Vacation Continued

We had planned to head to the Alabama coast after leaving TN but Ray had a really rough start to the trip with poor health.  I had to keep reminding him that just because we said we were going to a place didn’t mean it was written in stone.  So, we skipped Alabama and went to Baton Rouge.  After a wonderful overnight with Glen and Frank we traveled a short 80 miles to my brother’s house in New Iberia.  We parked in his rented lot across from his house and camped there.

It was a nice visit.  A sight that caught me by surprise was a local cemetery.  I have seen pictures of those in New Orleans but forgot about them.  Due to a high water table the graves are very shallow.  They’re  either covered with a ledger stone or a vault partially buried or above the ground.  I’m generalizing so google for more info.

My brother was off work for the week so we had lots of family time.  We cooked and ate a lot.  We swam. My brother even took me to a quilt store!

In order, my niece and her son, my sister in law and her grandkids (children of niece),  my brother and his sons, my nephews again and my brother and I.  My brother and I have not had the greatest relationship.  We spent a lot of time talking.  He fell into his old ways of trying to be hurtful.  Ray always told me don’t let it bother me which was hard to do.  So the best part of this trip was that I felt very unaffected by him.  In fact, every time he tried to do this I just laughed, usually included with a look of maybe surprise that a laugh was about to spill forth.  I also spent a lot of my talking with my sister in law.  I had never really connected with her before but I think we connected finally.

So on a lighter note.  I asked my brother to make his pizza.  His wife did it but it was so good!  Home made dough, fresh veggies, sausage and pepperoni.  Yum!  My brother has a flat top griddle and made his bacon cheeseburgers for us.  So good.  Marinated chicken and veggies another night.  If you went hungry it was your own fault.  Their neighbor was so sweet.  He saw us come in and went and bought us chocolate bars and cokes.  We got to visit with him before we left and thanked him.

I asked my brother to take me to the quilt store one day.  Their hours were always such that I was there when they were closed.  This time was the right time.  Four little Cajun ladies were inside.  They were so sweet and we were all laughing.  One of them even came out and taught me a few cuss words in French.  I dented my bank account a little but it was worth it.  Here are a few of my finds.

Look closely at the fleur de lis fabric.  There are crawfish alternating with the flower.  There were several more panels but this one was my favorite.  The shop is Emily’s Closet.  They had a lot of unusual (to me) fabric selections.

From here we decided to go to Jefferson, TX.  There were 4 campsites to choose from but I picked Johnson Creek because Johnson is my maiden name.  I had been to Jefferson before and thought the area was nice so thought it was worth returning.  When we checked in I told the lady at the kiosk how I chose their camp. She told me she picked the place to work at because her name is Johnson!  I was amused.

We pulled down into the site and were greeted by some friends.

They would come to visit twice a day.  They stared at us waiting to feed them.  Eventually I gave them dog food.  My dog Bandit wasn’t too sure about his food being given away so he strategically parked himself.  He ultimately was mistaken by a fawn to also be a fawn.  The baby stood and stared at him happily wagging his tail.

Ray met our campground neighbor.  He managed to get an invite on his boat so we got to do a little fishing and touring on Lake of the Pines.  The dogs weren’t too sure about it at first but then settled in nicely.

We spent three nights here just relaxing and talking.  It was a nice end to a long vacation.  We plan to visit this area again.

Happy quilting!