DutchmenSport
Senior Member
Returned to the Audubon State Historic Site on March 2 and will be here until June 30. This is our 4th time here and I've kept up my activities on the 3 prior visits on these forums. Check my prior posts "started" by me and you'll find them.
We've been here a week already on this visit. It's amazing how fast time flies.
I'm currently building a storage cabinet for the barn that will be placed in a room that will be dedicated for the plantation carpenter's shop. The cabinet will be functional and also a display so visitors can see some of the original carpenter's tools. Once done, I'll post some photos on this thread.
Getting ready to return to Oakley resulted in a very busy February. We left Oakley Jan 31 and made it home Feb 2. Over the month we had to accomplish a lot of things so we could head out again.
(Income taxes had to be done, had bearings repacked on the camper and fixed a frayed slide cable, had the roof of the Colorado truck repaired, Oil change on the dually, doctor visits for both myself and my wife, my wife had another medical procedure on here back done too. Got the dogs flea treatments for the next 4 months, banking needs taken care of, and a LOT of other stuff. The trailer was winterized when I took it in to have the bearings done. Temps dropped significantly in Indiana and the dealership had the trailer for 2 weeks. Then right before we headed back to Louisiana, the temps got above freezing, so I unwinterized at home again. I even picked up my annual Indiana State Parks pass for 2025 and another one for my son, even though we probably won't use it enough this year to pay for itself. Yes, it was a busy month.)
So the trip from Indiana to Louisiana was without any incidents .... except ... we stayed at the West Memphis (Arkansas) KOA for the overnight on our way to Louisiana. We pulled out of the KOA about 6:00 am (local time) and it was still dark. Little did I realize, I left my 4 foot step ladder there. I did not realize I forgot it until we actually arrived at Oakley. I purchased another one in Louisiana.
When we arrived at the park, we had to park in the visitor parking lot over over night. I set up my generator, had water in the tank, and we did just fine. The reason we could not immediately park on site is because "they" had scheduled a tall tree to be cut down on Monday morning. The tree is right beside where the trailer parks. By noon the next day, tree was gone, the grounds were cleaned up so well, you'd never know anything was ever done. After 5:00 pm (when the park was closed) I moved the trailer into it's site. Why did I wait so long? Well, Monday (the first full day back), they already scheduled me to do the plantation house tours for that day. So, I was busy with that our first day back at Oakley.... Talk about hitting the floor running! And I've been on a wild rush ever since. I've already done black smith demonstrations and shingle making talks for visitors in the park too, in addition to building that cabinet and cleaning up that space in the barn.
I'm doing a black smith demo later day (Sunday) also.
I suppose all of this sounds like a lot to do for a volunteer position from someone who retired 3 years ago. But you know what? I'm having the time of my life! It just doesn't get better than this!
Here's a photo of the RV site with the tree still standing. This photo was taken in January, before we left. You can see why everyone wanted it cut down. (especially my wife and I)...
Audubon State Historic Site, Louisiana
We've been here a week already on this visit. It's amazing how fast time flies.
I'm currently building a storage cabinet for the barn that will be placed in a room that will be dedicated for the plantation carpenter's shop. The cabinet will be functional and also a display so visitors can see some of the original carpenter's tools. Once done, I'll post some photos on this thread.
Getting ready to return to Oakley resulted in a very busy February. We left Oakley Jan 31 and made it home Feb 2. Over the month we had to accomplish a lot of things so we could head out again.
(Income taxes had to be done, had bearings repacked on the camper and fixed a frayed slide cable, had the roof of the Colorado truck repaired, Oil change on the dually, doctor visits for both myself and my wife, my wife had another medical procedure on here back done too. Got the dogs flea treatments for the next 4 months, banking needs taken care of, and a LOT of other stuff. The trailer was winterized when I took it in to have the bearings done. Temps dropped significantly in Indiana and the dealership had the trailer for 2 weeks. Then right before we headed back to Louisiana, the temps got above freezing, so I unwinterized at home again. I even picked up my annual Indiana State Parks pass for 2025 and another one for my son, even though we probably won't use it enough this year to pay for itself. Yes, it was a busy month.)
So the trip from Indiana to Louisiana was without any incidents .... except ... we stayed at the West Memphis (Arkansas) KOA for the overnight on our way to Louisiana. We pulled out of the KOA about 6:00 am (local time) and it was still dark. Little did I realize, I left my 4 foot step ladder there. I did not realize I forgot it until we actually arrived at Oakley. I purchased another one in Louisiana.
When we arrived at the park, we had to park in the visitor parking lot over over night. I set up my generator, had water in the tank, and we did just fine. The reason we could not immediately park on site is because "they" had scheduled a tall tree to be cut down on Monday morning. The tree is right beside where the trailer parks. By noon the next day, tree was gone, the grounds were cleaned up so well, you'd never know anything was ever done. After 5:00 pm (when the park was closed) I moved the trailer into it's site. Why did I wait so long? Well, Monday (the first full day back), they already scheduled me to do the plantation house tours for that day. So, I was busy with that our first day back at Oakley.... Talk about hitting the floor running! And I've been on a wild rush ever since. I've already done black smith demonstrations and shingle making talks for visitors in the park too, in addition to building that cabinet and cleaning up that space in the barn.
I'm doing a black smith demo later day (Sunday) also.
I suppose all of this sounds like a lot to do for a volunteer position from someone who retired 3 years ago. But you know what? I'm having the time of my life! It just doesn't get better than this!
Here's a photo of the RV site with the tree still standing. This photo was taken in January, before we left. You can see why everyone wanted it cut down. (especially my wife and I)...

Audubon State Historic Site, Louisiana