Cruisin' Cajun Crawfish Rally Rayne, LA

We were pretty exhausted when we finally got to the rally. We decided to take a break from Chloe and have a lunch- just the two of us. We had just placed our order when the cell phone rang. It was VISA calling to ask about some credit card transactions. Well, it turns out that someone had our credit card number and was making purchases with it- some from London. So, on top of everything else, our main credit card had to be cancelled. This meant a day of calling all of the vendors that were on our automatic payment schedule to give them the new credit card number. So far, our road trip was less than fun.

But, with the Cajuns, it’s hard to stay down. With the Crawfish Races, the beer wagon, the great dinners, and a few nights of dancing, we were back in the swing. I was volunteered to be on the Crawfish Race payout table. A group of 6 of us took the bets ( 25 cent bets could be placed on any of the 6 crawfish in the race). Now, these Cajuns love to gamble and the payouts were pretty darn nice. While the race was on, we had to tabulate the bets, make sure that the money taken in matched and when the winner was announced, quickly figure out the payout. And when the race was over, the lines were there immediately, waiting for their cash. I don’t think I looked up once to actually see the actual race.

The skit, always a highlight of the rally, was amazing. They had a Dick Clark Bandstand theme and seeing Sis and Byron as Sonny and Cher was hysterical. They really looked like Sonny and Cher!

On the road again -- Florida to Louisiana

Before we hit the road for real, we had to stop at Cummins for our annual oil/filter change (a mere $600!). We were also at year 5 on our motorhome tires- and even though we were under the recommended mileage for a tire change, we were at the 5 year term limit. John worked out a great deal with Michelin based on some weather-checking on our existing tires. With some wrangling, we were able to replace all of our tires for ½ off! (It was still $2000!!) So, with new oil/filters and tires, we were off to Louisiana.

We stopped in Mobile to break up the drive to Louisiana. Chloe loved the lake at the campgrounds – and the ducks and geese. On our way out of the campground, John looked in his mirrors and noticed something funny on the VW. We stopped in the driveway on the way out and found a completely flat tire on our VW. While we were grateful to have noticed it before we hit the highway, it wasn’t exactly the best way to start our road trip. We pulled out the VW manual and learned how to change a tire on the Jetta. Then, it was off to try to find a place to repair the tire in Mobile. With tire repair places on every corner, we had to stop at several of them before we found anyone with the time (or the tools) to deal with us. At the Firestone dealer, we learned that 1- the tire was not repairable and 2-no one in the entire city carried this particular brand of tire. So, we headed out on the road to Louisiana – with no spare tire.

We arrived at John and Brenda’s house to find John’s shed in the midst of a tear-down and a huge addition on his motorhome garage. While it was great to be back with our wonderful Cajun friends, we were absolutely exhausted after a week of maintenance and problems. We spent the time before the Crawfish Rally getting a new tire for the VW (entailing a trip to New Orleans).

Winter in the Sunshine State

Back at Rock Crusher, we had time to spend with Mom and E.D. Mom and I took a trip to Tampa to see “Wicked”. The show was great – and brought back so many memories of all the plays we went to together years ago.

We always seem to be leaving Florida just before E.D.’s Birthday so our celebrations are always a week or two early. This year was a big birthday - 90 years old!!!!

What an amazing guy!

One wedding and a surgery

Chloe had her surgery last week-- no more options for motherhood for her. She did great--was back to normal by the following day-trying to keep her calm is the toughest part. She should have her stitches out this week- so she can get back to her normal crazed self.

John went to Jane's wedding (Kate's daughter) on his own last weekend. We didn't want to leave the dog in a kennel- so I opted to stay home (but still keep the new dress, shoes and bag!) Not a bad trade-off. He had a good time--most of the family was there- so he got a chance to catch up and spend some time with Steph. Wedding went off without a hitch--and evidently everyone had a great

On the other hand, John's PC died- so had to send it in to HP. Naturally, it arrived back with the hard drive re-imaged. So, he lost some of the photos that weren't backed up. But at least the data made it on our backup drive. But, all emails are gone- and now we have to reload all the software, etc. What a pain. He still doesn't have email working--so we're sharing my PC until we can get it fixed. On top of all that, our car had to be towed back to VW (key wouldn't go in the ignition..) and our cell phone has taken to making calls on its own. (What a way to make new friends- the phone will repeatedly call the last dialed number). Since this is our 3rd phone in less than 90 days, we got a new one (an upgrade, at that). It was supposed to arrive via FedEx for Saturday delivery (yesterday). But, turns out that they don't do Saturday delivery here--so we had to follow-up on that as well. Does anything work anymore? Needless to say, it's been a very frustrating week. (Oh, almost forgot the taxes-- we had some strange investment that gave us tax credits on our income taxes --never really understood it. Well, the partnership was liquidated and the properties sold--giving us a gargantuan capital gain on our income tax (totally unexpected). We owe a ton of money to the government --and also to the State of Massachusetts. And, to add insult to injury- it put our income into a bracket that disqualifies us from the Bush tax rebate!