We drove out of Texas and started to see sunshine! Finally the skies had some blue and we could open a few windows. It took us over three weeks to get there, but finally….. Louisiana!
We had another small ferry ride to get across an intercoastal waterway- but these folks did not care about our auxiliary fuel tanks! 
We headed straight for Palmetto Island State Park, which turned out to be a great place to spend some time. 
In addition to free washer/dryer set up and hot showers this park had some good dog walking trails. 
as well as some armadillos 
and really cool lizards that could camouflage themselves to look like the leaves on the tree. 
But the real highlight was that the park was hosting a gathering of the Latanier Cookers! (LAW-tan-yeah) This is a group of folks that gather once a month to practice new recipes for their dutch ovens.
Their motto is- Meeting, greeting, cooking and eating! And that is exactly what they did. They share the results of their cooking with anyone that wants to stand in line to eat! So, naturally we volunteered! 
and the results were wonderful! 
That piece of bacon is actually layered and baked on top of cornbread. My favorite was the mac and cheese or maybe the baked sweet and spicy apples (a blend of sugar and tabasco). I even won a door prize- a Bacon Bowl maker for a microwave. Since we do not have a microwave, this prize will be mailed to Ryan!
Now we are on to the Atchafalaya Swamp near Baton Rouge. Remember to sign up using the “FOLLOW” button so you can get these posts sent directly to your email account.
I love the swamplands! How fortunate for you to land in a place with a cooking event.
Now I am getting hungry!
Geneva, Mike – If you’re going to be in New Orleans this week…. Fran will be at the Sheraton, 500 Canal Street until Thursday afternoon for a conference. He says it would be great to meet up for lunch or dinner or something
Yum! Glad to see that the Louisiana section of your trip is starting out like I’d hoped it would.