Tabasco, Avery Island, Louisiana

Bayou Wilderness RV Resort-Carencro, LA

As the southern states head towards summer, the "snow birds" have headed back to their homes northward. The RV parks are at off peak times so we were able to go for an "impromptu" morning walk along this bayou.

Close to the edge of the bayou were these knobs which are actually parts of the trees.

A tranquil time of the day but we had to cut our walk short as the mozzies were breakfasting on us.

The McIlhenny Co. Factory - home of Tabasco sauce is located on Avery Island, Louisiana. Founded by Edmund McIlhenny in 1860s this hot spicy sauce is sold in 165 countries. It is thought the name Tabasco is from Mexican Indian origin meaning "place where the soil is humid". There is a token $1 entry fee to the factory and you are given 4 mini sample bottles of the sauce.

Usually there is no bottling on Fridays, but we were lucky enough to see the  production line in action for this special shipment of Tabasco sauce bound for Saudi Arabia. Guess, Tabasco sauce goes with lamb as well!!

As a side tour to the Tabasco factory, we did the Jungle Gardens, a 200 acre sanctuary on Avery Island. Tom caught this turtle laying eggs as we drove past it.

The Gardens abounds with "bearded" Oak trees. They appear to be pretty old, their boughs extending and entwining with neighbouring trees.

One could almost imagine these trees with eyes-the overall atmosphere whilst peaceful has a definite underlying feel of spookiness..whooooo.  A good staging for the next Harry Potter movie perhaps!

We were told there are alligators in the lakes.....I guess they didn't fancy Chinese that day!

A grand old Cleveland Oak.

Well I'm glad this bird sanctuary isn't near my fishpond!  If you look closely, you can see several young chicks being fed...puts a new meaning to "deep throat".  The parent sticks its beak down the chick's throat.

This sanctuary is home to 20,000 Snowy Egrets.

Another "bearded" tree.

Texas to Lafayette, Louisiana

07/05/13-Texas City bound for New Orleans...well at least that was the plan!

Bright and early, we are even ahead of schedule...we are on the Fred Hartman Bridge, Baytown on our way to New Orleans. Whilst on the cruise, we had 10 injectors replaced on our truck(at the cost of a very decent diamond ring or several tons of chicken breasts,  I might add).  Picked up the truck, everything appeared honky dory.

We passed this huge oil refinery whilst on the bridge; a few miles out there was an awful clattering from the truck engine.  The engine dies amidst a plume of thick white smoke...luckily for us we managed to pull over safely and not cause any traffic obstruction on the highway.

We called Passport America and wait for the tow truck.  We also called our friends Bev and Kent to let them know what had transpired.  They thought they had finally got rid of us....no such luck!

Kent and Tom with Al...Passport America will only tow the truck free as part of its programme.  We had to pay for the towing of the 5th wheel.  

15/05/13 - Texas City (again) bound for Lafeyette, Louisiana

Yep....we had a tyre blow out on Al. After many days waiting for the truck to be fixed, we again say good bye to Bev and Kent and continue our journey to Louisiana.  By now, I am sure we are beginning to smell like fish that's more than several days old...we have so overstayed even though our friends have been so gracious and kind. Besides, we are eating them out of Klondike ice cream bars!!

This time, we call Good Sam for help....after another wait of about 40 minutes, we got the tyre changed. I am beginning to get real familiar with the roadkills on the highways.

The 5th wheel had picked up debris and it had ripped the tyre open....yes sirree-we had a Concord episode.If you remember, that's what caused Concord to crash in a devastating fashion and loss of many lives.

 We finally pulled into the Bayou Wilderness RV Resort, Lousiana after that rather tiresome and trying event with the tyre blow out.  What a lovely drive into the RV Park...it is tree lined with streams running alongside the way.

There appears to be more permanents at a lot of the RV parks we've been in. The rust bucket on the right of the photo was parked next to a lovely Open Range 5th wheel.

The approach to the Bayou Wilderness RV Park.

Caribbean Cruise

28/4/13 to 05/05/13 - 7 day Caribbean Cruise

Our beautiful ship the Carnival Magic.  We departed from the Port of Galveston, TX for our cruise to the Carribean.

On this cruise, we decided to pay the extra $$ and get a stateroom with a balcony - it was a good decision. If you take a closer look on the photo above, you might be able to see our Stateroom immediately below the lifeboats..hah!

Beautifully equipped room, lots of space, fluffy bathrooms and endless supply of towels, ice bucket.We were allowed to bring on board 1x750ml bottle of wine per person, however the alcohol and wines weren't too overly priced. We knew in advance what we were in for, unlike our Alaskan Cruise a couple of years back on the Norwegian Cruise Line where they hid all the prices of the alcohol.

