Duson, Louisiana (GA416)

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 La Conner, Washington. I’ll depart here August 13th.

 

 

 

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 March 4, 2013…

If you remember yesterday’s Blog entry http://wp.me/pDCku-7ea

 

 

we were parked in Eunice, Louisiana. We were here in 2010 and had such a good time at the Liberty Theater…we just had to come back since we were in the area.

 

 

Normally it’s two-hours of great Cajun Music and dancing. When we put it on our schedule…we had no idea this weekend’s program was a tribute to Hank Williams, Sr. which you can read all about by clicking this link…
http://www.theadvertiser.com/article/20130301/LIFESTYLE/303010308/Tribute-keeps-legacy-Hank-Williams-alive

 

 

Much to our pleasant surprise three of our new friends from Lake Charles were also there. Ranola, Sue and Cliff…

 

 

Here are some 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…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I just love the delightful Cajun accent. You can hear Ranola’s by clicking this link…
http://youtu.be/N6hyWDW6zSU

 

 

The program featured the Jambalaya Cajun Band with four performers doing Hank Williams songs.

 

 

The program opened with Hugh Harris…the youngest of the four…and closest to Hank’s death age…29…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

To see a brief video of Hugh Harris’s imitation…clicking this link…
http://youtu.be/mAOZU9sj6i8

 

 

Other performers included…Pope Huval…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Steel guitar player Terry Huval…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And 81 year-old D.L. Menard…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

To see a short video of all four performers closing the show…click this link…
http://youtu.be/p2plXgBBQwc

 

 

It ended up being a great program which we all  enjoyed!

 

 

Yesterday we drove the motorhome the about 40 miles southeast to Duson only a few miles from Lafayette, Louisiana.

 

 

Along the way we passed through the City of Rayne…Frog Capital of the World! To read why Rayne claims this title, click this link…
http://www.exploratorium.edu/frogs/rayne/index.html

 

 

Here’s a photo of Mary standing next to a 12 foot-high frog seen as you enter the city…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

They have frogs all around the city. Here are a few…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In Duson we ended up parking at VFW Post #9822 where we expect to stay while we explore the nearby area for the next 2-3 days. Sunday Bingo draws a big crowd…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As usual, here’s the dinette window shot…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After a long, full day on Saturday we enjoyed a peaceful and relaxing Sunday afternoon. Back to work today…seeing the sights!

 

 

Enjoying musical concerts 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/2013/03/04/liberty-theater-and-rayne-louisiana/

 

 

 

 

I HOPE YOU ENJOYED THE PHOTOS.

Forecast for today is mostly sunny and 73 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

WE ARE PHYSICIANS TO A DYING PLANET

During the 1970’s, Wallace Broecker, of Columbia University’s Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, began warning anyone who would listen about the dangerous buildup of Carbon Dioxide in our atmosphere. Thirty years later we are witness to a dying planet as we know it. Losing great mammals like elephants, rhinos, leopards, lions, tigers, polar bears, monkeys, gorillas, whales, oceans, coral, sand. We lose millions of small populations of plants and insects. We’ve lost billions of birds, dangerous numbers of amphibians, lizards and frogs. The rates of loss in every country is accelerating.

In Broecker’s day, developers began working on a scrubber, a unit 10 feet by 50 feet that can scrub carbon from the air. It would then have to be piped underground beneath the saline layers and stored.  “Better yet, a way must be found to turn carbon dioxide into a mineral without using a lot of energy to do it,” Broecker said. Gas seeping out and escaping into the atmosphere is one of the factors holding the technology back.

Fast forward to 2007.  An international team of scientists has investigated how basaltic rocks in Iceland’s geothermal fields can naturally store C02. Dubbed the CarbFix project.  The researchers have happened upon a method of stowing carbon away that can fast-track the mineralization of CO2.  Researchers have come up with a technique that promises to turn the gas into a solid within two years,  a drastically shorter time frame than the centuries or millennia the current scientific consensus suggests.

The team at Reykjavik Energy’s Hellisheidi geothermal power plant, where the original study took place, says up to 5,000 tons (4,535 tonnes) of CO2 are now being stowed away each year.

What really surprised the researchers was not just how much of the CO2 was converted, but how quickly all of this happened. Through observations  researchers found that more than 95 percent of the CO2 had formed into solid carbonate minerals within just two years.

International Energy Agency describes this method of carbon capture as a “critical component” in combating climate change.

Five thousand tons sounds like a lot, but it is a mere drop in the ocean compared to the billions of metric tons emitted globally each year. The good news is that basalt rock is present beneath the Earth’s surface more than any other rock. It’s not so common on land, with only around 10 percent of the continents made up of basalt, but almost all the ocean floors contain the material. So while it won’t be simple, replicating the process in other locations is a real possibility.

Of course, the best way to stop climate change from wreaking havoc on our planet, is to remove CO2 spewing cars, cows, factories, fossil fuels, gas and coal, that produce CO2 gas.

All necessary technological components are available and in use in various areas, but carbon sequestration is yet to be applied on a scale that would make any meaningful difference to global carbon emissions.

It is up to us and our government to set things in  motion. We must get the word out by reporting to all the agencies fighting climate change, including our Senators and Representatives at all local and national levels. Change always takes place from the people up. We can’t wait for government to do it all. We must push them to do it by complaining loudly.

The Reykjavik team’s research was published in the journal Science.

Groups you may want to know about:  Earth Justice, Natural Resources Defense Council,  Air and Water Watch, Center for Biological Diversity, Environmental Defense Fund, Wilderness Society, FSEEE, National Park Trust, Friends of the River.  There are hundreds of groups that are active on environmental issues.

