Chicot State Park, Louisiana Day 2 (GA410)

Mary is no longer available for RV traveling, but we remain good friends.
Because we have 4,000+ postings, I’ve invited her to continue posting entries on this blog.

I’m currently in my 23rd year of full-time RVing and my lifestyle is changing, For more info click Here

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The motorhome is parked at Thousand Trails RV Resort in Bow, Washington. I’ll depart here later this morning.

Since my RVing life is changing (see above), I’m starting to re-visit previously visited places. So rather than constantly re-blogging past entries, I’ve decided to do something different.

  In 2011-2013, Mary and I did a 682 day, 12,679 miles in the motorhome and 8,000 miles in the Bronco, circumnavigation of the United States, which I called The Great Adventure. I called it so because other than my oldest granddaughter’s high school graduation in June in Connecticut, I didn’t know where we would be going or when we would be there!

So, unless I do something really different and unusual warranting a new blog entry, I’ll be posting entries from that trip.

This entry was posted February 25, 2013…

 

 

 

 

The motorhome is parked at Chicot State Park near Ville Platte, Louisiana. We are scheduled to depart here on Friday.

 

 

Built in 1939, at 6,400 acres with 198 campsites, it’s Louisiana’s largest state park. You can read about Chicot State Park, Louisiana by clicking this Wikipedia link…
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicot_State_Park

 

 

The reason we are here is that it’s located along the Zydeco Cajun Prairie Byway which you can read about by clicking this link…
http://zydecocajunbyway.com/links.html

 

 

Yesterday, with a weather forecast of severe thunderstorms with hail and a possible tornado, we decided to stay close to the motorhome. We drove the Bronco the about three miles to the arboretum, within the boundaries of the state park. You can read about the arboretum by clicking this link…
http://www.crt.state.la.us/parks/iarbor.aspx

 

 

The dictionary defines an arboretum as a place where trees, shrubs, and herbaceous plants are cultivated for scientific and educational purposes. 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…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As promised, we had several HEAVY THUNDERSTORMS WITH DIME-SIZED HAIL. Fortunately, no tornadoes. Here’s a shot of the Bronco looking through the passenger windshield…

 

 

 

 

 

In this next photo, about 150 feet away, as seen through the driver’s windshield, on the left a blue tarp covers a tent and on the right, their truck is barely visible…

 

 

 

 

 

The storm as seen through the dinette window…

 

 

Enjoying arboretums and thunderstorms 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/

 

 

 

 

TWO FOR THE PRICE OF ONE! MARY WROTE A MANY GREAT BLOGS…SO WHENEVER SHE PUBLISHED A BLOG POSTING THE SAME DAY THAT I DID…YOU WILL BE ABLE TO READ HER BLOG BY CLICKING THE BELOW LINK! DO IT NOW!

https://otrwjam.wordpress.com/2013/02/26/chicot-park-arboretum/

 

 

 

 

I HOPE YOU ENJOYED THE PHOTOS.

Forecast for today is sunny and 76 degrees.

Enjoying nice weather is another joy in the life of a full-time RVer!

The red dot on the below map shows my approximate location in the State of Washington. You may double left-click the map to make it larger…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Enjoying 65-75 degree temperatures with low humidity 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

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My current travel rig is a 2006 Fleetwood 26′ Class A Motorhome and a towed 1986 Ford Bronco II, Eddie Bauer Model. This photo was taken in the desert at Slab City near Niland, California…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On October 27, 2012, I created a two-minute video titled America The Beautiful. The music America The Beautiful is by Christopher W. French. The photos, which I randomly selected, are from the states of Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Montana, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Texas, Tennessee, Washington and West Virginia (not shown in that order)…are mine. Yup, That’s me standing in front of the Post Office in Luckenbach, Texas…Y’all!

Click this link to start the video. Make sure you have your speakers turned on and go to full screen asap.
http://youtu.be/FfZUzEB4rM8

 

 

If you would like to see my YouTube videos, click this link… http://www.youtube.com/user/JimJ1579/videos

 

 

There are more than 700 photo albums in my Picasa Web Albums File. To gain access, you simply have to click this link… https://get.google.com/albumarchive/110455945462646142273?source=pwa

 

 

If you have not checked out my Ramblin Man’s Photos Blog, you can do so by clicking this link…http://ramblinmanphotos.wordpress.com/

 

 

For more information about my books, click this link:
http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/panamaorbust

 

 

All original works copyrighted – Jim Jaillet -2018

Chicot State Park, Louisiana – Day 4

The motorhome is parked at Chicot State Park near Ville Platte, Louisiana. We are scheduled to depart here tomorrow.

