Week ending Dec 24, 2015 Grand Isle to Morgan City

 Thursday evening, we had quite a beautiful sunset.
 

This week at Grand Isle we have put many miles on our shoes walking on the beach.   There was a flock of birds we hadn't noticed before.  With the help of Field Guide to Birds of North America, which John's Mom gave to us, we decided they must be black skimmers.  The lived up to that name as the skimmed along the waves, before landing in formation on the edge of the beach.

 

We saw several boats, including the Coast Guard ship below.  We wondered whether it was out to intercept something in the Gulf.

We also saw what we think is an oil platform being brought back in for servicing.

 

and a trawler running just outside the rock jetties protecting the shore.

 

 One day we decided to go sightseeing in Grand Isle. We drove around this little seaside village, on almost all the streets,  admiring the pastel houses.   Then we stopped and picked up some fresh veggies at the only grocery/hardware/clothing store in town and were back  at the trailer within the hour.

Monday night we were expecting a bit of a thunderstorm. It turned out to be much more violent a storm than we expected. Over night 3 inches of rain fell. The road behind the trailer became quite a lake.  That made us wonder whether the sign on the other side of the road was due to the rain, or was meant for the beach.

Tuesday was a dull damp day, so Joan again took advantage of the laundry, John went and filled the truck with diesel. When he looked at our finances, we realized that was  the first time we had purchased diesel in 2 weeks.

Wednesday we packed up, ready to head off to Morgan City. We had a long goodbye visit with the Kelley's who had been our neighbours for the past 2 weeks.   They mentioned that they had been woken by a tornado alert on their phone.  Nothing had come of it, so ignorance is bliss. We asked them what we should do in such an event, they replied - not much could be done on the island, since, instead of houses having basements, which is the best place to be, they are on stilts, including the wash houses at the State Park.  As the Kelley's have lived in this area all their lives, their advice carries a certain amount of weight. 

We arrived in Morgan City shortly after lunch.  When we said we wanted to stay for two weeks, they gave us the choice of the 2 sites that were available that long. One was close to the facilities, pull through and but among some trees. The other has a view of the lake, no trees and but a long walk to the facilities. John was not 100% convinced he could get a satellite signal from the first site, so we chose the 2nd site.

Thursday morning we woke up to a dense fog.   After it cleared, we did our shopping for Christmas dinner. We were able to buy a little turkey that will fit in our portable oven.  We went to a local grocery store and were able to order some Bota Box Shiraz  which will arrive next Monday.

We hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas.