Day 2-351 to 352 At L'Auberge Casino & Resort in Lake Charles, LA

     After a long day yesterday, we decided to stay here at L'Auberge for 3 nights (i.e. 2 full days) to rest up a bit before the final 3 days "push" to get back home. When we "crossed our wake" and closed the Loop on Mobile Bay that was fun and a feeling of accomplishment. However, neither of us really knows how it will feel when we arrive home, and our trip/adventure is really over... As always, time will tell.

Day 2-351
      Boy, it felt great being able to sleep in and not seeing the sun rise. We went to the buffet at the hotel for lunch. I did pretty good on portion control until I got to the desserts... Then, since the buffet was adjacent to the casino, the Admiral decided to take her second plunge at the electronic roulette. It turns out that after her morning walk, she had been magically "drawn" into the casino. Her second adventure was quite successful. So much so that when she cashed out, she was up $3.00 for the day... Rumor has it that each of the three Grandkids is going to get a share of her winnings. Then it was my turn, as I got a delightful nap on board Lucky Us.

     In the late afternoon we got the bikes out and headed to the new shopping district about a mile away. It is quite a pretty ride along a beautifully landscaped parkway with a golf course along one side. We made a brief, unsuccessful stop at Target, and then we started to look around for possible dinner places. After we rode by several different restaurants, the Admiral suddenly said "follow me". Yes, we had dinner at the Sonic Drive In, and in the picture at the right the Admiral is placing our order. They have a small area with picnic tables and of course, the sign where you place your order. I had a burger with tater tots and a very tasty (diet) cherry limeade. It was perhaps a little off beat but a fun experience.
     Then on the way back to Lucky Us we headed to Sam's Club for some staples like salad mix, bananas, and ice cream.

     The ride back to the casino was very pretty as the sun was starting to set. The picture at the left shows the beautiful sunset over the beach at L'Auberge just after we had loaded the bikes back aboard Lucky Us.

     Then we settled in for a "typical" evening of TV and blogging. As usual, the evening ended early...








Day 2-352
     Wow, I could get used to sleeping in, but being a realist, I know that we will be heading out tomorrow morning for an anchorage just south of Port Arthur, Texas. Today was even more hanging out on the boat. We had the seals on both rudder shafts repacked before we started the Loop, but the packing nuts needed to be tightened. The packing on the propeller and rudder shafts consists of waxed thread that is woven into a square "rope" that wraps around the shaft. There is a packing nut that is compressed by either large nuts (on the propeller shafts) or a cast brass fitting (rudder shafts) that is compressed by bolts on opposite sides. As the packing is compressed (squeezed), it expands outward to seal the gap around the shafts. It is very old technology, but it both seals the shaft to keep water out of the boat, and it is also a relatively low friction seal. After about 7,600 miles, the rudder packings were worn enough that water was coming into the boat at a rate of more or less constant drips. The seals needed to be tightened enough to slow that rate to a drop "or two" per minute. It is a pretty easy job, except for the contortions involved getting into a prone position down near the bottom of the hull inside the lazarette. Fortunately, the Admiral was able to hand me the wrenches and a flashlight once I had squeezed into position. Once again, some of the muscles involved were a little"reluctant" to make some of the contortions involved. Well, I survived, and the flow of water was once again down to acceptable levels. One of those general maintenance tasks that I probably should have done earlier, but it also means that the bilge pumps will have to work less often.

      We had lunch on board Lucky Us, but for dinner we went back to the Jack Daniel's Restaurant (and sports bar). At the end of the ramp that leads from the floating docks up to the casino and hotel, there is this classic sign (picture at left). I had seen the sign before during our two other stops here. This time I actually read the city names... It was pretty cool to think about how many of these places we had actually been during our Great Loop adventure. Also, we will be passing through Beaumont tomorrow, and Houston is just a few miles north of our final destination of League City, Texas.

     After dinner, we went across the way to the casino for one last "visit". They don't miss a beat since as you exit the restaurant, there just happens to be an entrance to the casino about 20 feet away. This time, in an uncharacteristically crazy moment, I even tried my luck at roulette. The craziness only lasted about 3 minutes until I had lost all of the money that I cared to lose... Even the Admiral was less than successful this time. Oh well, we will be back here again no doubt!
     Well, it has been another fun stay at L'Auberge. There are not a lot of pictures, since they are definitely NOT encouraged at any casino. You have probably heard the old saying that "what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas". That saying includes photographs for a lot of reasons, from crazy behavior to the fact that not every one here is married (or at least to the person that they are with), etc.

   Time to hit the sack before another early start tomorrow.