Lousiana Swamp

Thanks to my friend, W, we arranged a tour of the Louisiana swamp with Airboat Adventures, located south of New Orleans.

This was a two hour tour in this airboat.

First we were shown the difference between marsh and swamp. This is marsh or boggy land. What appears to be land is floating on top of the water so if you jump up and down on it, a large area around your feet will go up and down with you.

Swamp is swallow water separated by land. Note the cypress knees, woody projections that extend above the waterline and serve to anchor the cypress tree in the muddy soil and may have some role in providing oxygen to the tree.

We saw lots of alligators. This one was about 6 feet long.

Here Captain Kevin is getting close and personal with the gators. Note the marshmallow in the water by the boat. This is what the airboat captains use to get the alligators to swim to the boat. Who knew alligators liked marshmallows?

This one is a bit longer, 7 or 8 feet. Most we saw were in the 4-6 feet range. Captain Kevin told us a lot about the state's control of the alligator population, with some hunting but also the careful collection of the eggs and raising of the baby alligators.

Here is a ribbon snake, very thin and 15 inches or so long. You may be able to see it better if you click on the picture.

That is about the only wildlife we saw, alligators and ribbon snakes, which was the only disappointment to the tour. The airboat was quite loud so it certainly can't sneak up on anything. But it was a lovely day and zipping around through the water was a lot of fun.

Thanks, W. PRM

Dauphin Island, Alabama

This was our first tourist stop. Dauphin Island is a barrier island at the mouth of Mobile Bay. It is only 166 sq miles, a long thin island with the Intercoastal Waterway to the north and the Gulf of Mexico to the south. Before crossing the four mile bridge to the island we had to pull the truck and trailer off the road so Noach could have his Monday afternoon Rabbi lesson by phone.

We stayed in the only campground on the island and were within easy walking distance to the gulf beach. The beach season has not quite begun so there was not a lot going on on the island.

That meant we had an uncrowded beach to enjoy. Jasper enjoyed the water, wading out cautiously. Once the waves caught him and he had to swim, which he did well but did not seem to enjoy. After that he was even more cautious.

He did enjoy rolling in the sand.

At the east end of the island, again within walking distance of the campground was Fort Gaines. This fort was first established in 1821 and was important in the Battle of Mobile Bay in the Civil War. It was in service as late as World War I.

While we were there a blacksmith was demonstrating his skills. He was a very pleasant and knowledgeable fellow who spent an hour just chatting with us while creating items from really hot metal. The forge he was using was used by soldiers 150 years ago.

On the second morning, everyone but me took the ferry from Dauphin Island to Gulf Shores, going across the mouth of the Bay. I skipped it because I am very susceptible to motion sickness and it was becoming windy and the water a bit choppy before the ferry took off. I jumped off the ferry and walked across the road to the campground, where I spent the rest of the day doing laundry.

Later that day, the kids rented mopeds, Yakov and Noach on one and Shoshie on the other. After about half an hour, Yakov and Noach had spun out and injured themselves slightly. Noach called it a day but Yakov kept riding. They both had extravagant bandaging done by the local EMT. The police and EMT were very nice to the boys. Fortunately there was minimal damage to the cycle also.

Next, the Lousiana swamp. PRM

Ready to travel

When I was 13 or so, my parents, a friend and I headed west from our Tennessee home on a family trip. We traveled through the flat cotton fields with shotgun shacks in rows by the road, through Arkansas and into Texas. Somewhere in Texas we stopped and decided where we would go next, Mexico or Las Vegas and the Grand Canyon. In the previous 2 years, we had spent a total of several months in central Mexico, so we chose to do something different and go to Arizona, New Mexico and Nevada. It was a wonderful trip.

That was the kind of traveling I grew up with, somewhat spontaneous, and that is how I like to travel now. It is a little tougher to do with the trailer since we have to plan our next stops to make sure we can find a campground. But I have gambled a bit on this upcoming trip. We have reservations for the Grand Canyon, Memorial Day weekend and the night before JP has to fly home. The rest of the time we can plan as we go.

I love to travel. The last few hours before we leave on any trip tend to be tense. I'm ready and JP just thought of something else to do. We never leave on time. The first trip we ever took together we had to stop at the car radio shop and get a new radio before we could leave town. JP hasn't changed but I have gotten better at keeping myself busy on the day we are leaving.

But when we pull out of the driveway, I could not be happier. Any anger or tension just melts away with the first mile.

Only 7 more days. PRM

Planning

It is finally coming together. A few reservations made.

