Pat and Mickey Road Trip 2008
August 2 – August 16
Objectives:
- Experience the world longest yard sale (www.127sale.com)
- Eat at Porkers in Chattanooga
- Traverse the Natchez Trace
- Pick up Candles from Lynchburg
- Pick up Tabasco Soya Sauce from Avery Island
- Discover new things
- Have Fun
Statistics:
- 11, 500 km – 2 oil changes.
- Four provinces (BC, Alta, Sask, Man.) and nineteen states (North Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Arkansas, Texas, Missouri, Iowa, South Dakota, Wyoming, Montana).
- All completed with Scrat, our sabre toothed squirrel mascot from Ice Age duct taped to the roof of the car.
August 2, 2008
Travel from Cranbrook to Regina. Stops for geocaching in Coaldale and Moose Jaw. Overnighted with the Forsyth’s and the boys had a visit with Cousin Sam. Keelan stayed behind in Regina to spend time with his cousin, attend the exhibition – Buffalo Days, and spend time at Regina Beach.
August 3, 2008 –
Regina to Manitoba (St. Adolphe). This was Mickey’s worst day – driving across the prairies and listening to NASCAR (Pocono) –however he hung in there and allowed dad to listen to the race. The “torture” was only broken up by a couple of geocache stops in Brandon. Arrived at Tammie and Kim Mark’s new place along the Red River flood plain. Nice quiet enjoyable visit.
August 4, 2008 –
Off across the border and down to Fargo, ND with a couple of quick stops for geocaches along the way and to pick up bands from an orthodontist. (Honest Dad, I packed them). Turned Southwest on Interstate 94 heading through to Minnesota. The landscape started to get into rolling hills and trees – which made Mickey happier. Stopped at a hotel in Baldwin Wisconsin (no campgrounds as darkness approached, and wanted WiFi to research some other geocaches as we had changed from our initially planned route and are reversing the way we do the trip).
August 5, 2008 –
We were up for the quick included breakfast – and a geocache across the highway at a Fireworks warehouse (that we got skunked at).
As we passed into the rolling hills of Wisconsin – America’s Dairyland – we had to make a stop at one of the many cheese factories. Our stop was at Humbird Cheese – a bright yellow and read building beside the freeway in Tomah, Wisconsin. Looked around and had a few samples before settling on a large assortment of a variety of cheese cubes and sausages. This was enjoyed for a couple of days – and was some of the best cheese that either Mickey or Dad had experienced. We were disappointed that we had not picked up more – although space and the heat did not make this an easy option.
Leaving Tomah, we continued down I94 to the Wisconsin Dells. Spent a couple of hours exploring the area – as mom remembered the name from their tour though this area as a kid but could not remember much about it. The Dells have been a tourist attraction for many years – initially starting because of the natural beauty of the erosion of the sandstone bluffs as the Wisconsin River has eroded many of the rocks into teetering precipices. The Dells also lists itself as the Water Park Capital of the World – with over twenty water parks in the area. It also has multiple mini-golf courses, magic shows and fun houses, Ripley’s Believe it or Not and other tourist type traps. Although we did not partake in much of the things that are designed for fun and to separate you from your money – it was nice to wander around – and the heat really made the water parks or beaches look attractive. Although the permanent population of the town is not that big (just over 5,000 people) it can swell to over 75, 000 guests each day in the heat of the summer. There are also some phenomenal old homes in the residential part of the town – many in various stages of renovations – and lots with for sale signs…
After our tour of the Dells we continued down to road to Pleasant Prairie (Jelly Belly factory). After some strategic candy purchases of Jelly Bellies, we headed over to a local lake and park to find a geocache. This cache was located about 120 meters into a heavily treed area and although there were no mosquitoes evident in the parking lot, they were absolutely vicious as soon as we tried to enter the woods. The bugs were so bad that they beat us back to the car the first time and we applied a fresh and more thorough layer of mosquito lotion. Even with the bug dope – the mosquitoes were so bad that they rivalled what we experienced on the blood bath trail in the Everglades. Mickey forehead had over thirty bites on it by the time we finished the up. This cache was unique – in that it was hidden in a camouflaged contained suspended like a bear cache (tough to find in the thick treed overgrowth – especially when you were busy swatting the mozzies).
