The Best Laid Plans

Yes, the best laid plans of mice and men

do sometimes go awry.

And such was our long-anticipated and much needed sister weekend that I wrote about last week.

At the last minute, Sarah had a family situation she could not leave, so rather than cancel and lose the reservations, Gin and I reluctantly decided to go on without her.

I had an early morning appointment in Baton Rouge on Thursday morning, so after that we headed southeast.  Now, you must understand that I am fairly savey when it comes to traveling and know my way from Baton Rouge to New Orleans without a problem.  However, I put our destination into the GPS and was given an alternative route.

I knew I was a little low on gas but figured I could always fill up once I got on the alternative road.  Unknown to either of us, the new route was one continuous bridge over Louisiana swamps with no town to be seen any were.  The interstate juncture was more miles away than my car was telling me I had gas.

One does not want to be stranded on one of those bridges!

When we saw this sign, we breathed a sigh of relief.  That hope was short lived when we realized Ruddock was only a turn-around. 

After much prayer and bargaining with the Lord that he could have everything from my husband to my children (I saved the grandchildren for later down the road) if He would just multiply the gas fumes, we saw a sign that defied the GPS.  It appeared we could make the upcoming village with 2 miles to spare as well as the lives of my family.

Thankfully, that was the most exciting part of the trip!  I have a 16 gallon tank and we got 15.56 gallons.  Thank you Lord!

Our first stop was the WWII Museum which we thoroughly enjoyed.  It is such a wonderful tribute to the brave men and women who served and a MUST if you are ever in the area.

We then found our hotel and got settled in before deciding to tour the newly opened Riverwalk Outlet Mall adjoining our hotel.

 The grand opening was May 22, so it still smelled like fresh paint.

Then we decided to walk to the renowned Mulates Cajun Restaurant about three blocks away.

When in New Orleans, do as the N'law'n's do.  Eat hardily!

We had catfish topped with a rich Crawfish Etouffee, Jambalaya, Twice Baked Potato, and a veggie mixture.

It was delicious!

After such a big meal we needed the walk back which also included a heavy shower and drenching. But, that is also an accepted part of being in New Orleans during the rainy season.

The next morning we awoke to heavy dark clouds, a rising Mississippi River, with large barges taking loads to the gulf.

We decided to skip Cafe Du Monde and get something a bit more sturdy than powered sugar-laden doughnuts and coffee.  While eating a hearty breakfast of eggs, bacon, grits and pancakes,

Gin received a call that her husband was driving himself to the emergency room because of severe shoulder pain.

Good bye to New Orleans and hello Opelousas.  Thankfully, we arrived just as he was being discharged and I headed back home.  Before the night was over, they had to make another trip to the hospital, but thankfully, Thomas is doing much better today.

No, this was not exactly as we had planned, but we still enjoyed being together, and it made us appreciate even more the time we spend together and never want to take that for granted.  There will be other times.

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I just wanted to end this post with a picture of my oldest and youngest granddaughters.

Chandler is 21 and a senior at Texas A&M and her little sister, Ava Grace is seven and will be a 2nd grader.

Aren't they precious!