Back to Louisiana!

[DutchmenSport]

Leaving Saturday morning, Sept 21 and heading to Scott County Park
18850 270th St, Eldridge, IA

Yep, leaving Indiana and heading to St. Francisville, Louisiana to do another camp host (tour guide) at the Audubon State Historic Site for the months of Oct, Nov, and Dec. But....!!! making a detour first by way of Nebraska.

I'll keep you all posted.

[mlh]

Looking forward to your post.
Lynwood

[DutchmenSport]

First leg of the journey complete. We left Anderson Indiana about 8:30 am and hit I-74 at Crawfordsville, Indiana. Stayed on I-74 all the way across Illinois to Davenport, Iowa.

We are spending the night at Scott County Park, a county park campground. This is really a nice park, big. Lots of campsites in different sections of the park. Some are are primitive, some are full hook-up. Some are back-in, some are pull through. The RV sites are all concrete pads, very clean, very neat. I wish we had more time to explore this place.

Click here.

Leaving early on Sunday (9-22).



Now, with every new trip there seems to be always new challenges and this time is no exception.

When closing up shop yesterday, we had everything in place. Maybe one of two times a year we sleep in our house. Last night we did. My wife wanted something out of the camper which required opening the front living room (upper) slides. And that's when IT happened. Unbelievable .... really.


The driver's side slide started crunching and grinding. Stop the slide immediately. Go no further! Attempt to open the passenter side slide and .... click, click, click, click.

What happened? Both at the same time ... astronimically, unbelievabley weird as cat dung! Driver's side broke a cable, passenger side sounds like it broke a gear on the motor! I was beyond "beside myself". I was ready to set a bomb to this Montana. I've been doing a lot of repairs recently and this one just blew the candles out! Some 4 letter words came out and both dogs ran for the hills! My wife simply disappeared back in the house and I was left standing there .... WHY? WHY? WHY? NOW! I was so mad.... beyond rage!

Wife came back out a few moments and said, I guess were just staying home. I said, "Not if I can help it!"

Well, it was now well after dark but I got the broken cable replaced. The old was was unbelievable snarled up into everything. I had to cut it out into little pieces to get it all cleared out, and thos wires are tough! But, eventually I got a new cable in, adjusted and the driver side is working just fine.

I made the command decision we were leaving for the trip anyway. For now, we'll just not use the living room and the broken slide blocks the steps going up from the lower kitchen. So, Saturday morning, I finished hitching up and away we went!

So, here we are, at Scott County Park in Iowa and we're hanging out in the bedroom now instead of the living room. I'll need to work with at motor more and catch a few YouTube videos to see if it's fixable or if I just need to get an entire new motor. And either way, where do I get the parts and when do I actually have time time to replace it. I've got the ability to swap out for another one, but we're moving a lot until we land in Louisiana on Sept 29. I'm thinking we'll just manage with no living room until then. Once back at the Plantation, (IF) I can get the slide open, I'll have 3 months to get it fixed before we have to leave. And there is a very, very good RV mobil tech in the Baton Rouge area. I "just" might call him and see if he'll do the fix. I know it will cost, but it's a lot more simple. Once on the Plantation again, I'm going to be equally as busy again!

More update later. Happy trails.

And oh, by the way, the wife is extremely happy we left home anyway, even with the broken slide. So, she's all good now. We're making lemon-aid out of the lemons. I remind here of those days we spent tent camping, and the broken slide doesn't seem so bad any more.

[twindman]

I will be in Scott county park the 28th! Have stayed several times. Very nice. Only drawback - they have maybe 30-40 sites at Eagle campground but I think only 8-10 are reservable!

[DutchmenSport]

Day 2: Successful!

Left Eldridge, Iowa (Scott County) in good time, early!!! Made it to Scenic Park Campground in South Sioux City, Nebraska. Got here just just in time to unhitch, plug in power, set down the jacks, open slides and run! Where are we running to? My grand-daughter's Volly-Ball game. Yep, met our daughter and her husband and her 6 kids (all theirs by natural birth) at the game. Had a great time. It's been 5 years since we saw then. I didn't recognize any of the kids.

A word about Scenic Campground. It's NOT a "destination" campground, unless you have something to do or something else you want to do in the area. It's a city style campground. It has street lights throughout the campground, one can hear the road noise from across the Missouri River, and there's no anamniotes here, except a place to park, full hook-ups. But, it is clean, decent, and well taken care of. Their camping prices are reasonable also.

