Across Louisiana.

We departed Bay St Louis Mississippi at 10:15. Our route today would take us along I-10 to the far side of Louisiana, almost into Texas.





The drive was across terrain that could only be described as flat flat and flat, wet wet and wet. No surprise that hurricane Katrina did so much damage.




For one section of the drive wast of Baton Rouge the divided highway consisted of about 10 miles of bridge over lakes, bayou, and swamp the two firmer areas along the way allowing interchanges to near by towns, one of which had a large rest area and information center where we stopped for lunch.


Rolling along after lunch, still flat and still a lot of water. Our fuel burn has decreased considerably. One useful addition to the VMSpc (on the notebook) has been a fuel calculator, indicating the number of US gallons remaining in the fuel tank. So far it has been within 2 gallons when it comes time to refuel.



We had about a three hour drive to our night stop so we pulled into handy rest areas changing drivers twice. At about 4:30 we arrived at VRV Park in Vinton, "Gateway to Cajun Country" In our case it must have been the back gate cause we were on our way out!



This was a very nice park, wide grassy sites low trees (satellite TV) free wireless, plus freeway and train noises to keep us occupied.

The weather had remained perfect all day and into the evening. Here we added the last "State sticker" to the side of the motorhome.






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New Orleans, Wednesday October 27th

New Orleans. A place of history, drama, jazz, pirates, culture, everything. There was so much to see and so little time (and energy) to see it. We decided to limit ourselves to the French Quarter, check when we get there for specifics and then just have a general walk around. Lunch for sure and possibly dinner. It's less than an hour's drive from the RV Park.

Our first stop was at the Visitor's Information Center at the state line where we obtained maps and suggestions, even a carefully marked map to a central parking place.




Once parked, the roof left open for the dogs we began our search for a place for lunch. At the end of the parking lot we came upon this building.


We're going to like this place! Click on the photo to see the detail.






To the right of the above photo we found a restaurant with a covered patio that would allow the dogs in the patio. Gillian went back to the car for the dogs and before we could even begin to peruse the menu the waiter had brought a bucket of water for the dogs.

We settled in with beer and menus when suddenly the sky went dark, clouds opened up and down came the rain! We had been sitting at the out edge and were getting wet so the waiter came over and sat us at another table. Then Art asked Gillian "Did you close the roof when you got the dogs out of the car?" "OH NO!" Leaving Gillian to care for the dogs Art sloshed back to the car to close it up.


Our food arrive and we tucked in. Art had the Ya Ya Gumbo (a thick soup with chicken, shrimp and sausage covered in rice) and Gillian with a cajun prawn salad.


Then the rain began to leak though the metal roof so we and other patrons were scrambling for dry or semi dry tables. We were able to escape the worst of it my moving aside a little. Then Gillian some how managed to spill a good portion of her water down her front.





After lunch we set off on our stroll around the French Quarter. We had discovered that one of the museums on Jackson Square had just opened a Hurricane Katrina display, entry free for the first week. We took turns touring the museum and sitting out with the dogs enjoying the street musicians and local colour.


The museum display was very well done, brought us understanding of the enormity of the event. Interestingly enough the cause of increasing amount of damage by recent hurricanes has been traced in part to the successful Mississippi River flood control projects. Over the decades these works have reduced the flow of fresh water into the wetlands surrounding the region. The loss of fresh water resulted in two things; first the ground level subsided, in many places to below sea level, requiring higher levees or dikes. The second result was the influx of salt water which has destroyed the wetland ecology. But the river floods are much reduced.




There were many displays of acts of heroism, hardship and struggle. The damage was enormous there are still many signs of this around the city and countryside. This piano belonging to Fats Domino was donated to the museum and is displayed in the state and position it was found, minus the mud and water of course.





Having worked off some of our lunch we carried on around Jackson Square to one of the early cafes to sample the famous beignets and coffee. The dogs weren't allowed in to the eating area but we were able to find a table alongside the fence.

Besides the beignets there was of course more jazz which we and other passers by of all ages enjoyed.