 

 

LIBERTY THEATER AND RAYNE, LOUISIANA

Jim and I often comment how lucky we are. We met Renola Simon and Sue and Cliff Granger in Lake Charles. We had planned on going back to Lake Charles to see them dance. A change of plans put us farther East, and Instead, we met them at the Liberty Theater in Eunice. Renola bought our tickets and we had no idea who was playing.

This is the setting. The narrator on the left, and some members of the Jambalaya Cajun Band. The narrator is also a curator at the Arcadian Museum in town. He, and a local man, the steel guitar player, are experts on Hank Williams. They have put on a Tribute To Hank Williams program for 14 years.

Hugh Harris is one of the Hank Williams Impersonators. He sounds eerily like Hank Williams.  Williams was prolific. He had 11 # one hits between 1948 and 1953. I remember harmonizing his tunes with my sister while washing dishes, “…slipping around on me…your cheatttttttin heart…” Oh, the memories.

Terry Huval, not only plays the steel guitar, but he also sings and impersonates  Hank Williams.

Pope Huval is another impersonator, here with the excellent violinist with the band. She is really good.

Eighty-two year old D.L. Menard is the fourth impersonator. He made a round of the crowds during the intermission. They tease him about his fancy clothes. He doesn’t look or sound as old as he is. He met Hank Williams when he was 19 years old. Hank gave him advice:  “When you sing you got to feel like whatever you are singing about, a broken heart or a party,  is happening to you.”  D.L. admits he didn’t get it-then.

You can see the pain on Hugh Harris’ s face.  Picture taking on a lighted stage is kind of a hit or miss, and they didn’t all turn out well.

Hank Williams band didn’t have a drummer, nor an accordionist. But when the bands accordionist came on stage and played a couple of times, the crowd really voiced their approval. They are obviously very popular in the area. We had a terrific time. All of the impersonators were good. I heard songs of Williams’ that I’d never heard before. I didn’t know that he wrote some of them. He was not only prolific but varied in his style and we enjoyed the tribute as did the full house at the Liberty.

We moved on to a VFW within range of Lafayette and other nearby towns we want to visit. We had no intention of stopping in Rayne, which bills itself as the Frog Capital of the world. In fact, we passed through here in 2010 during a drenching rain. Jim stopped, I ran into a mom and pop grocer and asked why it was called the frog capital of the world?  The guys in the little shop said they didn’t know?  It is personal with me. I’m from Calaveras County, which bills itself as the Frog Jumping Capitol of the World and we take our frogs seriously. My boys graduated High School as Bullfrogs.

The gray frog had an interesting plaque about humanity in a racially mixed Southern town.

We saw cute painted frogs all over town. This one in front of the Police Department.

They are cute, but not as cute as OUR painted frogs. (My kids would call that sour grapes.)

And then…and then…? I found out why they call this the frog capital of the world.  OMIGOD. People in my county would balk if anyone even suggested eating frog legs. That is a no,no. We like our frogs hail and hearty. Of course, I’m playing here. But the truth is, Mark Twain wrote the tale “The Jumping Frog Of Calaveras County.”  People do come from all over the world to jump frogs during the Calaveras County Fair and Frog Jumping Jubilee.  Mayor La Guardia came to the jumps in 1931 I believe was the year. Anyway, Jim looked on a website and it turns out they dress frogs in jockey uniforms and have a frog race during their festival. I’m sure they deserve their title.

They also refer to Rayne as the City of Murals, and they do have many of them. Hey, it is all fun.

STRIVING FOR BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY

Having spent 7 months crossing the United States, enjoying its parks, its beauty, great stretches of  barely inhabited land, fields full of grain, tree fruits, nuts, berries, beautiful lakes, bridges… what a great country this is. Puzzling, though, we sometimes  parked  near a pond or woods and did not see or hear a bird or an insect. Strange. Not even a mosquito.

Sightings of wild animals in the South and West were better, but even then, mostly in protected parks. In the East where population is denser, we saw squirrels, chipmunks, foxes, and deer. Frogs only in protected gardens.

Underneath all this visible beauty survival is precarious for jaguars, Florida panthers, many birds, whales, turtles…the list seems endless. There is one danger, we can all do something about easily. The Center for Biological Diversity offered this thoughtful science to hunters, and gun users everywhere. Lead ammunition puts humans and wildlife at risk. That surprised me.

California condors were brought back from the brink of extinction starting with efforts in 1996 at a tremendous cost. These majestic birds began dying at unusually high rates since their heroic rescue. Scientific studies traced it to lead poisoning from hunting and fishing. Condors are carrion eaters and just one abandoned lead ridden carcass or gut pile can poison several birds and cause death. Other scavengers, Owls, hawks, eagles and vultures are impacted. Small birds  mistake lead pellets or fishing tackle for grit or seed. Birds at risk  include pheasant, grouse, songbirds, waterfowl and wading birds, as well as golden eagles, sandhill cranes, trumpeter swans, peregrine falcons, all are poisoned by lead if they encounter it. People who eat deer and elk or other game shot with lead ammunition are ingesting tiny fragments of lead from shattered bullets; fragments  too small for the human eye to see.  Lead is a neurotoxin that affects children at very low levels.
For hunters and fishermen, its an easy fix. Choose lead free bullets and tackle. Lead ammo has been banned in California. It doesn’t ban hunting or fishing, just the lead. So, if you get a chance to support a vote for banning lead bullets in your state, support it. Then we can always appreciate these gorgeous beauties.