2016 Road Trip.....May 15th LA to TX & Back-Part 1

On Sunday, May 15th, Daughter had off from work so we took a little road trip.
Want to guess where we went?

We visited an animal park in Bayou Pierre called the Natchitoches Alligator Park.

So here is the sign after you enter the enclosed park.  Beware the gators!

                                            

And look at this first vicious critter we encountered.  And he wasn't even behind a barrier for our safety!!!

LOLOLZ

We went up a walkway to a natural bayou area where the gators were just being gators in their natural environment and us humans were behind fencing.......

A sleepy alligator.

You can't hardly see this gator for the weeds.

A big old gator shot from between the bars and trees.  Yikes!

Then it was over to the area with the baby alligators in the baby pool.

For an additional price they'd come over and let you hold one of the babies and have your picture took.
Um, I passed on that one.

So we took goofy photos instead for free.......

They had an inside exhibit alligators that they couldn't put out in the general population.  They all had something about them that wouldn't let them "fend" for themselves with the others.  I guess you'd call them "special needs" gators.

This guy had a deformed snout and crooked teeth..




They had some inside exhibits of  snakes and another exhibit of racooms behind very dirty filthy plexi-glass.

Evidently they use to have a rare albino alligator at this gator park, Edgar the Albino Alligator.
Unfortunately Edgar passed away a few years back and they have had him stuffed and preserved so he is now an "ex-gator".
This is the best shot I could take of him through the nasty plexi-glass......

Then it was back outside to feed the emus...
.

A short video of us feeding one of the emus.....


Then of course we had to feed the ponies.......

But the pygmy goats were one of Daughter's favorites.

She wanted to take one home that took a special shine to her.

This one fella got quite up close and personal and nibbled on her ear..........

Then it was back to all things gator.


The announcement that the Alligator Feeding Show was about to begin sent us off to that area.

"Please Be Safe.  Do not stand, sit, climb or lean over fences!  If you fall, the alligators will eat you and that might make them sick!  Thank You."

Goodness knows I don't want to be responsible for making gators sick........

Here are some little gators swarming along the shore line before the feeding frenzy started.

They had a boat of sorts on a pulley and the guy in it pulls the boat out into position in the bayou.
Wearing gloves and hooking a whole chicken onto a wire, he then dangles it over the side of the boat and the gators jump to get it.

Gators waiting for lunch.....

A big gator getting antsy and started jumping even before the chicken gets dangled.......

I caught the moment this gator took the "lunch" clear off the wire.

Then amidst the feeding frenzy this HUGE gator sleeping on the opposite shore must have smelled lunch and threw himself into the water with a loud WHACK! and everybody in the bleachers turned to look.

More shots of gators jockeying for lunch......

You can see the wooden sheathing on that "boat" has also been eaten away from many gator feeding sessions.

Here's a short video I got all the feeding frenzy too........

This was a different algae filled pool with some small gators, also algae covered.

A random peacock we encountered.  He knows to steer clear of the water.....

I wanted to have some one take my picture with this fake gator bursting through the underpinnings of the deck to the entrance/exit but Hubs and Daughter were already inside the snack bar looking for food.

A gratuitous shot of deep fried cookies sign for McVal......

Me about to have my first Boudin Ball....and I am not sure if I want to do this because I know this stuff is spicy.......

The prices were ridiculously high so we shared 3 things and 2 drinks.  It wasn't lunch time yet but we needed something to stave off hunger.

This was my piece of a fried gator bite, a piece of a Natchitoches meat pie and a few fries.
Being in Natchitoches of course we had to try a Natichitoche meat pie.  The town is pronounced nah-coh-doches. 
Not to be confused with Nacogdoches(Nah-coh-Do-ches), which is in East Texas about 2 hours away from Natchitoches LA.

I let Hubs/Daughter have m Boudin Ball after one bite.

They had photos of CeeLo Green in the snack bar.  I guess he shot a music video here or something...

Then it was off to the gift shop(which you have to go through to enter or exit the park)....

Helmets?....Really?

I saw this book for sale in the gift shop and had to laugh......." Dead Is No Excuse-The Official Southern Ladies Guide to Hosting the Perfect Funeral".

