Following mass, we were invited to eat some boiled crawfish in Cloutierville which is a little north of Alexandria. Danny, a crawfisherman kept his last rice bed flooded to catch enough crawfish for
our family to eat...which took 4 days to accumulate. When we told people we were going for a crawfish boil everyone was shocked, since the season had been over for a few weeks already. It helps to have connections!
Peter got a chance to add more to the Roadkill Alley. He had been slacking off on recording. As the driver, I can testify that we have seen more "racoons" than any other dead critter on the road. There have also been plenty of armadillos on the road too, but most of them are flat as a pancake and unrecognizable to the kids. I made sure to pull over and show them the first decent one we could find. However it was headless and had been there longer than we wished. We also saw a raccoon just further down. Both were very smelly in the hot Louisiana sun!
The crawfish were perfectly cooked! There was way more than we could eat, but I took it for the
team and ate a couple platters full. I was disappointed that all the kids did not try some. Peter
did a great job and chewed a half platter down. Jack and I were the last to finish...both of us ate
more than we should of. They also cooked some fries and bass for those who did not like crawfish - it was excellent too! With gratitude, we said thankyou and farewell as we headed back to Alexandria.
When we arrived into Alexandria we went to visit Brian and Mary Runyan again, but this time a their home. The previous 2 visits took place in Bunkie. It was great to see the whole family, since Nicolas and Emily were not in the previous visits. They both were down with "mono" and a few of us were skeptical about the possibility of catching it. Mary was equally cautious and had
thoroughly disinfected the house just before we arrived. Emily is an extremely cute little girl! Had she not been sick, I think everyone would have given her much more attention. The kids played Wii, darts and with the 2 dogs outside.
We left t0 head 3 blocks down the road to hang out with our American surrogate parents - Becky
and Wally Smith. Everyone spent quality time with the Smith's back in the day and they were/are great listeners! Becky is Peter's godmother and it was a very enjoyable reunion. Wally is a math teacher and their home is loaded with all kinds of puzzles and problem solving toys. Peter and Andrew loved trying each one of them out. We also learned a new game called "6" and it's great for all ages. I think it will be our new favourite game! We were served a great supper and were treated to some entertainment by the "Old Wise Man." We also thumbed through some old photos that used to be on their historic "Photo Wall" and discovered some of LL
blowing grapes. The kids and Jack had to give it a try...Jack did very well! On the way out the door we witnessed Mars very close to the moon.
We couldn't have asked for a better day of eating and visiting! Thank you Lord once again for the gift of friendship.
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