Part 2 -- South Louisiana jaunt

On Tuesday Richard and I drove south to a couple of small towns. The plan was to see a bit of the landscape, perhaps a little culture, and the Vatican exhibit at St. Joseph's in Rayne. 

In Crowley, home of the rice festival, we saw this fabrication shop where swamp boats are made. We had to pull over and get a few pictures. How my husband knows about this sort of thing always amazes me, but he was able to answer all of my silly questions. 

So the way these things work is that the boat sits on top of the rice field, or crawfish pond or marsh, wherever. The big paddle wheel on the back "floats" on the bottom and pushes the boat. The hydraulic arm is long so that it can sink deeply or just roll along on top of the swampy ground, and the driver can adjust the depth as needed.

Farmers and fishermen can purchase boats in different widths, lengths, and paddle wheels, depending on their individual needs. Interesting, no? Notice the tarp on the top? That's because it's hot in Louisiana. The tarps provide some shade for the human and for the product on board. That question I did not need to ask.

As we drove through Crowley, I took a few pictures of the downtown area. We saw some beautiful old homes, but the rain and time didn't allow for pictures. Have you noticed the rain splattered windshield?

Isn't this a fabulous picture? Yes, those specks are
raindrops, but I still like it. The cross makes it perfect.

And on the way home we were enjoying the beautiful sunset when Richard realized that I was taking pictures of the sun setting from the town of Sunset. Cute, no? 

Mermantau, Crowley, and Rayne...a South Louisiana jaunt

I got a text from Meggan telling me about the special exhibit this week at St. Joseph's in Rayne. It looked interesting, so our  first open day (Tuesday), Richard and I jumped in the truck. About the same time, Rory called to say there's a little place we might want to check out. He hadn't been, but still...

So off we went in hopes of an adventure. What we got was a downpour. The interesting little place was a dud, but we saw lots of rice fields, several rice mills, and a couple of towns that we would visit again. 

Mermentau River

Not much larger than Evergreen, Mermentau is a little town on the Mermentau River. The river looks wide here, and it is, but it spills into Lake Arthur where it becomes much bigger as it travels into Grand Lake and eventually the Gulf of Mexico. 

One of many rice fields between Mermentau and Crowley

The area between Mermentau and Crowley is part of the Grand Chenier prairie, rich soil perfect for growing rice, crawfish, and sugar cane. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service notes, "The Chenier Plain is a popular destination for nature watchers, anglers and hunters, who come from around the world....With its location at the terminus of the Central and Mississippi Flyways, coastal wetlands in this focal area are extremely important for waterfowl and...up to 5.8 million ducks. The area also has productive estuaries, nearby forests and grasslands, and expansive tidal wetland systems. The coastal waters...contribute substantially to the nation’s commercial fishery landings, particularly for shrimp, blue crab, oysters and Gulf menhaden operations."

Top: Riviana rice mill; Bottom: Supreme Rice
Mill in operation (note the train cars waiting to be loaded)

From Crowley we moseyed east to Rayne along Hwy. 90 for the original reason of the trip: The Eucharistic Miracles of the World exhibit.  It was set up to explain each miracle independently. Placards give an overview, details, and photos of monstrances and tabernacles, artwork,  churches and saints. 

And that rounds up our little jaunt. There were other interesting finds along the way, but this post is plenty long already. 
Thanks for stopping by.

Travel Experiences Post 11 :: Write 31 Days

Continuing our discussion of blog writing ideas, I've come to the idea of sharing your travel experiences. This is especially interesting if you take good photos and are able to describe the scenery in them. Again, you are telling a story; this one just happens to be about your experiences in foreign lands, natural settings, or large cities. 

