State Troopers Conduct Random "Aussie Check"
Murray Chris Andrea & Gary in the Pontoon
Shelby Andrea Trish & Murray 
Trish & Andrea on the Sea-Doo
View of Lake Ouachita from Chris & Gary's HomeOn Saturday morning Andrea, Jessica & Shelby arrived with Randy’s cousin Chris, her husband Gary and their two sons Steve & Joey. Andrea’s husband Randy is a USAF Colonel currently deployed in the Middle East – I have mentioned in a previous blog that Randy was on an Officer course with me in Australia for 12 months so we first met him and his family back in 1999. They now live in Freeburg, Illinois, but Andrea drove the 8 hrs down to visit with her cousin and to catch up with us as it was a long weekend here. They invited us to join them in a visit to a nearby water park, but we declined the offer and had a rare day where we just sat out under our awning and chatted to passers by and watched the local wildlife around us. The same ranger (James) who took us on the stargaze cruise came past our RV while we were sitting out watching the squirrels jump from tree to tree, and observing a red headed woodpecker peck away at a pine tree in front of us. We asked James if he would mind if we videoed him giving a brief story of the coyote. A short video of his story will be uploaded soon.
A chap who was with his family in a tent on the site next to ours stopped for a chat – he is an orthopaedic nurse and described himself as a hillbilly who grew up in the Ozarks in NW Arkansas. He explained the difference between hillbilly and rednecks which was interesting for us. We had no sooner finished dinner and Andrea & Gary arrived to invite us back to their house for cocktails on their deck overlooking the lake. We got there just in time to see the sunset over the lake; it was so beautiful. They live about 2 miles from our campground in a gated area where there are 180 lots, but only 35 houses with none others to be built. Each house is secluded from the next by natural forested areas. Deer and turkey are common.
On Sunday morning Gary, Andrea & the girls picked us up at 8.30am to attend their local church, where Chris and the boys were waiting for us. En route Gary had a surprise for us – the local State Police were doing a random breathalyzer check (it is a long weekend here) and the police were mates of Gary, so he asked if they would pose with us for a photo. They were armed so we behaved ourselves during the photo shoot (mind the pun). After church we headed back to their house, changed into our bathers, packed a picnic lunch and got into their golf buggies and drove the .5 km down to their local marina where they keep their 22’ pontoon boat and sea-doo (jet ski). It was a glorious day to be on the lake, and Murray took the helm and we pulled into a cove and drove the pontoon up on the shale beach and from there we took it in turns to have rides on the sea-doo. I had never been on a jet ski before, so I went as a passenger with Andrea first, then when we got half way, we switched to me being the driver. Another new experience for this retiree….We finished our picnic, then loaded back on the pontoon and went for a cruise to check out the dam wall that separates Lake Ouachita from Lake Hamilton before returning to the house. We said our goodbyes to everyone and returned to our campground.
On Sunday morning Gary, Andrea & the girls picked us up at 8.30am to attend their local church, where Chris and the boys were waiting for us. En route Gary had a surprise for us – the local State Police were doing a random breathalyzer check (it is a long weekend here) and the police were mates of Gary, so he asked if they would pose with us for a photo. They were armed so we behaved ourselves during the photo shoot (mind the pun). After church we headed back to their house, changed into our bathers, packed a picnic lunch and got into their golf buggies and drove the .5 km down to their local marina where they keep their 22’ pontoon boat and sea-doo (jet ski). It was a glorious day to be on the lake, and Murray took the helm and we pulled into a cove and drove the pontoon up on the shale beach and from there we took it in turns to have rides on the sea-doo. I had never been on a jet ski before, so I went as a passenger with Andrea first, then when we got half way, we switched to me being the driver. Another new experience for this retiree….We finished our picnic, then loaded back on the pontoon and went for a cruise to check out the dam wall that separates Lake Ouachita from Lake Hamilton before returning to the house. We said our goodbyes to everyone and returned to our campground.
Just as we pulled in, a ranger walked over to advise us that the campground was on notice to receive evacuees from Louisiana escaping the impending Hurricane Gustav. We offered to move earlier if they needed the site, but he seemed to think they would have enough room as the campground was due to clear out in the morning anyway as the long weekend would be over. The ranger told us that the main highway was made one-way, instead of two lanes going north and two lanes south, all lanes were going north to allow people to move out of New Orleans and other areas of Louisiana before the hurricane was due to hit. Sure enough, a father and son soon pulled in from their home in Slidell just north of New Orleans. They got wiped out from Katrina, and as soon as this storm was predicted to hit there, they threw stuff into their campervan and headed north. We offered to cook them dinner, but they were so tired from the long drive they just wanted to sleep. Our hearts go out to them.
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