Our RV Adventures

Long Live The New King?

Wanting to beat the heat we were up before 6 and pulling of our site at the Benchmark RV Park in Meridian by 6:40.

And 5 minutes later we were on I-20/I-59 heading west and then south on I-59 at the split. Jan had thought about driving again this morning, but it was pretty foggy in spots, and even with the very light traffic she decided not to.

If you check out the upper left of this photo you’ll see a rock chip on our rig’s windshield. This is notable because it’s the very first chip we have ever gotten on the rig.

Even going to Alaska and back in 2008, we didn’t get a nick. And we also never got a chip on the toad windshield either, and we didn’t have one of those shields or car covers you see people using. Just lucky, I guess.

At least until now.

The trip was nice and easy with no problems. Even going through Baton Rouge was a breeze with no slowdowns, at least until I got trapped behind a pokey semi going up the bridge. Then I got behind the power curve and ended up putt-putting up at 42mph, instead of the 50-55 along with the other traffic. But it was still nice.

The cooler weather held the entire way with a total overcast and occasional bursts of rain, just enough to keep the temps down and us very comfortable. And everything was great until the very end.

We were at mile marker 120, four miles from the end of the Atchafalaya River Bridge and about 20 minutes from the park, when every thing ground to a halt. And then it took us almost 90 minutes to go that 4 miles. Although we saw a police car  and a flat bed wrecker come by us on the right shoulder lane, we never saw anything else, even when the traffic started moving.

So instead of getting to our site Poche’s Fish N Camp RV Park by noon, it was more like 1:30pm. But we stayed nice and cool anyway.

Normally every time we’re here in Breaux Bridge we eat at Pont Breaux nee Mulate’s, and have for about 30 years. But it seems like since the place sold a few years ago, and even though they seemed to have keep the same recipes, the place is just not the same. So when I called to double-check their hours, and found out they were closed today , in addition to being closed as usual on Monday and Tuesday, we started looking elsewhere.

Now back in the Mulate’s days that wouldn’t have happened. They were open all day, every day. But we’ve noted on our last few visits that they’re not near as busy as they used to be. So I guess we’re not the only ones disappointed in the new regime.

Any way, I remembered our good friend’s Nick and Terry Russell had raved about another place here in Breaux Bridge, so I checked his blog to see what the name of it was.

It turned out to be the Crazy Bout Crawfish, right off the Interstate, and BOY, was Nick right.

Jan and I remembered eating here one time years ago when Mulate’s was closed due to flood damage, but it was a different place then, I think specializing in Po’boys. But it was nothing special and we never thought about going back. But this new place is really, really good.

It has that typical eclectic Cajun décor in a nice setting. The staff was very attentive, the service was great, and the food was fantastic.

Jan started off with the house salad and then went with the Grilled Catfish and Grilled Veggies.

I started off with my traditional Seafood Gumbo, but a cup this time instead of my usual bowl,

because I wanted the Spicy Boiled Shrimp, also recommended by Nick.

And the Nickster was right again.

But with the Gumbo, and even sharing shrimp with Jan, I still had 1/2 the shrimp to take home. Of course the other reason I took a lot home was trying to leave room for their homemade desserts.

Jan go the Ooey Gooey Strawberry Shortcake with Fresh Strawberries,

while I got the Bread Pudding with Rum Sauce.

But I still didn’t leave enough room, I guess, because I took half it it home too.

Heading home, stuffed to the gills, we both agreed that this is our new restaurant in Breaux Bridge from now on. So there goes a 30 year tradition.

I guess the King is Dead. Long Live The New King.

Later back at the rig, I went outside to hook up the toad for tomorrow’s trip back to Houston. With that done all I’ll have to do in the morning is disconnect shore power and put the key in the truck ignition to unlock the steering column, and we’ll be ready to roll.

Wrapping up outside I got this great sunset shot from our site.

This is a really nice park, a great place to stay, and it was Passport America too.

Tomorrow we’ve got about a 250 mile trip back home, and it looks like the cool weather will hold.

But we’ll see.

Thought for the Day: 

The neat thing about being over 30 is that we did all of our stupid crazy stuff before social media. Thank God!

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But I didn’t.

We were up at 6am this morning, pulled out a little before 7, bound for the Marathon station about 3 miles south of our park, with Jan following in the truck.

We always fill up with diesel here on our way back to Houston, or wherever, because the price is good and it’s a easy in and out.

