On our return to Florida we spent two days in St Petersburg visiting with Carol’s brother and sister-in-law.  The KOA at Madeira Beach that we stayed in is tucked in between an industrial strip and the water.  It is bordered by the Pinellas Bike and Foot Trail also.  It is a  nice enough KOA, but it’s location makes it one of the priciest I can remember.  It had a lot of amenities that we have no use for generally as they are for families with young children.

On our way back from Miami, the vibration from the tires on the RAV4 which I had flat spotted December ‘08 became far more severe.  I started to worry that something would come apart and I drove with both hands firmly on the wheel.  Nothing bad happened.  The next day during our visit, Art had some errands and I said I would drive and find a tire place to check out the tires.  We to went a local place and they got the car up on a lift and within minutes I was buying two new tires.  The left rear had a flap of rubber peeling off the tread! and right rear was not that bad, yet.  The car drives so smoothly now it almost feels like new.

Our visit was very satisfying and Carol appreciated having the additional time with her Art and Natalie.  This was not a planned  visit and we did not think we would see them until they come to Rochester in May.  Bonus!

Leaving St Pete we decided that going up I 75 looked boring and we chose to take 19, the local highway out of town and up the coast.  We had hopes of seeing more of Florida, and we did.  Boring!  We have done that and do not need to do it again.  There was not much to see and the only benefit was the opportunity to keep our speed down without hindering traffic on the interstate.  We spent the night in a Wal Mart parking lot in the Panhandle.  When I made a routine walk around  someplace down the road from there the next day, I noted that a little black cap on the passenger side arm of the tow bar had gone missing.  I did not think much about it as the lock was set firmly.

We decided to make a two night stop in Louisiana so we could satisfy two desires.  Carol wanted to do a Swamp Tour and we both wanted to go to Shabbat services in Lafayette, if there was a place to go.  We found our way to Poche Fish’n Camp outside of Breaux Bridge LA and from there with some difficulty we found our way to Lake Martin where we joined a group with Butch for a two hour swamp tour that turned into a three hour tour. The weather was perfect and no one, even Butch, seemed to be in a hurry to get back to shore.

For more pictures Click Here

We cleaned up and Carol finished a bean salad for the covered dish dinner that Temple Shalom was having.  We had a wonderful evening, the dinner was fine, Rabbi Barry Weinstein and all those present made us feel welcome and we made a lot of friends.  It was a bit strange attending a Friday night service with a Torah reading, but I do know that is common in smaller congregations that are glad to get together a minyan once a week.  If we are passing through on Shabbat again we will certainly stop there.

Saturday morning found us in a very different setting.  Daniel, a fiddler who was at the Shabbat service, had told us that there was a Zydeco Breakfast at Cafe des Amis

in Breaux Bridge starting at 8:30 AM.  We had to go!  Great music, good food and plenty of dancing. We were back at the coach preparing to roll by 11.  After hitching up in the driveway we had our first oh-oh!.  That missing cap was more than just ornamental apparently.  The passenger side bar did not latch as we pulled onto the highway.  After some finagling with the coach and the car, we managed to get the bar to latch and we set off down the road wondering if it would hold, not the most comforting thought.  I’d been wanting a new tow bar for a year to get a better release mechanism, but had not been able to justify the expense.  Now I had my justification, but no local dealer had one in stock.  The nearest place I could find what I wanted was Camping World in Houston, TX, only four hours down the road.  I called and verified that they were open until 5, and open on Sunday at 11 and they had what I wanted in stock.  Without pressing too hard, we arrived there at 4:45 and by 5 Pm I was installing the replacement on the back of Gee 2.  I have replacement parts to rebuild the old bar and will fix it up when I get a chance and see if I can find  buyer.

Next stop Goose Island State Park.  I will post that later.