After getting back into the car (and killing the maybe twenty mosquitoes that had snuck into car with us) we continued south to Illinois Beach State park, on Lake Michigan. Took a short walk around the park and a little fishing pond off the main lake where we found a couple of families fishing for their supper. The trail out to Lake Michigan had multiple signs warning of poor water quality and that asbestos contamination on the beach (oh joy). However the view – with the light high cloud and hazy on the water was quite nice.
Although there were very few people at the campground, the campground employees made a big deal asking as to whether we wanted to stay in the alcohol allowed area. Being that Dad had not picked up anything, they opted for the alcohol free area – and had to sign various waivers, etc., understanding this commitment. (By the time they had gone through all the possible punishment and fines for breaching this condition (even though there was no one else in this area of the campground) it almost made Dad want to go out and buy a six pack (always the rebel).
After setting up the tent we headed into town to the Piggly Wiggly to pick up a couple of salads, fruit and fruit juice and then picked up a KFC Mash Potato Bowl to split and round out our supper. (We know how much mom will be worried that we are not eating properly). Back at the campground we ate our supper under candlelight.
The park was Mickey’s first exposure to the Cicada’s. The cicada is an insect that look a lot like a big locust although they are more truly related to leafhoppers. The cicadas do not bit or sting, and generally do not do any damage to plants or humans and therefore are technically not pests. Although there are cicadas present most of the time, there are big population cycles that occur every seventeen years (with last year being the bumper year). The park employee told us that last year there were dead bodies of these large bugs everywhere – and the ground literally crunched when you step on them (so much for sneaking up on anyone). Apparently in some cultures cicadas are still eaten as a food source – and the Chinese still uses the shells of the cicada in traditional medicine. Mickey originally thought that the sound of the cicadas was quite pleasant to go to sleep to.
This was also Mickey’s first exposures to fireflies in any abundance – and they provided a spectacular light show around the campground that night. Mickey commented that he wished Keelan was here to see them flickering back and forth. Watched the bug “lights” and the “chirping” Cicadas for awhile before the mosquitoes chased us into the tent for the night.
August 6, 2008 –
Up relatively early the next morning to discover that a severe storm had crossed through the Chicago area the previous evening, with at least three funnel clouds touching down. 90, 000 homes are reported to still be without electricity and there was some routes blocked with down trees and power lines. We had already made the decision to skirt around Chicago, and bypass all of the toll roads. This route took a bit of navigating on Mickey’s part – and we managed to miss all of the major storm damage at the same time. There were only a few storm branches and shingles scattered along the side of the road. This circuitous route took us by the first MacDonald’s restaurant, located in Des Plains, Illinois, passed by O’Hara airport and the Chevy Chase Golf and Country Club (think Caddy Shack). Once we were south of Chicago, turned east and headed through Indiana. Really thought we were lost when we encountered a road sign that pointed one way to Peru and the other way to Chilli.
Our route took us beside the Wabash River for awhile before stopping for the night at Little Turtle State Park outside of Huntington Indiana. There was only one other group in the campground so and it looked like they were just going to be there for awhile so we set up tent. The Cicadas were getting louder, and were really starting to bug Mickey. Unfortunately over the course of the night more young people continue to show up and the party continued and the fights started. So at 3:00 AM, when another five car loads of kids showed up, we packed up the car and headed down the road around Fort Wayne and then stopped for another couple of hours sleep in a rest area just prior to the Ohio border.
August 7, 2008 –
Up this morning and re-packed our car from our hasty departure. Drove into Defiance, Ohio – the starting point of the 127 sale. After doing a bit of exploring of the town, we headed out to northern terminus of highway 127. Although there were no signs directing you to the start – it was easy to know when you had hit the route. There were yard sales everywhere. In the first two hours, the two of us went to over 100 sales. Everything from people selling out of the back of their car or pick-up at a wide spot in the road, to church parking lots full of vendors, to normal yard sales, to campgrounds where every spot was rented out to vendor. For sale was everything from antiques, to firearms, to cars and motorcycles, to clothes and household goods. Every type of collectable was present – with some areas having more dealers and others just being home owners. Almost every church along the route, advertised a cool resting place, restrooms and food for sale.