Years ago I spent a weekend in Chicago. While there I saw my first Andrew Lloyd Webber show, "Joseph and The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat" with Donny Osmond as Joseph. We window shopped along the "Magnificent Mile," where I bought a small bag and took a nighttime boat tour on Lake Michigan. Had I started my blog back then, the trip would have made for several posts. Plus, I had a different perspective in that I am from a small Louisiana town and this was my first venture into a city other than New Orleans or Baton Rouge. I was seeing the city through innocent eyes, yet I had wonderful opportunities because my travel companion was knowledgeable about available outings. Because I had no idea what to do or how to find out (pre-internet ages), I just went along with her recommendations. Luckily for me, she was as cultured as she was knowledgeable. That trip started me on a lifetime of travel and adventure.

I'm fairly sure that we don't have to define travel, but I will mention that even if you can't get away from your city or area, you can write a travel post. I did something of the sort not long ago on this post. While running errands, I noticed a just-picked cotton field and had to snap a picture. That led me to really take a look around, which means I took about ten pictures of the area along the bayou that eventually leads into my little town. I chose four or five of the better ones and wrote a short post explaining how those pictures came about. Every picture was taken within ten miles of my home.

Photo credit: Dimitry Anikin  @anikind

Let's imagine that you are able to get away. You travel to an exotic location and are able to tour the area for three-to-five days. You can, of course, write an overall post saying that you traveled. Even better, you can write several posts detailing the sights, sounds, smells, and experiences of your travels. Options are limitless, but here are a few of the more common ways: 

1. Daily writing. Some travel writers create a post at the end of each day expressing that day's goings-on.
2. Cluster writing. Others combine their experiences into clusters [my term] that detail one particular area. While traveling through Louisiana, for example, I could write about the Cajun culture in the southern part of the state, write about the changes in New Orleans since the Katrina flood, and describe the beauty of Kisatichie National Forest in the northern part of the state.  Each cluster can be a separate post.
3. Write about place. A third option would be to describe place based on your experience. Perhaps write about what you see and hear at a concert. Did you eat some of the ethnic food at a local festival? What did you expect? How did it taste?
4. Find your theme. What do you do on every trip? What do you do every day of your trip--tours, foods, people--that you can describe or post photos of daily? What is your favorite part of each day? What discoveries did you make? What surprised you? 
5. Recommendations/Disapprovals. What do you recommend or discourage? A bare-it-all sort of post that warns readers against an experience you regret can be interesting and helpful. Can you turn an experience into a funny story, perhaps with a little exaggeration? That can be both helpful and entertaining. 
6. Tours/Events. Are there tours or special events available in the area? Tell about what you saw, the people you met, and how good the tour or event was. What was your favorite experience? What would you do again?
7. Combine video and writing. Many people would prefer to watch video or view photographs, so it's a good idea to include both in your blogs. It also extends variety to your work, which gives your readers more reason to visit your blog.

Keep in mind that there are many apps available for notes (I like Evernote) and you almost always have your phone. Even if you take photos with a dedicated camera, use your phone at the beginning of the day or event to record details such as date, time, place, cost, tour/event info, etc. 

Writing about your travel experiences can be both entertaining and a wonderful way to document your vacations. It's also a way to connect with readers. Those who travel can join the conversation and share their experiences; those who don't travel may enjoy living vicariously through your posts.

Finally there are many places in the world that are beautiful and exotic but, like everyone else, I have priorities and limitations, so I will most likely never get to see some of those places. To learn about them, I peruse nonfictional works and also enjoy watching videos and reading about others' experiences. Together they give me a comprehensive, yet personal view of the culture and people and the lands I cannot visit on my own. This is why people will read your travel logs, look at your photographs, and watch your videos. 

Writing about Writing -- Links to all posts
Writing about Writing Intro

Inspiration Post 1

Inspiration Post 2

Behind the Scenes Post 3

Followers Post 4

Your Blog Post 5

Holidays and Special Events Post 6

Bloggers You Follow Post 7

Your Journal Post 8

Setting Goals Post 9

Product Testimonials Post 10
Travel Experiences Post 11

Is southwest still west?

Side view of the church

It seems like it's been a week since my last post but it's actually only been four days. I guess Richard's crazy traveling routine has me confused. It seems that we drive until we're exhausted and then stop and die for a few hours. Of course, there's been a little sightseeing in all that traveling, but always in a rush to get back on the road.

