Mar 10, 2013 - Missin' and Spittin'

How the mighty are brought low! Well, maybe they thought they were mighty, and that was the problem. We only shoot 4 stages today. I have seen the scores from yesterday and I know that if I just shoot at about 80% of what I did yesterday I can probably do very well. I wish. First stage was pretty straightforward, ending with 4 shotgun knockdowns. I made it through to the SG ok, then shoot the first 2--no problem, shoot the final two, and when the smoke clears they are still up. Plus I have a hull sticking in one of my shotgun barrels. I...

Mar 9, 2013 - First Day Main Match

March 9, 2013-Last night I learned that the Bayou Blast computer apparently lost all of the posses that had been so meticulously drawn up, so we did not learn our posse assignments until this morning. I ended up on Posse 1, which was great because that meant we started on 1 and went all the way to 10 without having to double back. We had a lot of good people on our posse—Galvez, Logan Sackett, Captain Blly Blackhorse, Marshall Big Daddy Jencks, Copper Rose, Printer Doc, Blackwater Bob, Wesa, Baby Ruth, and some others whose names I didn’t...

Mar 8, 2013 - Side Match Day

March 8, 2013. Today is side match day, but it doesn’t get underway until 1:00 or so. So Susan and I had some time to look around the range. She had a chance to meet several people, like Hawkshaw Fred, ET, Wyandot Jim, and Cherokee Jones that I shoot with on a regular basis. True to her namesake, Susan is “Barely There” so this was pretty special. Next to our trailer was a cute little Airstream. The folks had a few items out for sale, so we went over and looked at what they had. Turns out they had a nice looking shotslide that I wanted. I...

Mar 7, 2013 - Arriving in Lake Charles--releasing our inner Cajun

March 7- We weren’t in a hurry to get up, but I have a hard time staying asleep (especially if the cat is pushing on me to get up and feed him. I fixed my own breakfast and piddled around until Susan woke up. She was craving McDonald’s, which just so happened to be in the WalMart we were parked at. So I strolled over with the objective of getting an Egg McMuffin. But I discovered an important limitation on WalMart McDonald’s (or at least this one); they did not have ham or Egg McMuffins. Susan had to make do with a bacon, egg and cheese...

Feb 24, 2013 - Lake Charles, LA

well Emily has finally agreed to let me type on the journal because she knew I would tell about her flashback to the 70's. When we were at the Falling Rock Campground, Emily goes over to take a shower (she thinks we should use the camp's showers to give us the true camping experience) well anyway she goes over there, I am still trying to wake up and all of a sudden the door flew open and there stood Emily naked well she did have a small towel but oh my goodness.....you would have thought we were at Woodstock in the 70's...Her hair wash wet...

Feb 23, 2013 - Goodbye New Orleans; Hello Westlake

Today was a good day at the beginning and the end. We got everything packed and organized early and then found a campsite when we arrived at 6:30 in Westlake. Westlake is pretty and we are hoping to see a little more of it tomorrow. We are going to leave a little later tomorrow as Jocelyn keeps mentioning that I am running her ragged. I can take a hint, especially when she comes right out and says it. Ralena, and you OSFA people can just stop laughing now We finally moved beyond just independent restaurants into regional food today. Jocelyn...

Feb 12, 2013 - |Feb 12, 2013

Quiet day today. There was just dew in the morning but we did run into some heavy rain around noon. The temp did get up to 75 and we actually drove by Hattisburg where there was a tornado yesterday. We drove along the coast for awhile and the houses that are there are built high on stilts. We did see alot of lots with remnants of foundations on them so that was probably from Katrina. There are also a lot of piers that are toast with just the foundation poles in the water so they aren't being rebuilt either. We got on #10 for awhile but...

Jan 12, 2013 - Day 180 - Sam Houston Jones State Park, Louisiana

The damp weather seems to have lifted for this morning. We took a walk to check out the nature trails but found them too wet and muddy to attempt without rubber boots. We instead stuck to the roads through the park. The West Fork Calcasieu River runs thrugh the park and is only a few inches to flood stage. Some parts of the picnic area of the park has water encroaching already and more rain is in the forecast for the next several days. We walked the area for a couple of hours until we were ready for lunch. We saw geese, turtles, egrets but...

Jan 11, 2013 - Day 179 - New Orleans to Lake Charles, Louisiana

We left Pontchartrain Landing RV Park and Marina about 9:30 this morning. We drove through the area handest hit by yesterday's storm. The rivers are full and ditches all running water but the Interstate 10 Highway is built up and has no water on it. We stopped near Lafayette for lunch and heard that the highway here was underwater yesterday, and the tornado was near here. We had lunch at a Waffle House restaurant. We have stopped at several and found cheap simple good food and friendly staff at all of them. We continued on to the Lake...

Oct 7, 2012 - Lake Charles, La.

We traveled from Baton Rouge to lake Charles, La. yesterday and are staying the weekend at Sam Houston Jones SP. When driving from Baton Rouge to Lafayette you cross the Atchafalaya Swamp 18 miles of raised 4 lane bridge built on cement columns spaced ever 30 feet or so and every 4Th one is a double column. I always wonder how long it took and how they managed to work in swamp water. We stopped in Lafayette so I could get my fix of Boudin Balls. They are rice and pork with Cajun spices about the size of a meat ball fried of course and...

May 22, 2012 - Kinder, LA

Tuesday in Kinder was a day of rest. We were both exhausted from all the activity last week and driving yesterday, so we had a low key day. We made a trip to Wal-Mart (25 miles away) and ate lunch at a local favorite, Fausto's. We had crawfish, shrimp, and gator- a real Louisiana meal! Later, we went to the casino- Jim's favorite part of the day. He played poker Tuesday night and won! Tomorrow- the Lone Star State...

May 21, 2012 - On the road!

After our wonderful week with family and friends, ending in our fantastic wedding, we were on the road for our honeymoon! Today was a long day of driving, 475 miles total from Grayton Beach, FL to Lake Charles, LA. We traveled though Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana before arriving at Lake Charles, a town located on the southwest corner of the state, almost to Texas. When we arrived, we were in for a bit of a surprise. The campground where we had a reservation for the next two days, was in a bad part of town and the campground itself...