Hot enough for ya?

Amy is away for a family matter, so Greg is traveling solo for about 2 days. Including driving the RV. More about that in a moment. This also means that Greg is writing the blog, for those who are keeping score.

On Monday, Greg drove from Houston to Lafayette, LA. We finally left Texas! We also left Houston traffic, which was particularly frustrating since we could not take the toll roads. (Although we have a multi-state toll tag, it does not include Texas). The EV charging station near Lake Charles, LA was challenging: there was no charger for trailers, and very little room to maneuver the trailer. When Greg was busy securing the trailer, another Tesla driver came by to chat. Of course, the one time when Greg was trying to unhitch and secure the trailer solo! Greg said he was busy, but talked with him once he plugged the car into the charger. While the car charged, Greg walked around the hotel parking lot, eating a peanut butter sandwich, and figured out the easiest way to turn around without backing up. It was a relief when it was over.

When Greg reached the campground in Lafayette, he finally had nice weather! He celebrated by switching to a T-shirt and sat outside in a camping chair.

Since Greg is now scheduled to run a half-marathon in just over 2 weeks, he has had to find time and locations for a long run. Like, today. He found a suitable running trail, but it was nearly an hour away in Baton Rouge, the state capital. He left at dawn and decided to listen to the local NPR radio station while driving. The morning radio program was in Louisiana French! Who knew that some people are still trying to preserve Cajun French? It sounds a lot like Quebec French, which isn't surprising since they were settled together. Since Greg speaks fluent French, he understood nearly everything. He caught a portion announcing local events, which consisted mostly of places where French-speaking people could get together to talk. Laissez les bons temps roulez, mais non?

The trail for the long run was on the levee of the Mississippi River. Due to the long drive, Greg figured that it would be good to charge the car while he went running. Unfortunately, according to PlugShare, Baton Rouge has many broken EV chargers but few working ones. Oh well. But the run was good: a flat, paved path, with views of the Mississippi River and the campus of Louisiana State University.

In the afternoon, Greg visited the Tabasco Factory in Avery Island, LA. It was a self-guided tour that takes you to every step of the factory, from growing seedlings of pepper plants, fermenting the mash in oak barrels, mixing with vinegar and bottling. There is also a small museum and gift shop with tastings of all their current sauces. Did you know that Tabasco is still a family business owned and managed by the McIlhenny family?

The McIlhenny family also developed a 170-acre botanical swamp on Avery Island that they called Jungle Gardens, and the tour includes that as well. Greg is pretty sure he could smell Tabasco sauce from Jungle Gardens.