Mary is no longer available for RV traveling, but we remain good friends.
Because we have 5,000+ 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
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.
The motorhome is parked at the 1,086 acre Sam Houston Jones State Park about 12 miles north of the city. We have been here enjoying Mardi Gras which ended Tuesday. We had planned to depart here today, but we are still weary and need to rest some more. We now expect to leave 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
LAISSEZ LES BON TEMPS ROULER!
You see this slogan everywhere in Louisiana. In French it means… LET THE GOOD TIMES ROLL!
And roll they did on Fat Tuesday, the last day of Mardi Gras this year.
Our day started with a 30 minute drive to the small town of Iowa (pronounced locally as I-O-WAY) to witness the chasing of the chickens. If you do not know the history of this tradition, reading this Wikipedia link will take care of that…
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Courir_de_Mardi_Gras
The event was scheduled to start at 10:00 AM. We were late getting out of the motorhome and did not arrive until 10:30. They were late getting started and said they would begin at 11:00. But we could not stay because we had other obligations elsewhere. So we took a few pictures and departed…
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’s a short video of another Cajun tradition. Just click the link…
http://youtu.be/FQqMKXMirpA
Another about 30 minute drive brought us to the home of Renola Simon (pronounced SEE-MON in French) where the Krewe de les Cajuns float is stored. We’ve been invited to ride on the float during the final and biggest parade of the Lake Charles Mardi Gras!
The first two hours was spent getting to know everyone, eating and making the float ready…
Renola served spicy deer and pork sausages that were really yummy…
Here’s the float…
And the back of the jacket of the Krewe de les Cajuns…
The float was towed by this truck…
On the way to the parade assembly point, it started to mist lightly and Mary was ready with her garbage bag raincoat…
The parade assembled right along the shore of Lake Charles. It threatened to rain, but never really did…
We took a walk to see some of the other 50+ floats…
Here’s Mary with 80-year-old Renola Simon…our hostess. She was a founding member of the Krewe de les Cajuns 26 years ago and has done this every year since…
Here’s the others with whom we rode the float…
We had a three-hour wait for the parade to begin and Mary really got into the mood…
Click this link to see a short video…
http://youtu.be/nGfcufU9aUE
With the French Cajun Music blaring loudly, at 5:00 PM we started rolling down the main drag of Ryan Street in Lake Charles…
The object was to throw as many string of beads and plastic cups to the begging crowd as fast as possible. We guesstimate the Krewe threw 25,000+ during the 1.5 hour parade route…
Into the night we continued. It was amazing to see how a string of beads or a plastic cup brought a beautiful smile to the face of the recipients…
We just had a blast! Thank you Krewe de Les Cajuns for inviting us along. We will never forget you! LAISSEZ LES BON TEMPS ROULER!
Enjoying a 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/
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/2013/02/14/chase-the-chicken-and-throwing-beads/
I hope you enjoyed the photos!
Forecast for today is mostly cloudy and 68 degrees.
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!
Que Sera, Sera... Whatever Will Be, Will Be... 