normal omelettes, bacon and eggs etc. Carolyn wanted to order an Irish Coffee but they were out of the special spice they use in them but there were lots of other great choices. My cafe-ah-lait  which was great.

We got our breakfast orders in and then.....

The chamber of commerce showed up with corsages for everyone. They had ribbons with pink flamingos on each one.

Carolyn and Cathy asked for "help" in getting the corsages pinned on, lol.

Cathy had no idea what she was sitting in front of when Carolyn snapped this picture. All in fun. Cathy worked with the chamber of commerce to set up our visit. In addition to the corsages and welcome greeting at the restaurant, there were signs welcoming us in many of the shops and some of them even had special surprises when we walked in.

Ponchatoula is famous for strawberries. We originally had the Flocking scheduled for April when the Strawberry Festival is held but it was cancelled due to the viru.

The Ponchatoula Depot is now the Country Market.

Lots of interesting things to see in the Market.

Ponchatoula has a nice downtown area.

In addition to the buildings, there are also displays from the town history as well as a museum.

Antiques are plentiful here too.

Moss and Berry had a very nice surprise for us inside.

The neighboring store owner was all decked out for our visit.

Moss and Berry had momosas for us. We were able to enjoy them out on their small patio.

All in all, we had a wonderful time in Ponchatoula. It's a great place to visit if you are anywhere in the area.

2020-09-25 Pink FlaminGoes Flock at Tickfaw State Park LA

 I planned to leave Carolyn's house about 9 AM but I got a call from DH who was in the process of changing insurance companies for his motorcycles. He got the quote he wanted but everything after that involved either email or the Internet so that means that I have to take care of it. By the time I got it all straightened out and the App loaded, it was closer to noon. Not a big deal as I only had a couple hours drive to get to Tickfaw State Park. Headed across the Atchafalaya bridge on the way to Baton Rouge. Baton Rouge is definitely not my favorite town to drive through....usually Houston goes a lot smoother, however, I had the easiest trip through ever, no construction or traffic jams. The sky was pretty clouded over but it wasn't raining.

The short trip was uneventful except for when my GPS sent me down Fire Tower Road. It was really narrow with no center line because you had to drive down the middle with trees right to the edge of the road. It wasn't too bad until a local came around a curve headed right for me at 45 mph on a 25 mph road. We managed to squeek past but I knew for sure I wouldn't be taking that road on my way home. 

I got checked in at Tickfaw with no problems and was given a senior discount which made camping half price, score. It's a nice park, not a huge campground. I had a camping site set way back into the trees. The sites were very long with a narrow drive but a nice side patio either gravel like mine or wood deck like several of the other women.

Our hostess, Kathy, made spaghetti sauce with everyone else providing items like pasta, garlic bread, salad, dessert, etc. As always, it was very good.

Carolyn and Sue had recent birthdays so Karen had a birthday candle ring and cake to celebrate.

All in all, it was a very nice evening.

2020-07-22 Breaking in Beaumont

 

Harley lets me know that we are here from his navigator seat because he remembers this place from another trip. Gulf Coast RV Resort is my normal place to stop when traveling east. They honor Passport America which is always nice. Pads are long and concrete all pull-through. They could be a little wider but it's easier to line up my motorhome door with the picnic table pad than it was my 5th wheel which had the door near the back. It's a little more difficult to get here than it used to be because they are rebuilding the bridge over I-10 and it seems like it is taking forever. So if you miss the turn way ahead of the road, you have to go on and come in the back way which is pretty easy...especially if you have done it several times.

As I said in my last post, it quit raining before I got here so I got hooked up to electric and cable quickly. Then I decided it would be smart to fill my fresh water tank so I wouldn't have to hook up at my next stop and to give me a little more ballast in case Tropical Storm Beta finally made up it's mind and started moving. I also dumped the gray and black tanks just because it wasn't raining. 

