Postcard from Louisiana

14 - 18 Jan 2010
(Lafayette, LA)

KOA in Lafayette, LA

 Finally a new state! Traveling east across Texas starting at the tip of the panhandle is a l-o-n-g way!
We arrived in Lafayette, LA on 14 January and I believe it was on 2 Jan that we left Las Cruces, NM and entered Texas.

Sadly the sunshine in the photo was short lived and temps started dropping. But it didn't freeze overnite so we aren't complaining. Weeeell... maybe a little, but only cuz we're so good at it! :)

Getting unhitched takes awhile now since I can only operate the landing gear for a little over a second at a time without blowing a fuse. But mechanically it worked great and there was no repeat of the the loud noises nor refusal to move.

When we checked in, the Admiral asked about local restaurant favorites and the consensus was "Fezzo's" (FEE-zo's). We got directions and made it there between the lunch and supper crowds with the place nearly empty. It took a little chit-chat with our helpful waitress Jamie and we ended up with a mountain of food that was delicious. I've had gumbo before and enjoyed it, but after eating at Fezzo's I have to admit  I've never really had gumbo before... it was incredible! A little hard to see the name on the roof ("No kidding, dude!"). But it's between the Harley and Kawasaki dealerships and well worth the stop. This place is Admiral approved!

The problems with the landing gear had to be addressed, so Friday had me on the phone calling first the Keystone factory (they made our Montana) and then a Montana dealer. I was getting busy making plans to get us to Ville Platte, LA to have the dealer there look at things next week (the earliest!) when the Admiral pointed out that the best info we've gotten concerning anything important was right at the RV park wherever we were staying. So why not ask?

So OK, I'll play her silly game. 5 minutes later we met Bubba who happens to be the 2nd of the 2 3rd-generation siblings running the RV park. We talked it over, he seemed to understand what I was certain was the problem and he stopped down to look at part numbers. He left to make a few calls and see what we were supposed to have installed while we went to Piggly Wiggly for groceries.

There's more than one supermarket in the little town of Scott (adjacent to Lafayette), but I just had to shop at Piggly Wiggly for sentimental reasons. Back around 1915-1920 my grandfather managed a Piggly Wiggly store in the Central Valley of California (Turlock? Modesto?). Piggly Wiggly was a marketing innovation: you could not get from the entrance to the cash register without passingt every shelf in the market... you had to 'wiggle' your way past everything they had. The hope, of course, was to get people to buy more than they planned, but customers hated it. So the layout didn't last long, but they kept the name.

After leaving the market we stopped at another Auto Zone where I could buy electrical terminals in order to install the circuit breaker I bought earlier. Who should I see but Bubba. "I think I have the problem figured out. When I ran the motor, the fuse holder got really hot. I think it's a bad fuse holder. And you really ought to have a circuit breaker in there instead of a fuse anyway." Ohmygod. Could it be this simple? 20 minutes later the groceries were put away and the landing gear were working properly. AND they operate much faster than they ever have. They sound like a sack of peach pits in a garbage disposal, but they seem to workjust fine. Who'd a thunk it. I still believe the gear ratio is different than the original, but it works better, so who cares?!

And yes, the Admiral was right.  Again!

An hour later it was pouring down rain. But that was OK because it was rain and not snow. And nothing on the trailer seemed to leak.

Sadly the Admiral is now starting to feel pretty crappy. My guess that Zyrtec was helping her get thru this with mild symptoms appears to be crap. So  now I get to take care of her for awhile. Pretty nice how this worked out and, other than the traffic noise from I-10, this is a nice place to spend a couple extra days while she heals.

And oh btw, we can watch the playoffs. Weeell... I'll watch, the Admiral will sleep!

More later.