Lake Charles Trip 2010

Josh and I made the pilgrimage home to Lake Charles, Louisiana to see his family and it was fantastic. It's been quite a while since we went down for a visit. The trip was a great getaway from the stresses of working and everyday life. We left out early Tuesday morning and of course I woke up with the sun and was so excited I could not go back to sleep. So I finished up the packing, waited for my mom to come over, got the dogs fed and the trash out to the curb. It was about 7 hours to get there…the drive was very..very long. GPS told us to go the new way… so we decided to be a little adventurous and do it. We got there with no problem and the drive was very scenic, we went through several small towns…the kind of towns you blink and they’re gone. We got in at about 6:45 and made it to Popou’s house.. It was his birthday so Nanny, Josh and I joined him at Outback for dinner and it was delish! After dinner we went to bed pretty early, we were both pretty tired from driving all day and when I mean early I mean like 8:30 and that is really early for me. I’m normally a late night owl and I was exhausted.
Every time I’ve gone to Louisiana it has been a quick trip and we’ve never really had much time to do anything else other than visit with family and then head back…so Wednesday morning after breakfast Josh gave me a tour of Lake Charles!! We went to the downtown area and new civic center on the lakefront. It was like a mini beach with
pretty sand and a plethora of shells to collect. We rode around town and went to lunch at Hollier’s Cajun Kitchen. Talk about real authentic Cajun food! It was really good.. Josh and I both had the crawfish etouffee… we were definitely stuffed when we left. After lunch Josh and I went to the Ryan’s house and Mamaw made Josh’s favorite meal… roast rice and gravy with potato salad, I scarfed everything down so fast..Josh even had seconds. I need to learn how to make it for him someday :) After dinner we had wine and chatted with the Ryan’s for a while it's always so nice seeing them..you can really talk for hours and not realize it. The next morning we had breakfast with the Ryan’s and then Kate and Irene came to see us!After that we went to Starbucks to get our internet fix..Josh would probably say it was my internet fix but I know he enjoyed too. We spent the afternoon swimming in the pool and Nanny and Popou’s house. I never knew that Nanny was a smoker..hehe We had a cig on the back patio with her..I think she liked it. There is nothing like having a pool all to yourself, it was deep, clean, pretty, sparkly and had a diving board…needless to say we had a blast. I learned that Josh is quite a fish in the water *giggle* and he has
great form when it comes to diving. He’s so freaking cute…I love him so much! Josh drove me out to the Camp on the bayou that Josh’s papa “Jugg” George Washington Ryan built with his own hands. Josh spent his summers out at the camp with the Ryan's and with the Bernard's..both set's lived in lake Charles only a few minutes from one another. I think the Ryan's lived at the camp for at least more than 10 years while one of their children lived in their home..They are an awesome family to be apart of..I feel very blessed! It was really neat to see the camp..this place I’ve so often heard him talk about. It is for sale now. The Ryan’s are now in their nineties and just really don’t have the ability to keep up with it any longer. During hurricane Katrina and Rita the camp suffered damage when the bayou flooded…so it’s a little run down now. I really wish that Josh and I could somehow save it and keep it in the family. It’s just something you have to see for yourself I guess, just being there I could feel the happiness that echoed out. I was really glad that I got to see it in person before it’s sold. Josh seemed really happy to see it again too..I could see and read his thoughts as all his childhood memories of the camp kind of washed over him…sad in some ways. The night before we left Josh and I drove out to the casino’s on the lake…I've never in my life been gambling or even stepped foot in a casino. It was a fabulous experience, we were pretty cheap and only spent 20 dollars each. (That is the secret to not losing all your money Ive heard..lol) I won my money back on the first slot machine…talk about beginners luck!!

It was a great trip and it was so lovely getting to see everyone. We are definitely going to make this a yearly trip..

peace.love.freckles