Fair Winds and Following Interstates
From our Tabasco tour, we headed over to nearby Conrad Rice. We felt a little rushed trying to fit both places in on the same day. Our "down" day ended up being rather full.
Conrad Rice is the oldest operating rice mill in the United States. The original building built in 1912 is still being used. The newest packaging machine was purchased in 1975. We enjoyed the free samples and ended up buying some Konriko Wild Pecan Rice and Konriko Creole Seasoning. Yum.
Our next stop after Biloxi was just west of Lafayette, LA. Between Baton Rouge and Lafayette is the Atchafalaya Basin Bridge, the third longest bridge in the USA. Primarily as a driving break between Biloxi and Houston, we spent two nights at Frog City RV Park. The park got its name from the local town where a couple of brothers supplied bullfrogs to restaurants in New Orleans.
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| 18 miles of bridge - Atchafalaya Basin Bridge |
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| Pepper hothouse |
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| Pepper mash - fermented up to three years |
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| Blended and intermittently stirred |
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| Bottled |
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| Current selections |
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| Weinermobile! |
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| Jungle Gardens |
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| Mini Bottles and Whistles |
One of the reasons we were at Keesler AFB famcamp was to visit with our friends John and Becky. We stopped by their new home one afternoon, and they checked out our coach the next. We fully expect them to have a combination RV/horse hauler some day. ; )
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| Love the white sand |
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| Mardi Gras Tree |
We arrived in Biloxi, MS, at Keesler AFB famcamp during Mardi Gras season. Neither of us had ever attended a Mardi Gras event and decided to give an afternoon Mardi Gras parade in Mobile a try.
We knew that Mardi Gras parades were highly interactive with lots of beads being thrown. "Throw me something" is the chant, but totally not necessary. Those krewe members on the floats are constantly throwing stuff. The experienced parade goers bring their own rakes in addition to goody bags.
What we didn't realize is that Mobile Mardi Gras parades are known for their Moon Pie throwing. It started decades ago. Cracker Jack boxes were too hard to make a good throw. Some Mobile ladies visiting Chattanooga noted that Moon Pies were soft, had some heft, and were economical. It's estimated that over 500,000 Moon Pies are thrown during parades. May I borrow your rake?
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| A portion of our haul |
We really like Corp of Engineers (COE) campgrounds. Foscue Creek on the Black Warrior/Tombigbee waterway quickly became one of our favorites. We were blessed to snag a riverfront campsite that had us peering out the windows at all hours. As an added bonus, there's a train track at the front of the campground. Harold got to hear the train whistles and even watch a couple of freight trains go past.
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| One of many |
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| Yacht in the fog |
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| Short Line Train |
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| Still a kid at heart |
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| Passing zone |
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| On the trail |
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| Not quite Sandy, UT |
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| No worries about flooding |
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| Yeah... |
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| Enjoying the evening |
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| Just a bird floating along |
Watching the barges and water birds and hearing the trains was pretty much our excitement for the week. There's not much else around Demopolis. We were grateful that they had a Walmart!
Jim Bird's Bale Art did provide a couple of photo opportunities though. Guess that's one way to have a little fun.
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| Are we in Oz? |
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| Fly away |
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| Big field, big art |
