Another Adventure Part 6

February 6

This morning we went out for breakfast with Peter & Martha and another couple to a pancake place. It was good, but quite expensive. Our afternoon found us walking through some of the shops just north of the school. It is becoming more developed around here. It was on our walk that we noticed the sign for a new HEB grocery store that will be built soon on what was once the corner property of the school. We planned to have supper at the Texas Roadhouse but we should have gone earlier. We needed to leave earlier than anticipated to get to Bibleville for a concert by the Trimphant quartet. So we found a fast food Mexican place, called Taco Palenque, and enjoyed some authentic Mexican fast food.

We made it to Bibleville in plenty of time and the pre-show, well it has it's moments. The Trimphant quartet was very good and we really enjoyed them. Which, considering that Southern Gospel music is not our first choice of music, says something about the group. We joined P&M back at their camper for snacks and visiting.

February 7

Sunday morning we walked over to Ruth & Larry's to catch a ride with them to church (at Bibleville). The service was reminiscent of 30 years ago, and the audience is made up of almost entirely senior citizens. The pastor was en excellent preacher and presented a wonderful, challenging sermon. 

We spent the rest of the day with Ruth & Larry, enjoying a delicious lunch and then great food and snacks while watching the Super Bowl. Elijah and his wife and children joined us for lunch, while Micha & Lana and their children joined us for snacks and the game. Peter & Martha came for the afternoon and the game. Nathan and his finance Emily arrived later in the evening. It was good to reconnect and to see the the additions to the family. Thank you so much to the Windle and the Sawatzky families for their wonderful hospitality. 

February 8

This morning we got packed up and ready to go but before leaving we joined Ruth & Larry at the Kaoni coffee shop, right at the school, for coffee and s smoothie. We checked out the progress of the brick wall that is being built entirely around the school property. The winter volunteers are doing an excellent job. We happened to see the first (and currently the only) student from Cuba who is now attending RGBI. We were able to visit with her for a bit and she was excited to know that we had visited Cuba. We gave her the contact information of a friend of ours who used to live in Cuba and hopefully she will have opportunity to contact him. We thank the Lord that she was the first to receive a student Visa from Cuba to study in the USA at Rio Grande Bible Institute.

They had to fix this part of the wall as someone crashed their car through it.

Thanks for my mango smoothie. 

Finishing up the wall around the school property.

On the road again. We had lunch at Whataburger, in Falfurrias, just because the first one was close to this area. It was Ok, the burger was very thin but tasty and the fries were good. We do not need to eat here again.

In Corpus Christi we walked around the Heritage homes in Heritage Park. Parked the RV here and took our bikes for a ride along the ocean all the way to Cole Park and back. On the way back we stopped at Landry's Seafood house, for fish and shrimp gumbo. We might not want to try any more gumbo as it does not seem to be a flavour we enjoy, although this one was not too bad. The creme brûlée was delicious! Spent the night in the parking lot of Heritage Park.

February 9

We were already getting up, I was already dressed, when we heard a knock on the door. Two security gentlemen kindly informed us that we were not allowed to camp here overnight. I kindly told them that the nice kind men at the building across the street had told us that it was perfectly fine and that people camp here all the time. Obviously someone was misinformed or had a good laugh. Oh, well at least they only came in the morning after we had enjoyed a quiet, peaceful sleep. Time to kindly move along.

Since our goal is to spend more time out East we headed for Louisiana. While checking online for tourism suggestions I discovered that today was Mardi Gras in the fine state of Louisiana and the parade, which was family friendly in Lake Charles was about to begin at 5:00 pm. We arrived next to Ryan street at 5:20 and the nice police officer was very helpful in suggesting a place for us to park. We arrived next to the street just as the beginning of the parade was passing by. Lots of children and parents were lined up with their bags ready to catch the beads as they were being tossed from the floats. The first floats were little girls dressed as princesses sitting on cars, followed by bigger girls also dressed as princesses and then came the semi's pulling the big trailers filled with people tossing beads. Some people were all dressed in fancy costumes, others had matching shirts, some had fancy masks and all were having a good time. It did not take much before we joined in the festivities and began collecting beads ourselves. It was actually quite fun. Driving out of this area after the parade took some time, and patience.

It was during this drive that we all of a sudden heard an unusual noise. We pulled over and soon realized that it had something to do with the propane which we immediately shut off. We found a Walmart for the night but we first walked over to El Dorado Mexican Grill for a bite to eat. A couple of the float teams decided to eat here as well. 

Under the covers it was nice and warm but a bit cool otherwise and with no warm water (no gas) our shower would have to wait. 

February 10

After some investigation Tim found that out that one of the propane regulators was no longer working. We were blessed to find a RV store close by so we could purchase a new regulator and a Lowe store close by to purchase tools to remove the old regulator and install the new one. And there was a propane fill location close by so we could top up the tank. On the road we go again.

Tim just had to stop at Billy's Boudin & Cracklins for a sausage, otherwise known as boudin. This was a happening place, very busy. Tim gave his boudin an 8 out of 10.

We decided to stop at a Tourist info and saw the largest alligator caught in West Baton Rouge Parish. Moby was 13'4" long and weighed 760 pounds and they estimated his age between 60-75 years old. It was here that we chose to visit the Louisiana State Capital building and the surrounding area. We were able to take a couple of elevators up to the observation deck on the 27th floor to get some great views of Baton Rouge and the Mississippi River. Biked around a bit and enjoyed ourselves.

Next stop, Fontainebleau State Park for the night. A nice looking place so far, will let you know more after we visit around it tomorrow. It sure felt good to have a nice warm shower, now that we had the propane problem all fixed. Think we might just watch a movie all snuggled in our bed.