We made it to Bradenton only to find out that Dad lives in Palmetto!! hmmmm. So we will change rv parks so we are a bit closer. We had a great visit and i was able to spend time with my Dad and my step mom. Haven't spent any time with my Dad and step mom for years. So it was great to get to know them better. You'll never guess what we did!!! That's right, we went out to eat!! Then the next day, we ate dinner in! Then we stayed home and ate, then we went out to eat again! I won't need to eat for 6 months by the time we get back to AJ. We left there on Thursday and stopped at a rv park just off the Jekyll Island scenic drive. We spent the whole day Friday walking, driving and EATING on Jekyll Island and Saint Simon Island. We were going to do a trolley tour of Saint Simon Island, but found out they had cut out the tour we were going to take, so we walked around and went out on the fishing pier. Watched people catch all kinds of things. One guy caught a snake! He wasn't too enthused about taking it off the hook either. Another woman caught a HUGE horseshoe crab, and that wasn't just all, it brought along a mate, literally, it was mating with another horseshoe crab!! Now that was a sight. Those things are huge. We also sat and watched some dolphins playing in the water close to the pier. We also walked along a deserted beach and there was another dolphin just lazing along the shore. It was perfect!! The weather has been terrific and we have been following some terrific sun. Hot and muggy, but no rain, no wind to speak of, and no more alarms!!
There is one thing I added to the blog for Lafayette. If you have the urge, please go see my video. It's pretty cute.
Will continue the next time we have internet access. We decided to skip South Carolina. Can't really get close to the beach and if we run into some historical sites on our way north, we'll stop along the way. Otherwise, we are headed to North Carolina!! Tomorrow nite we'll be back in our favorite rv park - Wal-Mart!
Saturday, April 25, 2009
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Beaches, Birds, and uh oh, alarms??? #4
4/11/09
Drove out to dauphin island and visited an old fort where they fought the civil war. This is where Captain Farragut coined the phrase “damned the torpedo's, full speed ahead.” the union navy was attacking the confederate fort gaines that was protecting mobile bay. The guns and history of the battle were really interesting, and the fort was set up with many cubbys and storage areas for ammunition. Also it housed between 400 and 500 soldiers. We couldn't believe it would have held that many people, it wasn't very big at all.
Afterwards, we headed to battleship memorial park outside mobile.
We did a partial tour of the USS Alabama battleship. Dang, I'd never find my way around that place, it's HUGE!! there was also an aviation museum where many of the navy planes and world war II planes were shown. They even had a flight simulator you could try out. Neither of us did, however, just too weak stomached!
We returned to the RV park and went to bed early because we were really tired from walking and climbing around the battleship.
4/12/09
We headed toward Destin and the beach and campground there. The wind was pretty bad so we ended up canceling our reservation at Henderson Beach State Park. Taught me to not make reservations until I KNEW FOR SURE we would make it. Anyway, we pulled into a trusted WAL-MART and spent the next 2 days there to wait out the storms that went thru. It worked out great since the storm went thru and we had great weather when we did get on our way. We also got haircuts, a very important activity at the time. We are now lifetime members of the Wal-Mart RV club. Unfortunately, they are much more expensive than many other RV parks. Can't stay out of those danged stores!!