Highway 127 is a two lane road with no more than 1 foot of paved shoulder on each side. Therefore people were parking everywhere, and often the traffic was slowed to a crawl – or there would only be one lane of traffic moving. Unfortunately for the people trying to make a living, the highway is still an active commerce route – and therefore there were many frustrated truckers and delivery vans drivers included in the mix. There were several minor fender benders – but no one seemed to care too much. By mid-afternoon we had counted over 950 yard sales – and gave up counting. We also started to drive by many more sales than we went to – being somewhat selective as to where we stopped – or stopping only where we could park and walk to multiple sales.
The sale was not as evident going through Cincinnati, but once out of the urban area it picked up in earnest – and becoming more prominent in once we entered Kentucky. However, most of the sales started to wrap up before suppertime – allowing everyone a break. This day we travelled just under 300 kilometres, pulling into Big Bone Lick State Park – Kentucky just after dark. (Although it was advised that you book your reservations well in advance, we had not and was just going to play it by ear – and were able to get into one of the four sites that were remaining). Quiet night – except Mickey is really starting to hate the Cicadas. Mickey made a phone call home, to let mom know that we were enjoying ourselves – and that he was keeping dad from buying too many frivolous things.
August 8, 2008 –
Up this morning, to a warm and clear morning. The people that were camping next to us had a couple of young kids, a father who was in the Military and his wife and her mother. The gentleman bragged for the most part of the night that he was going to show them how to make a fire – and had tried to get his wife up at about 1:00 AM to cook some hotdogs. However, in the light of day, you could see that he had gone down into the woods and pulled out a 10 foot long and 18 inch round log – and had one end of it smouldering over the fire pit. The log was so wet that it hardly ever had much of a flame – and only put of lots of smoke. It was their intention to pack up quickly and leave it burning. Dad is glad that the gentleman had chosen a career whereby someone else would tell him what to do and think – as this seemed to be a challenge for him.
Mickey and I did a tour of the exhibits at the Big Bone Lick State Park – and walked a couple of the trails. The park gets it name from early settlers that marvelled at the big bones that surrounded that salt lick frequented by the local bison and other animals. The bones were those of primitive horses, giant mammoths and mastodons, and ground sloths.
After this leisurely start, we headed back out to Highway 127 and continued south through the Kentucky countryside. We passed through many horse farms in the rolling hills with miles of beautifully fenced grass pastures. The grasses in some areas were as well maintained as many golf courses. We also passed by Kentucky Speedway, where there were people barbequing and tailgating – awaiting races later that evening, but Mickey would not let me stop.
Continued to stop at yard sales – including some vendor marts in that would easily have over 100 sellers present. Enjoyed a variety of home cooked delicacies – including deep fried pie, and kettle corn. There were also boiled peanuts for sale – but after remembering mom’s extremely negative reaction to these from several years ago – stayed away from them.
Yard sale items seemed to vary in price, with each area seeming to have different things that were better deals. The one thing that seemed to be universally cheap were clothes – with used articles selling for a quarter.
This was also the day that Mickey and I missed a turn and ended up having to travel about 40 miles to get back to the 127. However this little excursion took us through some cottage and houseboat country on the Ohio River – and a beautiful windy back road through the hill country of Kentucky. Well worth the detour.
Into Frankfort, capital of Kentucky, for a quick lunch at a diner and a walk around town. There are some great old buildings that are in the process of being renovated. As this is primarily a government town – and the service industry catered to the public servants – there was not much open as we were still running on our time – and it was actually closer to their afternoon coffee break. Many employees were out doing speed walks – while most of the restaurants were taking a break between the lunch rush and the after work happy hour. Great meal and back on the road continuing south.
