Big Bend and Environs, Day 10 : Lafayette and home!

Breakfast in the dining car, seated with a 20-something couple who clearly resented being stuck with a couple of old people. Next train trip -- all meals in our roomette.
As we got closer to home, and the routine anxieties of everyday life came creeping back, I realized that we had not seen a newspaper or listened to any news on the radio or television for 10 days. For all we knew, LSU had been shuttered, Baton Rouge had washed away in a torrential downpour, Congress had staged a coup . . .
Mike kept checking for cell service, and called Lois as soon as he could. The cats, of course, were fine. Buddy had brought a live jay into the house and she had all kinds of adventures getting it back out. Trip to cat owners -- the best cat sitters are farm girls; they aren't afraid of much of anything. She told me that there were blood spots and bird poop all over my bathroom, but no real damage.

Catch birds? I've been asleep the whole time.

 
Miller had given her a few moments panic by hiding behind the compost one day, as he does, and not coming when called. She thought he'd jumped the fence, but there's no way that big cat is going too far from the food.

What? What?

I also began to imagine what could possibly go wrong when we went to pick up the car (would they have a record of our pre-payment? Would the car even still be there?), but all of my fears were totally unfounded. In point of fact, it was a holiday, so the parking was free and there wasn't even an attendant on duty.  I do wonder how much I overpaid, but at $2.50 a day, I'm not going to nitpick.
We used Darlene to get out of Lafayette without getting lost once, then turned her off and managed the rest of the drive without her assistance. Got home, unloaded the car, petted the kitties, then a quick trip to Sam's for a slice of pizza for lunch and a roasted chicken for dinner. It doesn't take long to return to business as usual.