4/13/09
WAL-MART
4/14
Left Wal-Mart and headed to Destin. We LOVED Pensacola beach. As we were parking the rig, I saw a bird sitting on the fence. It was with a trailer where there was a man and woman and large weimereiner dog. The bird was a Macaw! Gorgeous! Naturally, I went over and talked with the people and asked if I could take pics of the bird. His name is Tito! I took video and photo's. It was fun to watch Tito and the dog. They are very fond of each other and play together a lot. The people told me that they go everywhere with them and when they go to the grocery store, the dog would sit on one side in the front seat and Tito on the other side watching out the window for their parents to return. What a picture that would make. Hey Pearl, wouldn't that be a good shot??? lol 
After my fill of photo's, I joined Nan on the beach with Trav. It was white sand, very few people and long ways to walk. Trav loves beaches. He says it is so nice on his paws. No stickers, no rocks, no pickers, just soft, soft, soft. I would have liked to stay longer, but we were told to definitely go to Destin beach. So, we headed to Destin. We hit Fort Walton and were overwhelmed with people on the beaches. It was so crowded, we didn't even try to find a place to stop. As we were driving thru Ft. Walton Beach, we came on a place advertising as the Gulfarium. Sounds like a sea critter place to me. “Wanna stop”, “sure”, “great”. So we pull in and go see what its about. Well, it was exactly what we thought it was. An acquarium with shows and stuff. We paid to get in, $20 whew!! oh, well, we wanted to see what it was about. 
We saw little shows with dolphins and sea lions. There were penguins and sharks and sting rays. We both enjoyed the shows. I always enjoy sea world like shows with dolphins.
They are fantastic creatures. And cute too! I took lots of video and pics. When I get somewhere where we will be a few days, I will convert the videos and put them in the blog. Some of them are really fun. Afterward we continue on to Destin where we were greeted by tons of people. We both are rather fond of empty beaches. So we kept on going. Guess where we ended up this nite? Yep. Our member park. WAL-MART in Panama City. We were both tired and it seemed a good place to stop. I did pull into a Sam's first, but Nan wasn't happy because she couldn't shop at Sam's. We don't have a membership to Sam's. So I turned around and we found a real WAL-MART and Nan was now happy. And you all know, my only goal is to make Nan happy!!! So, off she went, happy as a lark, into the store.
4/15/09
Today! We drove along the seashore all day. Found some terrific beaches, no people, and white sand for as far as you could see. We found a place to pull off. Nan said it was for handicapped parking and I told her that we WERE handicapped because we couldn't park anywhere else cause we were too big. She gave in and we walked the beach for a while and Trav RAN! What a boy! He is being sooooo good.
Nan went back to the rig cause her knee was aching a little and I went on to walk further down the beach. Trav and I went about another ¾ mile and then came back. We ate lunch and then continued on our way.
We had another suggestion to go see St. George Island. So we parked the RV in a parking lot and unhooked the car and drove over to St. George island. We drove from one end to the other and then back to the rig. Hooked up and on our way again. We started getting an alarm but no warning lights so we had no clue what the alarm was about. So, I read the manual and decided to drain the water from the dryer. OK, go into the cubby where the dryer was, open the vent, and what I thought was supposed to be water, was gas!! oh, no!! Can't get the valve closed! What am I gonna do now? What the hell did I do? OK, now think, what else can I do to stop the flow of gas? Block the valve with my finger. Now, what? Read the instructions on the filter/dryer. OK, that didn't work, try turning the valve the other way, hmmmmmmm, that worked. I was turning it the wrong way, I love it when I figure something out that I was dumb enuff to do in the first place!! whew! And Nan didn't even know what I did! And I ain't tellin her! Start the rig and see if there are leaks, YIKES!! OK, so I didn't figure it out. Now, try again, “Nan, start the engine.” uh oh, it won't start! It says to manually work the pump to prime, WHAT PUMP??? what now? OK, I got in the rig and just pumped the pedal until it finally started. And it didn't leak? Dang, am I lucky! So, off we go, alarm still came on. Went off in a few minutes and hasn't come on again since. We'll see how long we can last without another alarm scaring the crap out of us. I had called an RV park that is a passport park and made reservations when he told me he could get us a spot on the waterfront. YIPPEE!!!! Nan, however, was very skeptical. Passport parks are usually passport parks because they don't' get much business. Dang it, Nan, don't be so pessimistic. Think good thoughts. OK, so the park isn't the nicest park we've been in, but we ARE on the waterfront. It's not all that bad, I have Internet access. We can't walk the beach cause there isn't one. It's all rock. Oh well, we will be able to see a great sunset and listen to the lapping water all nite. We are going to take a drive tomorrow in the car and go to another beach not too far away. Hopefully, that will be a bit better. But we aren't too disappointed. We have water, electric, sewer and waterfront. What else could we want?? Wal-Mart doesn't have all that!!! We are staying 2 nites here and then going to another waterfront RV park in Homosassa, FL from here. There, we are going to see the manatees. There is some sort of tour or something about seeing manatees. So that's where we are headed from here. After that, we'll get into Bradenton, FL where my dad and his wife live. This part of the new trip is going pretty good. We are loving the sights and the water and the beaches.
