Holiday Inn Express Suites Natchitoches

... dinner and dishes and write out journal/blogs, it is time for bed.  We have been going to bed pretty late too, per usual. So that is the way it goes for the Halls on their grand tour..... ***** Thursday May 7 (birthday of Sarah's lifelong friend Sarah Gillooly, age 25!)North Toledo Bend State Park, near Zwolle and Many, LA (on the Texas border) This morning we went into St. Martinsville and had biscuits and coffee and a long chat with a waitress who has lived there all her life.  Then ...

... walk and is bordered by an assortment of shops and boutiques. The city has identified this area as the Historical District. Natchitoches has long been known for its popular Christmas lighting festival which is held the first Saturday in December. In 2008, the festival will celebrate its 82nd year. We usually hate it when the sun goes down as it ends the sightseeing for the day, but ...

... through Texas. I still need to tweak a few things and my next project is making a dual headligt setup. My plan is to setup the lights to have both on, one on, and neither on. The hardest part will be to fabricate the assembly to hold the lights, and to figure out how to mount it to the bike. I think I will also incorporate a way to secure a tool bag to the light mount and windshield.

Kathy had to attend Michelle's orthodontic appointment 60 miles south in Alexandria, so after another excellent breakfast the remaining three of us headed out in Huck's new GMC 2500 pickup to Dan's 300-acre ranch about 20 miles away where we set up for fishing on a bridge over a large pond on the property watched on by 2 bulls and 4 oldish horses. We'd never been fishing before and Huck soon had a worm on the end of a hook and Munchie got going ...

... guy who cuts the hay around-about Hucks estate and he kindly gave MJ a short trip on the back of his jet-ski. It's like motor biking on water. Fab. Once we got back to Hucks we had an excellent BBQ by the river (with MJ falling off the wagon via a Sierra Nevada Pale Ale) followed by another shorter trip back up the river where Kathy and MJ took a swim in the warm murky river for about 30 minutes. It was really blissful. Evening was more dominos.

... land grant set up in 1830s - it subsequently become famous in early 1900s for Cammie Henry who with her husband owned many plantations and this one was used to house cultural artists and writers who lived free as long as they were producing work. One of the famous painters was Clementine Hunter who lived until 1988 at the ripe age of 101. Here's the Wiki: Clementine Hunter (1886/1887 - January 1, 1988) was born around 1886 at Hidden Hill plantation. Clementine's first ...

... and a Randy - a male friend from Pre-Med school they both attend in Alexandria. She was very lovely and the guy was a cool dude. We all took a ride out to town and a walk around the shops followed by a trip to the local college football pre-match tail-gate party. This originated as people eating and drinking outside the stadium from the tailgates of their pickups. Nowadays they seem to have huge gazebos, massive BBQs and no-one spends ...

... through pasture to this MASSIVE house at the end on 31 acres. We got out the car and the peacefulness was amazing as we just soaked up the view of the river bank. Kathy was home but they'd had a power cut after a T-storm and Huck had gone over to Miss Helens to cook the evening meal which we were going to eat over there. Kathy showed us to our room which (like all the downstairs) has extra high ceilings and is large. The whole place is so well decorated and ...

... Sounds like a drizzle. I bet it clears up" "What time is it?" "About five." We'd been drizzled on before in Oregon and the old dome tent had held its integrity. We snuggled in with hopes of sleeping another hour until the six AM alarm. Drip... Drip... Drip... DRIP.. DRIP...DRIP "RATS!" "What? Shhhh" "The tent is leaking and dripping right beside me" It is now five thirty. Rory gets up to move his stuff from the tent to the van ...

By the time we had arrived in Louisiana Hurricane Wilma had inundated the parts of Florida we had left that morning. Finding accommodation was difficult, not because of evacuations, but because of those still displaced by Katrina. We finally found a room in a motel otherwise full of refugees. They'd been here eight weeks with little support and even less information. The atmosphere was crowded and resentful ...