Riverside State Park, Loiusiana:

Mary Lynn and I left Hattiesburg late this morning after taking time to complete a few chores around the RV, one of which was to wash the "new" windshield. Actually it's the same windshield however it was removed and re-installed at the factory on Wednesday.

The forecast was for rain however, as unreasonable as this sounds, I wanted the 'new' windshield clear of any bugs, smears, streaks, what have you, so I set up the collapsible ladder and washed the windshield. It sparkled when I was done.

Well, as I'm sure you now have guessed, within 5 minutes of getting underway the skies opened up and it poured. I mean really poured. Any bugs that might have been on the windshield would have been scrubbed off like bare skin on asphalt.

Don't ask me how I know about asphalt's abrasion qualities... or the hospital nurse's ability to ensure you are listening carefully to her lecture on the dangers of motorcycles while 'cleaning' what's left of the skin on your knees. Let's just say I have a great imagination and leave it at that.

In any case, the rain poured for about an hour before finally letting up. While it was still cloudy at least it was no longer raining.
As we travelled south on I-59 we saw acres and acres of white trailers. I'm sure these are the Katrina trailers being stored out on grassy pastures. Does someone think they are 'saving' these trailers for use after the next 'big storm' hits the Gulf states? I hope not. By then these trailers will be infested with mice plus they will be dank and covered in mildew. Far better to sell these units for whatever they can get for them. Hopefully that is what will happen... however knowing all too well how many a bureaucracy works, you never know... By the time we arrived at the Riverside State Park just outside of Covington, Louisiana, the sun was out, the temperature was in the high 70's with a nice little breeze. We are camped near the river and quickly set up so we could enjoy the warm outdoor weather.

MLA's sister Debbie and her husband Richard arrived about half an hour after we set up the RV. As usual, Debbie and Richard brought too much 'stuff': steamed shrimp, chips and dip, sodas, beer, and best of all (according to MLA) a King Cake.

A King Cake is a pastry cake covered with special multi-colored icing that is sold prior to Mardi Gras. Historically it has a small doll inserted in to the cake. Whoever gets the doll in their slice of cake will (supposedly) have great luck in the coming year.

Now a days they include the doll in the box with the cake rather than already baked into the cake; you have to insert it into the cake yourself. Apparently someone sued the manufacturer after finding a 'foreign object' in their cake. Jeeesh, too many lawyers and too many people willing to use them I guess...

In any case it was terrific getting caught up with Debbie & Richard. We always have such a great time with them, laughing and telling stories. The next thing you know the time has just flown by. We went to a local restaurant on the water (Morton's Seafood) for dinner. As usual, the food was as good as the company -- fantastic.

Tomorrow we are planning to go across the causeway into New Orleans -- I'll let you know what happens. On Monday we continue our trek west... stay tuned.

See Ya!