Hope everyone is having a great summer, that is if your summer has started yet!!!
hugs and love to all.........
Drove out to dauphin island and visited an old fort where they fought the civil war. This is where Captain Farragut coined the phrase “damned the torpedo's, full speed ahead.” the union navy was attacking the confederate fort gaines that was protecting mobile bay. The guns and history of the battle were really interesting, and the fort was set up with many cubbys and storage areas for ammunition. Also it housed between 400 and 500 soldiers. We couldn't believe it would have held that many people, it wasn't very big at all.Afterwards, we headed to battleship memorial park outside mobile.
We did a partial tour of the USS Alabama battleship. Dang, I'd never find my way around that place, it's HUGE!! there was also an aviation museum where many of the navy planes and world war II planes were shown. They even had a flight simulator you could try out. Neither of us did, however, just too weak stomached!We returned to the RV park and went to bed early because we were really tired from walking and climbing around the battleship.
4/12/09
We headed toward Destin and the beach and campground there. The wind was pretty bad so we ended up canceling our reservation at Henderson Beach State Park. Taught me to not make reservations until I KNEW FOR SURE we would make it. Anyway, we pulled into a trusted WAL-MART and spent the next 2 days there to wait out the storms that went thru. It worked out great since the storm went thru and we had great weather when we did get on our way. We also got haircuts, a very important activity at the time. We are now lifetime members of the Wal-Mart RV club. Unfortunately, they are much more expensive than many other RV parks. Can't stay out of those danged stores!!
4/13/09
WAL-MART
4/14
Left Wal-Mart and headed to Destin. We LOVED Pensacola beach. As we were parking the rig, I saw a bird sitting on the fence. It was with a trailer where there was a man and woman and large weimereiner dog. The bird was a Macaw! Gorgeous! Naturally, I went over and talked with the people and asked if I could take pics of the bird. His name is Tito! I took video and photo's. It was fun to watch Tito and the dog. They are very fond of each other and play together a lot. The people told me that they go everywhere with them and when they go to the grocery store, the dog would sit on one side in the front seat and Tito on the other side watching out the window for their parents to return. What a picture that would make. Hey Pearl, wouldn't that be a good shot??? lol 
After my fill of photo's, I joined Nan on the beach with Trav. It was white sand, very few people and long ways to walk. Trav loves beaches. He says it is so nice on his paws. No stickers, no rocks, no pickers, just soft, soft, soft. I would have liked to stay longer, but we were told to definitely go to Destin beach. So, we headed to Destin. We hit Fort Walton and were overwhelmed with people on the beaches. It was so crowded, we didn't even try to find a place to stop. As we were driving thru Ft. Walton Beach, we came on a place advertising as the Gulfarium. Sounds like a sea critter place to me. “Wanna stop”, “sure”, “great”. So we pull in and go see what its about. Well, it was exactly what we thought it was. An acquarium with shows and stuff. We paid to get in, $20 whew!! oh, well, we wanted to see what it was about. 
We saw little shows with dolphins and sea lions. There were penguins and sharks and sting rays. We both enjoyed the shows. I always enjoy sea world like shows with dolphins.
