We blew off trying to golf at Coushatta today. It's only 55 degrees at 9:00 a.m. and the wind is blowing 25 mph. I rescued our putters from our golf bags in the back of the truck and got some putting practice in early. Around noon we loaded up our empty propane bottle and headed to Kinder. First we checked out a Front Porch Antiques & Flea Market on 3rd Avenue just east of 165. It was a pretty good place to browse and we found a few bargains; a handful of postcards, a fishing lure, a tacky plastic golf ball clock, a tee-holder pin and an Easter hat for my goose. At the counter they were giving away samples of Slap Ya Mama Cajun seasoning and white pepper blend.
Next we found a place called Old and New downtown. We got some bargains on paperbacks there. We also found a few books at Cowboys and Dust out on 165 south of town. By this time we were hungry so we went to Fausto's Restaurant at Hwy 165 & Hwy 383. We shared the large grilled shrimp dinner and a huge bowl of shrimp and crawfish gumbo. The shrimp were good. They had a spicy coating and we were wondering if it was "Slap Ya Mama." The gumbo was kind of bland even after we added Tabasco. The place was teaming with every kind of mounted wildlife on the walls. This guy was a major league hunter.
Finally we went east on 383 to Kinder Rentals to get propane. The guy was very friendly; a true Cajun judging by the cadence of his speech. He said he had been having trouble with his propane tank so he called a guy to come look at it since our bottle wouldn't fill up. We said we'd be back in a bit. He asked us if we were going canoeing. That DeLorean will be the death of us. Thankfully the camouflage is off of it now. We left our bottle with him and went to Market Basket just down 383 past 165. As always we enjoyed browsing the aisles of the local small town grocery. By 4:00 p.m. we went back to the propane place. Four or five bottles were lined up and other people were waiting. Their bottles all filled perfectly but when he tried to fill ours it still wouldn't work. He determined that our valve was stuck. No amount of pounding on the ground would get it to open. He suggested we keep our bottle and get a new valve. He could do it at his place in a nearby town but we wouldn't get it back until tomorrow. But we're leaving tomorrow so we thanked him and took our empty bottle back.
We stopped at the Amerigas we saw a few days ago on 190 but they apparently 'didn't deal with propane bottles.' So we got gas at Coushatta's Feather Fuel gas station, stopped at The Lodge for a free Houston paper and went home. Loads of people had moved into the RV Park. I guess they are gearing up for the weekend. Later this evening I hope to be able to upload my pages at the central modem in The Lodge.
It's 5:39 p.m. and 59.5 degrees.