Yesterday was a delightful sunny, 69 degree, day with a gentle breeze. We had a very leisurely day…doing minor repairs and some regular maintenance on the motorhome and Bronco. We took the Bronco to see other areas of the park. 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…

In other news…some sad news for me…

I received a phone call a few days ago from Ceecee Canvasser telling me that my very good friend Aaron, age 73,  suffered a stroke while dancing…which he loved to do. Yesterday she called again telling me he had passed away. I first met Aaron and CeeCee back in 1997 and over the years developed a very close relationship. Somewhere along the way we got to calling each other…Uncle. Uncle Aaron and I shared many, many hours of interesting conversation together. I shall miss Uncle Aaron greatly. Rest in peace amigo…

Marys husband George was 73 years old when he passed away in 2000. Mary and I will both become 73 later this year. Hmmmm….

Enjoying beautiful state parks 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

Chicot State Park, Louisiana – Day 2

The motorhome is parked at Chicot State Park near Ville Platte, Louisiana. We are scheduled to depart here on Friday.

Built in 1939, at 6,400 acres with 198 campsites, it’s Louisiana’s largest state park. You can read about Chicot State Park, Louisiana by clicking this Wikipedia link…
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicot_State_Park

The reason we are here is that it’s located along the Zydeco Cajun Prairie Byway which you can read about by clicking this link…
http://zydecocajunbyway.com/links.html

Yesterday, with a weather forecast of severe thunderstorms with hail and a possible tornado, we decided to stay close to the motorhome. We drove the Bronco the about three miles to the arboretum, within the boundaries of the state park. You can read about the arboretum by clicking this link…
http://www.crt.state.la.us/parks/iarbor.aspx

The dictionary defines an arboretum as a place where trees, shrubs, and herbaceous plants are cultivated for scientific and educational purposes. 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…

As promised, we had several HEAVY THUNDERSTORMS WITH DIME-SIZED HAIL. Fortunately, no tornadoes. Here’s a shot of the Bronco looking through the passenger windshield…

In this next photo, about 150 feet away, as seen through the driver’s windshield, on the left a blue tarp covers a tent and on the right, their truck is barely visible…

The storm as seen through the dinette window…

Enjoying arboretums and thunderstorms 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

SWAMP WALK

I know yesterday was Valentines Day, but it doesn’t seem to resonate when you are parked next to a swamp.

On the 13th, we did some cleaning, and packing stuff away. Our bedroom windows were hung with beads from Mardi Gras 2010, New Orleans. Some of them had become faded and the curtains needed washing.

So, we said our last goodbye to Mardi Gras by taking most of the old beads to the park laundry  for anyone to take if they like. That is a common practice in parks we live in. The new beads aren’t as colorful as those we had, but, we had way too many, anyway.

Jim worked on a leak in the Bronco’s sun window and we got ready to leave. Late in the afternoon, we went for  swamp walk. The late sun makes shadows on the swamp weeds.

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It is so beautiful in this swamp, with reflections in the water.

Everywhere you aim, is beauty. You can’t take a bad picture here.

Of course, lurking under all this beauty are alligators. We talked to a woman who saw four of them.  Her family is camped right next to the swamp.

I was quite content to spot turtles balancing on a half sunken log. These were a long distance away.

Look at the size of his powerful hind feet.

An uncrossable bridge if you don’t want wet shoes. We went around to the other side where it was just as wet.

A tree with knobby growths covering it.

Probably not healthy for the tree, but certainly interesting.

These small metal boats are used by the rangers. We saw a fisherman on the river using this type of boat for fishing, as well. He said he likes to fish, but only uses barb less hooks and releases everything he catches.

More turtles. A bit closer to the camera.Stretching to catch those last rays.

It’s cold,and we’ve had more cold and foggy days than sunny ones.

Jim spotted something moving in the water. We watched this turtle munching weeds just popping up and down in the water.

I spotted a snake. He is so fat, I thought at first it was a piece of rubber someone had thrown in the swamp. But the lens proved it to be a big black snake.

I didn’t have my glasses on, but I showed the picture to the local fisherman we talked to and he said it is a water moccasin. A very poisonous snake.

I know I’m going overboard here on the turtles, but they are so darned cute. A little turtle confab on a log. The one has green moss growing on his shell. Sitting in the sun with their reflections in the water. Nice.