They are fantastic creatures. And cute too! I took lots of video and pics. When I get somewhere where we will be a few days, I will convert the videos and put them in the blog. Some of them are really fun. Afterward we continue on to Destin where we were greeted by tons of people. We both are rather fond of empty beaches. So we kept on going. Guess where we ended up this nite? Yep. Our member park. WAL-MART in Panama City. We were both tired and it seemed a good place to stop. I did pull into a Sam's first, but Nan wasn't happy because she couldn't shop at Sam's. We don't have a membership to Sam's. So I turned around and we found a real WAL-MART and Nan was now happy. And you all know, my only goal is to make Nan happy!!! So, off she went, happy as a lark, into the store.4/15/09
Today! We drove along the seashore all day. Found some terrific beaches, no people, and white sand for as far as you could see. We found a place to pull off. Nan said it was for handicapped parking and I told her that we WERE handicapped because we couldn't park anywhere else cause we were too big. She gave in and we walked the beach for a while and Trav RAN! What a boy! He is being sooooo good.
Nan went back to the rig cause her knee was aching a little and I went on to walk further down the beach. Trav and I went about another ¾ mile and then came back. We ate lunch and then continued on our way.
We had another suggestion to go see St. George Island. So we parked the RV in a parking lot and unhooked the car and drove over to St. George island. We drove from one end to the other and then back to the rig. Hooked up and on our way again. We started getting an alarm but no warning lights so we had no clue what the alarm was about. So, I read the manual and decided to drain the water from the dryer. OK, go into the cubby where the dryer was, open the vent, and what I thought was supposed to be water, was gas!! oh, no!! Can't get the valve closed! What am I gonna do now? What the hell did I do? OK, now think, what else can I do to stop the flow of gas? Block the valve with my finger. Now, what? Read the instructions on the filter/dryer. OK, that didn't work, try turning the valve the other way, hmmmmmmm, that worked. I was turning it the wrong way, I love it when I figure something out that I was dumb enuff to do in the first place!! whew! And Nan didn't even know what I did! And I ain't tellin her! Start the rig and see if there are leaks, YIKES!! OK, so I didn't figure it out. Now, try again, “Nan, start the engine.” uh oh, it won't start! It says to manually work the pump to prime, WHAT PUMP??? what now? OK, I got in the rig and just pumped the pedal until it finally started. And it didn't leak? Dang, am I lucky! So, off we go, alarm still came on. Went off in a few minutes and hasn't come on again since. We'll see how long we can last without another alarm scaring the crap out of us. I had called an RV park that is a passport park and made reservations when he told me he could get us a spot on the waterfront. YIPPEE!!!! Nan, however, was very skeptical. Passport parks are usually passport parks because they don't' get much business. Dang it, Nan, don't be so pessimistic. Think good thoughts. OK, so the park isn't the nicest park we've been in, but we ARE on the waterfront. It's not all that bad, I have Internet access. We can't walk the beach cause there isn't one. It's all rock. Oh well, we will be able to see a great sunset and listen to the lapping water all nite. We are going to take a drive tomorrow in the car and go to another beach not too far away. Hopefully, that will be a bit better. But we aren't too disappointed. We have water, electric, sewer and waterfront. What else could we want?? Wal-Mart doesn't have all that!!! We are staying 2 nites here and then going to another waterfront RV park in Homosassa, FL from here. There, we are going to see the manatees. There is some sort of tour or something about seeing manatees. So that's where we are headed from here. After that, we'll get into Bradenton, FL where my dad and his wife live. This part of the new trip is going pretty good. We are loving the sights and the water and the beaches.
Hope everyone is having a great summer, that is if your summer has started yet!!!
hugs and love to all.........
