Krawfish, Kudzu and Kinfolk

We made it back to Baton Rouge for Thomas’ (Cindy’s youngest nephew) high school graduation. After weeks in shorts, tank tops and sandals, it was difficult putting on real grown-up clothes again for the ceremony. Cindy’s parents and her middle sister all made it down from Memphis, so her whole family was together for the first time since Christmas. We had a good, three-day visit with (as usual) too much good food – but sadly, no crawfish. However, Cindy’s Baton Rouge sister promised us a Cajun crawfish boil on our next visit.

One interesting aspect of the graduating class is that each senior puts together a “memory board” – a table-top display chronicling their life to be presented at the reception following the ceremony. With only 37 graduates, there was still a wide variety of presentations. Everyone seemed to agree that Thomas’ was the best one. The centerpiece of his board was a mosaic portrait of himself created with about 1,000 small pictures. It is obvious he should do well in his chosen college major of graphic design.

As we made our way north through the state of Mississippi, we began to notice the Kudzu. Kudzu is a vine, native to Japan and China, imported during the latter part of the 19^th century and planted around the South in order to help control soil erosion. With the South's high humidity, abundant rainfall and mild winter temperatures, it grows quickly and spreads vigorously to the point that it will completely cover trees, fences and utility poles - almost anything stationary including houses and barns and that Southern icon, the "car up on blocks". It is difficult to control and almost impossible to eradicate since the roots grow extremely deep into the soil. The vine has large, glossy leaves and when it completely covers an area, it gives it an almost Jurassic Park-like appearance. Check out the following link (you might have to paste it together in your browser's address window) for some really dramatic photos or just Google "Kudzu".

http://www.google.com/images?q=kudzu&um=1&ie=UTF-8&source=univ&ei=2_YCTPbKFoaCNPjjpDs&sa=X&oi=

image_result_group&ct=title&resnum=4&ved=0CE8QsAQwAw

On the way up to Memphis we stopped for a couple of days in Tunica, Mississippi, home to catfish and casinos. We really stopped for the golf courses we had heard about in the area. While the golfing was good, let's just say Mike lost more in the casino slots than he did in golf balls (and that's saying quite a bit.) One of the other reasons for our stop in Tunica was to eat at Paula Deen's only restaurant outside of Savannah Georgia. Paula Deen is the queen of southern cooking and has several shows on the Food Network. We watch her whenever we get homesick for the South. She has a buffet in the Harrah's casino and (after the Blue Bell creamery in Texas) was Cindy's second pilgrimage stop.

Hey, Ya'll

Memphis is our hometown and most of our family members still reside in the area. So that you don't thing we're slighting the area, there is lots to do, we've just done most of it while growing up there or on previous visits. So this visit was for family. We spent a few days with Cindy's parents helping them with some chores and got to visit with Mike's family who were nice enough to move up their Memorial Day cookout a week early to accommodate our travel schedule.

Mike with Sister Lillian and Brother Ken

By the time we reached Memphis, we had been on the road for over a month and were ready to head home, but not necessarily looking forward to the journey. We ended up making the 1,700-mile trek back home to California in two days -- no stopping to smell the roses on the final leg (are there even any roses IN west Texas?)

There's no place like home, there's no place like home. . .

The final tally: Almost 8,000 miles, 295 gallons of fuel, 38 days, 17 hotels, 10 states, four time zones and, yes, there's still tread left on the tires.