As with the day before, most sales started to pack it in just before supper time, so we were able to make a few miles without as many stop and starts before pulling into Lake Cumberland State Park for the night. Again a very busy campground – but this one had about thirty sites still available when we arrived. Many of the people in the campground were doing the garage sale route. Went to the local park store to stock up on ice, and some fresh supplies – and then took a long walk around the campground after dark. At times the Cicadas were so loud that you could hardly hear yourself talk. Mickey is now thoroughly fed up with these bugs – which is unusual because he likes most insects…
August 9, 2008 –
Up this morning and down the road a few miles to a look out over Lake Cumberland – and a quick breakfast stop. Mickey had a nutritiously balanced meal of a large dill pickle and chocolate milk (his mommy would be so proud).
Continued south through the hill country of Kentucky and into Tennessee. The yard sales continued to grow in number – and we became more selective at where we stopped. The ridge drive over Signal Mountain and into Chattanooga was especially pretty – with windy roads, and many unique houses and expensive homes. One of the homes even looked like a UFO. We decided to get a motel for the night – as we had a number of things in the Chattanooga area that we wanted to do, and we needed WiFi access to check in at home and get some additional geocache information. Unfortunately, after doing some checking found out that the restaurant that we wanted to eat at and the Unclaimed Baggage were both closed on Sunday – so we were sort of caught having to wait around the area for the day. Went across town to CiCi’s (a pizza buffet that we wanted to go to due to our memories in Homestead Florida- it did not live up to our memories) and then came back to the hotel for a good night’s sleep (cool and without the noise from any Cicadas – air conditioner drowned them out).
August 10, 2008 –
Up this morning and up Lookout Mountain and by a number of the big attractions their (Inclined Railway, Ruby Falls Caverns, and Rock City). Stopped and took some pictures – but did not really have an interest in going through the tourist attractions – partially because of the costs and crowds. The Lookout Mountain communities in both Tennessee and Georgia are quite phenomenal with some massive old homes, very steep and curved roads – that it is easy to get turned around in. At every corner are signs directing you various tourist attractions (and not much else) so it is easy to go in circles for awhile.
Followed the ridge and participated in a number of garage sales in Georgia and Alabama – with many deals as people were trying to get rid of their things. Mickey found his highlight buy of the trip – a Virtual Boy by Nintendo – for a dollar. He is pleased as this is something that was on his list that he was looking for – (as a collector’s item) and was able to find extremely cheap. Dad also found a real nicely converted motorcycle trike that was reasonably priced for the work that was done but with no way of getting it home – had to be satisfied with a picture. Continued down the yard sale highway to Mentone – before turning west and heading to Scottsboro to check out Unclaimed Baggage (yes it was really closed) and then heading south to a State Park that we were aware of at Lake Guntersville. We had full intentions of eating at a Chinese Restaurant (run by a Mexican family) that we had discovered there on our last trip – but by the time we got there neither one of us were particularly hungry – and definitely not enough for a buffet. Therefore, did a bit of shopping at a couple of pawn shops and a Game Trader – finding the game that was on Keelan’s wish list.
Went to the State Park and set up Tent in the primitive area – right beside the lake. There were multiple trailers and RVs in the park – and even more in the storage area located at one end of the campground. Went for a couple of walks around the campground area – exploring a small cave and a number of other trails. There are some unique rock structures in the lake – with the water eroding them into many bowl shaped protrusions. The beaches in some area were covered with many fresh water clam shells – and there were multiple fishing boats out on the water.
Satisfied ourselves with a jar of fruit salad and a tin of Spanish salad – and then off to bed early as we wanted to get an early start as we would have a full agenda tomorrow.
There was a good wind storm over night – but not much rain accompanying it. Dad got up in the middle of the night to put out a fire that had flared up in a neighbouring campsite (again somebody trying to use a huge log in a stone fire pit. Twelve buckets of water later it was out and Dad was back in bed.
August 11, 2008 –
Up this morning and off quickly on route back to Scottsboro and Unclaimed Luggage. Unfortunately, we had crossed through a time zone change and were therefore there an hour before it opened. Successfully found somewhere to get coffee and a snack while we waited for it to open. As 9:00 AM arrived, the parking lot filled up with many cars – all waiting to shop. In talking to one of the clerks, apparently there are some people who show up early – every time a new shipment arrives to get the choice pickings – things like laptops, top end cameras etc.