We settled in for a relaxing evening. Monday morning I decided to stay another night. Beta still wasn't moving very fast and they have decent wifi. I had lots of paperwork to catch up on from the rally since I am the secretary. I finished off the notes from the Officers Meeting and then the Chapter meeting. Then I incorporated the changes we voted on in the Chapter Rules and sent those off to our parent organization, RVing Women for review. That took a good part of the day but I managed to get a long hot shower in at the park bathroom. Normally I prefer to use my RV shower but I didn't want to put that much water in the gray tank since I will be using that at my next stop and at the upcoming rally.

It rained a little off and on during the day but really not much at all. Tuesday morning I headed east again. It rained between Beaumont and Sulphur. I was a little concerned about the bridge in Lake Charles as I heard it was hit again by another barge during Hurricane Laura. Everything was okay and we got across just fine. There was a lot of hurricane damage starting in Sulphur and continuing past Lake Charles. Huge trees were snapped like matchsticks and laying everywhere. Lots of building down and lots more with blue tarps over their roofs. I understand that a lot of the areas still doesn't have power back and that was several weeks ago. 

When I got to Lafayette, I talked to my friend Martha again. She lives south of Lafayette in Abbyville. I know the storm surge from a hurricane a number of years ago flooded her house and they brought in a lot of dirt and put the new one much higher up. She said she wasn't expecting to have to evacuate this time. She is supposed to be coming to the rally as well.  I did a little grocery shopping for the rally at Walmart in Breaux Bridge and filled up my gas tank. My next stop was my friend Carolyn's house in Butte LaRose. She is on a rolling rally on the way back from the east coast and will meet up at Tickfaw State Park for our Pink FlaminGoes Flocking. She has a couple of hookups at her house and said she would be happy to have stay here so here I am. Harley and I arrived about supper time yesterday and got hooked up to power. It rained hard this morning way before we got up and sprinkled a couple of time during the day but the sun was also out quite a bit. Harley was happy to get out for a couple of short walks. He promised to protect me from the alligators but fortunately, we didn't see any. I was surprised to see that the swamp water was low right now. That isn't always the case. 

Today I spent 3 hours trying to get 3 photos into a folder on a website. Google photos kept saying I needed an Internet connection which I was already using on the website. Some days electronics can give you a headache. I could get on google photo fine on my phone (same Internet connection, lol) but the screen was really hard to manipulate the folders on the website. Finally got it done and Harley and I went for a walk.

I'm caught up with the blog for now. Tomorrow I leave for Tickfaw. Harley says he needs my attention now so I'm putting the computer away.

2020-07-20 Rallying in Rockport

 I left San Antonio about 9:00AM with my friend Mary Jane trailing along behind on our way to a Texas Ramblin' Roses Rally in Rockport TX.  It took us just a little longer than planned because we ran in to 7, yes that is seven, road construction zones on the backroads. Some were a block long with a stop/go light and most others were a little longer where you had to follow a pilot car. Fortunately the waits were not too long.

We arrived at Wilderness Oaks RV Resort in Rockport and were quickly checked in and led to our sites

I have hosted a number of rallies here and they always make you feel very welcome. Some of the group came as early as Tuesday just to relax. I was planning to stay several days after the rally before heading east to another rally. More on that later.

Mornings at our rallies usually start at 8:30AM for early risers who want to exercise. Joyce, in the white shorts always leads the exercise group. You would never guess but Joyce is 89 and in better shape than most 20 years younger. She does a lot of stretching exercises for the group. 

We ended up with 37 women at the rally. Rules were masks, social distancing, and lots of sanitizer. Some women enjoyed the salt water pool. Some didn't really come into the rally room or go out to eat but were just glad to be able to get out and wave at their friends while staying more isolated. That was just fine and we were glad they came.