Then amidst all the gator themed novelties I spied this Steam Punk Lamp for sale.  Since Lorraine's Hubs makes stuff like this and sells it at "Cons" I sent her a photo of it. lolz

A huge taxidermy gator in the gift shop(he wasn't for sale)next to plastic gator squirt guns. lolz

I did bring home a small souvenir from our time with the 'gators.........

What says Christmas better than gators on a Xmas tree ball? lolz
And with that we bid Natchitoches Louisiana adieu.

This has gotten long so I'll talk about the rest of the days adventures next time.

Sluggy

2 Million Readers Can't Be Wrong

Looking over my blog stats on Monday, May 16st, I noticed that my page views hit 2 million sometime over the course of April.

Current Pageviews all time history      2,055,680

Now ain't that something?!?!

This here little blog began on the day before my birthday back in 2009 so that's 2 million+ views in 7 years + almost 4 months time.
Not bad for this miniscule piece of the internet I inhabit.
Who'd a thunk it?  ;-)

So a big THANK YOU! to everyone out there who comes here to cheer or jeer at me and my little life.  If I can't be an inspiration to you at least let me be a warning.  *snort*

I think Norma Desmond said it best............


Sluggy

This Week on the Dining Table

The  "42 + 42=84" Edition--

Here's my view this morning sipping my iced tea.
When I left home it was 42F degrees and foggy.  When I got to Va it was 84F degrees and sunny.
Sluggy doesn't do well in heat, especially when it's TWICE the temperature in the same day.  Gradually getting use to rising temps is fine but this?....No thanks!

Moving On....

Onward to the meal planning!

Here's what was planned last week--

1. Sunday--Pinto Beans w/Ham, Cornbread

2. Monday--Flounder, Fried Potatoes, Yellow Squash and Onions

3. Tuesday--Leftovers

4. Wednesday--Pork Chops, Garlic Mashed Taters, Stir-Fry Veggies

5. Thursday--Leftovers
6. Friday--Meatloaf, Veggie TBD
7. Saturday--maybe Chinese Take-Out

And this is what actually happened--

1. Sunday--Pinto Beans w/Ham, Cornbread

2. Monday--Leftovers(I had a can of soup)

3. Tuesday--Flounder, Fried Potatoes, Yellow Squash and Onions

4. Wednesday--Eggplant Parmesan

5. Thursday--Pork Chops, Garlic Mashed Taters, Brussels Sprouts
6. Friday--Leftovers
7. Saturday--Chinese Take-Out

Last week saw 7 nights of dinners....1 night of take-out, 2 nights of Leftovers and 4 nights of cooking new meals.  The Meatloaf meal didn't happen but I don't know if it will move to this week.

Two trips to Weis(one of which was almost all "free" as I used a gift card paid for last year)put a dent in the food budget of $35.96.   This brought my May food spending total to $79.93.  There are 16 days left in the month.

My savings percentages last week was 79.83% which brings the month's percentage to 75.84%. 

Leftovers going into this week.......3 Rolls, Taco filling, and Pizza slices.  Not much at all.

Here is this week's "food plan"....
* Denotes "complicated" meals

1. Sunday--Fend for Yourself

2. Monday--Ravioli and Sauce, Salad, Garlic Bread

3. Tuesday--Roast Chicken and Veggies

4. Wednesday--Leftover Chicken in Gnocchi Soup

5. Thursday--Leftovers or Fend for Yourself
6. Friday--Biscuits and Gravy(BFD)
7. Saturday--? or Leftovers

This week will see 4 new meals cooked, 0 night of Take-Out/Eating-Out and 3 nights of Leftovers.

What I need to buy for this menu?  Well I'm not there so I am not buying anything. lol
I think I have everything Daughter needs to make all this there already.  She's making a large batch of spaghetti sauce today with meat in it so I am sure they'll be having pasta(or at least some of them will)on the Fend For Yourself/Leftover nights.

What is getting fixed and served at your house this week?

Was last week's plan successful, did you go off plan or did you not even plan what was going to be eaten last week?

Any great deals on food at your stores this week?


Sluggy

Frugal Things This Past Week

*  I cashed in my coffee rain check finally!  They got the flavor College Boy prefers back in stock.

