Louie & The Redhead Lady

We got a slow start today from our stopover in Beaumont, TX.  We started to watch a movie and didn't pay attention to the time and it was around 1am before the movie finished.  It was one of Bruce Willis's Die Hard movies and had a ton of action.  Don't they all.

We stopped at the FlyingJ truck stop in Orange, TX to fuel up the motorhome.  Gas was $3.37/gal with our discount and that is the cheapest gas we have seen on our return trip.  The was a nicer FlyingJ with an easy in/out and not all scrunched up.  They even had a sense of humor in the cashier area.  That is rare for FlyingJ.

Back on the road and making good time until we got to Lake  Charles, LA where the traffic was backed up for miles.  I had the chance to take the bypass around there, but didn't want to drive that far out of my way.  Big Mistake!  It was stop and go with stop being the leading word.  Moving to the left lane since the right one was closed didn't work since everyone zoomed on by and then tried to merge in at the last second.  I finally got off I-10 and drove through a small town and went about 12 miles out of our way, but we made good time doing that.

There is a very steep bridge on I-10 and it was part of the stop and go portion.  I would guess it is about a 10-12% incline and I didn't want to go up it in the motorhome at a crawl and then have to brake hard going down the other side.  That is the reason I got off the highway.

We made good time the rest of the way until we got around Baton Rouge, LA where I-10 & I-12 meet.  Slow going there.  There was construction on I-12 with lane closures and that took a while to get through.  If you want to travel the Interstates, then you have to put up with road construction when the weather is nice.

We arrived at Fontainebleau State Park early enough to get a good site for the next couple days.   I picked out a pull through site and that was a mistake.  We had to detach the Saturn and the pull through sites are very curvy and small, plus we paid extra for it.  Louisiana and Maryland honor each others Golden Age passes and we paid 1/2 price for the site.  $13/night.

Since we are in a great seafood area, we went to Louie & The Redhead Lady restaurant in Mandeville for dinner.  They start you off with free cheese biscuits that were very tasty.  Thursday was $7.99 night for all you could eat shrimp or catfish.  Shrimp and catfish it was for us.  We each ordered a little more and managed to stuff ourselves pretty good.  If you are in the area and want a good, home cooked meal, then I would recommend this place.

Someone else also recommends it. Guy Fieri of  Diners, Drive-ins & Dives  We stopped in a restaurant in Charlotte, NC where he also ate and left his pictures.  He has a television program and goes all over the US checking out offbeat restaurants and local places.  I imagine he gave them a good review since they have his picture up and sell t-shirts with him on them.  You never know what you are going to run across out here on the road.  That is what makes it so much fun.

Louie and the Redhead Lady (Ginger) were at the restaurant, but not working.  I don't know if they actually run the place or not, but if they do, the hired help does all the work.  Maybe it was their day off.

It looks like the rain is going to catch up to us again with T-storms in the forecast for the next couple days.  How about that, 5 months of desert living and not rain & now rain just about every day.  Maybe that is the reason that everything is so green back here and brown in the desert.