Baker, Louisiana – Day 7

Note: Mary flew from Baton Rouge Airport, Louisiana on March 12 to her home in California. I’m hoping to get her back with me by mid-April. My current plans are to stay here for a few days and then start SLOWLY drifting north along the Mississippi River to Memphis, Tennessee where I’ll then turn northeast heading for New England. Can’t go north too fast because it’s still cold up there! I now expect to leave tomorrow.
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The motorhome is currently parked at VFW Post #4224 in Baker, a few miles north of Baton Rouge.

In recent days I’ve had occasion to be in the Port Allen area, directly across the Mississippi River from Baton Rouge. It’s located about 10 miles south of my current parking location. While in that area I visited three historical locations. In the below Google Earth image V indicates my current parking location at VFW Post #4224. Point #1 indicates the approximate location of the sunken Civil War Confederate Ship CSS Arkansas which you can read about by clicking this Wikipedia link…
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CSS_Arkansas

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…

The following photos are from the above Wikipedia link…

According to the Wikipedia article, the ship is buried under this levee…

I walked down this path to the river’s edge…

Looking north I could see the Highway 190 bridge. Looking south was heavy with trees which did not allow a photo…

While in that general locale, I got these two other photos…

About three miles further south at point #2 is the site of the old ferry crossing between Port Allen and Baton Rouge which you can read about by clicking this link…
http://historicalbatonrouge.blogspot.com/2009/04/baton-rouge-ferry.html

The ferry photo is from the above link…

Here are some photos of that area today…

Looking across the river at Baton Rouge…

Looking south along the levee and the Interstate Highway 10 Bridge…

A 180 degree panorama taken at the river’s edge. The tall building by itself on the left is the state capital building. At 450 feet and 34 stories, it’s the tallest capital building in the United States…

Looking down Main Street Port Allen…

At point #3 about two-mile south of the ferry landing is the Port Allen Lock which you can read about by clicking this Wikimedia link…
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Port_Allen_Lock_Louisiana_aerial_view.jpg

The lock provides a 160 mile shortcut to Morgan City along the Intracoastal Waterway rather than following the Mississippi River. Employees Kirby and Nat did not want to be photographed. I wonder if they are hiding from the law? 🙂 Anyways, they gave me a great guided tour and here are some of the photos…

I happened to luck out and caught a tug with six barges loaded with salt passing through the lock…

It’s all controlled at this command console…

Enjoying interesting local sites 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
For more information about my three books, click this link:
http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/panamaorbust

Baker, Louisiana – Day 6

Note: Mary flew from Baton Rouge Airport, Louisiana on March 12 to her home in California. I’m hoping to get her back with me by mid-April. My current plans are to stay here for a few days and then start SLOWLY drifting north along the Mississippi River to Memphis, Tennessee where I’ll then turn northeast heading for New England. Can’t go north too fast because it’s still cold up there! I now expect to leave on Monday.
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The motorhome is currently parked at VFW Post #4224 in Baker, a few miles north of Baton Rouge.

Yesterday was another interesting day. I drove the Bronco the about 10 miles to the African-American Museum in Baton Rouge. They are located at 528 South Boulevard and have no website that I could find. Located adjacent to the New St. Luke’s Baptist Church and partially under the overhead of Interstate Highway 10, Founder-Curator Sadie Roberts-Joseph provided a most interesting visit. She has been dedicated to this labor of love for 12 years.

The official name of the museum is the Odell S. Williams Now & Then Museum of African-American History. Odell S. Williams taught African-American History to elementary school children in Baton Rouge. She passed away in 2009.

Here are some of the photos that I took…

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…

69-year-old Sadie Roberts-Joseph is an intelligent, knowledgeable and well-spoken individual. She exhumes compassion, love, consideration and giving to all human beings. After my one hour there, I felt that my life had been enriched by my visit with her…

On the way back to the motorhome I had another nice experience. I stopped by American Legion Post #502. The American Legion is currently celebrating its 94th birthday and this post has been in existence for 85 years. Other than the bar tender, the only person there was Mr. Bell, an 88-year-old World War II Veteran. He told me the post has less than one-half dozen World War II Veterans left. We spoke for about 45 minutes and he related some of his war stories with me. Another enriching experience!

Enjoying interesting local museums and meeting World War II Veterans are more joys 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
For more information about my three books, click this link:
http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/panamaorbust

Louisiana State Museum, Baton Rouge, Louisiana

Note: Mary flew from Baton Rouge Airport, Louisiana on March 12 to her home in California. I’m hoping to get her back with me by mid-April. My current plans are to stay here for a few days and then start SLOWLY drifting north along the Mississippi River to Memphis, Tennessee where I’ll then turn northeast heading for New England. Can’t go north too fast because it’s still cold up there!
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The motorhome is currently parked at VFW Post #4224 in Baker, a few miles north of Baton Rouge.

Yesterday I drove the Bronco the about 10 miles to Baton Rouge and the Louisiana State Museum which you can read about by clicking their official website link…
http://www.crt.state.la.us/museum/properties/LSMbr.aspx

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…

It’s only a block away from the state capital building which at 450 feet and 34 stories makes it the tallest capital building in the United States…

It is a huge museum situated on two floors which I hurriedly covered in four hours when eight would have been more appropriate…and it’s free admission! It does a great job of detailing the history and cultures of this remarkable state…

This final photo tells what current Louisiana is all about…

And the good times do roll here! Nowhere in the United States will you find friendlier people than Louisiana. I’m going to hate leaving this wonderful place!!!

