A Visit By The Folks

Mom and Dad and their (and our) good friends the Bastians came out to Louisiana for a few days. It was a great visit. They arrived Monday afternoon. They had been driving all over the country on their way here. As Dad said, they came to Louisiana by way of Vermont. Really, they and the Bastians had been sightseeing across the country on their way to a fighter squadron reunion in Rome, New York. Then, the dropped by Louisiana.

As I said, we had a great time. We spent Monday evening just visiting and catching up. Then on Tuesday we rented an SUV so all 6 of us could fit in the same vehicle, and drove to Mansfield to visit the Civil War battlefield and museum they have down there. It was very interesting for us all, particularly the three military guys. Dad, Delmar, Cindy and I also had a good time looking for doodlebugs (or ant lions as they are apparently known in Utah) around the battlefield.

After Mansfield, we loaded up and drove in to Natchitoches. There we did a little window shopping. As we were walking around the downpour started. We ended up seeking sanctuary from the storm inside this very old catholic church. It was actually pretty cool. It was quite old, being built in the late 1800s. The stained glass was cool. It was interesting. We then went to The Landing, which is a awsome restaurant there in Natchitoches. Oh, what a lunch we had. We all started off with an appetizer of fried green tomatoes. Delicious. Then on to the main courses. Delmar and I both enjoyed bowls of chicken and alligator sausage gumbo. I have to say that I am going to miss the wonderful Cajun food down here when we leave.

Wednesday started a little later and much more relaxed. We went to the 8th Air Force museum here on the base. We all enjoyed the exhibits inside the building. Then, when we went out to tour the static display aircraft, the gals sat on benches in the shade while the guys walk around the airplanes. What an interesting walk it was. There were so many different aircraft dating from the second world war to the present and one of us (Dad, Delmar or I) had a story to tell about each aircraft there. What a fun walk. We then drove to the Libby glass factory outlet store so the gals could do some shopping. We ended the day with dinner at Ralph and Kacoo's. Again more wonderful Cajun food! Delicious.

All in all it was a wonderful visit. We all had a great time and it's really been a long time since I'd spent that amount of time with Wanda and Delmar. We were both very happy to have them visit us down here.

I'll put the word out here again for all our family. Wel have plenty of room down here and love to show off Louisiana, so feel free to drop us a line and let us know you're coming down for a visit.