In Louisiana, Fairview-Riverside State Park
I stayed the night at Fairview-Riverside State Park. I saw a sign for the park while still some 8 hours away from Atlanta. I got off the highway and drove several miles on these small roads going through a couple small towns. I finally get there and just in the nick of time. There was only one spot left; then it dawned on me, it was a weekend at a lake in early summer. No wonder its full.
I paid my $16 bucks and scoped out the site. Once I knew where I was going I drove to the lake.
There's a boardwalk around this area where several people are fishing. There are 2 ladies and a man and another man fishing at the end of the boardwalk. I was sitting in my chair enjoying the sounds of birds, the sun getting lower and the waves of passing boats sloshing into the shoreline. I was there for a spell chatting online with some friends. I decided to talk to the fisherman at the end of the boardwalk, his name was Chad (if I recall correctly). He was the rescuer of this one older lady fishing. She had hooked an eel and ask Chad to help her release it from her hook. Chad and I talked for a bit. He and his wife moved from California to Louisiana. Chad showed me his catfish; “just one more then dinner for me and the wife”, Chad said. I took a lot of pictures of the trees and the sunset. Wow, the temperature was great and just enough breeze.
That eel was a challenge for Chad. The eel was about 12 inches long and reminded me of a snake with the shape of the mouth. I felt bad for the eel cause it was difficult to get it loose from the hook. Blood came out as Chad was using a tool to remove the hook. Of course, the eel is not liking this at all and is trying everything to get away. Quite a bit of blood comes out as the eel makes noises in pain. I know its only an eel but this animal is going through a lot of pain and isn't even going to feed anyone in the process. Finally, the hook is out and the eel released back to the water. Maybe the eel will live, maybe not. The damage to his mouth was enough to maybe keep him from eating or weaken him enough to be eaten by a predator.
Eventually it was getting dark enough I knew I needed to get my tent cot ready. It doesn't take much time to make ready my site. Once I had the cot ready I sat down at the nearby picnic table and chatted with some friends online. For those reading and don't know, I broadcast WiFi from my pickup truck using a Verizon Broadband card to make a connection to the Internet.
Its about 8:30pm by now. Another rig pulls in across the road from me. There must be 4 adults in a group and a million kids ... well, only 4. They finally get their trailer backed in and mostly setup. By this time its after 9pm. All of a sudden I hear this one child driving a battery-operated 4-wheeler; you know, the kind where the child can ride in it and drive it like a go-cart. Well, this car make a lot of noise not to mention running into trees and jackrabbit starts and stops in the gravel. I love kids but letting their kids scream and that car this late at night seemed ridiculous to me. I finally go talk to them about the noise. They reminded me that 10pm is the quiet time. They're right although there were no apologies for the noise in general. Instead of taking ownership for their kids being disrespectful of the parents and the car noise, the parents defended the kids by telling me the time for quiet.
I remember as a child. I didn't have an electric car to drive around in. We played cards or other activities. In fact, I would be out there looking around at the trees, and even then, hoping to see a bear. lol
I was watching satellite doppler weather images. There were storms around us but not where I was. I got the tent cot rainfly out just in case. Well, as I worked on projects I kept an eye on the weather. I decided to not sleep with the rainfly since it blocks a lot of airflow through my tent cot.
The next morning (today), I awake to the sounds of woodpeckers and Peacocks. These peacocks are noisy too. Some one across from the park raises them. I didn't know how loud Peacocks can be until my stay here.
In general I recommend staying away from this park. It doesn't seem like noise rules are enforced and several people had dogs that barked at any and every one. I came for peace and quite, recognizing there would be normal sounds. In the plus, the staff was very nice. The shower is nice and the water had lots of pressure behind it. Perhaps its a good place to camp but bring ear plugs. lol
Bugs and more bugs but then again, I am in a state comprised of mostly swamps. My windshield is full of bugs. So, I take my step ladder and spray ammonia down on all the glass. To combat the bugs and other solid things on my glass, I use a plastic put scrubber. It does great and doesn't scratch the glass. I scrub it down really well then wipe it off. Then another spray and wiping for the finishing touches. Now, I need sunglasses again :)
This leads me up to packing stuff up and now I'm sitting here at an iHOP eating my breakfast and writing this. I'm enjoying watching these two little girls (4 and 6) eat breakfast with their father. The girls already have him wrapped around their little fingers as they choose what to do and not do. I think this dad is out of his league lol He tries to discipline them but with little result. I do hate seeing when people pull hard on their children's arms to get them to move. It seems like that action teaches a lot of wrong things versus simply spanking the child, in this case, for refusing to allow her sister to get out of the booth. Of course, I know its much more complex then being seen by me, an outsider.
Well, time to hit the road. My eyes are really tired. I have over 8 hours to drive yet to see Dave.
Time to push on.
Until Later,
-- Tim
