Saturday, February 27 – Travel Day

 

We started our day packing up in the rain.YUK! We were in no hurry because we couldn’t check out until 8:30 when the office opened.

It was 7:40 and we were packed up and ready to go so we decided to go to the club house for breakfast. We drove to the club house and the boys waited in the truck for us to eat breakfast. At $3.50 per person we had 2 eggs cooked to order, bacon or sausage, hash brown or grits and a biscuit. What a deal!

We sat with Glen and Sylvia Avery, Norm and Linda Payne and another couple. We had a nice conversation during our meal.

After we said our goodbyes and we headed to the office to pay our bill. By 8:35 we we on our way.

We went north on Hwy 59  - NE on I-65 – NE on I-85  and crossed over into Georgia (another new state for us).

Then we continued East in I-20 to Madison Georgia. We arrived at 5:00 pm keeping in mind that the time jumped ahead one hour to Eastern Time. We traveled 389 miles, most of the day was cloudy but hardly no rain after the first hour of driving.

We are spending the night at Country Boy’s RV Park. Full hook-up pull thru for $20 per night. It was okay for an overnight. Jesse didn’t even unhook the truck.

I had not planned anything for dinner and there was no place to walk to so I had to come up with something. I decided to make chicken chili.

I took some chicken out of the freezer and got it on to boil, then chopped up onion. Added a bag of frozen bell peppers and opened a couple of cans of tomatoes and kidney beans. I also added chili powder, salt and pepper. After shredding the chicken I added that the the electric fry pan and let it all simmer for about 15 minutes. I even whipped up a box mix of jiffy corn bread to go with it. Not a bad dinner for a quickie. 

After everything was cleaned up I sat and watched TV until bed time.

Travel days are so exhausting, but we only have two more long days until we are there! 

 

I was sent this and really liked it so I thought I would share…

 

Friday, February 26 – Travel to Rainbow Plantation

 

We left the camp site at 7:28am and drove around to the dump station, no waiting. While Jesse was doing the blue job of dumping the tanks I walked the boys, so we were both cleaning up poop.

We were on the way down the road by 7:50am.

Here’s a picture of the Super Dome and the skyline of New Orleans as we drove out of town.

We traveled I-10 East most of the trip passing through Mississippi a new state for us.

Then into Alabama (another new state, but never saw the welcome sign)

We arrived at Rainbow Plantation about 11:30 after traveling 187 miles. As we were setting up Glenn Avery came walking by with his dogs. I came out to say hello chatted for a few minutes before going back in to finish getting things set-up and started a load of laundry.

Then Darrell and Judy stopped by to confirm our dinner plans and said they would pick us up at 4:30.

Jesse was out walking the boys, but he saw them walking before they came to speak to me. They invited us to sit outside their place for awhile.

So after Jesse returned we walked over to their place. We sat outside getting caught up with them since we saw them last September at Lake George. Then they took us for a tour of the park. We stopped by the club house to look around. Then they dropped us at our rig so we could get showered for dinner.

We were going to Big Daddy’s Grill. Here are some pictures from the outside, as you can see it’s right on the water. Even though the sun was out it was still too cool to sit outside and eat.

The food was very good and the company even better.

We met for the 1st time.

Randy and Terry

Mike & Gerri

We briefly met Mike and Peggy at Lake George last summer when they visited Darrell and Judy

Also having dinner with us was Glen and Sylvia who we met last March in Kerrville

And finally Darrell and Judy

I was sorry that we were not going to be here longer so we could really sit and visit with these great people, but we need to be on our way to Maryland.

We look forward to seeing them again down the road.

Thursday, February 25 – Grayline bus tour

Today we decided to take a tour of New Orleans. We needed to get the bus by the riverfront at 11am.

I was up and dressed by the assigned time of our 9:00am departure. We needed to stop at the bank to get some cash so we missed the 9:30 ferry.

We took the 10am ferry which still gave us plenty of time to get beignets at Cafe Du Monde before walking the 5-6 blocks to the bus.

Our driver and tour guide was Sylvester. I was not very impressed with him , was much too melodramatic. I guess he was born and raised in New Orleans so he had a lot of information.

I am sure most of you know the devastation that his city went through from Katrina. Some areas are looking very good while others are not.

The lower 9th ward is the area that still looks the worst. The reason for this is money. People who could prove they owned the property were given grants and loans to rebuild and repair their homes.

Most of the lower 9th ward were lower income people and their homes were handed down from generations. They didn’t have the documentation to prove they owned the property. Without this they were not given any financial help from the government therefore most of the houses in this area are abandoned.

Fats Domino lived in this area of town. He still has is studio next door to his house. He said he wanted to live and work among the people he sang about.

There were some very nice areas of the city. People who were not poor and able to rebuild and repair their homes.

We stopped twice for about 10 minutes. Our 1st stop was at this grave yard.

Our 2nd was at the city park. It is a very pretty park with water running through it.