Mick and I looked around and picked up a mini-camera for him, and a JD key fob for dad. Headed back north east to Chattanooga – and Porkers for lunch. With Mickey navigating, arrived at the right location, and found a parking spot right outside the back door. Entered the restaurant, and were able to get a small table right by the front door. Mickey had a large baked potato filled with barbeque pork, and dad had the lunch special open barbeque pork sandwich with baked beans. The food was everything that we remember, and Mickey insisted that we get a couple of pictures of his meal for Keelan to see. In looking around this small diner – it looks like we were in interesting company – as the walls are adorned with famous people who had dined before us – included President Clinton. After finishing our great meal, we headed out to the find a couple of geocaches – but were unsuccessful in easily getting to the starting point (Battles of Chattanooga) and therefore decide to forego this and headed west to Tennessee.
Arrived in Lynchburg in the late afternoon – and went to the Lynchburg Hardware, General Store and Barrel shop – in search of some Jack Daniels candles for Dad. We had debated buying a big bucket candle the last time we were here as it is one of the few scented candles that Mom enjoys but opted on a small one and have regretted it ever since. They no longer had the candle in a bucket so had to satisfy ourselves with two – quart candles. In addition we picked up a couple of sipping glasses and a hat before walking around the rest of the downtown square. The merchants were all outside talking to each other – as it seems that there were a couple of young shoplifters that had made the rounds of the stores and were just apprehended and taken away by the local sheriff (two in the car and one on his bicycle with the police car following him home). The way the merchants were talking – sounds like there is not much excitement around here.
Stopped by the local ice cream shop for a quick snack, before going on a search for a geocache just outside of the Jack Daniels Distillery and take a quick walk through the grounds. Found a travel bug whose mission it was to go to South Dakota (which we thought we could oblige on our way home). Got one pleasant surprise – as Clint Boyer No 07 car was on display in the foyer and Mickey humoured me by having his picture taken in front of the car (The closest he ever wants to get to NASCAR).
Headed out westward bound again – not quite sure where we were going to end up for the night. Traveled through Lawrenceburg, Tennessee, the place that David Crockett called home. There is a nice statue in the centre of town and flags from the lampposts alerting everyone to this fact.
Continued west and joined onto the Natchez Trace just outside of Deerfield, Tennessee. (Reached the Trace at just about the 5000 kilometre mark – estimated half way point on our travels. Turned south on the Trace spending the night at Tishomingo State Park in Mississippi. The campground was dark, and deserted when we arrive – so once again set up camp in the dark. The campground was around a small lake – and the frogs provided quite a concert until they were drowned out by the Cicadas.
All in all a busy and long day – getting to see and do many things that were on our list (Unclaimed Baggage, Porkers, Jack Daniels, and the Natchez Trace). It was a four state day, starting out in Alabama, crossing briefly through Georgia, then into Tennessee, and finally into Mississippi. However the last couple of hours driving down the Trace were relaxing as though they were slow (spped limit of 50 mph) – there was hardly any traffic, and no commercial vehicles. We will see what tomorrow brings.
August 12, 2008 –
Up this morning, for a quick look around the campsite we had pulled into. We were up in the primitive area – although there were many sites backing onto a small lake – complete with hook-ups and dining shelters that we did not see late at night. There was even a small open walled building that doubled as a chapel on Sunday. Nearest we can tell there was only one other site occupied in the campground, and when Dad checked into the Ranger office to pay – they were surprised to see that someone else was on the grounds – as they had not done their rounds of the primitive sites yet.
Continued south along the Natchez Trace. The Natchez Trace is a 440 mile long Parkway – going from Nashville, Tennessee to Natchez, Mississippi. The Trace follows a historic pathway used by both Native and settlers to travel between the Salt Licks / Mines in Tennessee to the Mississippi River. Some of the most famous celebrated travelers of the Trace were farmers and boatman from the Ohio River regions of Pennsylvania, and Kentucky that floated goods and supplies down the Mississippi to the ports in Natchez and New Orleans. Once the goods were sold, they would dismantle the flat bottom boats – sell the lumber and then start their long walk back home along the Trace. Once they reached Nashville – they would use more established roads to get back home. These boatman merchants were known as Kaintucks. Research has shown that in 1810 more than 10,000 Kaintucks travelled the Natchez Trace. In the early 1800’s it was reported that it would take about 35 days to walk the Trace, or 20 to 25 days if you were lucky enough to have a horse to ride.