We had quite a few new or new to members RVs that were christened and given a safe travels blessing by President Jimmie Andrews and her squirt gun filled with H2O champagne. This is Joyce's brand new Phoenix Cruiser she picked up at the factory this spring. Did I mention that Joyce is 89? She plans on lots more travel. She spends fall, winter, and spring in the Rio Grande Valley and the summer in New York driving her RV back and forth.

We had dinner on Thursday night at Old Fulton Seafood Cafe & Deli but I failed to get a picture there. The food was great. I have to admit that I had their special lazagna  instead of seafood but it was the best I have ever had......an old family recipe belonging to the owners mother I was told. They set us up on a separate room at several table.

Friday at lunch, we went to Paradise Key Dockside Bar and Grill. They also put us at several tables to comply with Texas requirements which we were happy to follow. The food there is also very good here.

A drive back to the RV park along the bay allows you to see all these unique trees. I don't know if they are running away from the wind or leaning protectively over the house, lol.

We had seven new members join our chapter. Cookie was anxious to hand out their bandanas and pins. We all put yellow bandanas on our rigs for a rally so we can all identify other group members.

Others were more anxious to get their bandanas.

Finally a better photo.

We had a chapter meeting on Saturday morning to conduct some official chapter business, then took our group photo. Saturday night was pizza and salad night rather than our usual pot luck just to be safe. Then Tropical Storm Beta started to worry some. Some left for home right after dinner.

I had planned to stay until Wednesday morning. They kept talking about the storm surge along the coast even though Beta was a ways from shore. I did a lot of checking weather and finally decided I should be safe head east as long as I got through Houston before it started flooding. Yes, Houston has a flooding problem. I left about 11:30AM and it started raining heavily about an hour before I hit Houston. It rained hard all the way through the city but fortunately, the traffic was not too bad. Hard to understand why people are too dumb to put on their lights when their windshield wipers are working hard. About a half hour past Houston, the rain quit and I was able to get set up in Beaumont without getting soaked. More on that next time.

A Day on the Road

 It is so nice to get out of the house and just enjoy the places around you. I am so lucky to have a son and daughter-in-law who are so willing to share their time. Friday, I got a call from my son telling me to get Harley and me ready to go because he and Angus were on the way over to pick us up. We headed north and west to take a ride along River Road out of New Braunfels. Sorry, no pictures but it is a great ride....like you are in a different part of the country. We turned around and drove back the same way we came to enjoy it all over again. It can get pretty crazy on a summer weekend but was fairly quiet Friday morning. Then we stopped in at the Gruene Coffee House before heading home.

Saturday, Steve and Helen just showed up at the house with Angus. We headed out towards Bandera. Driving through town, we saw an interesting sight. Bandera usually has something western going on Saturdays and these nuns were out to enjoy themselves. Can you see the one riding side-saddle on the longhorn?

Next we moved on down the road towards Medina. Unfortunately we didn't stop at the Apple Store for some strudel or turnovers as we had stopped in Bandera at the Cracked Mug Coffee House. It's a friendly place with lots of different coffee choices as well as breakfast and lunch menus.

Back on the road again, we headed down one of the Three Twisted Sisters roads to Leakey. If you ride motorcycles, you probably know about these three Texas roads with over 200 hills and curves. Fun on a bike but also fun to drive but probably not for the faint of heart. We ended up at the Bent Rim Grill in Leakey. They have a large outdoor but covered seating area where Harley and Angus were just as welcome as we were. Lots of room to practice social distancing and try some great burgers.

They even have interesting décor in the bathrooms. This is definitely motorcycle country.

Just in case you ever want to give the roads a try...….

On the way back, we saw some tubers relaxing in the river. Looked so nice and cool.

And the weekend wasn't over. Sunday Steve showed up on his Grom and Helen wasn't far behind in the car. Fortunately, Harley and I were up (barely) but Dave was still in bed. After he had a quick breakfast, he and Steve headed out on the motorcycles on the back roads. We all met up in Gruene for coffee at the Gruene Coffee Haus and a quick tour of the Market Days.

All in all, a great family weekend out of the house!