Monday, May 17, 2021

May 13, 2021 GPS Blues

 

 
May 13, 2021
 

Hey!  What gives?  I see another feline over there and it is not on a leash!  I want some of that… when my humans open the door… just wait… NOW! Bolt! Go meet my new friend! ACKKK!  MEOWT!  My human has me!  MEOWT! 

My morning walk took me out of the Lazy Dad RV park, along the road and across the street to a developing neighborhood.  All houses are on stilts, and those lots with beachfront views are already developed.  I checked one out that is for sale… $1.4 million…  let me write a check…  I cut through the neighborhood to the beach.  The sun is coming up over Galveston across the channel.  The beach has some amount of trash that has washed up, but not much of human waste is seen and it is a pleasant walk.  The temperature is in the 60’s, windy (what else is new) and reasonably humid – great for walking.

When I get back to Hannah, a quick shower and a bite to eat, then we get ready to leave.  There is a little kitty across the canal from us and Rudy has been watching it.  When Spouse opened the door to come in, Rudy bolted out in search of his new friend.  Spouse grabbed him, but Rudy let the neighbors know of his abuse!

We headed east from Pt. Bolivar through Crystal Beach (a beach town, wouldn’t you know).  As we work further east, the road is right next to the water.  I would be surprised if the water was more than 50 ft  away .  There were houses on stilts, the living quarters were two or three flights up instead of the one flight we have seen up til now.  We eventually turn north and approach the town of Winnie where we fueled up.  Spouse was so excited that he got fuel for the lowest price.  IN this case, we used gas buddy just to get the cost of local gas in general, and not to spend a fortune hunting down a cheap station.

Now it is time for a lesson.  I know many of you know Spouse as ‘Doug’.  But did you know that ‘Doug’ is now a verb?  It means to hug the right side of the road, like the line or a curb.  So when you are ‘dougging the curb’ you are too far to the right.  Our GPS has a feature that beeps when you cross the line, it makes a squiggly noise like a slot machine.  When towing, it is pretty easy to Doug the line but the GPS sounds like we are in a friggin casino! 

As we leave the town of Winnie and get on I10 east, there is road construction.  The k-rails leave no margin for error.  This makes for a harrowing drive as we cannot doug the line without ruining Hannah.  There are big rigs passing us by, putting the squeeze on us.  Sucking in our breath does not make us any skinnier.  What’s worse, the guy in front of us is towing a trailer and is all over the place rocking back and forth.  How he didn’t hit a k-rail is beyond me.  This went on for about 15 miles when we switched the terror of construction driving for the angst of city driving in the town of Beaumont.  Fortunately, that was much easier.  We started breathing easier once we got on to Hwy 12 east.

As we leave Texas and enter Louisiana, it is green.  And it is wet.  The trees along the road are in water.  Lots of water… I believe this would be a swamp!  Hwy 12, and then Hwy 190 are rural back roads that parallel I10.  The speed limit is usually 55 or 65, but you do pass through towns where you need to slow.  This is the first time in a week where we have not been fighting the wind.  In the town of DeQuincey, Spouse needed an auto part and asked the guy for a Cajun restaurant.  He was given Popeye’s chicken as his only option.  When Spouse clarified, he was told ‘aint nothing like that around here.  Probably have to go to Baton’…  ok… we had a snack in Hannah and continued.

We pass through small towns with houses on huge properties.  The trees are amazing.  I am sure some of them have been around since before the civil war and have stories to tell.  We pass through the town of Opelousas, which at one time was the capital of Louisiana.  This is a very old town, with old bumpy streets and is definitely in need of some TLC.

Here is where my troubles began…  I had a fight with our GPS.  I am looking up RV parks and I could not get a handle on where they are versus we are and where we are going.  She hits.  I hit back.  Then Spouse says to make sure the park has trees…  Really????  I am trying to find the f’n thing on the map and you are whining about trees?  Have we EVER used our GPS for that before?  Do you think there is a tree indicator on it or something?  And we need to call them first to make sure that the price is correct and…  HAVE WE EVER DONE THAT BEFORE????  As we get near Baton Rouge, the GPS is showing no RV parks.  I am at my wits end and I give up and shove it at Spouse.

He pulls into a gas station and fuels up.  I dare to try again, and sure enough, a whole lot of RV parks now pop up!  WTF?????  It appears to be working now…  I hate that thing at times… I will do more driving and let Spouse futz with it and I betcha he doesn’t last long… 

We ended up at Farr Rv park, which is an equestrian center.  It is on the Mississippi River so we might just get a bike ride in.  We are a bit concerned about the sites.  They are grass, and soft from rain, so we sink…  Sure hope we will be able to hook up again!

Cajun food in Baton…  YES!  Acme Oyster House – thanks for the good meal.  And thanks for being right next to Trader Joes!  We scored on this one!

 

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