Top 10 Workplace Tours

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Jelly Belly Factory

    

50 McDonalds - Louisiana

Our McDonalds stop in the fair state of Louisiana was a quick stop for ice-cream in Metaire. Metaire is a burg of New Orleans, but the area we stopped in was newer with malls, a tree lined boulevard and fancy stop lights. While it was hard to get into, they did have a place to park Howard, which is always a priority for us.

Tabasco Factory Tour

This post has been removved because it is now part of our book on amazon! you can purchase it at this link -
http://www.amazon.com/Napkin-Dreams-ebook/dp/B00AZR24LG/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1358190007&sr=8-1&keywords=napkin+dreams

Tabasco ice-cream?!?

Campground - Hebert Cajun Haven RV Park

On our way to the Tabasco Factory we stayed in a little place called Abbeville, Louisiana at the Hebert Cajun Haven RV Park. We met a couple of real cajun ladies here who were so awesome in telling us the secrets of the area and sharing some cajun food with us.

Staff - 9 - We did not speak very much with the owner, but the ladies who helped us get parked in were super nice and helpful.

Nearby attractions - 8 - In cajun country, close New Iberia and Lafayette.

Natural surroundings - 5 - Sort of in a yard of the owner.

Value - 9 - We paid $10 a night for a grass pull-through with full hook-ups using our Passport America card.

Bathrooms - N/A

Roominess - 5 - A little on the tight side.

Facility fun - 0 - Nothing to do at the park.

Cleanliness - 6 - Average in cleanliness with several long-term rigs.

Facility usefulness - 3 -  Laundry.

Overall - 6 - A small and cheap park, nice place for an overnight stay. Who can go wrong with name like Cajun Haven??

Eating good in Louisiana!

We have a bit of dilemma in our family. Patsy and I love a variety of different foods and we also enjoy trying new cuisines from different parts of the country and the world. However our boys have fairly set tastes and do not like to vary too far from those likes and dislikes. In essence they are not yet culinary tourists!

So we have to find a way to sample the huge variety of flavors this nation has to offer on our trip, yet still keep the boys fed and nourished. Our formula has been pretty simple. We make a typical meal that the boys like and then I go out and get take-out from a nearby restaurant that has some of the unique foods Patsy and I want to sample. Then we can share bites with any boys feeling bold and daring and we do not spend nearly as much money as we would if we all went to the restaurant ourselves.

This simple operation was carried out several times in the state of Louisiana, a state with loads of interesting and unique foods. We enjoyed muffalatos from a place called Camille Cafe in Abita Springs. These tasty sandwiches are sort of like club sandwiches with lots of olives and some sort of special sauce and they were quite wonderful. Later we stopped at a little joint called Monster Po Boys in Mandeville and we a split roast beef and a shrimp po boy. These were stunning and marvelous and some of the best things we have tasted on our trip!

Of course the whole family enjoyed the beignets at Cafe Du Monde in New Orleans, after all who does not love doughy, sugary goodness? The whole clan also enjoyed stopping at a chain called Raising Canes in Baton Rouge. This is a chain that started in Louisiana and features basically just chicken fingers. They have a terrific sauce to dip them in as well.

Cajun country is a world unto itself and our stay at a campground there led us to meeting a couple of older cajun gals who had us sample some of their boudin and cracklin. Oh boy dat shure was good stuff! It was so good that we later had to stop at another place in Franklin and buy some more so Patsy and I could have a cajun lunch while the boys had pig in the blankets. Poor boys!

When you add in our Tabasco Factory tour and sample bar and you can see why in just five days we felt like we have truly eaten our way through Louisiana (and that is not counting our stop at the Crawdaddy Cafe in Shreveport last fall!)

New Orleans

This post has been deleted because it is in our new book entitled Napkin Dreams. It can be found on Amazon.com

 

Fountaineblue State Park

While exploring the greater New Orleans area we camped out at Fountaineblue State Park on the North Shores. Even though we were a bit a ways from New Orleans, with the causeway across the lake, we could make it there in under an hour. New Orleans was a bit busy anyway with the Sugar Bowl and New Years and the Saints playing this weekend.

Fountaineblue State Park was a great place to stay AND explore. We took a hike out unto a board walk that crosses some marshy areas, strolled along the beach, marveled at the huge oaks with Spanish moss hanging from their limbs and spotted several birds for the first time on our trip. We also enjoyed a great sunset and had fun exploring around the visitor center and talking to the interpreter there. This nice gentleman was making slingshots and gave the one he had just finished to our boys! Of course we had to go down to the lake and see who could shoot a rock the farthest into the lake. Naturally dad won.

This state park is really a great place to stay with lots of amenities and close to tons of eats and shopping while still right smack in the middle of nature!

Staff - 9 - The park employees were professional and courteous and the interpreter was super nice! Camp hosts were also very kind and gave our kids some coloring sheets.

Nearby attractions - 9 - In Mandeville with Slidell, Hammond, New Orleans, Covington, Baton Rouge and other burgs quite close by.

Natural surroundings - 9 - Very close to the nature with lots of wildlife to see.

Value - 9 - We paid $20 a night for a back-in on a cement pad with full hook-ups using our Passport America card.

Bathrooms - 9 - Very clean and modern. Showers are the press and press again type.

Roominess - 9 - Plenty big enough.

