March 11, 2016 - Sulphur, Cameron, Holly Beach & Hackberry, LA

A gloomy day!  Edith’s cousin, Dori, texted and told us to come visit her and her husband Paul after 9:30 am.  

Visited Dori and Paul and their three cute dogs.  Dori and Edith are first cousin (Dori’s momma and Edith’s daddy are brother and sister).   We helped unloaded Edith’s momma’s stuff from our Jeep and into their garage.  Dori told Edith that she would love to have them because she grew up remembering the dinners held at Edith’s parents’ house.  Edith did not want to keep them, would rather give them to someone who will cherish them, and Dori will.

We followed Dori and Paul to an Italian restaurant, Joe’s Pizza, in Sulphur, LA (exit #20 from I-10).  Their rolls are to die for, so soft and tasty.  Erwin got chicken Parmesan and Edith had eggplant Parmesan (on the menu eggplanD was spelt that way). The foods were delicious. Edith could not finish hers and had it boxed to go.  

The rolls were more delicious than our meals!

Dori and Paul wanted to see our home on wheels, so they followed us to the campground. 

Dori and Paul

After Dori and Paul left we checked the map to see how far it is from here to Cameron Prairie National Wildlife Refuge. Pintail Wildlife Drive and Boardwalk is part of the refuge.   It is a 3 mile driving loop through moist soil wetlands that are managed by the US Fish & Wildlife Service.  

We visited the refuge two years ago and saw lots of wildlife and enjoyed the auto loop. We wanted to drive around the loop again.  This time there were a lot less to see but we saw at least 30 alligators, few shorebirds, stilts, one spoonbill and lots or red-winged blackbirds. But, we still enjoyed the drive and Edith took lots of pictures.  The best time to view waterfowl populations for viewing and photography opportunities is in the fall and winter.

Roseate Spoonbill among ducks

Unlikely Friends??

We wanted to check out another wildlife refuge: Sabine National Wildlife Refuge.  We went south on LA 27, then got on the ferry at Cameron, LA to get to the other side.  We did not wait very long before they called us to get on the ferry. As soon as we got in the ferry left the dock immediately. It operates 24 hours daily crossing the deepwater Calctsieu River/Ship Channel. It can transport up to 50 vehicles at a time. $1 fee

After getting off the ferry we hurriedly tried to get to Sabine National Wildlife Refuge before the sun went down.  We were lucky to find a pullout area and Edith immediately got out of the Jeep, ran down to the end of the dock to capture stunning shots.

On the ferry 

The drive back home was somewhat tiring and we started to get hungry again.  Edith did not feel like cooking because it was already past 6:30 pm.  We decided to go to Sulphur, LA to look for something to eat. We spotted a likely place, "Casa Ole" a Mexican restaurant, went in and got seated after a short wait. The food was OK, but the silverware was horrible, DIRTY!  We asked for another set, dirty also, got a third set, dirty as well, We complained to the manager that they needed to train the dishwasher to do a better job, She replied that we soak them in a tub with special dishwasher soap and rinse them off. Erwin told her that they needed to wash them individually with better soap! We will never eat at "Casa Ole" again!! We did not realize until later that Casa Ole is part of a restaurant chain.

We had an enjoyable day visiting with Dori and Paul and a ride to the refuges.  On top of that, the day was great and pleasant.