April 28, Monday Into the Sunrise

I pulled the shore power being careful not to step on the low anthills that are home to some really nasty biting, stinging red ants (as the skin on my foot can attest to), said goodbye to the resident mockingbird and headed east. The Acadian Village was a really enjoyable place to have stayed and Lafayette got a check mark as a place to re-visit. I wanted to leave early so that I could get to Gail’s house in Mississippi to be able to put in some work time. On the freeway system I noted barriers that blocked off paved cross-over’s. I was told that these were removed so that during hurricane evacuations that the incoming freeway lanes can be reversed so all lanes of the freeway are used to move the masses away from the coast. During Katrina Baton Rouge which has a population of 250,000 swelled to 750,000 in two days.
I arrived just before noon and Gail and Grady were hard at it. I helped assemble a table saw table then slipped back into my RV because I didn’t want to hear the noise of the cutting. My hearing took major destructive hits from the sound systems at the music festival. I could not only withstand the “sound that pounds” but also my internal organs where on agitation cycle as well when the percussion waves penetrated my body wall. And another reason I made myself invisible is that I don’t like watching other people use power tools; I get too freaked out. Gail and Grady sensed this and both shouted at me that it was safe to come out when they were completed cutting the 4 x 4’s. They were working on our favorite project – the boat ramp. While I was listening to music in Lafayette they had planked over the joists that projected out over the water and were now in the process of bracing and bolting the cross member at the top of the two poles on the land side of the ramp. Hard work on step ladders placed in the back of a pickup to reach the top of the poles. I really enjoyed working with both of them not only for the much-needed physical work but to contribute to the improvement of the place as a “thank you” for letting me stay there. But even more so I got to know some local folks which is always a treat for us travelers.