One of the more fascinating places we visited was the Mormon Tabernacle in Salt Lake City. I was amazed by the size of the campus and the abundance of flower beds. Not allowed to take any pictures inside the buildings, I had to satisfy myself with a few pictures of flowers and facades. I still had a great time, even with the ticking of the parking meter.

Brigham Young and the Pioneers completed by Cyrus Dallin in 1893.
source information: http://historytogo.utah.gov

History museum of the Mormon religion (I think)
but it's the waterfall on the building that I love.

A little man-made stream almost a block long but only about 4-5 feet wide.
Too bad there are no benches. I really wanted to plop down and rest in the shade.

No idea what these are but there were clusters of them lining the street.

Huge clusters of wonderfully scented roses 

And very pretty!

Blueberries! Ripe for eating. Clustered around the roses.

I could not resist taking a picture of this building--so
quaint in comparison to the other huge structures

 Have you been to Salt Lake City or the Mormon Tabernacle? If so, what was your favorite feature? If not, what in today's post interests you about the area?

And the way west continues

We've been gone from North Dakota since Monday. Today is Friday, so you'd think that I'd have said hello to the world of bloggers in the interim. No way! No, literally. No way. We've been in the mountains, parked alongside the Shoshone River in a little place called Eagle Creek Campground in the Shoshone National Forest. Here's how I described it on Tuesday when we arrived.

"Oh sweetheart, we have to stay. It's so pretty. Look at the wildflowers, ahh, and the river. Oh, I bet it's cold and refreshing. This place right here is open and is right on the riverbank. We can sit on those flat rocks with our feet in the water and enjoy the morning. Or come back from the mountains and cool off under the shade trees. Hey! Look that little guy! What is he? A chipmunk? Aww, how cute is that?" 

I wanted to stay two nights. Just two. I figured the lack of electricity and fresh water would probably make things difficult. I'm not a fan of difficult. Richard paid for three, just in case we couldn't find anything else. We didn't look for anything else, but we did find a few places. Those places were so congested and crowded that we returned to our Shoshone River camp and reveled in the quiet. 

There were few other campers, and like us, they were rambling through Yellowstone during the day, returning exhausted and ready for bed. Only the camp host stayed longer than we did. Everyone else seemed to come to their senses on day two. But we're tough Louisiana folks and can take the wilderness. Aren't we the ones who trekked through Arizona dragging three preteens tent-camping in a different place every night? Dang right!

So day three arrives and Richard says, "We have to decide what we want to do: stay here or move farther west so we don't have to drive so much." 
Me: "Oh, we're moving." 
Rich: "Okay, so you want to move? Any idea where?"
Me: "Where there's electricity and water and full services." 
Me: "FULL services."
Rich: "We could stay one more night."
Me: "Sure, if they put in FULL services while we sleep."
Me: "Let's be clear. That ain't happening. We're moving. If you pay for another night, you'll lose your money. We are moving!"

I woke up when the camper suddenly jerked onto the truck hitch. For those of you who don't know: Richard was packing and hooking up the camper to move. 

Yes, we moved. Tonight we will sleep on the Montana-Idaho line and go back into Yellowstone a few more times before going to the Grand Tetons and then somewhere west of here. That has not been decided yet.

So what does a girl do when there's no electricity? Hand-stitching, of course! This little bird quilt has patiently been waiting its turn for some needle attention. Remember the bird on the left is the one that Preeti sent me quite some time ago. 

I made a reverse one to "match," quilted them to hold the two sweethearts in place and put the whole thing aside for this trip. I've pulled it out and in the tiny bit of daylight that was left at the end of each day, I've been stitching. You can see that there hasn't been much daylight! But it's a start. 

Now except that in the picture the bird's wing looks too much like a penguin wing. Hmm. I don't want a penguin bird. Oh, so much stitching to remove! I'll leave you with that happy note.

