Goin’ Out West is the song that plays overhead when I walk into a room. I only bring it up because A) The song was playing as I pulled into Lake Mineral Wells State Park & Trailway, B) It’s an incontrovertible fact, if not widely known, C) I’m going out west. And south.
Juko, Cece, Tiger and I are back on the road. I left Birmingham, Alabama, on December 20, and I headed for my friends’ house in Dallas. Mike and Keiko Norris are among my oldest and truest friends, and my visit was long overdue. While I was there, I helped Mike build a blog, Between the Coasts.org. They fed the hell out of me, probably preparing me for the privations of my journey, which already have me about 30 pounds overweight.
On my way to Dallas, I encountered some great people in Louisiana. Tony and Carol Mullins run Mullins RV Park in Sarepta, and they grow an heirloom type of cotton, brown cotton, brought to northern Louisiana by the Acadians. In the photo above, he’s standing in front of a cotton gin, which he let me operate a bit. Aside from friends, Tony and Carol were among the nicest people I’ve met on this little driveabout. The former coach, Tony, is a natural storyteller, and he reminds me of many of my friends, constitutionally disinclined to sit still.
I’ve had a few adventures on the way across the country: fell off a ladder and damned near broke my leg in Birmingham; a dawn war zone of deerhunters in the Felsenthal National Wildlife Refuge in Arkansas; a massive thunderstorm and tornado warning in Pritchett, Texas, that rivaled the one I experienced in Michigan back in August. There are apparently alligators everywhere there’s water in the South, but despite the warnings, I never got to try some alligator tail stew.
By the way, my WordPress theme once again broke beyond repair. I think the stuff from MojoMarketplace is junk. They upsell you beyond affordability, and their themes can’t be customized without making a child theme, which breaks every time the main theme updates. At least, that was my experience with Core. Rather than taking the site down while I rebuild and redesign, I’m going to leave it up. All suggestions are welcome, and please excuse the dust as I make my west and south to Baja.