I'm ready. PRM

I SO want to go

here. And we were pretty close in August. We did go here and saw a wonderful Edward Hopper exhibit. PRM

Home, at last

We just got home. It was a long drive with frequent rain and two separate episodes of thick fog. I am glad to be home. I feel so much more at ease when I am back in my usual routine, dreary as it may be.

I'll post some pictures tomorrow. PRM

Back home

We had a great weekend at Dan Nicholas Park. JP was on call Sat and Sun so the rest of us hung out. I will try a day by day rundown but will probably not finish it tonight. And I will try to add some pictures later.

Friday
We left the house about 3pm after the kids and I hooked up the trailer. I drove with Yakov following behind. It took less than an hour to get there. Then we BACKED it into a campsite. Yes, BACKED. Yakov started the process but I finished it. I was so proud that we were able to do it. My being able to back it in is an important skill that I need for a long trip, a long trip we may take next spring.

We had a pleasant Shabbat in the trailer. I baked a challah earlier in the day and we took it with us. The dinner was followed by many games of poker.

Saturday
JP left very early, about 6am. The rest of us slept until 8:30. Weekday mornings I stay up after he leaves about 7am but as there was really nothing for me to do in the dark in the trailer, I went back to sleep. I needed that sleep.

We left the trailer about noon, after several more games of poker and some Racko. We had a terrible lunch but then we letterboxed Salisbury.There were 2 boxes planted and I had printed out maps to the parks where they were located. We found them pretty easily. We took Jasper, the letterboxing mutt, with us.

We also went to WalMart to get some forgotten supplies, including a football and soccer ball. They played for a while when we got back to the park but we were run out of the parking lot when the park closed at 5pm.

We played lots of poker and Racko. The kids fought over the computers where they could watch some movies adn Allison played Muggins with me and I played Connect 4 with her.

Sunday
The day was much like Saturday. Yakov left to come back home about 2pm. He had some CC school work to do that he could not do without WiFi. Shoshie, Noach and I searched for 2 letterboxes in the park. We found the first one easily but there was no stamp. We could not figure out the clues for the second so we couldn't find it.

The evening was extra fun. After dinner, the two kids and I snuggled on the table/bed with popcorn and watched The Birdcage. The volume we could get was very low so we had to keep close and turn off all other noise. That included the furnace. It was quite chilly by the end of the movie. The French version, La Cage Aux Folles, is much better but the snuggling and popcorn made up for any theatrical weakness.

Monday
After breakfast out, we packed up to go home. Everything went well until the sewer hose broke as we were dumping. Fortunately, we were through with the black water. But it was kind of disgusting anyway.

The No Jane Austen Literary Society had their 2nd meeting, and first book discussion, at 3pm at the Kernersville Library. I thought they had a thoughtful, insightful, discussion. There were 6 teens and 3 parents. We parents largely stayed out of the discussion. They made plans for the next 3 months and will be reading some challenging material.

Finally, Noach had a Cub Scout Pack Meeting. Then we were done for the day. And the weekend. PRM

If you want to make me happy,

just take me somewhere or go along with me. I love few things more than travel. It doesn't have to be far or to a fancy place. But GOING makes me happy.

We have been rushing around for the last 24 hours getting ready to take the trailer down to S. where JP will be on call this weekend. The kids and I will keep ourselves busy with fishing(Shoshie), letterboxing, walking and reading. Also, we may go to the NC transportation museum. One of our 1st LBL field trips was there, many years ago.

I will have to drive the trailer with Yakov behind me this afternoon. The scary part is that I may have to back into the campsite when we get there. I am trying to decide whether to take a few minutes to practice in the largely empty parking lot of the recently replaced WalMart. Practice is always good, right?

I do not expect that we will have much internet access while we are gone so I may not be posting again before Monday. I 'll try to remember to take and then post pictures.

PRM

Backtracking a bit

Since this is the "Traveling Jews" blog, I thought I would backtrack to our most recent trip. We returned last Sunday night from a week away. This is the view from our hotel window. That is the lake in the background.





At first we were in Chicago. JP was at a meeting and Shoshie, Noach and I wandered the city. This is a picture Shoshie took at the aquarium. That is a cool place. Highly recommended. We went to the planetarium briefly but I was having terrible vertigo and had to go back to the hotel for several hours.




Then we flew to Tampa for the end of the week and the highlight, if I may say so. Somebody had a first birthday. What a beauty! What a sweetie! My son, the Big E, and his wife have given me the BEST grandbaby a bubbe could hope for. I can't wait to see her again. Is that not the sweetest face?
PRM