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.