Day Eleven

Kudzu and I got up early this morning and headed to Houma, Louisiana on a wild goose chase to find a hard top cargo carrier for the truck. It turns out that a small spotted dog takes up more space than I had anticipated so I need to move some gear up top. Apparently "outdoors" means fishing in Southern Louisiana and that only requires a five gallon bucket to sit on and a cooler for beer in the way of outfitting so we gave up and headed north to see if there was anything else of interest in Loiusiana.

Bayou Teche near Franklin, LA

We got suckered in by a sign advertising Louisiana Highway 182 as a scenic byway and ended up taking the slow way north through Franklin and New Iberia to Lafayette. There were some beautiful antebellum homes along the way but mostly there were acres and acres of sugar cane and nothing special to recommend this course as scenic.

Cane, cane, and more cane

Lafayette is mostly casinos, strip joints, and used oil pipe dealers. We noticed that there are even truck stops that in addition to the normal fuel and food offerings now include casinos, OTB, and topless clubs. I can just imagine the transactions that take place. Trucker to attendant: "yes ma'am, I'll take fifty gallons of diesel, a pepperoni pizza, $10.00 on Luck Lady in the fifth at Pimilico, and a lap dance. To go."

Now I'm not a big gambler but as Zoobs and I were heading north on I-49 we noted to our surprise that Evangaline Downs was located on Creswell Lane which is the street I grew up on in Knoxville. We took this as an omen and pulled in to try our luck at the quarter slots. Unfortunately, they allow grey-headed pensioners in casinos but not innocent little spotted dogs so I left Zoobs curled up on her bed in the truck while I headed in already spending our winnings in my mind. I was down $15.00 after thirty minutes with no sign of wealth so I hung my head as I went back to tell Zoobley that I had lost her dog food money.

Really big gear near Lafayette?

I haven't been in a lot of casinos, but the ones I have been in generally give me the creeps. There always seem to be lots of geriatric pensioners pushing walkers, pulling oxygen canisters, chain smoking, and sporting a terrified expression as if they just spotted the angel of death in line at the all you can eat buffet. I've often wondered what they would do with the cash if they won big; trade in their walkers for a Jazzy Chair?