What do you think? Isn't this a cute little lovebird? Forget the wing, something's going to happen with the wing. But the rest of it? I think this is the girl since it's not very bright and colorful. The other will have some gorgeous thread...but we'll see how that works after this wing gets a makeover. Have a great weekend!

Linking up with:

TGIFF
Amanda Jean at Crazy Mom Quilts

        Myra at Busy Hands Quilts
Sarah at Confessions of a Fabric Addict

Going, going, gone!

Written on 7/10/2017

And we’re off! We left this morning for a few days of vacation time. The plan is to go to the Badlands of South Dakota then visit my sister.  If we still have a bit of gas (in the truck and in our own tanks), we’ll head toward Yellowstone, but that won’t be determined until we are almost done with North Dakota.  We may even throw Canada in for fun.

I absolutely want to add at least Nebraska, (Lincoln and Quilt Study Museum prepare yourselves) and the Dakotas to Across America, the button map. The quilt on which I sew a white button to each state as we visit. There are still many states that need buttons, but here out West the states are freakishly far apart! So if I add these three plus Montana (I need only a little piece of the big sky) and Wyoming that will be a huge, really huge, accomplishment.

But we haven’t even gotten to Nebraska. We left at 9:00 (our time) and drove until 3:00 (still our time) and I feel like someone beat me. We’re in Mississippi. Big whoo! I could have residency in this-here state, I’ve been here so often. (Side note: I added my own hyphen to this-here. I like it, so leave it alone.)

The problem is that the new truck is rough. Richard assured me that it would have a smoother ride with the camper holding on to our tail, thanks to the added weight. Well, I’m not so certain that’s working as planned. It’s possible that he hasn’t a clue what he’s talking about. Generally he does, I’ll admit that, but this farm equipment is rough as an old tractor breaking new ground. And yes, the camper is behind us. And yes, it’s got some weight on it. (I had a little more time to pack up some “stuff.”) And yes, I’m keeping myself busy to while away the hours.

I have a book; a quilt I’m hand quilting; my rosary; a morning nap and an afternoon nap; and Cotton needs grooming. Plus, there’s eating, entertaining the driver so he stays awake, and just general annoying everyone around me. Too bad for them they are only two—driver and puppy. Not much of a challenge. However, you’d think I could blink away six hours with all those activities. No, not quite. The achy butt and hot body are reasons for ticking away every second of those six hours. Here's to making good, smooth time tomorrow.  

Written on 7/11/2017

First thing this morning, after we got on the road, I discovered that I'd started us off in the wrong direction. Now understand that lots of things changed in the last 24 hours before our escape. Richard invited the grandies, but then we discovered they would need to be back in a few weeks and decided we could not take our planned vacation. So in a rush to beat the clock, I planned another, completely different, vacation so that Lane and Jolie would have the chance to see mountains--Appalachians rather than Rockies. Not the same, but doable. 

Then all that fell through. And we were back on the path to the Rockies. I guess my brain didn't keep up with the changes because we definitely were not in the right place this morning. We made good time today, but I got to pee only once the entire day...not my favorite way to travel. 

We're back on track--heading northwest anyway. Tomorrow we'll stop at Missouri Star Quilt Company in Hamilton, MO, because why not? It's only 20 minutes out of the way. For that I'm giving up the Laura Ingalls Wilder homes in DeSmet, SD. Maybe I'll find some of the Little House fabrics at MSQ. 

The following day we hope to be in Lincoln, NE, for a tour of the National Quilt Study Museum. My family accuses me of planning our trips around quilt places. I do not. If I did, I would have gone to Marshall Dry Goods in Batesville, AR. It was only an hour out of the way. I do admit that it's a rare occasion when a quilt place along the route slides by. 

We stopped at a little RV park in Cabool, MO. We prefer state and national parks but when it's time to shut down the engine, we take what's available.  It's a bit too crowded with RVs for pictures of tonight's romantic little getaway, but Richard noticed a robin and a pasture full of cows.