Cajun Crawfish Boil - YUM!

First of all, you find a good reason to party, like celebrating Wilson's college graduation . . . :)



Then you ask your granddaughter to size up 40 pounds of live crawfish in a bucket . . .


You do battle with defiant runaways . . .


You then start the boil with spices, lemon juice, onions, & garlic . . . man does that smell goood!


You take the defiant crawfish and his 1000 cousins and "let 'em go for a swim" as master chef, Will Perkins, stands by with the stirring spoon to make sure nobody falls out . . .


Toss in a few sticks of butter and some mushrooms . . . tell everyone to stop salivating so much!


Cover the table with paper and a cardboard tray then make a mountain of the crawfish, onions, and garlic. Decorate on top with sweet corn and 'taters . . .


After the feast is over, lay back, relax, and savor the memory . . .

Port Hudson Organics

There's the Wonder Egg way over there, across the field of fresh clover at Will & Thais Perkins' organic farm. Two brilliant professionals with full time jobs, but their passion is connectivity to the earth and all of its bounty. They've been perfecting the art of organic farming on their land for many years, and, if you ask me, they have it down pretty dang good!

As you can see, they've invited some winged creatures to help out with the pollination. They say the honey's awesome! It'll help folks with their sweet tooth and their local allergies . . . what a deal!
The Wonder Egg likes it next to all of the farm implements, but it has told me not to get any ideas . . . (It's afraid I'll put it to work.) HA!

Sam Houston Jones State Park

North of Lake Charles, LA tucked along the banks of converging rivers is the Sam Houston Jones State Park.
Lots of wildlife. Some of the folks "living" here appear to be folks displaced by the ravages of Katrina. The sites are nicely shaded and my site is backed up to a lagoon that has been drained to build a walking bridge across it that will connect to a network of trails. They'll fill it up again after the project is completed.

Only one complaint . . . the bullfrogs were really, really, loud last night till about 2 in the morning! I guess that's when the batteries on their itty-bitty amplifiers gave up the ghost.

Brazos Bend State Park

After a nice relaxing drive, I've arrived at Brazos Bend State Park "Home of the American Alligator" The campsites are beautifully shaded with large, majestic trees decorated with gray ribbons of Spanish moss. This is just an overnighter . . . a bit of reading . . . a bit of playing music . . . a bit of keeping my friends informed of what I'm up to via the blogosphere. Tomorrow it'll be off to Lake Charles, LA and some more relaxing.

I shall surely return to this lovely park to tarry for a while

Ok, it's time to fess up . . . Oscar is not a chicken foo-foo dog. I left him with the Collins family because on this trip, I'll be watching my son graduate from college and the day after the Cajun Crawfish Boil Extrvaganza, I will be packing up my sweet little granddaughter and driving her to Texas while my son and his wife move thier belongings to Austin.

So there you have it. Oscar is not the chicken, I am! I figured a granddaughter and a dog would be slightly over my limit . . . There! I feel much better now.

:)

Chicken foo-foo dog . . .

So this afternoon, Oscar and I had this long conversation about the trip to Brazos Bend State Park. I kept telling him they oversold the alligator danger and he kept saying " But what if it's true?!*#?"

Then he said, "Let me get this straight. You're offering me the choice of being GATOR-BAIT or hanging out with Clark & Ysabel Collins and my buds (their kids) Aldo & Grace who all love me, brush me, play with me, let me sleep in their beds, and not a single one of them wants to EAT me! No contest, Pete, I hope you have a nice trip! SEEEEE YAAAA!"

The INSIDE story . . .

Lots of requests for pics of the interior . . . so here they are. One thing you don't see is the two burner gas stove hiding underneath that slick black cover in front of the coffee maker. The coffee maker is a 12V Cuisinart unit and next to it is a Brita water filter that I used even though all the water coming into the trailer already went through a charcoal filter. (Makes better coffee!)

In the back upper left, you can see the controller for the solar panel, and in the right hand corner, under the strorage cabinet, you may see an upside down dome which is part of the cell phone signal amplifier. I did not opt for the satellite TV antenna, but kept the flat screen for Netflix, etc.

All of the fixtures for water are high quality. The one for the bathroom sink also extends for the shower.

Oh Boy! Alligators!!!!!!!

Since Oscar picked out our last campsite, I thought it only fair this one was my turn. I found a Texas State Park called Brazos Bend. Prehistoric people visited this area around 300 BC and even now, ancient-like critters roam freely about . . . we're talkin' GATORS! They must be all over 'cause on the park map it even tells ya how to interact with them.

- ABSOLUTELY DO NOT! feed or annoy the alligators.
- If an alligator goes after the fish you have caught, cut the line and let the alligator have the fish.
- Avoid any alligator sunning itself in the middle of the trail.
- If an alligator opens its mouth and hisses, you have come too close.
- Keep pets on a leash no longer than 6 feet. Do not throw objects in the water for your pet to retrieve.

I read these rules to Oscar and said "Won't that be fun, Oscar?" He gave me a big smile and said "S_s_sure, Pete." I dunno . . . he didn't sound all that convincing to me. Perhaps he might want to stay home with the Collins family.

Fishin' with the Underwoods!!!

Oscar and I have made some new friends, the Underwood Family from Corpus Christi, Phil & Denise and their children, Katie and Cody. They are avid fishermen so Oscar & I went along with them to ye ole' fishin' hole. We watched as Katie hauled in the first of five fish today (yesterday, she caught 19!). Cody enjoyed the worms and was always wondering what the were "saying." Denise proudly holds up her catch . . . or is that rod being held by Phil? And Katie decides she'd like some fresh sushi right on the spot. EEEEWWWW!!!

It was a wonderful weekend. Oscar & I look forward to meeting the Underwoods again.

Lake Corpus Christi set-up

Well here we are all set up at the Lake Corpus Christi State Park . . . got the extra chairs out 'cause we're awaiting the arrival of the Underwood family!

Lets get outta here!

Oscar and I were sitting around "talking" abut what new and wonderful place we might visit in the Wonder Egg this weekend . . . then, he hops on the internet and prints out a map of Lake Corpus Christi State Park and says "Let's go here!" He spent the next several minutes pouring over the map to chose the best site when we pull in to the Ranger's station tomorrow. If you look closely you may even see some choice sites he has circled after viewing satellite imagery of the park.