Four Months in Florida

Last sunset in Florida

Finally have left Florida and now in Lake Charles, Louisiana after a lengthy day of driving (for me anyway).  Had a later than planned departure from Navarre campgound -- it was around 9:30 when I hit the road west with the Jeep in tow mostly due to the driving around looking for a fueling station that would accomodate this big rig.  The day before my departure, I had scoped out the nearest station at the nearby Walmart to the east and had seen another RV with vehicle in tow having a bit of a manuevering problem getting through the station so, I thought to drive just the Winnebago there and breeze right through (before hitching up the Jeep).

Well, I breezed right through alright as a tanker truck had pulled in there just before me and they had closed all the pumps while he filled their tanks so, I drove the other direction on 98W and then up 87N before finally finding an Exxon station west of 87 on 98 -- then, they only let me purchase $100 of diesel because AMEX thought there might be a fraud occuring and denied my second attempt at getting another $100 of fuel (probably needed $300 of diesel).  So I decided to hit the road and hoped to find something on I-10 -- maybe a Loves truck stop (and did -- luckily AMEX didn't deny this charge and put another $150 in the tank -- still wasn't full though).

Made it through Alabama by noon (driving in the rain most of the way) and another hour plus to get through the narrowest part of Mississippi -- skipped the short drive down I-110 to New Orleans and switched to I-12 heading for Lake Charles above the northern shores of Lake Pontchartrain.  Happy now to be west of the Mississippi River with no worries of flooding like last spring when I crossed through Tennessee on I-40 amid the flurry of tornadoes -- including the one that hit Joplin (when I was parked just southwest of Little Rock at Lake Catherine).

The 20 plus mile drive across Basin Bridge (with its snaking/winding, muddy rivers and swamps all around) made me think how tough some of those early settlers were in making their ways through this snake and alligator infested country.  The mid 1800s brought some of the earliest settlers here just 6 miles east of Lake Charles -- how did they do it?  Makes me wonder and wish I had some of their journals to read about their trips (will have to check that out while I'm here -- and some Cajun cooking as well).  Hopefully, I'll avoid the lure of the casinos and instead enjoy some fine dining (other than that offered at all the truck stops along the way).

Too bad it's not May so I could enjoy a meal on the deck at L'Auberge du Lac Casino -- Touloulou's sounds nice enough for me but, maybe another one of their restaurants will be worth checking out.