There seems to be some long-term folks staying here, and I'm surprised the campground is almost completely full. I did meet one other "transient" to came in today and leaving tomorrow. So, for a good over-night, safe and comfortable, this campground meets the criteria. If looking for a campground with all sorts of things to do and activities, this one is a zero! Again, it's serving a marvelous purpose for us, so I give it a 9.5 out of 10. It's close and convenient to my daughter's house (real close), and it has full hook-ups, and the price was reasonable. It met our need.... 9.5.

I knock of the .5 because of the outside street lights. Bah! Humbug.

Here's a photo of the Missouri River that run adjacent the park. Day time, it looks really shabby. When evening come, it look real pretty. I suppose that's because we are right in the middle of a large city!



And here's one of the grand daughter.... She's 14 years old:

[mlh]

Your daughter reminds me of a wonderful couple we let live in our home place while they were building a new home. They had a daughter then a son then twin sons but still wonted another daughter. They now have 9 children and still one daughter. I think they have given up on another daughter.
Lynwood

[DutchmenSport]

Day 3, went to LaMars, Iowa to Fedders Marine and RV dealership and picked up a new gear box for that broken slide motor (cable). I will not be fixing the slide while in Nebraska. I'll wait till we get to Louisiana, but at least I have the part. Once back in Louisiana at the Historic Site, we'll we'll be parked for 3 months and there are other staff that will help me push the slide out. According to the service department at Fedders, it will just take a lot of physical power to push the thing out while someone holds the button. As it stands right now, with the slide completely in, I can't reach the gear box to undo everything. It has to be pushed out some. So, this will wait. Meanwhile, (the wife) has adjusted to having the one slide in and climbing over the couch to access the living room. And the doggies have foam cushion steps to help climb over the couch too. So, all is good.

This after noon we're going to another Volly-Ball game and then after the game, we're all going out to eat.

Here's a photo of my "problem child" ...

[Mikendebbie]

Ok Dutch - here’s a test of your Cajun language skills.
When I grew up in East TX there was a good Cajun seafood restaurant in Longview called Johnny Case’s. This Cajun “poem” was framed in the Lobby/waiting room for patrons to cypher and translate.

Seville, dar daigeaux - atausin bussis innar-reaux.
No, Jeaux, demsnot bussis - dems trux!
Summit cowsin, summit dux.

Sadly, the restaurant closed in 2015 (opened 1949). I think I finally figured it out when I was in the 3rd or 4th grade.

Edit: I won’t keep you in suspense…here is the East Texas translation…

Say, Bill - there they go…a thousand busses in a row!
No, Joe, them’s not busses - them’s trucks!
Some with cows and some with ducks!

Successful translation ~1963! My mother made me try to read it dozens of times before I figured it out.

[DutchmenSport]

Wed, Sept 25:

Ran into a bit of good fortune. My wife spotted an RV mobile tech in the campground and pointed him out to me. He looked at my slide problem and I made an appointment for him to come back and fix it. He was scheduled for Thursday.

Turned out, he arrived today (Wednesday) and got the new gear box installed and the slide is working great again.

Now, something that surprised me was how easy it was to swap out the gear box for a new one, how to undo the cables, the chains and then put it all back together. At least, HE made it look easy. Next time (and I seriously hope there really is NEVER a "next time") I'll absolutely be able to do this type of a job without paid help.

What I found absolutely amazing was, once the cables and chains on the gear box were removed, the slide itself was so light. I mean... no serious weight to it at all. I suppose that makes sense, it is filled with styrofoam and this is one of the smaller slides. Still, I was amazed how simple the slide sits in it's hole, how light it is, and how easy it was to move it by hand.

For what it's worth, my wife and I went site seeing, and looking for souvenirs for family members back home. We ended up checking out a couple other camp grounds in the area for when we return to see the daughter again in the future.

Turns out, there is a KOA in South Dakota, just about 5 miles on up the interstate. That will probably be our next campground we'll try. It's pretty typical KOA, although it is along the interstate and has road noise. Still, for an over night or if you have something to do in the Sioux City, or South Sioux City area, it's a great camping bedroom spot.

