4/8/23
We started the day in the drizzle but it held off while we were hooking up the car. We left at 8 am (!!) and drove southwest towards Montgomery Alabama. It drizzled for the first 5 hours of driving with intermittent periods of heavy rain. We did hit the 1000 mile mark in our first hour today! We also saw an alligator along the road but unfortunately he was in the same condition as the armadillo ☹️
We had about a 45 minute stop at a rest area in the afternoon… Paul heard a knocking sound in the passenger area while I was driving. He wanted to make sure nothing was going to fall off, good idea 👍. After consulting the service department of Indian Valley Camping Center (where we bought the rig), he couldn’t find anything but a wire that he zip tied some of the extra length. Probably wasn’t it but we didn’t hear the sound the rest of the way to NOLA. Can I say, bravo Mr. Fixit? 👏👏 BTW, if you are in the market for an RV, definitely talk to Indian Valley. We have called them while on the road and they have been so helpful to us, answering questions and having the service team get back to us. Superb customer service!
Once we got into Mississippi, the rain stopped and we had some clearing skies as we approached New Orleans.
We found St. Bernard State Park with no problem and I must say, quite the lovely park and friendly staff! I would highly recommend this park. They had some recommendations about where to go in the city and also a recommendation for church tomorrow, Easter Sunday.
We set up (not our finest moment…I’m tired and cranky after 8 hours of travel, even tough it was relatively uneventful and no traffic.) After leveling everything and setting up the RV, Paul took Harley for a walk and we got ready to go into town. We took the advice of the park ranger and reserved a parking spot, 2 blocks from Bourbon street. We walked a bit, looking at the sights (people watching) and decided to stop in at Mr. B’s Bistro for dinner. Superb dinner (shrimp and grits for me and mushroom crab pasta for Paul), wonderful staff and a recommendation to go next door for some live music. Next door, 21st Amendment bar, had a great blues band playing and we hung, grooving to the blues. Great start to our New Orleans adventure. “Laissez les bons temps rouler“.
370 miles today plus 35 miles on the car! A long day, a great day! 2 more states on the map MS, LA. Good night New Orleans!
4/9/23: day 7 and one week into the 10 week adventure. Happy Easter Y’all! 🌹🐣✝️
We found a church to attend Easter service in…Poydras Baptist, half a mile from the state park. Such a lovely, friendly group of people. About 40 attendees and a service with a little fire and brimstone along with some praise music from Chris Tomlin. We enjoyed the fellowship and afterwards decided to stay close to the camper today and spend some time with Harley. We took a walk about 1.5 miles on the park nature trail. We thoroughly enjoyed the quiet and listening to birds and frogs in the swamp and picking blackberries 😋.
A day of rest and relaxation before we head into New Orleans for a bit tomorrow. Naps seem to be in order! Relaxing evening and movie night (second time the two of us watched a movie in the RV!).
4/10/23 Day 8 and last day in NOLA
We started out with a leisurely morning and anticipating our last day in New Orleans.
We reserved a parking spot near our end destination, Cochon restaurant where our friend’s son works. OMG what a gorgeous day! We walked about a mile to the Mississippi River near Jackson square. Walking up to the river, we gazed at the glory of where we were, trying to soak up the moment. We continued walking along Jackson square admiring the talented artists that are displaying their creations. We also stopped for a street performance, they are really good at their craft too! 🤪
In our quest for some music and a light bite, we came across Gazebo Cafe which had a 3–piece jazz/blues band playing. Exactly what we were hoping to hear. We hung there for a bit, split half of a muffuletta sandwich… and frozen drinks. Paul was trying to sing along but didn’t know the words so it was like White Fang, from Soupy Sales show, singing (only those our age will get that reference but you have to look it up!).
Yum! Off to Frenchman street which was recommended to us by some locals. Hung out in the street by Spotted Cat bar, listening to music coming from inside, walked to the park, listened to a guy playing the piano in the park, and met a man with a great sense of humor who told Paul he looked like Tom Skerritt and sold us a hat ( for a donation to a food pantry 🤷♀️). Anyway, it was fun and makes for a good memory.
The original plan for the day was to Uber it back to the restaurant for our 5:30 reservation… we ended up walking back on Decatur Street, walked through the French Market and onto downtown.
We love to walk into odd shops, people watch and take in the sights. Paul’s head is on a swivel, taking the sights in and keeping an eye on the surroundings for safety. As we walked there was a gaping hole 3×3 and about 1.5-2 feet deep… Paul’s head on a swivel goes side to side, not typically up and down…
He stepped right into the gaping hole! Where was Karyn to catch this one on video!
It was elegant, fairly graceful and all he could say was “I didn’t see that”… I hope not, otherwise he shouldn’t have walked into it! Happily I tell you that there were no major injuries involved and a sore knee and shin to remind Paul to look down occasionally! 😅
We made it to Cochon restaurant, ready to rest our feet and sore body. We walked at least 3 miles! We hope we can get up from the table after dinner 😬. We saw Max, got some hugs, and caught up for a few minutes when he took his break. Haven’t seen him for almost 10 years and he looked great and seems to enjoy his job. Rabbit and dumplings and crawfish pie were recommended and didn’t disappoint. 😋
After dinner, we did manage to get up and walk a couple blocks to the car.. 16,486 steps today! Early to bed tonight! Off to Houston tomorrow!
We love sharing our adventures (and mis-adventures) with y’all 💖
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