8 bags of coffee for $12 total.  The rain check was BOGO free, so I paid $5.49 for 4 bags=$21.96 and then used 4 x $2.50/2 IPQs(subtract $10), so $11.96 for 8 bags or $1.50 per bag.  We should be good on coffee until at least September/October.

*  I did the "Buy 6/Get $3 Off" Deal at Weis this week........

All 6 items (reg. price $10.95)after sale price($7.95), extra .50¢ off each item per the Deal($4.95)and a couple Qs I had($3 in Qs) brought the cost down to $1.95 total or .33¢ per item.

*  I got paid .11¢ to bring home 2 containers of Italian Ice.......

It was on sale BOGO(and you can use a Q on the Free item at Weis)at $3.39 for 2.  I used 2 x .55¢/1 IPQ that doubled to $1 off each and there is a Weis Coupon Booklet Luigi's Q for $1/2.
$3.39-$3=.39¢.
Plus there is a .50¢ off wyb2 Luigi's rebate at Savingstar so -.11¢ paid in the end.

*  I bought some stuff at Rite-Aid this week....

First I bought 6 x $50 Shell gas cards.  There are lots of Shell gas stations on our route for the Summer road trip.  I earned $30 in Plenti Points total, good on merchandise at Rite-Aid stores divided between our 3 Wellness cards.

Then I bought two boxes of Playtex Sport tampons for Daughter....2/$7, used 2 x $2.50/1 IPQs so spent $2 in PPs and earned $2 back in new PPs, so free.
No photo of those because Daughter took them already and put them away.

Sluggy

It's Coming Along

So this Mega Summer Road Trip is coming along....at least the planning of it is. ;-)
We are up to Day 15 and everything that needs planning(route, stops, hotels)is done.  Now I need to work on the return trip.  I sure wish I had the whole thing nailed down though at this point.

I do need a few suggestions.....

* Does anyone have any recommendations for a good bbq place around Kansas City MO or heading North into Omaha, NE?  That's the stretch of road we'll be on and it will be lunch to dinner time and we can't leave that part of the world without trying authentic KC BBQ, right?  8-)

* Has anyone toured the big touristy sites in WY/SD Badlands?  We are headed through there(Custer Battlefield, Devil's Tower, Mt Rushmore, Crazy Horse Mt., Thermopolis Hot Springs)and need recommendations on where/location to stay.  Does it make sense to stay at a central spot for a few days and drive to each thing/area to tourist?  Or do 1 night stays and hop from site to site?  And how many days do we need to actual see/do these sites?  I realize distance between locales out West are longer than out East so I am trying to limit how much driving we do in a day.

* Anybody have any ideas on what to see/do in North Dakota?  Nothing springs to my mind except one quick thing we want to see in Fargo.

That's about it for now.

I AM getting a complex though.

First blogger Tanner visited me a few years ago(plus we had dinner with her on 2 of our OC excursons)and then she disappears off the face of the earth.
Then Judy(who's various blogs come and go)decides to end all contact with me.
Now another ex-blogger who I was still in contact with on F/B has given me the cold shoulder.  After I knew our route this Summer I contacted her on Facebook and suggested a meet-up if she was available.  I didn't hear back for a week or so, so I went to send her another message.  She has suddenly quit Facebook and taken her profile down(or blocked me from seeing it, if you can do that).  Really?  If you didn't want to see me, just say so.

Am I really that awful or annoying a person?  *Don't answer that Kim......* ;-)
What am I doing to drive everyone away?

Anyway, that sure made me feel like shit for awhile and I really didn't feel like going on this trip anymore.
But I'm over that now.  I can't wait! to get in a car and drive 6 thousand miles with Hubs. *snort*
I think this trip will convince him to go back to work and not be home with me 24/7.....hehehehe

And at the risk of offending and driving away more readers I'll ask again if anybody out there wants to meet-up on our drive out to Idaho(going through PA/Western MD/WV/Northern KY/tiny piece of Southern IN/Southern IL/MO/NE/Northern CO/Southern WY/ Northern UT/most of ID/MT-that's it so far).  If so drop me an email privately and I'll see if we can fit that into the itinerary.  Who knows?  Maybe I'll have a spare box of Giveaway goodies in my car to bestow onto you?  ;-)

Ok, I am off to finish packing for the Virginia trip and doing a little shopping before I leave.
What are you up to today?

Sluggy