Hunkered Down at Sam Houston Jones SP

 Location: Sam Houston Jones State Park; Moss Bluff, Louisiana (Just north of Lake Charles in the Southwest corner of the state)

I pulled out of my homebase RV park about 10:00 a.m. on Friday, the 23rd. The massive winter storm hit that night with a fury. By the time it hit, I was safely tucked away in my current campground, but Brandon and my X-wife remained in my house. That was essentially ground zero for the worst possible type of winter storm. An ice storm came barreling out of Texas, through central Louisiana, and eventually stretched all the way to New York City. Yep, New York City, that city where Pace Picante Sauce is NOT made (you'll have to ask a seasoned citizen about that memorable commercial). As it passed through, it snapped trees in half due the weight of the ice and the freezing temperature. These downed trees blocked roads that were being used by the first responders and crazy people who shouldn't have been out and about. The temperature dropped into the mid-teens with alternating rounds of ice, sleet, freezing rain, snow and just plain rain. You Yankees may be used to this type of weather every year, but down here it only happens about every 5 to 10 years. The power at the house went off early in the morning on Saturday and it is still off as I'm writing this post. The predicted restoration time is Tuesday around 7:00 p.m. The number of customers without power in Louisiana is measured in the 10's of thousands.  Brandon and my X are staying warm due to our foresight from 40 years ago to buy a house with a fireplace. They also have a generator that I bought a few years ago. It keeps things charged up and allows power to the coffee pot. They have enough food and water to last for a while, so it has turned into a waiting game for them.

As for me, I rode out one of these storms many years ago in my first RV and knew not to do it again. So, with that in mind, I started looking for a place to go to escape. I chose my current campground, which was far enough south, so the temperatures would only be in the mid-20's with a little bit of sleet/snow. My plan was to return home on Tuesday, which is tomorrow. I underestimated the damage done by the storm and realized late on Sunday that I needed to extend my stay here. Ut oh, I waited too long and there weren't any vacancies in this campground. I searched around and decided to move to a place I've stayed before, Intracoastal Park along the Intracoastal Waterway. It's about 30 minutes away and I'll move there tomorrow for three days then back here for two days before returning home on Sunday. Wow, I'm living it and it sounds confusing.

Anyway, there is always something interesting to learn about a place no matter why you're there. The first question that should come to mind is who the heck was Sam Houston Jones, why is this campground named after him and why did he have such a large impact on my life. That should have made you go, "hmmmm". 

Sam Houston Jones was the Governor of Louisiana from 1940 to 1944. He won the election by beating Earl K. Long, "Uncle Earl" who was the younger brother of Huey P. Long. The Long family, some refer to it as a crime family, controlled Louisiana for 12 years before Sam Houston Jones won the Governorship. I like to believe the people of Louisiana rose up and kicked the crooks (Long's) out of office but that would be wrong as they made a come-back just 4 years after Jones left office. But while he was in office, he made a difference. He started the State Civil Service which I retired from in 2014 (Thank you Governor Jones). Prior to that, the people who worked for the state owed their allegiance to the Governor and got/kept their jobs depending on if "their man" was elected. That meant, the state workforce would turn-over depending on who won the election. Ole Huey Long carried it a step further and required all state employee to "kick back" to Huey 10% of their salaries. Huey had men go around the state on payday to get the money and it went into what Huey called the "deduct box". When Huey was assassinated in 1935 and lay dying on the floor of the Capitol Rotunda, his family and cronies were begging him to tell them where the "deduct box" was located. It was never clear who ended up with the box, but many think Uncle Earl got it. Jones also implemented competitive bidding for state services. Prior to that, the Governor would choose who go what work and for how much. If you guessed the ones who got the work were the ones who paid off the Governor, you would be correct. Basically, Jones started the state down the road to honest relations between the public and politicians. Note, I said started down the road. We're still on that road but we've gotten sidetracked several times over the years but are still headed in the right direction. We are currently on a small detour, but we will see how it all works out. 

I'll get off the history soap box now and post a couple of pictures. 

This campground was re-build a few years ago. The concrete pads are nice if you need to crawl under your RV. Not in this weather though.

I'm in campsite #27 and it surprised me how unlevel it is. It took 3 layers of block to reach level. I haven't had to use so many in a long time. When I come back in a few days, I'll see how level another campsite is. 

Even in the chilly weather, I was able to walk around a little bit. I couldn't find a thinking bench but was able to find two "thinking picnic tables" that overlook a nice, small cypress swamp.

This is looking out from the boat ramp. That old bridge in the background is called a "lift bridge". We'll be passing over it tomorrow on our way to the next campground along the ICW. 

Ya'll take care of each other. Maybe I'll Cya down the road.