Alabama to Louisiana

Happy Birthday to me!  For my 62nd birthday I got social security and...(drumroll please) my National Parks Pass!  Yay!  After we left Fl we stayed at Rainbow Plantation, our Escapees park outside Summerdale Alabama.  We spent 5 nice days there.  We like this park.  The weather was nice, the people friendly, the park well maintained, the staff welcoming and effecient.  While we were there we enjoyed the locality.  We took several pleasant bike rides, one of which took us to this area, where I got my new pass.  You might notice I'm wearing two different shoes.  One is my bike boot, the other is my walking shoe.  Two days before we left FL I sprained my ankle.  My walking shoe accomodates my ankle brace. 

 

 

 

The refuge consists of a wide variety of habitats:  scrub,

 

 

sandy areas,

 

 

standing water,

 

 

sand dunes,

 

 

beach, (the low gray area is the ocean)

lilly pond,

 

 

tall grass

 

swamp.

 

Another day we ate in Foley at Lambert's Cafe, home of the "throwed rolls".  Inside the restaurant large booths lined the walls while long tables and benches filled the middle. People come for miles to sit here and have hot rolls thrown at them.  With your entree you get two sides plus the extras:  macaroni and stewed tomatoes, boiled cabbage, fried okra, fried potatoes and onions, black eyed peas, molasses and applebutter, and of course, hot rolls.  Waiters walk around the room with pots of these foods.  If you want any you just raise your hand.  You can have all you want.

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One of the famous rolls.  They are huge--really three rolls in one--and hot and yes they are all tossed at close range or thrown across the room. This place boasts plenty of good food and lots of smiles and laughter.  A very fun place to eat. 

 

 

We stayed 5 days in Rainbow Plantation before moving on to the Shreveport, LA Elks.  This is one of the nicer Elks clubs and located in a housing area close to shopping.  It is small--room for 6 rigs and tight for larger rigs like ours.  30 amp service, no other hookups but does have an easily accessible dump and water fill up.  Parking is on two concrete strips.

 

 

The complex is bounded by this levee on two sides.  There are houses on the other side.  The property backs up to a row of buildings on a third side (I think they are businesses) and a shallow lake on the fourth.  The result is that the place is pleasantly quiet.

 

 

There is a really nice swimming pool/picnic area/play area.  The pool is separately fenced and anyone can buy a pass.

 

 

Pool with clubhouse in background.  The weather has been quite cool with lows in the 30's climbing to 50's at night and 60-70 days.  Never the less, on Sunday ten guys enjoyed several water vollyball games.  BRRR!

 

 

Tomorrow is our last day here.  We came here because we still have a dentist here (appointments tomorrow) and because Duane gets his annual CT scan here.  That was today.  The result showed a solid mass on his left kidney.  His options are:  biopsy with probable surgical removal, wait and watch with CT scans every three months for a year and probable surgery, or immediate surgery.  He opted for the last.  The surgery will be scheduled for mid to late May.  After the dentist tomorrow we will head to Texas, but that's another blog!

 

Later, dudes and dudettes,

 

Louise and Duane