The motorhome is parked at the 1,086 acre Sam Houston Jones State Park about 12 miles north of the city. We are here been here enjoying Mardi Gras which ended yesterday.. We plan to depart here tomorrow.
You can read about Lake Charles by clicking this Wikipedia link…
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_Charles,_Louisiana
You can read all about the history of Mardi Gras in Southwest Louisiana by clicking this link…
http://www.swlamardigras.com/about/history.cfm
Yesterday we rode on the Krewe de Cajun float in the final Mardi Gras Parade. You’ll get to see those photos tomorrow.
Today’s photos are from Monday. Heading out at 4:00 PM, the first stop was to respond to an invitation from Lake Charles Mayor Randy Roach to visit him at his office. He has been Mayor since 2000. He is a very pleasant and knowledgeable man and we enjoyed a 45 minute visit with him.
As always you may left click upon an image to see an enlarged view and then click once again to see an even larger view…
He has a beautiful abstract painting of Lake Charles in his office…
Everyone we talked to spoke very highly of him….
Both the Mayor and ourselves had to move on to attend the Royal Gala at the nearby Civic Center. The Royal Gala is the Cinderella moment of the season which features the 2013 courts of more than 50 Krewes with kings, queens, royal dukes and duchesses, captains, courtesans and jesters, It’s where they get to strut their stuff in their fabulous finery. Depending on the size of the Krewe…the strutting runs anywhere from one to five minutes.
This is where the Royal Gala took place. We sat on the left side about 1/2 way up with our new friends from the Krewe de Cajun…which had it been a football field would have been the 50 yard line…
Before the program began, a member of the 12th Night Revelers posed with a child…
Before I show you the photos, you need to know the conditions were most difficult. All photos were taken hand-held. A purist would have used a tripod. In addition to being far away, the subjects were, because of the moving spotlights, in the light one second and in the dark the next second…and they were constantly moving. Here;s a short video which will help you understand the circumstances of the event. Just click the link…
http://youtu.be/yiCH42t37o4
Now that you understand the photo difficulties involved…here are some of the photos that I took…
As the revelers left the runway, they stopped and bowed to the assembled royalty…
The colorful program ran an enjoyable 2+ hours.
Tomorrow you get to see the photos from the final day of Mardi Gras where we got to ride on the float of the Krewe de Cajun.
Enjoying Louisiana Mardi Gras is another joy in the life of a full-time RVer!
The red dot on the below map shows our approximate location in the State of Louisiana. You may double left-click the map to make it larger…
Enjoying 65-75 degree temperatures most of the year is a primary joy in the RVing lifestyle!
“Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance you must keep moving”…Albert Einstein
If you have not checked out my Ramblin Man’s Photos Blog, you can do so by clicking this link…
http://ramblinmanphotos.wordpress.com/
All original material Copyright – Jim Jaillet 2013
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http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/panamaorbust
Que Sera, Sera... Whatever Will Be, Will Be... 