The Mathews' National Vacation: Beautiful Louisianna Countryside

Mental note: don't wear flats when Glenn is in cowboy boots!!!! I look like a midget!

I wanted to sit on that porch and drink ice tea with the owner but apparently it's not the done thing to knock on random doors

Off the beaten path

The most peaceful graveyard I've ever seen!

The welcoming committee in a tiny little town we drove through

The local church in a tiny little town. I couldn't help but imagine all the weddings and gatherings that had happened there

So we left Texas and headed over the border into Louisianna yesterday. It's amazing but the landscape changes almost immediately you drive over a state line here. I fell immediately in love with the deep south, they are totally my people! They are all about food and lush green lawns, beautiful stately homes and talking like a lady (well, I'm still getting the hang of that - sorry Mum) - I can't explain how beautiful it is.

We pulled into a truck stop to put gas in the RV and you wouldn't believe it but there was a family in the restaurant attached to the gas station and the dad was wearing denim dungarees (overalls!) and he was chewing straw! I nearly died, another thing we thought was made up that is actually true to life! The people are so charming and friendly and can't do enough to help you. They are fascinated by this random Aussie family who aren't taking the Interstate I 20 but are choosing the old Highway 80 that goes through every town and takes twice as long.

On recommendation we went to this tiny little 'hole in the wall' restaurant in Shreveport last night that only the locals know about and OMG the food was AMAZING! We threw ourselves at the mercy of the cook and said we would try whatever he sent out but it had to be southern. Such a good plan because (for $75 including wine/beer) we had shrimp, catfish, gumbo, etouffee, crab claws and onion rings - all the classics. The restaurant has been there since 36, survived the prohibition and is still in the same family. It is in some random backstreet in an abandoned part of town that is now used for lots of Hollywood movies, the most recent of which was "Battle for Los Angeles" - apparently the interstates have killed small business in the little towns.

THE coolest joint in all of Louisianna!

So cool, they put the beer glass upside down with water in the bottom and freeze it so your beer stays cold!

The kids had their first "Shirley Temple" - LOVED it!

Willy's Shirley Temple lasted like ten seconds. He backed up with three sodas. Small sugar addiction.

Catfish. Enough said. YUM

Crab claws with this awesome sauce that is like pesto but better, and onion rings, which I wasn't expecting to love but I totally did - they were sweet!

Sigh. The best meal ever (well except for Mum's roast lamb and Trent's lamb shanks) - left is prawn etouffee and on the right is prawn gumbo. AMAZING.

The boys cleaned their plates so well they got offered their first job!

There it is, Herby K's, since 1936....

With our top buttons undone we pushed on for an hour or two and pulled off the highway alongside some big rigs (we have learned to follow the trucks for good spots to sleep) and caught some sleep. When we woke at dawn it was to discover we had parked in the parking lot of a timber mill! The truckies were sleeping until dawn so they could pick up their load and get back on the road! Tactical error! Nothing to do but some morning PT before pushing on...

we bought an American footy so we could play catch with the boys...good investment

We followed the old highway until lunch, stopping in one of a thousand sleepy, leafy little towns. We took advantage of the shade outside a typical southern mansion and made ourselves sambos. I took photos of a stack of beautiful homes that I was dying to see inside. The kids amused themselves chasing squirrels with the camera. Life becomes pretty simple on the road - when do we need fuel and when do we need to feed the kids? They've adjusted to the gypsy lifestyle really well considering but Glenn and I have taken to it like ducks to water. We figure we could sell everything we own and drive the gucciest truck with a 6 star van on the back and never look back for 50 years! Sadly the kids have a decade of school left!

Love their style in the south.

So inviting....

Divine, that seat has my name on it...

Love the colour scheme, perfection.

The squirrel making its getaway from John and Will!

Most amazing shade of blue and love the flag, they are everywhere, you can't help but love that they are so patriotic.

This afternoon, after crossing "Ol' Mis", we hit Mississipi. After our dawn call we hit the RV park late afternoon and we are enjoying cocktail hour while the kids give the footy a kick outside the RV. Tomorrow we will check out Jackson before heading to Birmingham, Alabama to see our old friend Chrissy and her yankee husband Scott for a couple of days. We then track north through the Smokey Mountains to catch a Nascar meet in Virginia before the business end of the east coast - New York, New Jersey and DC.