A retreating view of Galveston on Deck 11 from the Carnival Magic as we sail away to 7 days of  fun and pampering. For cruise novices, a word of advice: bring lots of loose fitting clothes! Your waistlines will be put to the test!

Our cabin server came up with a different "towel" animal every night. Can you tell what it is?

Our first view of land after 2 days of cruising - Montego Bay, Jamaica.  Yeah Mon!!...Jamaican version of "No Worries Mate".

As we pulled into Montego Bay, the C. Magic's sister ship the Carnival Conquest was also heading for the same port.  In fact, we had a convoy of 3 ships - the Royal Caribbean Freedom of the Seas was in the entourage.

Check out the absolutely stunning colour of the water. Freedom of the Seas was pulling up alongside us.

A pit stop along the way to the Appleton Rum Estate in Montego Bay.  The local ginger beers are quite refreshing.

Tom in Rum Nirvana, Paradise, Eden - Rum, rum and more rum...in fact 13 different rums to try.

This is Norman, our guide at Appleton - he made me his personal Court Jester the moment he noticed how vertically challenged I was...I was so glad I made his day! On arrival, we are treated to all you can drink fruit punch that had 2 different rums in it..no pain felt thereafter. It was a 2 hour bus ride up a rather "challenging" mountainous road, with lottsa blind corners, hairpin bends.  I swear the Afro American couple sitting up front behind the driver looked "white" a few times.  There were quite a few not so subtly stifled screams...from the guys. They needn't have worried, Johnson our bus driver was an accomplished phd...Pot Hole Dodger.

Inside the ageing cellar where the rum is allowed to age in old barrels before being shipped overseas. As part of the tour,  Norman got a couple of us to extract the juice out of the sugar cane using a traditional grinder.  Pure sugar juice, extremely sweet....diabetic hell! We also tasted the syrupy mixture of sugar crystals and molasses. The only area off limits to cameras was the distillation area with its pot stills and column stills...hot and humid inside this building. 

Onwards...and we are in the Grand Cayman-the weather looking rather ominous as we docked. The Harbour at Grand Cayman was too shallow for the Magic so we were transported in "tenders" to shore.

We had opted for the Stingray and Dolphin encounters. After docking, it was a short drive, where we took a boat ride of 45 minutes to where we could swim and frolick with manta rays!

Outstanding!! we are standing in about 3-4feet of water (had to have a life vest as I don't swim....at 4'6" even 4 foot of water is too much).

Scores of tourists are in the water with us...as you can imagine it is a very popular attraction. Thankfully, the area is a protected area, ie no fishing etc.

One of the many Manta rays swimming around us - they have to be the best fed rays around.  We are given cuttlefish to feed them. Don't let the Chinese in on this place....stingrays are actually quite tasty eating...sorry!!

Saw a few of these iguanas lying around the place.

Cozumel, Mexico.

One of the several eateries just off the pier at Cozumel, Mexico.

It was windy at Cozumel.  We were able to dock right up at the pier - have never seen water this colour.. a glorious azure.

The Duty Free store at Cozumel - you can't avoid it on departure, only way to get to your ship is through the store.

We had the option of having lunch on board our ship or go and sample the local restaurants. We settled for the 3 Amigos Mexican Rest. - US$45 for 2 mains and 2 cocktails.

We thought this lady was part of the free entertainment by the restaurant...wrong... suckers!!! She was working for tips.

A lovely hibiscus....I love flowers.

One of the many local craft stalls that I didn't get to spend money on.

Another shop that I didn't get to step inside...that's a real person in army fatigues. He must have a share in turps..he's painted black all over.

Cozumel, Mexico - ready to get back on the ship after a very minor purchase.

Deck 5 - the beautiful Mezzanine Level of the Magic.

There were lots of nooks and crannies that one can sit and read and be away from the hoi polloi.

What we loved about the Carnival Magic - we get allocated a table for the whole 7 days at one of its fine dining restaurants. This is our waiting team...they were so cheerful and friendly. Bosko  who is 6'1" is from Serbia, Toshi is from India and Ryan is from the Philippines...and oh, did I mention - there's high tea at 3pm every day.

The winds had been picking up all day at Cozumel and by the time we left, the ship was definitely rockin' and a rollin' a bit more.

Tom took these 2 photos of the waves being whipped up by the winds.

Alas, after 7 magical days it was time to go back to land. Sunrise onboard the Magic as we drew closer to the Port of Galveston.