Now, we also explored Stone State Park, in Iowa. Right on the border between Iowa, Nebraska and South Dakota. It's an absolutely great state park. Lots of trails, extremely thick forest, and big. BUT! The campground has MUCH to be desired. I give it a 10 out of 10 if you are a tent camper. But, if you are an RV, I give it a zero! Getting to the campground itself is a challenge. I can't imagine hauling a 40 foot fifth wheel there. There is no dump station and now sewer hook-ups. Sites are electric, very short, and shared water spigots for everyone. IF you pulled a camper into the campground, you'd have to back it back it back out, and it would be near impossible to back into any of the campsites. This state park is NOT the place to go with an RV.

Then we hit Wall Mart and stocked up on "Stuff" and finally ended the day with eating at a Mongolian BBQ with our daughter and kids.

It was a good day! A very good day!



Stone State Park, part of one of the trails:

[DutchmenSport]

Friday, Sept 27.

Left South Sioux City at 8:30 am (local time) and arrived at Peculiar RV Park in Peculiar, Missouri around 3:30 pm. We made lots of stops along the way. Had no issues at all, everything smooth as silk, and the schedule was right on time. Got checked in, went to a Denny's for supper, and now chilling out at the camper.

Now, an observation about Peculiar RV Park. Again, not much here, but a decent place to stop in, especially for an over night. The park reminds me of a former KOA, except the office is NOT the usually KOA style. So, I don't think this was a former KOA. Everything appears to be relatively new, asphalt roads, some gravel, but concrete parking pads, almost all RV sites are pull through. Very nice campsites, but definitely not "spacious".

Now, we did have one little incident that "almost" spelled "disaster", but turned out to be nothing.

After we got settled in, the wife noticed a "crack" on the front windshield of the Montana from the inside of the camper. I looked at it also, and sure enough.... it definately looked like a cracked windshield. OK.... my blood pressure is beginning to boil again ... ANOTHER stinking failure with this Montana!

Well, I backed up the pick-up truck with the tail gait down and set up my 4 foot step ladder on the tail gate to get a better look at the "crack". From the outside, it looked awful. A little spit on my finger and started wiping, and things began to smear. Got a wet paper towel, and wiped it off! It was bug guts.... crystal clear with the sun shimmering on it just right ... made it look like a horrible crack in the windshield. Wiped it off, and all gone! Phew! OK. I guess I keep this Montana one more day!

[DutchmenSport]

Saturday, Sept 28. Left Peculiar RV park about 7:00 am (local time) and planned on driving to the KOA near Little Rock, Arkansas.

Got ready to pull off the campsite and did a trailer brake check, and .... no brakes on the trailer working! Yikes! Made the decision to travel on anyway. We are 600 (plus) miles from home and over 700 miles from our destination in Louisiana. But, I've towed the trailer before without brakes. Not sure when the brakes quit working. It had to be the day before, because I always do a brake check when pulling out.

So, we're tooling down the interstate and I'm trying to figure out what's going on with the brakes. The integrated brake controller is working fine. I played with the gain, and no matter what, no response from the trailer. Then it hit me, it had to be a broken wire. A little time later, I pulled into a Flying J truck stop and crawled under the trailer and sure enough .... found it... One of the wire was dangling. (Passenger side, rear brake.) 3 wires come together and one of them was broken from the wire nut that bound them together. Simple fix..... removed the wire nut, stripped the broken wire and re-attached with the same wire nut. And brakes worked marvelously! Actually better than before. I think the wire was frayed for a long time, as it was not a solid wire, but stranded, and the remaing strands were not sufficinet for good electric flow. Then, one bounce on the road too much and the remaing "thread" broke. So, all is well again!

Then we made the decision to forfeit and just push on to Louisiana to the Audubon State Historic Site. So, we drove on. We arrived Saturday night about 9:00 pm local time. Got here after dark. I had the gate code so I could get into the park, and after a lot of maneuvering , finally got the camper situated well. Got it level, jacks down, slides out, cleared off the bed and went to bed! What a day!


Sunday, Sept 29: Set up the sewer hoses, did 3 loads of laundry, walked the dogs, got familiar with the park grounds again, met with the park staff, and actually did one tour today. Went to town for pizza, went to the post office and check our mail.... yes .... we have a PO Box in St. Francisville, went to the grocery store, and came back to the camper and collapsed.

What a day, what a rush, what a thrill. It's great to be back at the Oakley Plantation in St. Francisville, Louisiana!

