To Atchafalaya Welcome Center, Little Rock Tornado

The Atchafalaya Welcome Center is between Baton Rouge and Lafayette on Interstate 10...actually, below Interstate 10.  Located in the heart of the Atchafalaya Basin, the nation's largest river swamp, the Atchafalaya Welcome Center showcases a variety of exhibits showcasing the unique flora, fauna, and cultures found throughout the Atchafalaya National Heritage Area. (https://www.louisianatravel.com/welcome-center/atchafalaya-welcome-center)

Aerial shot via their website.

The trucks are on the north side of I-10, the autos and RVs on the south side.  We have stopped here just about every time we take I-10 since 2013.  Back in 2013, the south side was not completed yet.  

Our trip today was again uneventful.  Traffic was thick at times, not very much traffic at other times.  Two areas of construction, but nothing that took us under 40 mph.

If you can, start your morning by going by a Buc-ee's.  As I reported previously, this place is HUGE.  And look at these gas prices!  Sorry, did not get the diesel price.  What I did get is a full tank of 48.5 gallons at $160.  Of course, two years ago it was only $125, but beggars can't be choosers!  And the two large (very large) coffees for $3.50 (that is not each...that is for both) was wonderful.  It was only 60 miles down the road from Cracker Barrel, and a Diet Pepsi held me over for that hour...we left at 7:00 am or so.

My sweet daughter texted me at 4:18 central time with a message of "Did you see the tornado that went through Little Rock?"  For the next 2 1/2 hours I was looking things up, watching Little Rock news stations online, and texting back and forth with Stephanie.  Having lived in Arkansas for 22+ years, and being very familiar with the area that was hit the hardest, it captivated my attention.  Thank goodness my children's mother is fine...a bad storm was heading right for White Hall, it broke up just a few miles before reaching it, then became even stronger after it crossed over the Arkansas River.

Look at the size of that sucker!  You can find video of this through google, but my connection is not good enough to download and upload to the blog...it was difficult to get good streaming of the tv station.  Glad we decided NOT to go through Pine Bluff, because today would have been the day we would have come through Memphis, into Little Rock and down to Pine Bluff.  

Tomorrow we have reservations at a RV park in Texas about 200 miles down the road in Baytown.  It will be nice to have a short day, and to have full hookups.  It also gives us the chance to zoom through Houston Sunday morning before the "Final Four" crowds are up and about. 

We are at Now...

 

First, recap of yesterdays hard drive through San Antonio and Houston...

Above is one of the first pictures of the day...look at those flags...they show you that we had a strong wind, and it lasted throughout the day, but was not as windy as we got closer to our destination, Baytown.  Now and then the wind was behind us...most of the time it was hitting my side of the motorhome and knocked us about left and right (left is my steering, right is the wind).  We also had a touch of rain throughout the trip.

As we came into San Antonio a decision needed to be made as to using the 1604 loop (bypass) or just stay on I-10 through town.  There is a message board which pretty much said that both routes were within a minute of each other.  I first decided to go I-10, then changed my mind and picked the 1604 loop...and that is what we did.  Immediately we hit stop and go traffic for about 2 miles, then it opened up the entire rest of the way back to I-10.  In total, it took about 35 minutes to travel the 26 mile route.  Most of it is freeway, but the last 8 miles is more a highway with some stoplights which you need to be ready to stop for...one of which made me come to a very hard stop, but we stopped just at the line where you are suppose to stop at.

After we stopped at Love's for fuel and a doggie run, we got back on I-10 and just a few miles later come across a Buc-ee's Gas Station.  This Luling location was built in 2001, Buc-ee's first travel center. Two and a half years ago we came across our first Buc-ee's in Alabama, and you can read that blog posting here.  The COVID era slowed down Buc-ee's growth a bit, but it has still opened a number of stores since my post was written 2 1/2 years ago.  As we got closer to Katy, we saw another Buc-ee's which was three times the size (my estimate) than this one in Luling.

A few miles after passing Buc-ee's we stopped at our first rest area and had breakfast and let Indy out again.  Did not see any ants at this stop...did not get pictures of the rest area later that we did see Fire Ants at...but the mounds were a foot high!

Coming into Katy, Texas, population 21,000.  Its population nearly doubled in the last ten years.  The highway widens, a HOV starts up in the far left lane, and they are ready for another 50,000 in population between Katy and the other feeder cities to the west of Houston.

Here is a picture of what I like when they do it...put the Interstate Embalm on the highway to let you know what lane you are in...if you are smart enough know what Interstate/Highway you are suppose to be on.  Sure helpful for us.

Here is a picture Marcia took of downtown Houston.  I-10 hugs the northern portion of the downtown area.

Well, we are past Houston now.  This Flying J is the first place we fueled our 40' American Eagle way back in November 2011.  We have bought two motorhomes in Houston at a place called PPL, a consignment dealer.  Less pressure, good website, honest folks.  Found the American Eagle to be bit big for my liking, and the cost to fix was going to be too much for our blood.  Traded it in for a 32' Jayco Melbourne in 2013, which burned down in a RV Storage Fire in the early spring of 2014, then bought our 28' Dynamax Isata a couple of months later and we have traveled in it ever since..