Friday, April 10, 2009
and so the story goes..... post #3
So, my last post was a couple of days ago, well, about 5 days ago. We left Lafayette on Tuesday after my new phone was delivered. We headed for New Orleans and see some of the city for a day before we left again. When I went out the next morning I found chunks taken out of my front tire! Found us a tire store, goodyear, wingfoot. Finally found the place and they were highly recommended by previous customers with rv's. needless to say, we were going to have to get 2 new tires, I couldn't believe it. I have watched the tires so closely and had the correct amount of air, according to the load tables. Damn, the roads in Louisianna are so rough, i guess it knocked the allignment right out. We had a few other things happen on our way. The automatic traction lite kept going on along with a warning lite. What the hell was that all about? I figured it was from the rough roads, but it didn't stop when the road got better. Then, I started losing power to the point I almost didn't make it up a short small hill. So, find somewhere to check that out. We also got someone to recommend a Cummins facility and that's where we took her. Sure enuf, she had 22" of fuel line blocked. Bad gas? Had to get 2 new fuel filters. They were terrific about getting us in right away so we could get on our way. Hmmmm, well, the tires came in the next day so we took her over to get new shoes. Can't get new shoes without getting an allignment. So, go to another place to get alignment. What do you think we'll remember about New Orleans when we look back on this trip? $2500. We did get to the French Quarter for a while while Tillie was getting new shoes. It was very interesting and a lot of very good beneighs. MMMmmmmm, powdered sugar! We did go to Cafe du Moines. Beneighs were fabulous. Made it worth the walk around the French Quarter.
Needless to say, when we were finished with the allignment, we headed out of dodge. We were hoping that if we got out of Louisianna, we'd find a bit more luck. The first sign was at a filling station where we found deisel for $1.97/gal. Can you believe it?? We were just amazed. Then we drove along the beaches thru Gulfport on to Mobile. That was fantastic. We finally had to stop and walk along the beach for a while. It was terrific. We can't wait til we can get to Fort Walton and Destin where we plan on spending a few days at the beaches there. We also decided that getting a new rig was only a few systems repairs away. So Tillie is soon going to be REBORN!
We decided to abandon our previous trip and begin a new trip in Mississippi. So far, it has been great!!! Hope everyone is doing well. We are hanging in there and are able to laugh at the continuing string of adventures and events we've had to work thru. Now we will begin our REAL trip. Probably will get to Florida in about 4 days or so, depends on how long we decide to stay at any place along the way. We're all doing great and look forward to beaches and beaches and lots of great weather!! We are going to see a fort on Dauphin Island tomorrow, maybe to tour the USS Alabama in Mobile or whatever else we might see along the way. We are ready to see real historical sites instead of service and repair shops. :) :) :)
Oh, I forgot to tell you, we found a really cool place just outside of Slidel, LA. It was a Pelican Emergency Care Clinic. We were amazed! There are so many pelicans here they have an emergency clinic for them!!!
Needless to say, when we were finished with the allignment, we headed out of dodge. We were hoping that if we got out of Louisianna, we'd find a bit more luck. The first sign was at a filling station where we found deisel for $1.97/gal. Can you believe it?? We were just amazed. Then we drove along the beaches thru Gulfport on to Mobile. That was fantastic. We finally had to stop and walk along the beach for a while. It was terrific. We can't wait til we can get to Fort Walton and Destin where we plan on spending a few days at the beaches there. We also decided that getting a new rig was only a few systems repairs away. So Tillie is soon going to be REBORN!
We decided to abandon our previous trip and begin a new trip in Mississippi. So far, it has been great!!! Hope everyone is doing well. We are hanging in there and are able to laugh at the continuing string of adventures and events we've had to work thru. Now we will begin our REAL trip. Probably will get to Florida in about 4 days or so, depends on how long we decide to stay at any place along the way. We're all doing great and look forward to beaches and beaches and lots of great weather!! We are going to see a fort on Dauphin Island tomorrow, maybe to tour the USS Alabama in Mobile or whatever else we might see along the way. We are ready to see real historical sites instead of service and repair shops. :) :) :)
Oh, I forgot to tell you, we found a really cool place just outside of Slidel, LA. It was a Pelican Emergency Care Clinic. We were amazed! There are so many pelicans here they have an emergency clinic for them!!!