Oakley Plantation House:



Daisy the cow:



Slave Cabin with Oakley Plantation house in the background:



The 1870's barn:



Our "Campsite" ...





I have no clue what tomorrow has in store, but I do know, it will all be "good!"

Happy Camping!

[DutchmenSport]

Things are beginning to get hopping at the plantation. I'm doing plantation house tours, black smith demonstrations, (I'm actually attempting to make something for real now), and will also be doing demonstrations on how to make "shakes" by hand. "Shakes" are better knows as "shingles". The difference is the way they are cut out of the log. Shingles are sawn with a saw to size and thickness. "Shakes" are "split" by hand with a wood froe. I'm still doing some painting, cleaning up the black smith shop, cleaning up sections of the old barn, watered flowers, fed the cow, assisted electricians and other workers who come into the park for maintenance work.

Today, a second travel trailer came on site, plugged into the 30 amp service on the opposite side of the old maintenance shop, now used for storage of their Civil War tents and reenactment gear, Christmas and Halloween decorations (period dated of course), and the laundry room.

The guy who delivered the trailer was another Louisiana state employee and said he'd never set up a trailer before. So, guess who helped him out? And surprisingly, everything worked in the trailer. The only thing that disturbs me (personally) about the trailer, is the fact it has no battery. Everything is running off the converter. But the trailer is not mine, it's property of the State of Louisiana. I suppose they don't want the battery on the trailer for fear of theft, or else (whoever) is in charge of the trailer mobile living units simply does not understand how a trailer is suppose to function...(who knows why?)

Who's going to use it? A group of state employees who will be staying overnights on the plantation. The trailer could potentially sleep 8. There is a fuller size bunk, dinette, and master bed. But, more than likely, I imagine, it will be only 1 person per bed (being all adults) Their job? Cutting trees in the local area. It should be an interesting time. We're not use to having "neighbors" any more. This location is so isolated and quiet, no people after 5:00 pm, and peaceful, having a group of people on the grounds will be interesting for sure. I wonder if the ghosts will come out finally. I haven't seen any yet this time so far.



We're also gearing up for the Revolutionary war battle reenactment which will be held on Oct 26 and 27. Revolutionary war "School Days"" is scheduled for Oct 25 where they anticipate over 1000 school kids to be on site for all these demonstrations and such (I'll be doing the "shake" or "shingle" demonstrations for them). It should prove to be a very interesting 3 days. Of course, the Revolutionary war re-enactors will actually stay on the grounds over-night (for 2 night, I understand), and they have all sorts of groups of re-enactors now scheduled to come it. Sounds exciting for sure!

Good time ahead! Life just does not get any better than this.... I'm living the dream, for sure!

Audubon State Historic Site: Facebook, click here

[DutchmenSport]

Oct 11, 2024

It took a little longer than expected, but I did get one project completed. I re-painted the Black Smith shop, top to bottom. I did some of the inside of the shop, but not all. I did re-paint the entire outside. The reason I did not do more painting on the inside is because first, the paint on the inside is not flaking or pealing anywhere. And second, the first time the forge is fired up, the white interior will become smoked again with the burning coal. It just didn't serve any advantage to paint the entire interior.

For what it's worth, if you look at the photos below, the first time we were at the plantation (Jan-Mar this year), I replaced some of the exterior wood on black smith shop. So, the second coat of paint, 10 months later was needed.





I also repainted the Sun Dial base. I built the new Sun Dial base when we were here the second time in April. It look really good again now.



A little twist in things happened yesterday when I met with the resident historian carpenter who use to do the Shingle Making demonstrations in the park. It turns out, I'm spot on and ready for a Shingle Making demonstration. But in the past, the demonstration was MORE than just making shingles. It was a presentation on the skills of the carpenter himself. In addition to making Shingles, he also demonstrated how the early American tools were used.... of which "they" have quite an assortment of "stuff" in the old carpenter's shop, that hasn't been used in a few years.

Ugg! This kind of put a new challenge "out there" for me. I'm a good carpenter. I've 100% remodeled 4 houses in my lifetime. I've done lots of carpentry work, interior and exterior, and built many, many, many things, including fret work (scroll saw) with some pretty good results! But, I've been able to do almost everything in my past with motorized electric tools. Now, I'm being challenged to give demonstrations of antique hand tools.