Facility fun - 9 - Hiking trails, playgrounds, beach, water park area, ranger programs.

Cleanliness - 9 - This campground is state park clean and quite modern.

Facility usefulness - 8 -  Laundry, free wifi, small exchange library.

Overall - 9 - We highly recommend staying here!

Cold season in Howard the RV

By Patsy

There are many pros and cons to living in an RV. When we first decided to start our adventure on the road, I thought I had researched them all, but sadly, I was mistaken. There were a few surprise issues that came along with living in an RV that I had not previously considered. One of those illusive issues was the one that deals with cold and flu season.

One of the cons of living in close proximity to each other is that if one child comes down with a cold, all the family will be sharing the cold. However, depending on how you chose to look at this, it could be a pro. After all, you will not be listening to everyone’s lungs for the next several days wondering if anyone else is going to come down with this, you just know it is going to happen and buy children’s cold medicine in bulk.

Of course buying children’s cold medicine in bulk is a con, because so many pharmacies are keeping the medicine behind the counter and you have to go up and ask for it with an ID, fingerprints and a signed promise not to use the chemicals in the medicine for anything other than its intended purpose. For our family of 7, I need quite a large amount of this stuff and it is getting a little tricky scoring enough to help all my sons. On the pro side we are so often on the move, that I rarely have to visit the same pharmacy twice. Just about the time I accumulate enough cold and cough medicine and the pharmacists have put my picture up next to their window with the caption “Don’t Sell to this Woman”, we are on our way and hitting the next pharmacy in another county.

Then there is the con of trying to get some sleep in an RV when you can hear all the coughing going on all night. You can’t just shut a door and so shut out the sounds. Since we are all within 32 feet of each other, you hear all the sounds of the congestion concerto played out throughout the wee hours of the morning. The pro on this is that one vaporizer takes care of the entire family in one fell swoop. At bed time, we give each child cold medicine, schmeer their chests with Vicks and then plug in the vaporizer. Then my husband and I look at each other trying to decide if we should give ourselves a good dose of cold medicine so we can sleep through all their noise. We chose to be good and not partake in the medication process….usually.

As I sit and write, I am listening to a symphony of coughs and sniffles that, were it put to music, would take at least 10 sheets of staff paper. It isn’t very pretty, but it is rather well orchestrated if I do say so myself. Each son wakes with the faint whisper of a dry cough. As he opens his eyes more fully, the cough turns into a throat clearing substantial noise. Finally, in an effort to clear his lungs well enough to breathe, he lets go with a cough that crescendos enough to wake his brother. As the first son quiets for a session of sniffling, the waking brother begins his morning cough. And thus the sounds of musical mucous echo through our home.

I keep telling myself that this is only going to last a few days. I tell myself that having everyone sick at the same time is better than having one sick for three days, then the next one sick for three days, and so on. This way, we will get no sleep for just a few days and then we will be done. I tell myself to remember that the boys are not feeling very good and to be as patient as I can since they are likely to be a little extra whiney. I keep telling myself that this raw feeling in the back of my throat has NOTHING to do with the illness running through our family. I keep telling myself that I am the mom and moms do not get sick days. I keep telling myself these things, but I am having a very….cough, cough…hard time….cough, hack….believing the things…sniffle, sneeze, cough….that I say. Cough, choke…I think I’m a liar.

Check out lots more posts like these at Patsy's blog French Fries Under the Seat!

Arkansas - our 30th state

We have now visited three-fifths of the states on our Napkin Dreams trip. Arkansas had the distinction of being number thirty. How many will we get to? Forty, forty-nine, maybe even fifty? Time will tell how far we get!

Campground Review - Tall Pines RV Park

We stayed at a nice campground in Shreveport called Tall Pines that was a little unsure of our kids, but I guess it turned out alright.

Staff - 7 - Lady who checked us in went out of her way to tell us she had nothing for kids. However a guy who helped us with propane was very nice.

Nearby attractions - 8 - In nice part of Shreveport.

Natural surroundings - 7 - Smaller trees and bushes, nice for the satellite dish.

Value - 5 - We paid $42 a night for a pull-through concrete site with full-hook-ups and cable. We paid a lot extra for the kids.

Bathrooms - 9 - Clean and big with plenty of hot showers.

Roominess - 9 - Pretty big lots!

Facility fun - 7 - Pool, pond, porch swings but "nothing for kids!"

Cleanliness - 8 - Clean and well kept up with some tasteful landscaping.

Facility usefulness - 8 -  Laundry, propane, camp store, exchange library, free wifi.

Overall - 7 - We just were not sure if we were welcome with the kids. No one was mean, but just got some odd looks. Propane guy said our boys were good though! Otherwise it is a nice park.

Crawdaddy Kitchen

During a quick stay in Shreveport, Louisiana, we felt compelled to have some cajun cooking. At least we had to have some of those mud bugs!! We stopped at a place called Crawdaddy Kitchen because of the reviews we read on Trip Advisor. Of course just the name itself was enough to peak our curiosity. We got a couple of meals to split which included crawdads, etouffee, fried catfish, seafood gumbo and shrimp! It was definitely an authentically local taste experience! The boys had corndogs and grapes because they are not foodies in any sort way! Too bad for them, but more for us.

Our plan is to be in New Orleans later, so we will have another go at some shrimp and other fun Louisiana cooking!