This is Lake Pontchartrain Causeway which is the longest causeway in the world measuring just under 24 miles.

When the our tour was over, I really wanted to stay in town for a while, but we needed to get back home to the boys. I really love my boys, but they are demanding on our time.

Back across on the ferry we went while saying goodbye to New Orleans.

I prepared Jesse some hamburgers while I had some leftovers from last night’s for dinner along with a salad.

We have enjoyed our time here in New Orleans, hopefully we will be back this way again.

Wednesday, February 24 – In search of Beignets

 

Thank you Donna from Alabama, I am glad you enjoy reading of our experiences.

Today we didn’t go out until a little before noon. We headed to the ferry, paid our $5.00 to park and took the free ferry ride to New Orleans.

We were in search of Beignets at Cafe Du Monde at the Riverwalk. Beignets were also brought to Louisiana by the Acadians. These were fried fritters, sometimes filled with fruit. Today, the beignet is a square piece of dough, fried and covered with powdered sugar. They are served in orders of three.

Nice fountain in front of the entrance

After our snack we walked around the shops. We have been in search of new salt and pepper shakers and found a set in one of the shops.

I also took these pictures that were on display in one of the galleries, I just thought they were a good likeness.

After we tired of the shops we walked over to Harrah’s. We played the slots for about a hour. I doubled my $5.00, but Jesse lost $10.00. All in all it cost us $5.00 for a hours worth of entertainment.

Then we went in search of something to eat. I didn’t feel too much like walking. It was cold outside and the wind was blowing.

We decided to either eat at home or find something on the way home.

We ended our day at Texas Roadhouse, you can’t go wrong with them. Jesse said it was the best steak that he had in quite awhile. I had ribs and chicken that were also very good.

We came home and relaxed in recliners for the remainder of the evening.

Tuesday, February 23 – Travel Day

 

We were up at 6:30am this morning. We sat with 1 cup of coffee before getting things packed up to leave. We have enjoyed our visit here at Betty’s very much. And we hope to be back.

Jesse said it best “It’s like someone big back yard and they invite you in to be family while here”.

We walked over to thank Betty for a wonderful time and JoAnn also came out to say goodbye and we pulled out at 9:15.

We traveled 141 miles and arrived at Bayou Segnette State Park at noon. This is a lovely park with big back-in sites, water and electric and WiFi for $18.00 per night. Site #37

This boardwalk is just out side our front door and our patio area is just outside our living room back window.

After getting everything set up we decided to take the Algiers Ferry over to New Orleans.

Once back on dry land we walked down Canal Street and found that they have street cars still powered by electricity.

Then we found our way to Bourbon Street

 

Some of the sites while we walked the streets.

 

 

We were tired so we headed back to the ferry for a ride back to our truck and then home. I warmed leftovers for dinner and we sat in our recliners and watch American Idol and HGTV before going to bed.

We plan to go back into New Orleans tomorrow so I will have more things to write about. Until then stay safe and happy trails.

Monday, February 22 – Doug, JoAnn and Fillmore arrive

 

Today started pretty normal for us.

But before too long I was straightening up, doing laundry and preparing dinner for the new arrivals.

We were looking forward to seeing Doug and JoAnn again and spending time with them. I was making my version Spaghetti amore, salad and home made bread for dinner.

They arrived around 1:00 and got all settled in. Since we all wanted to attend happy hour at 4:30, JoAnn and I decided to have an early dinner at 3-3:30. All I needed to do was to put the dish in the oven and toss a salad.

I tried a country white bread recipe from the book that came with the bread maker today. Everyone said it had a good taste but it was dense again.

Never the less it was a good time visiting. We follow each others blog so we already knew what they had been up to.

After eating we went over to the patio to have happy hour with everyone.

 

When that broke up we went back to the house to have dessert. I knew I couldn’t make anything as good as JoAnn could, so I didn’t even try. I had store bought angle food cake topped with strawberries and cool whip.

They didn’t stay long as I am sure they were tired and they wanted to give up time to get ready for travel tomorrow.

It was good to spend time with them and we look forward to seeing them again down the road.

Sunday, February 21 – Rest and Pot Luck

Last night I found out what these cabanas were about. They are fighting roosters, which has been outlawed in LA. These roosters are chained to there homes and do not have to fight anymore.

This morning we ran to Walmart to pick up a few groceries. I also was going to get my hair trimmed but they were very busy so I will try again tomorrow.

After we returned I made some macaroni and cheese for tonight's pot luck.

We decided to stay home and relax today because we have been busy. I got some laundry done.

I also wanted to share this graveyard with you. I have never seen this before but most all the people are laid to rest above ground in what looks like cement vaults.

We walked over to have cocktails on the patio at 4:30. This is Betty’s outdoor area

This is Betty

About 6:00 we all brought our covered dish and had a delicious meal with much lively conversation.I would tell you who everyone was but I can’t remember all the names.

It was a fun time and I was stuffed.

After returning back to the RV we got a thunderstorm with thunder and lightning.