Smok'n on the bayou

This trip started when we received an invitation from a friend we met last year at the Roadtrek 40th anniversary rally in Branson, Missouri. Paul (Pogo) and his wife Vicki were inviting a number of Roadtrek owners to a party at their home.  Sheppard State Park was a great meeting place for the 12 Roadtreks that would arrive. 

Our site was big and level so we simply backing in and plugged in the electricity.  Actually, we are self contained and don't need to plug in but an electrical connection allows us to use our electric heater during chilly nights and to set the coffee maker to automatically come on in the morning.  Yup, Roadtreking is a nice step up from tent camping!

We enjoyed the first day by re-meeting old friends, repairing an water connection in one of the RT's and playing with Mike's Phantom II Quad Copter that is equipped with a GoPro camera.  It's a pretty cool setup.

Mike showing his Pantom II to Jim and Ken.

Saturday afternoon we caravanned to Pogo's house for the SMOK'N ON THE BAYOU party before we went to the Gautier Marti Gras parade. We filled the empty lot beside Pogo's house with Roadtreks.

We had great conversation about all sorts of things.

Pogo and Vicki had a great meal planned and everyone brought a dish to pass around.  Here's Pogo cooking some good sausages.

Our host - Pogo grilling sausage.

We also started to learn about Marti Gras.  One of the first things we learned is Marti Gras is more than a big party in New Orleans.  Gautier, MS is 50 miles east of New Orleans and Marti Gras is an annual celebration here too.  The difference is Gautier is small so the parade is small too.  The date of the parade is based on Fat Tuesday - the day before Ash Wednesday which is the first day of lent.

After Christmas, the trees become Marti Gras trees.

Visiting Gold Star Families

Have you ever seen these stickers on rear windows of cars and wonder what they mean?  They are service flags to honor sons or daughters who are in the military. A flag with a Blue Star (or maybe two or even three stars) designate son(s) or daughter(s) deployed.  Gold Star flags designate the family lost their son or daughter in the line of duty.

Our son served in the Marine Corps from 2006 to 2010. He deployed to Ramadi Iraq in 2007 and Helmand Province Afghanistan in 2009. Unfortunately, the 2009 deployment was very costly. Several of our planned stops were to visit families of some of the Marines who gave the ultimate sacrifice during these deployments.  Thanks to Deb Taylor, the Sharp family, Ferrell's, Richard's and Schimmel's for your hospitality and the wonderful visits we had with each of you.  What amazing families who have given so much.  We visited grave sites, were welcomed into their homes, learned more about their families and heard stories of their Marine's...their sons who gave all they could give. Here are their sons who sacrificed all.

LCpl Charles S. Sharp	2-Jul-09
Cpl Nicholas G. Xiarhos	23-Jul-09
LCpl Jeremy S. Lasher	23-Jul-09
Pfc Donald "Wayne" Vincent	25-Jul-09
LCpl Gregory A. Posey	30-Jul-09
LCpl Jonathan F. Stroud	30-Jul-09
LCpl Dennis J. Burrow	7-Aug-09
LCpl Javier Olvera	8-Aug-09
LCpl Patrick W. Schimmel	9-Aug-09
LCpl Bruce E. Ferrell	10-Aug-09
LCpl Leopold F. Damas	17-Aug-09
LCpl David R. Hall	31-Aug-09
LCpl Jordan L. Chrobot	26-Sep-09
Cpl Xhacob Latorre	8-Dec-09

We're off for 2014

This will be an interesting trip.  We had to dig the Roadtrek out of the snow just to get it out of the garage so it'll be nice the head south to some warm weather.

We have a few goals for this trip. The idea of this trip started when our friend "Pogo" invited us to a "smoke'n by the bayou" pre Marti gras party in Gautier (pronounced go-shay), Mississippi. That lined up with a convention I had to work in San Antonio, TX so we said let's do it!

When I was looking at the route, I realized many Gold Star families who we know were along our route so we added them to our list of stops.  As a bonus, I was able to get a pre release copy of a movie that has footage for the Marine Corps battalion (2nd battalion, 8th Marines) in which our sons served.  The Hornets Nest will be released mid May, 2014.

The third goal is to visit family in Texas.  It has been too many years since Carolyn saw her cousins.

Finally, since we are this far, why not go big and keep going to the Grand Canyon.  I was there several years ago.  It was the end of January and there was a weird combination of weather conditions that included a snow storm and fog.  When we got to the edge of the canyon, we couldn't see a thing.  I mean zip...nadda.

This is the map that we've come up with.  Who knows what "Mystery Spots" we will discover along the way.