The National Park Service has a minimum 800 foot wide boundary that parallels the parkway – and the road is not open to commercial vehicles. This natural continuous greenway provides a tranquil passage through a variety of ecosystems, without ever seeing a traffic light, modern building, gas station or fast food restaurants. If you needed gas or groceries, you would have to take one of the many exits into the towns and cities that existed on all sides. (Finding a good coffee was dad’s only struggle). It is absolutely amazing that you could pass through a city as big as Jackson Mississippi and not see anything but the lush tree growth. (The parkway must also hire a large workforce of mower operators to keep the grass shoulders down to its park like setting. There are still many of the original trace pathways that are in preserved states along the parkway – some sunk way into the ground from all the years of use.
We continued to poke our way down the Trace, stopping to take in some short hikes, geocaches and exhibits. This proved to be somewhat of a trick – as the weather was a bit wet – with some areas expecting over an inch and a half of rain in 24 hours. There were places where we had to slow down to about 20 MPH a couple of times to deal with the torrential downpours. (Thankfully we were on the Trace and not the Interstate.) However, luck was with us – and we were able to get in most of our stops without getting too wet. Mickey was even able to climb and run between the huge burial hills at Emerald Mound – something that he did a couple of years earlier when we were in the area – however was completely soaked with the puddles hiding in the deep grass.
Pulled into Natchez in the late afternoon – and after doing a quick tour of some of the many restored antebellum mansions, – crossed the Mississippi river into Louisiana. It took a bit of time for Dad to get used to driving back on the interstate – given the slow and relaxed speed of the Trace. Continued west to Alexandria and then turned south towards Lafayette. Stopped for the night at Chicot State Park, just north of Opelousas. The road to the park was a bit of a distance off the interstate – and went through some interesting rural areas with curving roads along the bayou. We hoped that the park was open as we really did not want to go back along the road until the sun was up.
When we pulled into the State Park, the girl at the gate – looked a bit surprised to see someone coming in – and especially to know that we were tenting. She placed us in a site down by the washroom – which provided us with light to read by. Dad and Mickey used their portable chairs to sit out under the balcony off the bathroom – and read – until the mosquitoes got too bad. Prior to leaving – we saw some interesting frogs (climbing up the walls and hopping along the walkways to the bathroom) and unusual bugs – stick bugs, huge beetles, etc. We are also right on the edge of the bayou, so there were also of interesting swamp noises (screaming of the Nutrias, the hooting of owls, and the ever present Cicadas.) However, when we tried to go to bed – the temperature and humidity was just too much. (Temperature reading at 11:45 at night was 98 degrees Fahrenheit and the humidity was so high that water was dripping off the inside of the tent. So we decided to sleep in the front seat of the car – however this was not totally successful. We needed to turn the car on to run the air conditioner about every 15 minutes for several hours until it cooled down. (Tried leaving the windows open just a crack – but that only resulted in a multitude of mosquito bites). Thankfully we had a battery operated fan that we ran the rest of the time that made the night bearable.
At about 3:30 in the morning – in a lucid moment – Mickey and Dad came to the conclusion that although we love the bayous very much – they are a better place to visit outside of the heat of summer. A second defining notion also came to us – that given the heat, humidity and confined space – that we were really looking forward to a shower and change of clothes in the morning. In order to punctuate this moment – a local resident (a large raccoon) climbed up on the hood of the car – looked in the front window for about 20 seconds before figuring that we were not worth the effort and scampered off. We were not sure if it was because we did not have any food present or if it was because of the way that we smelled that he left.
August 13, 2008 –
We were up this morning to one of the best showers that we have ever had. Stood under the cool water for about 15 minutes – trying to bring some normalcy back to the day after the night that we had. Packed up and headed south through Lafayette, where we stopped for a quick bite at a huge gas station – before heading south to New Iberia and Avery Island.