And we were topped off with diesel and coffee to go, hitched up, and back on the road by 7:30, heading for Meridian, MS about 240 miles away.

We really lucked out on the weather today, and it looks like it may hold all the way back to Houston. It was forecast to be overcast with a little rain, and temps in the high 80’s, and that;’s the way it worked out. With just the roof fans and a couple of windows open we were comfortable the entire trip.

Traffic coming through Birmingham was negligible, probably due to it being at Saturday, and we were heading southwest on I-20./I-59 hardly even slowing down.

What Would You Do?

Then right after we entered Mississippi I saw the sign for an upcoming weigh station. No biggie, right? But except instead of saying the usual,

like it did last year, it now said,

ALL Vehicles Over 5 Tons Must Enter Weigh Station

That’s me, right? I mean the rig weighs about 16 tons, and the trucks another 2-1/2 tons.

But as I started to exit, Jan said, “They’re gonna yell at you again, just like last time!â€

So I said, “It says ALL vehicles over 5 tons and I’m way over 5 tons.: Jan just keeps saying, “You’re gonna be sorry, You’re gonna be sorry, I just know it.â€

What Jan was referring to was not a weigh station, but a border crossing station coming back into the US from Canada in the Thousand Islands area near Niagara Falls in 2009.

We had entered Canada near Houlton, ME, gone all the way out to Newfoundland and then back through Houlton. Then we traveled up through Maine to Fort Kent, ME and the beginning (or end, I guess, depending on your direction) of US 1.

Of course, the other end (or beginning) is at the buoy in Key West. So we been to both the beginning and end of US 1, and a lot in the middle.

This was, I think, our 8th border crossing and we’d never had any  problems, until now. But this crossing was a little different.

Every other crossing we’d been through had a sign designating whether RV’s were supposed to go through the car lanes or the truck lanes.

But this one had none. And there was not another RV in sight to clue me in.

So knowing a lot of the car lanes were too narrow for a Class A RV, I turned to the right and headed into the truck area, thinking I couldn’t lose this way, right?

Wrong!

I got yelled at for about 5 minutes. After I tried to explain once why I did what I did, he just yelled more. So I just shut up and let him yell.

Yeah, I know. Very uncharacteristic of me.

I’m still not sure exactly what he was so upset about. There were no other trucks around, not did any try to come through while we were there. But they kept us for about 30 minutes, and then sent us out through the big X-ray machine building.

I guess they figured a little radiation would show us.

But today I didn’t get yelled at. In fact we never even saw anyone. I just followed the lights that said STOP, PULL FORWARD, STOP, EXIT.

So I stopped, pulled forward, stopped, and then exited. And we went on our way.

And no yelling.

About 20 miles outside of Meridian we hit a mileage milestone. Since we picked up our coach January 6th, 2008, we’ve put 85,000 miles on it. And t hen before we get home on Monday, we will hit a total of 150,000 miles on the coach. (We’re the 3rd owner) Neat!

We pulled into the Benchmark RV Park just a few minutes after noon and got plugged in and set up. Then it was time for a nap since we got up so early.

Then about 3pm we drove into downtown Meridian to have lunch at Weidmann’s, our favorite place here, and, opening in 1870, the oldest restaurant in Mississippi.

I guess you could call the ambiance ‘Casual Elegance’, with white tablecloths, heavy silverware, and fresh flowers on each table.

But kind of belying all this is the crock of homemade peanut butter sitting in the middle of the table waiting  for you.

This apparently dates back to WW2 when butter was rationed, so a customer suggested they put peanut butter on the table to go with the crackers, and it’s been there ever since.

We both had our usual, with Jan getting the Crab Cake Brunch. Everything is made to order here, including the crab cakes and the crispy fried green tomato’s they’re sitting on. And of course, the fruit is fresh cut to order. Of course.

I had the Ribeye Po’boy, with Flash-Fried Onion Strings, and Homemade Kettle Chips.

All made to order, of course.

And so much that I could only eat half of it.

But part of that was to leave some room for Jan and I to split a Praline Bread Pudding ala Mode.

I’m not sure I really left enough room, because I hurt when we left the restaurant.

But it was a good hurt.

Tomorrow we’ve got a 312 mile run down to Breaux Bridge, so I hope the weather stays cool like today.

Thought for the Day: 

“Such among others are these principles: that we should live honestly, should hurt nobody, and should render to every one his due. . . .” – Sir William Blackstone (Eminent English Jurist)

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