Ten Things of Thankful - Week 14, 2017

As most of you know, we were on vacation last week, away from home for nine days. We did a road trip to Louisiana, and had an awesome time!  I'm going to call this Ten Things of Thankful post the Vacation Edition, and will include some of the photos of things we enjoyed along the way.  (I've chosen not to post personal photos on this blog, but there are more of the trip on my Facebook page, and any of you who aren't on my friend's list there are welcome to email me and I'll be glad to invite you!)

I'm so thankful for our GPS device that makes travelling to unknown places and through big city traffic tangles like Dallas, smooth and easy.  My husband and I were recalling what it used to be like to travel folded paper maps and later road atlases, that showed routes but no Interstate Exit information, or detailed street guides for specific places. 

 

 We spent three nights in Baton Rouge, where we visited the Mississippi River, watched tugboats maneuver big barges, ate great food, and checked out the local casinos for a little gambling fun. 

 

 

 

 

We loved driving around checking out beautiful architecture such as the old plantation homes and this, the original Louisiana State Capitol Building in Baton Rouge...

My husband introduced me to magnolia trees, which I'd never seen before...

 

 

He might be guilty of stealing government property by obtaining this magnolia blossom for me from a tree on the beautifully landscaped state capitol grounds. It made our hotel room smell wonderful as it opened up to be huge and beautiful...

 

The most wonderful things I saw on the trip were the giant oak trees everywhere. These were over 250 years old and far taller and bigger around than they look in the photo.  I had to stop and give one a hug, I love tree spirits!

 

From there we drove to Grand Isle, Louisiana on the Gulf.  On the way we drove by this cemetery in Raceland.  We don't often see above ground crypts here in West Texas or where I was raised in the Midwest, but it certainly makes sense in an area where the land is swampy.  Very old and newer ones are intermixed and they are covered in white plaster that gleams in the bright sunlight...

 

 We crossed the eight mile expanse of the Gateway to the Gulf Expressway which takes you across the swamplands and waterways to the island. It's the only way to get there. I do not love being on bridges, especially ones that make sharp turns and curves like a rollercoaster!

Grand Isle is a beautiful little beach community of very friendly people. We rented a house there for three nights and had such a wonderful, relaxing time!  Everything is built on stilts as a precaution against flooding. My worn out knees definitely got some exercise climbing slowly up and down stairs, but it was worth it.  We noted that many of the newer homes there had exterior elevators, which would be ideal for older folks.  This is the beautiful island school...

This is a tree covered in purple Mardi Gras beads. We laughed about how they might have acquired so many strands of beads :-)

People over 62 have free admission to the State Park beach areas which were nicely maintained with handicapped accessible boardwalks and spotless restrooms. The beach was beautiful and being midweek and off-season, we had it to ourselves! The weather cooperated, the water was warm for walking along the shoreline and the sand was powder soft...

 

My husband bought a kite to fly at the beach.  He is good at it and took no time to get it aloft, smiling all the while like a little boy!  It was beautiful sailing up there, and could have gone much higher if we had wanted to reel in 500 feet of kite string!

 This is an egret at the State Park, preparing to take off after we disturbed it by stopping for a photo...

We left Grand Isle to head back on Friday morning, spending the night in Shreveport.  We had some awesome Cajun food at Crawdaddy's there. This was fried catfish with crawfish etouffe, the seasoning was amazingly delicious!

 On Saturday we travelled to a small town near Texarkana to visit with my husband's 98 year old great-aunt, the last remaining family elder.  She is a treasure, so sharp, lives independently in her own home (her daughter lives just down the road), and has the most wonderful sense of humor. We love her dearly! She told us that three of her doctors have said she will live to see her 100th birthday, and she doesn't want to make liars of of them so she intends to. I have no doubt that she may well do that! Two years ago she was honored as the Grand Marshall in the Texarkana Parade and was in her glory riding in the open carriage at the head of the parade.  She has also entered crocheted items in the local fair for the past 69 years and has won many, many ribbons and monetary prizes. I took my new lighted crochet hooks to show her, she thought they were pretty amazing.

We spent Saturday night at Mesquite, Texas just East of Dallas, making the long final drive home on Sunday, a total of 1825 miles roundtrip. We were pretty tired and sore from the riding/driving, but it was so worth it!

I am so very thankful for these days spent with my husband making happy memories, proving once again that it doesn't take great sums of money or fancy adventures to have a great time together, all it takes is love and a desire to share something new. There are so many amazing places in this country, and I wish we could live long enough to see them all!

This is a "self-portrait" I made at the beach... I think it's pretty clear that I was thankful to be in my happy place...

Blessings to you in the days ahead! Keep your eye out for reasons to be thankful, and remember to be a blessing to someone else!

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