Sunday, April 5, 2009
to Lafayette...........um, um, well, almost! #2
We decided not to spend the 2 nites at Livingston since we weren't all that impressed with the campground. It certainly wasn't what we imagined it to be. So, I found Nan a casino in Lake Charles right on the water, so there's where we headed. After a serious thunderstorm in the morning, we struck out around 10am. We arrived at Lake Charles without mishap!!! Yeah!! As we exited the hiway, we made a turn too soon and ended up on a dead end street! Disconnect the car, turn around, and drive to the real casino, right on the beach (and directly UNDER the bridge that goes over the water!! Hidden among the commercial areas was a train track, and oh, what a train it was, quite close and quite LOUD!! but Nan went and gambled and she didn't know what we were in for that nite. I met her for a buffet that was $18/person, it MUST be good, right??? NOT!!! After dinner, we walked around the casino and I played the penny machines for $1. Then we walked back to the rig and vegged for a few hours til it was time for bed. Bed you say?? HA! well, we were in bed, but never shall there be a time for sleep. Trains, trucks, cars, AAARGH. Next morning, we started out for Lafayette again. All was well until we got about 20 miles from the casino when Kath realized her phone wasn't in her pocket where it was not 20 miles ago. Disconnec the car, drive back to the casino, find phone AND keys to rig lying on ground in parking lot. Phone still works, but cracked screen. Good think we are up for New every Two. Returned to the rig and ReConnect the car, and head for ......guess where???? ..... yep..... Lafayette!!! This time, we made it.
We Disconnected the car, backed in, got set up, and we were SAFE. At least for the time being! Was great to see Viv and LR. They are the same as they ever were. All Cajun!!! We were exhausted, so hit the hey early. Ahhhhhh, out in the country, no traffic, no trains, no..... WHAT??? 3am what do we hear????? a DAMNED ROOSTER! can't believe it! Told Ryan, (neighbor with rooster, that rooster was being served the next nite for dinner!) Saturday, we spent the day at friends wayyyy out in the country.
(LR, Kim, Ms. Jeanne, Terry, Viv, Nan) Went for a ride over to a ranch and on our way in the driveway, there was a cow giving birth!! What excitement! Thankfully I had my video camera with me and we stood around for an hour watching her giving birth. First time for me for anything giving birth. What an experience! And got it all on tape. What a mess, and what a cute baby. We discovered why cows are so dumb, they lay for a long time without oxygen to the brain! So, they are brain dead from the beginning!!! Finally the baby moved and mama got her up. Took a great deal of trying and falling and trying and falling, and it was sooooo funny to watch. 
Eventually she got up and then it was another trying experience to find the teet!!! Very interesting stuff, that was.
We Disconnected the car, backed in, got set up, and we were SAFE. At least for the time being! Was great to see Viv and LR. They are the same as they ever were. All Cajun!!! We were exhausted, so hit the hey early. Ahhhhhh, out in the country, no traffic, no trains, no..... WHAT??? 3am what do we hear????? a DAMNED ROOSTER! can't believe it! Told Ryan, (neighbor with rooster, that rooster was being served the next nite for dinner!) Saturday, we spent the day at friends wayyyy out in the country.
(LR, Kim, Ms. Jeanne, Terry, Viv, Nan) Went for a ride over to a ranch and on our way in the driveway, there was a cow giving birth!! What excitement! Thankfully I had my video camera with me and we stood around for an hour watching her giving birth. First time for me for anything giving birth. What an experience! And got it all on tape. What a mess, and what a cute baby. We discovered why cows are so dumb, they lay for a long time without oxygen to the brain! So, they are brain dead from the beginning!!! Finally the baby moved and mama got her up. Took a great deal of trying and falling and trying and falling, and it was sooooo funny to watch. 
Eventually she got up and then it was another trying experience to find the teet!!! Very interesting stuff, that was. Viv had stayed behind and cooked up some Crawfish e'tuffe' (spel????) Lounged around and had a great time before heading back to the rigs and heading to bed. Ahhhhh, at least most of a nite's sleep this time. Off to breakfast. Be back later........
LR AND VIV say hi to all their friends.
More to come...........
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