SIX MILLION RV'S ON THE ROAD.

Memorial Day is tomorrow. We read where there are an estimated six million rv's  on the road for this three-day holiday. Jim has a philosophy, and that is to hunker down somewhere for popular holidays and stay off the road. We spent Thursday night at an American Legion in Dillsburg,  PA. We saw bunches of vets with motorcycles headed for various parades and festivities honoring vets. Friday morning, he drove through another rain storm to bring us to a Thousand Trails in Hershey, PA.

 I took a couple of barn pictures between raindrops.

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I compared the beauty of the land to this painting from the Shenandoah Valley Museum. The same general area.

And this painting. An unusual boat for American waters. I've never seen any thing like it. You can click on it to enlarge it.

It was beastly cold and we stayed in and read  and did computer chores most of the day. A short walk away, ducks were so cold we thought at first they were decoys; their heads tucked under wings.
Then, yesterday, we did our laundry and walked to the visitors center for a look around. The pool opened for the season, but I wasn't up to braving the cold. We looked through the library and traded books we've read for some we haven't.  I'm walking slowly, so Jim took an evening walk by himself.

I'm reading an excellent book entitled My Dream Of You by Nuala O'Faolain.  O'Faolain returns to her native Ireland to dig up a story of an aristocratic family during the potato famine. I'm French/Irish and it reminds me that there was genocide in Ireland during that horrific period. Living on the road for months at a time, gives me the luxury of reading good books as well as my trash novels, and I love it.

GUEYDAN, LA. DUCK CAPITAL OF AMERICA

We had two things in mind for yesterday’s adventures.  We first headed for the small town of Gueydan’s local museum. Gueydan, pronounced gay-dawh, is known as the Duck Capital of America and we were hoping to see ducks in and around the area as we went. I guess it is fitting that we saw duck decoys in the little Gueydan Museum run by Jane Hair.

Ms. Jane Hair also hosted a Spirit of the Swamp art contest for local artists. This was my favorite.

An item I had never seen before, which I always look for, was this musical instrument. Simple in its construction. Almost makes me think I could make one myself. We’ve mentioned before what  a friendly place this area is, and we met a couple at the museum we had met previously in Lake Charles during Mardi Gras. They all assured us that it was possible to see millions of ducks in the area.

The brochure on Gueydan also mentioned Ellis Stansel’s Gourmet Rice, that the locals call popcorn rice. Sounded intriguing and Jane called to see if we could tour their facility. She gave us directions and off we went.

This is a photo of a picture of Ellis Stansel stapling closed a bag of rice. At one time everything was done by hand. Now, the process is all automated.

The person who gives tours was not available, but Macy, a young woman employee, let us look around and sent us home with a bag of gourmet rice. It is the odor when cooking that gives it its nickname of popcorn rice because it smells so much like popcorn. The picture shows the many products Stansel sells. About a 1,000 pounds a day, Macy told us.

Stansel grows crawfish in the rice fields as well. Red caps of crawfish traps show above the water.

As we drove around the back roads, it was pretty obvious why this is the duck capital of the world. The many rice farms, and swampy bottom land around the area attracts those millions of birds. They provide them good food.

The birds fly when disturbed and circle then return to eating. What a site to see. At one farm, the tractor was moving through the water and the birds were moving ahead of the tractor to eat something from the disturbed mud.

Some would have more white than black birds.

A closer looks and the birds are not ducks at all. They are ibis’. Ducks come at a different time of year, apparently.

We saw huge numbers of birds flying in formation over the vast rice fields. The curved beaks give their identity away- ibis’.

We returned to the American Legion for a nightcap and met this very adventurous retired educator, Marlene and her husband Mark. We talked to a whole new crowd from the day before and some of those we met earlier. Chad, Julia, Norman, Bob, Moose…I don’t remember everyone’s name. We were told you have to go to the  Red Rose Bar. They cook a free dinner for everybody on Wednesdays. We drove behind Chad and Julia.

She introduced us to Delta, the owner of the Red Rose. Her husband liked roses, thus the name.
Miss Janet Theriot and her husband,Gene.  Janet is known as MaBee.

She gave me an autographed copy of her cookbook.

Theresa.

Tina. I met such strong, interesting, independent women.

And their men. Before the evening was over, we lite-weights had to leave. Jim fades about seven p.m.

These friendly folks sent us home with dinner to go. Roasted tongue with just a hint of Cajun seasonings. Excellent.

AN ARTFUL DAY.

A return to the visitor center yesterday to kind of scope out the parade route and parking options netted me this picture of ducks that hug the lawn at the center. The center is near a body of water and these ducks seem to be fixtures.
The previous day, they were cold and sleepy and huddled up for warmth. Pretty, anyway.
Our plan for the day, go look at the art scene, check out the parade route, eat at Steamboat Bills, go see some old, beautiful houses  and then take a hike in the park when we returned. The heron painting is Ellen Anthony's work,  available from Gallery By The Lake, a kind of studio, coop of local artists. Some very nice stuff here. No photos without permission.That decision always puzzles me because every owner gives it, if it is their painting. Why wouldn't the others want their work advertised?