Here we are parked at the Bayou Bend RV Resort, $50 per night but only $25 with Passport America with 3 night max at discounted rate.  When I checked in the clerk told me that the park is heavily filled with Oil Industry workers.  Some work four days per week, travel back home for three and come back to work again.  He said that with the current political climate, the industry is in a huge flex...and about 25% of those who stay at the park have gone home through Christmas time...he hopes they will all come back in January.  That building on the other side of our motorhome above is the bathrooms/showers and Laundry...a very modern building.

The park is concrete and grass.  There are few trees within the park.  The Internet is awesome, they must have eight WiFi antennas putting out the signal.  First time I had a park say, "It is ok to hook your TV up to the Internet and stream movies if you wish."

I have noticed that some of the RVs don't have cars in front of them day or night, so some have left and kept their RV here at the park.

Of course, sometimes family is going to come and visit, and there is a nice playground for the kids.

Along with a few areas to have small group gatherings for a BBQ or whatever.

Here is the swimming pool right next to the office.

To compliment the 100+ RV pads, they have 13 cabins at $130 per night (3 night minimum), or $500 per week, or $1,300 per month + electricity.  There is a full kitchen, small living room, a bedroom and a loft.  3 person max with one being a child.  

Near the RV park is a Super Walmart, numerous eating establishments, gas stations, emergency health clinics, etc. etc.

A call to the RV park near our Condo found that the earliest we can get into the park for three nights is Sunday.  Tomorrow we are going to pull out late morning and go around 200 miles to a place in Louisiana that we have parked before, way away from trucks, near the Atchafalaya River Basin (America’s largest freshwater swamp).  Then we will go through Mississippi, enter Alabama and stay at another Passport America park which we have stayed at before, this time for 2 nights.  Not sure what we will do Saturday night, but we will be within an hour or two of our Condo and finally be home.  So that is the situation we are at now...close to home, but a few days delay.

Buc-ee's

At Wilderness RV Park, Robertsdale, AL

We arrived at the Wilderness RV Park around 4 pm on Sunday.  I did not have any veggies since I knew we would be having a number of Cracker Barrel dinners as we started out on our trip.  Looking at a map, I took off to a Piggly Wiggly about 12 miles away…and instead of getting lost, I turned onto a road which said it led to I-10, and when I got to the Interstate I passed Buc-ee’s.  I knew I had seen one or two of these before, but could not remember where.  I just “HAD” to go inside, and did that on my way back from Piggly Wiggly (since I only had a 1/2 tank, I filled up).  WOW!  It is like a WaWa gas station on steroids, along with being like the old Stuckey’s but also on steroids, along with being like a Harry and David, etc. 

I got back and told Marcia about it…it was hard to describe.  “Probably 80 or more pumps!”, I said.  Well, I went back yesterday on my tour back into Florida along the coast and had my camera this time, and inside I took some cell phone pictures…also found that I underestimated the number of pumps.

  

  

Buc-ee’s was started in 1982 in Lake Jackson, Texas, a small, 8 pump gas station convenience store.  In 2001 they opened their first travel center in Luling, Texas, a 48 pump location.  In 2012 they opened the largest convenience store ever, with 120 gas pumps, a 67,000 sq ft building with 83 restroom stalls, 31 checkstands, and 1000 parking spaces.  This Buc-ee’s in Robertsdale, Alabama is the first Buc-ee’s outside of Texas (for now…they have three in construction mode in Florida right now), and it also has 120 pumps.  In the restrooms, there are more facilities than many stadiums have…and there are sanitary hand dispensers next to each and every toilet, along with sinks with soap and paper towels so there are no excuses!  As more and more of these travel centers open up, I am sure you will come across one…step and in and try and keep your eyes off the Fudge Center, the Jerky wall, the massive amounts of clothing and other ‘stuff’…it can’t be done.

Don’t know what got into me, but I decided to go back into Florida along the Interstate, head over to the Gulf and drive along highway 292 and then highway 182 before heading back to Wilderness RV Park.  Marcia was the smart one…she stayed in the motorhome resting.  There were lots of large Hotel/Resorts like this, some large condos, many homes on stilts, and lots and lots of spring breakers.  Very few views of the Gulf, and I just had to wonder WHY anyone would want to come here for a vacation.  Nearly 3 hours later, I arrived back.

Wilderness RV Park has been a good little find for us.  It is a Passport America member, which means it is half price.  (Membership is only $44 per year, so we nearly saved that amount just on this one visit.)  The good thing, you can get the discounted price for a full week.  However, if you want to be here for a month, it is less than $400 as of 2019…that’s not bad at all. 

  

All 64 sites are pull-thru with full Hook-ups.  No cable TV, but there are many over-the-air TV stations.  Sites are close, but not too close.  We really lucked out with an end site…our door opens up to the roadway and the bathrooms are just across the road.  Since there are no tents allowed, there is little use at the bathrooms…which include two washers and two dryers laundry facility. 

The camp surrounds this large fishing pond…good place for a walk with the dogs (as long as you clean up behind them…)  We liked it so much, we decided to stay three days instead of two.  After all…the nights were still a bit cold up in Arkansas, but by the time we get there it should be just fine.

NOTE:  As I was writing the blog, Marcia was taking her near daily nap...she gets up and says, "Um...what is this water in here?"  Well, our shower is backed up nearly an inch with water.  Hmmmm...I KNOW I had the grey tank knob open.  Go outside and look, and yep, it is open.  I get down to look and that is when I realized I have the BLACK TANK open, and the GREY TANK closed.  What a rookie mistake!  That's what I get for not using the motorhome for six months!