Zachary, Louisiana, Population: SMALL

Concrete and thick windows have driven me to the bench in front of this hotel. With coffee in hand, I have escaped the limits imposed by the materials used to build this hotel and limited me to no cell phone use.

It happens. Sometimes we end up in a hotel where we have to either stand close to a window or go to the outside of it to use our cells.

Speaking of phones and we were, were we not? I'm surprised that hotels are still putting phones in the rooms. Have you ever tried to find a pay phone on a street corner these days? A near impossibility isn't it?

I have made a few trips to the darkened room to check to see if Carrie and the husband are awake yet. It is now 0800 hrs and these last room checks still has them fast asleep. The husband propped one eye open and requested I turn off the bathroom light that I had flipped on when I oh so quietly entered. I only stayed for a minute and softly sneaked away again. I find it hard to stay motionless and quiet in a room. I would eventually cause some noise regardless of how hard I tried not to. Stumbling around in a darkened room is not condusive to any kind of quiet.

We may head back to Lafayette this afternoon. I have a doctors' appointment early tomorrow morning and dragging Carrie out of bed to pack her in the car and head home early enought to keep that appointment might prove more trouble then what it's worth to spend another night here.

Yesterday we found a swim mask and some dive rings for her for some pool fun and that is where much of our day was spent. It was an overcast humid day and the coolness of the pool was a good place to be. She wanted to go back last night and swim for a while but I wasn't in to getting back in a suit and back into the water. We will spend the afternoon in the pool then head home before dark.

Carrie starts kindergarten this year. Our carefree spontaneous fun trips are coming to an end and I hate it. April mentioned home schooling but I'm afraid Carrie might get to be 16yrs old and only know how to check in and out of hotels. Not a good thing. She can read the room numbers down the hallways, knows how to inquire at the front desk for her needs and packing and unpacking isn't a problem. She might need to know how to earn a living to pay for that hotel room some day so to school she will go.

We have found 3 restaurants in this town. Most of the eateries are of the fast food variety. Plenty of those but few of the kind where food is actually served on a plate and the  silverware is just that...silver or at least stainless steel. We ended up at a Mexican Food restaurant last night. The shrimp was awesome and Mexican food plates we ordered were good too.

I'll return here in a few days and try out the steak house we found.

Right now, I'm headed back to the breakfast room to load up a plate of food before it closes. Carrie will be hungry when she finally gets out of that bed.

I'm done!