To see the other 86 photos that I took, you just have to click this link…
https://picasaweb.google.com/110455945462646142273/LouisianaStateMuseumBatonRougeLouisiana

In 1952, Hank Williams, Sr. wrote and sang Jambalaya (on the bayou) on the Louisiana Hayride program broadcast from Shreveport, Louisiana. By clicking the following link you’ll get to see Hank Williams, Jr. with an up and coming 4-year-old following in old Hank’s footsteps and keeping alive Louisiana’s traditions…
4 Year Old

Enjoying interesting state museums 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
For more information about my three books, click this link:
http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/panamaorbust

Baker, Louisiana – Day 3

Note: Mary flew from Baton Rouge Airport, Louisiana yesterday to her home in California. I’m hoping to get her back with me by mid-April. My current plans are to stay here for a few days and then start SLOWLY drifting north along the Mississippi River to Memphis, Tennessee where I’ll then turn northeast heading for New England. Can’t go north too fast because it’s still cold up there!
————————————————————————————————————–

The motorhome is currently parked at VFW Post #4224 in Baker, a few miles north of Baton Rouge.

Yesterday I drove the Bronco the about five miles to the Baton Rouge Airport…

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…

On the way back to the motorhome, I stopped by to visit American Legion Post #503…

During my one hour visit I enjoyed meeting and talking with Steve, Duke, Al and Commander Robert. A great bunch of fun guys…

They gave me a souvenir license plate…

 

Enjoying meeting fellow veterans 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
For more information about my three books, click this link:
http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/panamaorbust

Cajun Music Jam, Lafayette, Louisiana

Note: Mary flies from Baton Rouge, Louisiana today to her home in California. I’m hoping to get her back with me by mid-April. My current plans are to stay here for a few days and then start SLOWLY drifting north along the Mississippi River to Memphis, Tennessee where I’ll then turn northeast heading for New England. Can’t go north too fast because it’s still cold up there!
————————————————————————————————————–

The motorhome is currently parked at VFW Post #4224 in Baker, a few miles north of Baton Rouge.

Yesterday was devoted to laundry and other preparations for Mary’s departure later today. Nothing exciting to report there…so today I’ll share what happened last Saturday after we toured Vermillion Ville. If you missed that Blog entry you can read it by clicking this link…
http://wp.me/pDCku-7k0

You can read about this Cajun Music Jam weekly event by clicking this link…
http://www.bayouvermiliondistrict.org/index.cfm?load=page&page=55

As we entered Vermillion Ville we were followed by August Broussard, one of Louisiana’s most famous Cajun musicians. Broussard, 64, plays the accordion, guitar, steel guitar, harmonica and fiddle. He has been playing the traditional style of Cajun music professionally for over 35 years. He was accompanied by his student, 17-year-old Darien Fontaine. We had previously met August Broussard while in Lake Charles during Mardi Gras about a month ago. To read more about August Broussard, the living legend, click this link…
http://www.acadianmuseum.com/legends.php?viewID=208

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…

Here are a few photos that I took during the Cajun Music Jam…

You can get the flavor of this Cajun Music Jam by watching my short video by clicking this link…
http://youtu.be/t5JigzcvBI8

Cajun Music songs have a tendency to last several minutes. If your feet do not start toe-tapping to this music…you’re dead! A great time was had by all! Mary and I both wished we could be here every Saturday!

Enjoying the Cajun Music Jams 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
For more information about my three books, click this link:
http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/panamaorbust

Baker, Louisiana – Day 1

Yesterday we drove the motorhome the about 75 miles from Duson to Baker, about 5 miles north of Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The journey, mostly on Interstate Highway 10,  was a difficult one with strong gusty winds from the south hitting the motorhome broadside on the passenger side. Along the way we crossed the Atchafalaya Swamp…the largest river swamp in the United States. The bridge across the swamp is 18.2 miles long. You can read about the Atchafalaya Swamp by clicking this Wikipedia link…
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atchafalaya_Basin

The X in the below Google Earth image marks the tourist information center in the middle of the swamp where we stopped to empty our waste tanks and fill our fresh water tank. The V locates where we are currently parked at VFW Post #4224. The reason we are parked here is because Mary flies from Baton Rouge Airport to return to her home in California tomorrow morning.

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…

Here are some photos that I took at the tourist information center…

You can see some beautiful photos the Atchafalaya Swamp by clicking this link…
http://www.kuriositas.com/2010/09/atchafalaya-biggest-swamp-in-states.html

You can read about the swamp people by clicking this link…
http://www.history.com/shows/swamp-people/articles/the-atchafalaya-swamp

Here’s where we are parked at VFW Post #4224. They have graciously provided an electrical hookup. As I write this morning it is raining heavily. It’s supposed to clear later today with a very pleasant weather forecast for the next week…

And the usual dinette photo…

I hope to get Mary back by mid-April…right after tax time is done. My current plans are to stay here for a few days and then start SLOWLY drifting north along the Mississippi River to Memphis, Tennessee where I’ll then turn northeast heading for New England. Can’t go north too fast because it’s still cold up there!

Enjoying the Atchafalaya Swamp 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
For more information about my three books, click this link:
http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/panamaorbust