New Years
Kenneth and Heuetta invited us over for fireworks and a bite to eat on New Years Eve. We started the fireworks early, by 7:30 or so, but it was so bitterly cold that we huddled under the carport in jackets, gloves and hats, and we still froze with that bitter east wind behind us. Heuetta eventually went inside and brought out thick warm blankets for us, but we were still cold. The temperatures were in the 30s – not “sitting around” weather.
Watching the fireworks was a new experience. Having grown up in California, where fireworks are anathema because of fire concerns, I’d never really seen fireworks “up close and personal”. I confess to being nervous around them because a childhood acquaintance had two of his fingers blown off, and that was all I needed to know about how “safe” they are.
I was glad to know that Erika was as nervous as I was, and neither Chelsea nor Heuetta were leaping up to light them either. Sitting under the carport was inspired, as we could scooch over to the edge to see the fireworks light up the sky, but we scooched back again as they started falling, with all the burned bits falling on the carport roof and not on us!
We finally gave up about 9 p.m. and headed indoors. Chelsea and I walked home a bit later and we were in the door by 9:30. We were wound up however, as 2008 was a big year for us, and we expect that 2009 will be even bigger. We stayed up talking until midnight, wanting to have a celebratory shot of Becher right at midnight. At one minute before, we grabbed our blankets around us and headed outside.
Downtown Gueydan was deathly quiet, but the surrounding areas lit up like a war zone right at the stroke of twelve. The sounds of exploding firecrackers surrounded us in a perfectly even circle, north, south, east and west. All I could say was, “Lotta parties going on around here!”
Still wound up, we ended up turning on the TV and watching New Years celebrations around the world, from Los Angeles to Sydney Australia, to New York.
Alligator jewelry
After a quick trip to Wal-Mart one day, Kenneth treated us to an awesome lunch out. For budget reasons, we rarely eat out, so sitting down to a real lunch in a real restaurant was quite a treat. We’d been talking for a few weeks about creating some alligator jewelry to sell – Erika had taken us to a big hobby shop in Lake Charles before Christmas – so we talked things over with Kenneth and decided to head out to the bone heap in the afternoon.
Seeing the bone heap that day was far better than when we’d seen it in October or November. More of the carcasses had dried up, and the smell was greatly improved, helped along by being a much cooler day. We only spent a half hour or so, but we collected a half a bucket or so of teeth and other small bones.
The tough part was soaking and washing them afterward. Chelsea and I soaked them in hydrogen peroxide first, then we hand washed each tooth and bone. Uck! They turned out really well though. Now we have the pieces ready to create any number of jewelry items, and all we need is the time to do it.
We are hoping to have some time available between the time we finish the bulk of our writing and the time we leave. We’ll be sure to take photos and keep you updated…and who knows, maybe you’d love to own one!
Paul Cassity
Out of the blue, Paul Cassity emailed us one day, thinking we were already well along the Texas coast headed to Mexico. When he found out we were still here, he invited us sailing. We’d had so much fun last time, and we were so tired of working all the time, that it was an easy yes.
We started a bit late, but Paul had packed a picnic lunch, and after motoring out into Lake Arthur, we killed the engine and just drifted, enjoying a fabulous weather day. With no wind, and having started late, we decided to motor down to Myers Landing.
We’d been wanting to go there ever since Max Hungerford had stopped by with us a few days after we arrived in Gueydan. When there with Max, we met a woman in the store who had had Guatemalan students over the years, and we had a great time talking to her. She told us that her husband had been doing it even longer, and suggested we come back and talk to him. We’d never made it back.
Luck was with us, as her husband was there that day, and we had ample time to stand and chat. We heard a lot about Guatemala, and we exchanged contact information so we will have a “welcoming committee” when we get to Guatemala. We were delighted. We motored on back to the Yacht Club after dark, and ended with a great dinner at Nott’s Corner, complete with their truly delicious bread pudding.
Then a week later Paul showed up unexpectedly with photo albums of trips he’d taken to Mexico. He treated us to dinner at Johnny’s, and we spent the evening on the floor crawling around our huge map of Mexico as Paul pointed out the must-see sights. We marked them on the map, and now Chelsea and I are set for the Yucatan. We are hoping Paul joins us to see some of the places he hasn’t seen down in Guatemala.
Marcus
As we sat working away late on a Sunday, we happened to glance up in time to see a touring cyclist roll slowly by. A few minutes later we saw him pull out of the police station across the street and head back the way he’d come, much faster this time. By the time we’d gotten to the door, he was out of sight, so Chelsea hopped on her bike to chase him down.
We knew that the police would have told him about the Duck Festival grounds, but it was a really cold night (in the 30s) and we thought it was a shame that he’d have to stay outside in that kind of cold. Chelsea caught up to him at the Duck Festival grounds and invited him back to stay with us.
Turns out we’d met Marcus Campos, a late-twenty-something guy who had ridden his bike from San Francisco to Virginia, and then up the east coast. After going up the east coast, he rode back down to Florida, and by the time we met him, he was riding back down the Gulf Coast, heading back to San Francisco. I don’t think he rode the whole east coast, but some of the details got lost in the flurry of information we exchanged.
It was incredibly fun for us to meet another touring cyclist and have a chance to chat. And chat we did – so much so that we stayed up until 3:30 in the morning! Needless to say, Marcus wasn’t leaving the next morning, so we talked more on Monday.
While I wrote, he and Chelsea headed off that evening to Marceaux’s and Dollar General where Marcus bought ingredients for an awesome meal of alfredo pasta and crawfish. Marcus and Chelsea cooked and talked while I continued writing, but during and after dinner, we talked again, nonstop, until almost midnight.
Besides the fact that Marcus himself was really a fun guy, and very articulate, what Chelsea and I loved the most was talking to someone who truly understands what we are doing. He loves the lifestyle, and we loved swapping stories about our adventures, especially since he rode many of the sections we have ridden.
We got up early to fix him breakfast on Tuesday and to see him off, and we felt lonely when he was gone. It gave us a severe case of itchy feet, wanting to finish our writing and be on the road again, riding!