The beignets were excellent, so good in fact that they didn't last long enough for a photo opportunity! To work them off we continued our French Quarter stroll, up to and along Bourbon street and down again toward the river and the car park.


































Our square loop brought us back to the parking lot, the rain still holding off. We decided that we would return to the RV Park.


The rain caught up with us on the way home but we had driven through the worst of it by the time we were back at the rig.

We fed the dogs, thought about dinner, left the dogs to sleep off their supper and drove a few miles down the road to a casino to check out dining opportunities.

They had a reasonably good buffet going, a marginal selection of beer, but we did well enough. Our first opportunity to sample catfish, which was deep fried in a crispy batter and found it quite good. Soup (more gumbo, not as good as at lunch but enjoyable), salad bar, several trips to main buffet for beef, turkey, chicken, several types of fish, crayfish, assorted veggies. We left feeling loaded a little below the Plimsoll Line, wondering where and when we would get the opportunity to work it off!

Next day was a stay at home and recover day, work on the blog, so some cleaning, shopping and laundry.

Alabama and Mississippi

Rain and wind overnight and more rain again this morning as we prepare to depart Florida for Alabama. The wind dropped huge pine needles everywhere! For days later we were pulling them out of the awnings and slide covers! At least the soil here is sandy and the damp soil doesn't turn into a mud bog! We left the park at 11:45, late as usual.




Driving through the area we noticed many building on or near the beach, particularly apartments and houses, built on stilts or with open parking spaces on the ground floor, accommodation being on the floors above. We could only presume that this was to mitigate damage from hurricane storm surge.




Just past the turn off for Geoff's place we pulled into a shopping centre to stock up the larder and also made this our lunch stop. We weren't really on our way until 2:00 PM then half an hour later we had reached the I-10 and made a quick stop at a rest area to change drivers. Art had realised that this would be the best opportunity for his nap while Gillian carried on without a navigator for the next hour or so before Art took the wheel again at the approach to Pensacola. Trekker decided to join Art in his snooze.



Just out of Pensacola Gillian pulled off to a rest area for the driver change. Back behind the wheel Art decided to take advantage of the provided automatic "Truck Windshield Wash" at the exit from the rest area. What a useful thing to have. Too bad more states don't offer this.





The clean windows made photos taken through the front much clearer. No more soap scum or bug splatter! The map showed a lot of water and wetlands, the photos show just how much was made obvious to us by the many miles we travelled on bridges. As you can see the weather hadn't improved a whole lot either.


As the day progressed Gillian got out the reference books and began the process of selecting an RV park for the night. The Passport America book listed several but further investigation made her realise that there were a lot of inaccuracies in the listings--many weren't where the book said they were! Finally she selected one, phoned to ensure there was room, wifi and the dogs would be welcome. She confirmed the directions given in the book and said we would be there is a few hours.

The sun was getting low by the time we exited the freeway and after driving several miles further than the guide book had specified Gillian called again to say we were lost. At that moment the park appeared on our left. She said "never mind--we found it, we're here" and disconnected.

We turned in to one of the three driveways of a very full park and as we carried on looking for the office one of the campers told us that we had done the same thing the he had done the other day--come in the wrong way. He gave us fairly complex route back up to the office and as we slowly weaved our way along a lady in a golf cart arrived to see what we wanted. She was the manager and told us that she hadn't received any calls from us! However we did have room, though wifi would not be available in the only space she had left!

We accepted it anyway and followed her up, around and through the campground, including twice returning to the highway, in order to get to our spot! We had arrived at dusk, it was now rapidly getting dark. The manager suggesting we do the paperwork in the morning as she was on her way home. On looking into the confusion, the guide book had mixed up the phone numbers! Gillian called the other park to explain the problem and that we would not be coming.


The satellite connected on the first try, through the notch in the trees shown in the photo.

Trains ran all night alongside the park. Not the best night's sleep we've had! Mind you, trains have not been a rarity these last few weeks.

There was a fenced lake for Trekker and a large field. In the morning when we could see, both dogs enjoyed an off leash run and romp and Trekker had his swim.