The good thing is, I don't have to actually build anything, I just give a demonstration of how they work. So that's my new challenge. I've got about 2 weeks to master some of these ancient hand tools (and hopefully not break them in the process of learning). So there is my new challenge.

With the Black Smithing challenge (making those bird feeder hooks) and now the Wood Working challenge.... I'm re-discovering life all over again!

Who says when you retire you just sit down and vegetate! The best thing anyone can do if they retire is to go out and get busy again! Again, as I've said so many times, volunteering for something you have a passion for is very, very rewarding!

And the exercise I'm getting out of this experience is phenomenal. I'm walking about 6 miles every day, just back and forth across the plantation grounds. My arms and muscles are getting a good work out, swinging a black smith hammer, climbing, stretching, moving, building things, repairing and patching things. My brain is being challenged studying and remembering new historical events that help increase the knowledge base of of the plantation and Louisiana history which makes those house tours and black smith demonstration talks more meaningful too. There's no time to simply sit down here. I guess I'm on some kind of personal quest! Who knows, maybe at the age of 69, I finally hit "mid life crisis!"

[mlh]

I’m sure the plantation looks a lot better than it did 150 years ago but is that really what you want. Maybe letting it look a little used would be more period correct.
Thanks for the updated.
Lynwood

[DutchmenSport]

"period correct".... you have a valid point there.

On the other hand, the original Planter family who acquired the property and their succeeding generations until after the Civil War were extremely wealthy, comparable to the wealth and status as someone like Bill Gates, the Rockefeller's, or the Kennedy's. As part of the house tour, we say (and I embellish a bit here) ... They did not have Mercedes, Rolls Royces, or Stadium box office suites to show off their wealth. What they did have was "paint." If anyone could afford even the tiniest amount of paint, and paint anything in this time period, it was an indication you had some element of wealth somewhere. On this plantation, everything was painted! The colors you see on the outside of the buildings and the interior of the house have been restored to the very first color of paint applied.

The Black Smith is not an original building. In fact, when it was first built, it was suppose to be used as a gift shop for the plantation visitors. It morphed over time to become a Black Smith shop to demonstrate one aspect of plantation life.

It goes without saying, there is still very much left that gives the visitor a "rustic" experience. Preserving that is the challenge.

[mlh]

Thanks. I assumed that the nice paint jobs you see in Williamsburg and the plantation you are on was to preserve the building and to look good for visitors. Not so. Thanks for the clarification. I learned something today. You are never to old to learn. Keep it coming.
Lynwood

[DutchmenSport]

October 16.

I now have a new appreciation for the 1800's Carpenter. It ain't as easy as it seems!

Simple task to perform: Do a demonstration for a BUNCH of school aged kids how to do early 1800's shingle making. Although, shingles that are split from a log by using a Froe are not called, "shingles". They are called "Shakes."

So, the first task was to meet with the fellow that had done the shingle making presentation in the past. He's actually retiring from the Louisiana Park Service in less than 2 weeks now, so picking his brain was vital! He gave me all the "scoop". And found out, his presentation included much more than making shingles. It included quick demonstrations on the main tools a carpenter would have used. And Oakley has many of them, still usable, still in working order.

Next task, get the tools out and identified.

Next task, begin getting familiar with the basics .... the Froe, the Draw Knife, and the Broad Axe. So, I set up a small work area in the barn and proceeded to split wood and begin using that Froe. Small pieces turned into fire wood kindling that can be used in the plantation kitchen and the black smith shop. They did not turn into shingles. Yuck!

Today, the grounds maintenance crew cut me some nice logs to use for the demonstrations, and a few extras I can work with to learn over the next week. So, I tried using one log, from start to finish, per the instructions and the YouTube videos.

Guess what? I failed miserably! I did, however, turn that log into more fire wood kindling! I'm getting really good at that, but nothing that looks like a shingle! I'm using Cedar. Anyone know how difficult Cedar is to work with? Well, it is.

I pulled on the Froe, I beat on that Froe, and stomped on that Froe, and mine kept slplitting, breaking apart, and came out ... well .... firewood!

It ain't easy! My shoulder muscles are soar, my fore arms ach tonight, and I've got lots of fine paper cuts on both hands from that very, very, very sharp Froe and the Broad Axe.

It give me a new appreciation for the 1800's carpenter!