Renato & Jody (+mom in law)

The first picture is of Judy in one of her hot poker games here at the campground. She often plays with the locals, they play daily at 1pm. I played once but they play some wild games with wild cards. Sometimes she win & sometimes not. The framed feather is the one we purchased last month in OK at the Cherokee Nation. It's hanging above our door, do yor see the 3 pictures?

The other pics are of Jody & Renato (and Renato's mother). They were taken in Jody's home and on the Biloxi beach. We had supper with them Saturday night and everyone (but me) cooked. Since being here Renato has been making some Brazilian dishes and it's pretty good! Renoto's mom made a dish that was kind of like a deep dish pizza crust with cheese, vegetables & chicken. She also made a desert that was like a custard cake. Sunday night was another pay back dinner, Jody took us out a fancy place called Vibe at the Hard Rock Casino. It's 2:45 Monday, 76 and light clouds. Great weather!

Biloxi Gulf sunset with Rudy & Linda

Rudy and Linda have pulled out headed to Texas but we walked across the street to the gulf and snapped a couple pictures before they pulled out.

We have been spending some time with Jody & Renoto, yesterday I went to their place a popped a pot roast in the oven while Judy was playing poker at the CG, she lost but the roast was real good. Judy & Jody made the rest of supper after Jody got off work. Renato fixed a pretty good Brazilian drink.

Judy hasn't done any cleaning for the last 2 or 3 minutes so she's really going at it now.

Tuesday we went to the movies and saw Unstoppable with Denzel Washington. It was a good flick but the popcorn & soda was more than the show.

Veterans Day parade, Biloxi

Today Rudy & Linda went with us to Biloxi's Veteran's Day parade. It lasted an hour & 15 minutes but much of that time was spent with many stops and delays, probably when they went by the reviewing stand. There were over 80 groups and military equipment. I believe that every high school in the area had an ROTC group in the parade. It was an excellent parade!

Sure wish this program would organize the pictures like I entered them!

Gaters & an air boat ride

Today we went with Rudy & Linda for an air boat ride to check out the gaters in there home. The ride was nice but could have lasted longer but we saw lots of alligators. It would be nice & relaxing to just sit for an hour or two in the swamp and quietly listen to the birds and animals while taking in the sites.

We went shrimping, caught some too

Since we have been here for the last week we have seen Jody & met her new husband Renato, who is a very nice guy that also knows how to cook. Jody will have to introduce him to everyone. Stay tuned for pictures!

Wednesday our friends Rudy & Linda arrived here for a week and today we took a short trip on a tour boat that shows and explains how shrimpers shrimp. They drag a chain in front of the net to "stir things up off the bottom" so they capture whatever is at or near the bottom.

It was another beautiful day and when the net was brought in you can see some of the critters that were captured.

Biloxi, MS

Today we made the 150 mile, 3 hour trip down I10 across the Big Muddy (Mississippi River) again to Biloxi & Southern Comfort. This is where we were this summer when Jody moved here from Mobile. Not our favorite CG but the best we have found in the area. The weather continues to be in the 70s & 80s but it's windy. All is well!

Angola State Prison Rodeo, Louasiana

We had a great time Sunday at the prison rodeo. Sorry there's no rodeo pictures; cameras, cell phones, food, coolers, etc are not allowed in the prison. The place was a sell out (9400 seats) and there were acres of inmate crafts for sale. The most common were wood (chairs rockers, bird houses/feeders, basic furniture), leather (belts, purses) and jewelry. The rodeo was interesting, there were traditional events such as bareback riding, barrel racing (the ladies were not inmates), bull dogging, & bull riding. Considering that all of the 5200 inmates are there for a minimum of 40 years if not life or execution ....they have nothing to loose and free health care. The fun events were pinball, buddy pickup, convict poker, and guts & glory. I really enjoyed pinball! 8 inmates each stand in 8 hoola hoop and a 1500 pound bull with very big horns is turned loose. The last man inside their hoop wins. The first pass by the bull usually takes out 4 or 5 inmates. It wasn't unusual to see 2 or 3 inmates 10 feet in the air at once. One time there were 2 inmates left, the bull was 20 feet from them, it's head down & kicking dirt with it's front hoofs. It was a stand off for 15 or 20 seconds, can you imagine what those 2 convicts were thinking while they stand there with a 1500 pound bull getting ready to send them flying? They have to be thinking of their buddies that limped or crawled or were carried out of the area. Sometimes the inmates think with their heads and run like mad to get out, sometimes the guys have more guts than I could imagine and stand there staring back at the bull.

Buddy pickup has one inmate standing on a barrel while another rides bareback to have him jump onto the horse and ride out of the arena, most made the jump successfully but ended up falling off the horse as the rode out. Convict poker has 4 inmates sitting on plastic chairs around a table and the bull is again released. The last mad sitting wins. Again tables, chairs and inmates go flying, mostly inmates. The guts & glory event has 25 or 30 inmates in the arena trying to get a chip off a bulls forehead tied to its horns. The fellow who gets the chip gets $500, a lot of $$$ for an inmate.

I haven't mentioned the monkeys riding dogs herding the goats.

Just wish I had some photos, there's a good chance we'll go again.