October 26

Our leisurely departure a few minutes before eleven didn't add any stress as we had a very short day planned. We soon crossed into Mississippi and stopped at the welcome center for a few pictures and to see what else of interest we might find.




Under a
mixture of sunny and cloudy skies we carried on across very flat country with lots of wetlands, the weather was holding, making for a very pleasant drive.





Soon we arrived in the town of Bay St Louis where we topped up the fuel. There was a very interesting sign at the intersection.

Moving on to the RV Park we arrived at the very reasonable hour of 1:00 PM. We decided to book in here for two nights and visit New Orleans by car from here as it was less than an hour away.




We arrived at our chosen park in time to get the satellite dish up and running in order to watch the noon news from home while we had lunch at 2:00 PM. The magic of time zones. Sometimes it works for us, sometimes against.

This was a very nice clean and spacious park and we ended up spending a third night here after Art wore himself out walking around the French Quarter in New Orleans. He did manage to pick up a few Brownie Points on our last day here by doing the laundry while Gillian was out shopping.

Georgia and Florida.

Georgia

Saturday morning we left at 11:35 en route to Georgia and shortly thereafter we came to a sign that read "We're glad you've got Georgia on your mind".

A few hours later, there being no sign of a rest area or picnic stop on the highway we pulled off into a Lowe's (hardware store) parking lot for our lunch break and doggy walk.

Pushing on we made one more stop at a rest area on the I-75, and at 6:50 PM we called it a day at the Walmart Parking lot in Tifton Georgia.

The inverter was called up for active duty and we had the satellite TV up and running just in time for the 5 o'clock news from home. A bottle of wine and a good dinner soon had us ready for bed--the dogs had beaten us to it.



10:15 next morning, breakfast done, dogs walked we fired up the rig and drove across the street to take on some fuel. Taking the current rate of exchange into consideration, less than 75 cents per litre!

We were enroute to Florida. This was a state that we thought we might happily miss but we discovered in Ottawa that our friends son, a Captain in the Canadian Armed Forces, was working with a NATO group in Panama City, Florida. Geoffrey and Art had been best buddies many years ago in Victoria when he and his parents lived across the street. Geoff's dad was in the navy and Art frequently took on the part of honorary uncle and would often take Geoff off to the local donut house when shopping for materials for our home renos. Art was in his 30's, Geoff was 3. They had met once since then when Geoff was in his early teens and Art was keen to see how he had turned out as an adult.



A couple of hours later we stopped for lunch at a rest area on the I-10 in Florida then pushed on to the campground we had selected. It was a good feeling to reach the Gulf Coast though we were greeted by a torrential downpour. By 3:00 PM we had arrived at the Rustic Sands Campground in Mexico Beach, which turned out to be a good hour's drive from where Geoff was living! In retrospect we should have carried on--there was an RV park just a few minutes from his condo!




Once we got settled we called Geoff and arranged to meet him later. First Gillian had to go for a walk with the dogs and Art had to have a nap!


The weather remained cloudy and a bit of rain was falling on and off but he cloudbursts had been left behind when we set off in the car for Panama City Beach about an hour away.

The grey seas and grey skies didn't offer much in the way of photogenic scenery so we took a few pictures of some of the nicer homes along the way then the camera battery went dead. We have a spare, but it was back in the motorhome!




Geoff met us at the door and ushered us into the private parking garage. He told us to bring the dogs along, so we all followed him into the elevator and up to his suite. Situated near the top of the tower he had an excellent view of the bay on one side and overlooked the street on the other.

After relaxing and chatting for a while we went out for dinner one of his favourite seafood restaurants for dinner where we continued to catch up on almost 30 years of history. We were very annoyed about the camera batteries as we would have liked a group picture but Geoff came to the rescue with his cell phone and the aid of the waiter. Looking at the photo we can see how much he resembles his dad at the same age.


We returned home by a slightly different route and soon saw why Geoff had recommended the highway 98 business loop rather than the main route. The business loop had a lower speed limit but only a couple of stop lights while the 98 proper seemed to stop at every major intersection.


At least we would know the road for the first hour or so when we left for Alabama in the morning.