Tag: Louisiana

Day 13 – Texas

We had the most incredible thunderstorm roll through last night between 1am and 4am. So much rain and thunder and lightening; and our trailer weathered it like a champ.

Gorgeous white sandy beaches

We spent the day traveling from Bay St Louis, Mississippi to Austin, Texas where we were headed to see family. It was a mostly uneventful 12 hour day of travel.

As we left Mississippi and headed into Louisana the sun came out and the sky started to clear.

There was a wind blowing from the north and we were heading west. The cross winds made for a wheel griping ride for Jon. The trailer really wobbles in the wind and there was a tremendous amount of road work which meant that they had the road shifted over into the shoulder which mean there was little to no shoulder to handle the trailer wobble.

I find the forest to be so interesting in the south. It’s all the same height and when the highway goes up high over low lands or rivers you can see the tops of the tress and it looks like an ocean of green puffy clouds extending forever. As you get into Texas, the entire height of the forest shrinks by a few feet.

We stopped in Lake Charles, Louisana for lunch, a bathroom break and gas. We stopped at Wendy’s which was next to this crazy building that was mostly boarded up. Apparently it used to be the IRS and FBI but they’ve relocated. No idea what happened here but it’s crazy looking. The blue panels are glass the but brown panels are all boarded up wood.

I don’t know what I was expecting Texas to look like but it’s a lot greener, at least the parts that we’ve seen so far. I understand that it will change as we travel further west.

There are miles of these fields filled with colourful flowers that just look so beautiful. And I’m not the only one who thinks so as there were tons of families and photographers out taking photos in the flowering fields.

We stopped in Brenham and got chicken fingers and fries from Jack in the Box and we can finally check that restaurant off our list.

As we drove into Austin, the sun was setting and it was so incredible beautiful. The photo doesn’t even begin to do it justice.

Our first stop was to see Tyrone – one of Jon’s cousins. We’ve met Tyrone before when we came and stayed with us in Abbotsford. I can see Josiah, in Tyrone’s look and it’s always fun to see family resemblance. We also met Tyrone’s oldest daughter, Alishah. We chatted and hugged and our visit was way to brief. It’s been an incredible experience for the boys to meet family from Jon’s side of the family. My family is mostly all near by in Canada and we are close but Jon’s family, on both sides, are spread all over the world so this is a truly special experience.

We hugged and said good bye and headed out to Jon’s other cousin’s place where we are going to park for the next day or two.

We arrived in the dark and got about parking the trailer. We received such a warm welcome from family that we’ve (Patti and the boys) never met and Jon hasn’t seen in 40 years. We sat and chatted until midnight. The boys were so happy and comfortable talking with the extended family and it was just incredible to see.

I feel like a broken record but there are so many soul warming moments. Our hearts just feel so full! We are so very thankful for this incredible experience to see the States and visit family.

Day 12 – New Orleans, Louisana

We woke up this morning expecting a thunderstorm to blow through during the day and sure enough, the sky was grey and cloudy.

We moved a lot slower in the morning than I had expected. Siah really enjoyed the spicy Jimmy Dean sausage that we had at Xani’s and we had bought some more. Jon made eggs and sausage for us, for breakfast.

Siah was pretty happy and really, it was pretty delicious.

We tidied up and headed into New Orleans and down to the French Quarter. It’s just about an hour away from Bay St. Louis.

We drove across Lake Ponchartrain and planned to come back over the Ponchartrain Causeway. It was pretty grey and definitely felt like it was gonna rain although it was holding off.

The Ponchartrain

Driving into New Orleans was fun as Jon shared memories of where they lived when Pastor Charles Green brought them back from Indonesia and pointed out where the church was.

Driving down into the French Quarter was amazing. The trees hanging way out over the roads and the colourful houses with their offsetting colourful window shutters. The wrought iron balconies are gorgeous too. There is stunning graffiti art all over and it’s just a riot of color and creativity.

We found a parking spot right on Decatur Street about a block away from the Cafe Du Monde.

The boys were a little overwhelmed with the smells and sounds and the sheer number of people around; but it sounded and felt like excitement and anticipation and creativity to me. Smelled like weed and BO!

We found the line up for the sit down part of the Cafe and it wasn’t very long at all. So we queued up.

Jude is happier then he looks, I promise. It’s hard to catch a smiling picture of him. He pointed out this artist sitting on the bench beside us. Look at the saturation of color on his pages. It’s incredible.

While we waited a few light drops of rain started to fall and Jon ran back to the truck to grab an umbrella. He came back just before they seated us.

There was an incredible busker serenading the line up with his Karoke machine. He was joined by a gentleman dancing along. The dancer definitely looked down on his luck but he had the kindest smile and eyes!

We were seated in the cafe and our waiter came over to get our order.

We ordered 3 orders of Beignets, 2 Cafe au Lait and 2 Sprites. As soon as we ordered, the heavens opened up and the floods came.

The Thunderstorm that we had been expecting arrived with a bang. A lot of bangs. There was thunder and lightening and SO MUCH RAIN. It was awesome!

You can see the sheets of rain in the above video. And even though it’s pouring and storming, it’s warm. When the rain started all the people that had been in the streets and parks moved into the covered sidewalks and it got even more crowded, loud and pungent. The beignets and cafe au lait was delicious and the boys would have ordered another 3 orders if we said yes.

We stopped in a few of the stores along the way back to the truck. We had planned to walk through the Market but when we got back to our truck, the boys were done and just wanted to head back to the trailer.

Our boys do so well travelling but we must adjust our wants to accommodate their needs and that often means cutting our plans short. So we hold plans loosely so as not to be disappointed and even then, it can be frustrating and disappointing to want to see or do something and not get to but going to an emotional breaking point is not worth any “attempt” to “make a memory”.

We headed back to Bay St Louis and seeing as both boys were on the edge of meltdowns we didn’t go over the Ponchartrain Causeway as it added an extra hour to the trip. We also did not communicate that well enough and the lack of communication did trigger a meltdown. That’s hard. It’s really hard. It was just the last straw that an “already at his breaking point” kid reached!

To read a great explanation of dealing with a meltdown, go to Jon’s blog and read this post he wrote.

Part of the stress was mounting internal pressure of undone schoolwork, so we found a McDonalds with wifi and the boys did some school while I shopped at Walmart for a few groceries for the trailer.

The battery in Siah’s computer died and the Walmart McDonald’s didn’t have plugs available for customers. He wasn’t quite finished so I finished shopping quickly and we headed to a different McDonald’s that did have outlets.

We headed back to the trailer and the storm had settled some.

Siah wanted to go back in the water. Jude wanted to try fishing again and I wanted to tidy the trailer and take a shower if possible.

So Siah went in the water. It was quite a bit colder than the previous day, thanks to the storm so that didn’t last long and he was actually the first to try out the shower!

Jon took Jude to a pier down the road to try and catch a fish one last time. They had no luck but it’s still fun though.

They came back to the trailer and Jon and I both made it through the shower although it’s more of a bird bath situation and less of a luxurious relaxing experience but clean hair and parts are worth it.

After showers, we made hot chocolate for the boys and I had a tea.

There are times when things feel more peaceful and normal and other times when it just feels more chaotic than anything. I really love peace and calm.

The boys chattered and played together before bed and Jon chilled and it was such a nice evening. We are up bright and early tomorrow headed to Texas to see family and friends. It gonna be another great day of travel and I’m so thankful that we had this special time to see where Jon grew up and to see first hand things, places and people that he’s talked about for years.