July Hot in Southwest Louisiana

The cooler was loaded with drinks, and all the sandwich fixins'. We had our beach towels and a change of clothes, our bathing suits were worn for ease of entrance into the water park.

Carrie, Ted, April and I headed for Blue Bayou water park yesterday. Our plan was to make a lunch break trip to the car for sandwiches and drinks. A lot of people enjoy a tail gate lunch at these parks. Things have changed a lot since the last time we made this trip.
We never made it back to the car for lunch. It was over a mile from the car to where we were inside the water park. Two stories of stairs had to be navigated to get into the park. A walkway spanned the interstate from the parking lot. It was too long a walk to get back to the car. This park doesn't allow coolers into the park and they do not have even water fountains to get a drink. This is not our favorite place to go but it's much closer then going to Galveston.

45 minutes away, it's a quick drive that doesn't require an overnight motel stay. We much prefer Galveston and the Schlitterbahn Water Park. We can take a cooler in and enjoy sandwiches and drinks through out the day.

I have an ultrasound scheduled this week hence the decision to go to Blue Bayou for the day.

Carrie had a blast. She is old enough now to ride the "big" rides. At first she was hesitant, forgetting the previous year when she rode them. After  that first ride, she was hooked. Ted is very good about taking her with him on the rides and watching over her, offering encouragement and taking the time to let her get comfortable before launching themselves down the runs.

We spent a large part of our time in the wave pool. The young girls were in "barely there" bikinis, their youth proudly displayed. As I people watched, I took note of the lack of tattooes. The majority of the young people there were ink free. I was impressed and relieved.

When I see the gaudy ink from ankle to hip or wound from waist to chest, I cringe. I watched one tattooed couple, he was without front teeth, but proudly sported his inked body along with hers. Priorities. Ink versus teeth? Ink apparently won out.

One young lady had "Buy a ticket and take the ride" tatted across her lower belly just above her  bikini bottom she was wearing. She got a lot of second looks. Another 10 years and her belly roll will neatly hide her tattoo. The angel wings will be drooping, the lettering will be smudged from aging skin. Is it obvious that I'm not a fan of defacing one's skin?


We were all nicely toasted at the end of the day. I hate getting a sunburn. We had cream to use and made sure Carrie was covered. We neglected our own selves.

 We hit rush hour traffic in Baton Rouge and crept down the interstate counting the cracks in the pavement.

We observed 2 accidents, ambulance lights flashing, as they rushed off with their patients. Patience and air conditioning made it tolerable.

Today I plan on nursing this sunburn and staying indoors under the air conditioning. I might even try getting dressed; depends on how uncomfortable that will be.