Ellen does a wide variety of subjects and says she has fun doing it, like this one from a dream.

And, a very nice abstract. Then I spotted the painting below, Will You Dance With Me?

While traveling the coast, a gallery owner told me that no one buys a cactus or a sunflower from her gallery, they only want, water, boats, birds and beaches. It occurred to me that when in Port cities, that is what you buy.  So, I thought to find something  Mardi Gras related, or Cajun.  The Cajun dancers by Jock McGreggor fit the bill and is  a small piece I can carry in the motor home.

At the Arts And Humanities Center. They post work from multiple artists. I liked this one by Keven Lawrence Leveque very much. Also a small painting.

I had a hard time choosing between the two. I bought this original oil, also very small and personable. Kevin told me he likes to paint relationships. I'm  bummed because I stood there with camera in hand and didn't take a picture of the artist with his painting. I guess I got excited. Obviously this painting isn't  Cajun or Mardi Gras themed.

Jim's favorite was Bill's Boeings, also by Kevin L.  Leveque.  Everyone liked it. At three feet tall, not even available to us, size and price, but a great piece.

I liked this cat by Julie Groth.

Martin Luther King,by J. Simien. He did a good one of Obama, as well.
We deciided to visit the Alexander Gallery. She used to display at the center. Her work didn't appeal to me but across from her gallery is Pujo's Street Cafe. The owner posts local originals in his restaurant. Great food and atmosphere in Pujo Street Cafe. Nice wines, too. A sidewalk table setting for hot days or smokers. No smoking inside. And, some good art. And, again, I purchased another small portrait entitled Elise, by Steve Westley.

The gals in the restaurant hated to say goodby to this small painting. They call her Sara after the girlfriend of the bartender she resembles. Again, nothing Cajun or Mardi Gras. Oh, well, who can account for personal taste.

We drove along Pujo and Kirby, recommended by the visitor center for old historic houses.

I took several more shots, but it was late and we were starving and wanted to try Steamboat Bills and do a bit of grocery shopping.

Trees populate every street, a type of oak. They get covered with this plant. Probably a pest, but beautiful.

Steamboat Bill's is touted as one of the best restaurants in the U.S. The seafood gumbo was very good, but still didn't compare to The Gumbo Bar in Galveston. Sorry Bill. I also tried a pistolette.   It is a Louisiana roll filled with etouffee of your choice. I chose shrimp. Excellent.
We shopped but had no time for a hike. It was cold and we were too tired to go back to town for the parade at 7:00 p.m. Darn.

MALAQUITE BEACH AND BIRDS.

Beach and beach birds kept our attention yesterday. Also, no signal. So, we are at the library doing a quick blog. Thirty mile drive to get here at Aranas but we’ll be looking around the town, too!

The beaches here so different from Pacific beaches. All dunes. We took a walk with a ranger and he says they are a natural dune “prairie.”

Volunteers here keep the beach clean and I picked up this mass to toss away and he explained to us that this mass is made of all  once living creatures. What looks like a yellow wire is actually a piece of whip coral. Feather kelps and twigs and shell worms. I was pretty amazed, but, it still is ugly. The birds like it though, and flies lay eggs in it for the birds to feed on. Same goes for jelly fish.

And, this white jelly fish wasn’t much to look at either. Nature in balance is a fascinating process I might add.

This is a type of clam shell that is very fragile. Still, it buries it’s point deep in the sand and predators grab it and get a mouth full of fragile shell. The clam feeds on plankton.

Sanderlings are common here and constantly move. It’s hard to get a picture of them.

This is a herring hawk. We saw many of them flying. This was the only one we saw on the beach.

Two volunteers took us on a ride about the area to see birds. He also pointed out this debris washed up on the National Shore here from a hurricane. Old buoy’s that have rusted and broken loose, mostly. But, sometimes they find tanks of chemicals other hazardous materials.

One major fresh water pond was loaded with ducks, several types but mostly redheads. Even sea birds have to have fresh water to drink.  I didn’t notice my camera was out of adjustment (off settings) and my pictures during the tour were mostly out of focus.

We were told the name of these beautiful striped ducks, a male and female. But, it is enough to juggle cameras out a car window, pick out the breed from the bunch and get a decent picture. My brain was all thumbs.

This duck is a somewhat blurry spoonbill.

And a blurry redhead.

Our guide drives right onto the beach. In Texas, a beach is considered a public road and all road rules apply. Thus, no ATV’s are allowed on beaches which is a blessing in my opinion.

This unusual bird moved very quickly, but I got a look at its face.

This is a type of tern or plover.

We moved on to Laguna Madre, the inland side of Padre Island and watched the pelicans dip and play. They, like most birds, mate for life.

But, these two look like identical twins.
This is a laughing gull.
We returned to the motorhome, had dinner and then went for a night walk on the beach.

The sun had already set and turned the foam on the beach pink.

This blue heron also looks pink.

This little buck watched us warily from the dunes above. What a nice day.