Fun in Louisiana!

Last week we arrived in Lake Charles, Louisiana, and camped just north of the city at the Sam Houston Jones State Park. It is a nice park and as we had been told, accepts the Golden Access/Age Pass, so we paid $8 for water and electric. They had a sewer site available but it was quite short for us and did not have a clear shot of the sky for the Datastorm, so we elected to take the W/E site since we were just there for 2 nights. Well, the satellite TV and the Datastorm didn't work on our site because the tall trees blocked the signal, but no matter. We eventually stayed an additional two nights because had we left when we planned, we would have followed those nasty storms with the tornadoes as we traveled east. We got several inches of rain in a short time so after that you could say we had a "lake-front" site. It was difficult with the dogs because there was very little space they could be on without getting wet. Not a problem for Bailey, but Neal can't really walk anymore, so we had to be extra diligent to keep him out of the water. This was a great park to walk in. Paved park roads that went through the park were especially nice. Much of the park is a wildlife preserve. It was interesting to note that there were no "No Swimming" signs anywhere. The only signs we saw read, "Do not feed the alligators." So I guess that works better than "no swimming" signs. Also interesting were the ducks and geese. Not too many around. . . hmmmmmm. . . I wonder why. We didn't see any gators, however.

We are now in Zachary, Louisiana, at cousin Gary and Jo's. Our favorite all time campsite. We were scheduled to leave today except for one little problem. We had to hospitalize our wheaten Scottie, Neal. He immediately started eating grass when we got here. Neal is bad about that and we don't let him, but we were busy meeting and greeting the clan while Neal was chowing down. Later that night he started throwing up and by Monday morning he was not doing well. I had some prescription stuff for that, but I couldn't get him to take it. When Neal won't eat peanut butter, there is a problem. When Neal won't eat ANYTHING, it's a problem. Fortunately Gary's niece who lives across the street is a vet. So I packed him up and took him to the clinic where she works. He threw up in the car, but fortunately, we have the area where they ride covered. He, however, was a mess. I stopped and cleaned up most of it and then we went on. When I got him out of the car, he couldn't hold his head up and I think when they saw him, they thought I was bringing in a dead dog. I actually did check, though, and I knew he was breathing. Just really sick. He kept throwing up in the exam room, so they did some blood work and discovered he was really dehydrated, but nothing else showed up. Like I had suspected, this dog just cannot eat salad. . . period. He didn't seem to fuss about being poked for a blood test and didn't care who held him. The vet said he needed to stay for a couple days and be on IV fluids and something for his tummy. I took in all his seizure meds and last night Casey (Gary's veterinarian niece) called to give me a good report. Said he was responding really well and he might be able to come home even tonight. In the meantime. . . last night I got a good night's sleep. I had been up all night before with Neal, so I thoroughly enjoyed it!

So, Gary and Jo are stuck with us until we get Neal back. They say they don't mind and I believe them. Last night Jo and I went with her daughter Kristin and fiancee Jerrick Pace (how cool is that?. . . no relation that we know of yet, but could be way back). We visit the "Glynns" where the wedding and reception will be held and went to the home of the cake baker and helped them pick out the wedding cake and the "groom's" cake. It was fun, but I was really tired when we got back having been up all night with Neal, so I pretty much came home and went to bed.

Till next time. . .

Dale