Arrived at Avery Island – and paid the small toll so that we could proceed on to the Tabasco factory. Since the last time we were here, they have been busy building huge 17 foot levees around the plant and island as Hurricane Rita (2005) did some major damage to the plant and disrupted the production of Tabasco. It is said that the McIlhenny / Avery family are spending over $5 million for the pumps, levees and back-up generators in an effort to protect it from the next big hurricane. The eye of Hurricane Gustav, which arrived three weeks after we were at Tabasco, only did minor damage to one roof. However, the power company could not get onto the island itself to restore the power for several days – as the bridge was under two feet of water.
The Tabasco Factory store is one of Mickey’s goals for this trip as he wanted to pick up some Tabasco Soya Sauce – which he has not been able to find anywhere else but at the factory store. Although we decided to forgo the factor tour this time, we spent a lot of time in the store and Mickey ended up buying a case of his Soya sauce. Had a great crawfish etouffee sitting on the balcony of the store for lunch – before we headed over to go through the Jungle Gardens which we missed on our last trip.
Avery Island is also the site of one of the world’s largest salt mines and it was the salt and a subsequent sugar plantation that Daniel Avery used to make the families first fortune. Just prior to the American Civil War, Edmund McIlhenny married Daniel Avery’s daughter. During the war, the Union forces blockaded the south – which resulted in the south not having a reliable supply of salt. The Avery’s discovered a large deposit of pure rock salt just below surface of the island and quickly mined this supply for the south. Later after the war Edmund founded McIlhenny Company and began producing Tabasco brand pepper sauce – using oak barrels (from Jack Daniels) covered in salt to cure the sauce.
Under the Avery and McIlhenny family leadership, Avery Island was turned into a natural paradise – with many exotic plants species imported from throughout the world. After plume hunters decimated the egret population for feathers on European hats (1895), the family gathered a number of young egrets and raised them on the island. Each spring decedents of these egrets (along with may other species) migrate back to the special nesting boxes set up on the island. In addition to the many large live oak trees on the Island, the family had imported numerous varies of Azaleas, camellias, and papyrus to add to the islands beauty. When oil was discovered on the island in the 1940’s the family saw to it that as many of the old growth trees and plants were left undisturbed. (They had the workers bury or paint green the pipelines so as to not take away from the natural beauty of the island. The Jungle Gardens (complete with the Buddha statue that originally sat at a Shonfa Temple in Peking and the Bird City with the multiple nesting boxes over the water are a spectacular sight.
After driving through and walking around the Jungle Garden – it was back to the factory Store so that Mickey could get his Tabasco Ice Cream. As a special treat – they also had a Tabasco flavoured soda pop (think Dr. Pepper with Tabasco). Talk about the pop going up your nose !!!
Left Avery Island and did a number of quick stops in New Iberia and St. Martin for some geocaches before heading out of the area. Headed back to Lafayette before turning west towards Lake Charles. (Both New Iberia and Lake Charles have some significance to Dad as one of his favourite authors (James Lee Burke) writes a detective series out of New Iberia, and Lake Charles is the setting for Toni McGee Causey’s book on Bobby Faye Sumrall.)
At Lake Charles we turned north on a secondary highway and poked our way up to Texarkana. Supper was at a Waffle House (Dad needed his hash brown’s smothered and covered). Got a motel, with laundry facilities so that we could wash our clothes and WiFi so we could check in at home. Being a border town (Texas / Arkansas / Louisiana) there are multiple pawn shops that we are going to explore. We have also scouted out a number of geocaches that we want to pick up in the morning.
While checking out things at home – we were informed that Grandma had been admitted to hospital and had some growths in her bowels that they are suspecting may be cancerous. As a result, Deb and Keelan have been in Calgary for the last couple of days. Grandma is scheduled for surgery on Sunday and would really like to see us before she goes into surgery. Therefore, we will do our bit of running around here in the morning – and then bump up our schedule and push for home. Although this will take the better part of one and a half days off our schedule – we should still be able to make it – and still be able to see some of the major things along the way.
August 14, 2008 –
Up for the complimentary breakfast before heading slightly West for a geocache in Texas. This cache was supposed to be at an old ragtime establishment – that has long been torn down. It ended up being in the middle of a deserted and overgrown block surrounded by shanty houses. After approaching the area from several directions – and being worried about where to leave the car – was successful in finding the cache.
From there, we headed back into Texarkana and went through a number of Pawn shops in search of some treasures – to which we were not successful. Then back on the road for the start of our trip home. Continued north out of Texarkana on secondary roads on route to Fort Smith before being able to get back onto an Interstate.
With the exception of a couple of stops along the way for garage sales (on a Thursday?) and geocaches – we drove most of the day – stopping for a four hour nap some time during the night in a rest area north of Kansas City.
August 15, 2008 –
Up early, before the sun to keep driving – Mickey continuing to sleep in the seat beside me. It was sort of cute that he woke up and said good morning three times only to fall back to sleep. Arrived in Sioux Falls at 7:00 in the morning for a breakfast and bathroom stop – and to send an e-mail as to where we were. Turned West on I90 heading through South Dakota.
Took an hour and a half detour into Mitchell – to tour the Corn Palace. This big building (which houses a gymnasium and theatre) has a façade on the outside made up of dyed corn husks into a mosaic. There is a new design every year and inside the palace they have pictures going back to the first palace in 1892. There were a few birds on the outside of the building – feasting on the corn – however I would imagine what is in the fields right now is tastier that the dyed stuff on the building. Couldn’t leave the Corn Palace without a big (three feet tall) bag of popcorn for the road.
Continued west – with our next stop being Wall and the home of the world famous Wall Drugs. Mickey walked around the massive collection of rooms in this store (rooms and buildings built on to each other until it is over a city block in size) feeling that there was just too much stuff. Stopped to get a few quick pictures beside some of the mascots. Wall Drugs contains everything from a restaurant, shoe store, camping and hardware, clothing, leather supply, shoes, museum, Water Park, etc. The Drug store was made famous by the owner offering free water to get people to come in. We started seeing signs for Wall Drugs between Omaha and Sioux Falls (some 300 kilometres away).
Back into the car and heading down the road to Rapid City. Looked around the town for somewhere to get an oil change on the car before continuing. Stopped at a Tire Store just before the end of the work day – and they agreed to squeeze us in. While we were waiting went over to IHOP for supper. When they were finished, we headed toward the Black Hills. Ended up stopping for a couple of hours at a couple of rest stops. Poor Mickey went to sleep at one rest stop and then dad moved twice more after that – not being able to sleep much. When Mickey woke up he headed off (in a partial sleep) to the rest room – only to find that it and we had moved. Part of the reason that Dad was not sleeping too well was at one of the rest stops he went up one way to bathrooms and when he was coming out he returned by another path. Part way back to the car – he saw something scurry across the path. Dad went looking in the grass – but was unsuccessful finding whatever it was. When he got to end of the path – there was a sign warning people to stay on the paths as there were rattle snakes in the area. Upon reading this – Dad had enough adrenaline in him to drive for another hour or so …
August 16, 2008 –
Daylight found us by-passing Butte (a town that neither Mickey nor I have been impressed with in the past) and heading north through Helena. Very nice drive – especially the upper Missouri River canyon country between Helena and Great Falls. Made a couple of short stops to stretch and look around – but kept pushing to head for Calgary. Crossed the border at Coutts and headed into Lethbridge for a quick bite to eat.
Our final stop before Okotoks was Vulcan and their Tourist Information Booth tribute to Star Trek. This little side trip did not seem to thrill the Mickster at all – and somehow he seemed to find this a bit glitchy. (This from a kid who a day before was getting his picture taken riding a Jack-a-lope. )
Headed into Okotoks – exhausted and anxious to see grandma – and despite all the miles we had put on – very happy to make the trip. The last two days were a bit of a long push but the trip was well worth it. We managed to accomplish all of our objectives – and both still wanted to keep going – although time, family and money will not allow for that right now. So we have to satisfy ourselves with planning our next adventure wherever that may be. Mickey is already starting to talk about the possibility of the Maritimes next year and see if we can eat our way through lobster season.
——- / / ——–