John Prince Campground - Day 26

Today was a really busy day for us. We needed to open the cargo carrier on top of the Jeep and that always takes a little extra effort. Well, John does it, I can’t even reach the thing. I just help as he hands thing to me. Our big suitcase (26”) is packed with all our clothing for the cruise. Our carryon will be packed in the am with our laptops and essential items such as medications, etc. Then I have a tote bag with our paperwork and our allotted two bottles of wine. We will only hand over our big suitcase when boarding. All our winter clothing is in reusable bags in the cargo carrier now.

Here at camp, besides getting the suitcases packed, we ate the filet mignon we had in our freezer – with it we had the wine Steven & Saira gave us for Christmas. It was sort of a pre-cruise celebration. The wine was delicious, very full bodied with a lot of berry under tones. We had a simple baked potato and salad with our filet. I think I’ve perfected the filet in a frying pan! The weather was especially nice today so we cooked outside, ate outside, played cards outside and subsequently visited with people who passed by. Ray from Philly was trying to find more Iguanas to photograph. He just missed the big one we saw while eating lunch. Later came John and Pam from nearby Vero, FL (or was it Vero Beach?). They have a new Coleman Travel trailer they are using for just the second time. A nice couple who happen to be Christians. He spoke with a tone and reflection like Soren. I sure made me miss my youngest grandson. John went to fill up on gas and LPG. The LPG was almost still full and they wanted to charge $18 per tank just to check them. He passed on it because we know one is completely full and the other has barely been used. As far as I know, other than last minute things, we are all set for departure in the morning.

So if  you want to follow the cruise blog, here it is:

Cruising!

One of Today's Visitors (about 5 ft)

 Lunch time, celebratory, for our Cruise tomorrow. 

 The wine S&S gave us for Christmas was a 

perfect paring! Thank you again!

John Prince Campground - Jan 25 & 26 - Days 24 & 25

Day 24 -The weather improved greatly today in my opinion, because the drastic winds have stopped.  We enjoyed lunch and playing cards outside. We made a trip to WM thinking ahead about some nonperishable items to buy for the Keys. We assume prices will be extraordinary out there. We sent everything has requested to Lauderdale Pet Lodge, so Tony is all set. We have calculated that we should get up at 7a on Saturday to be sure to make our appointment time for check in for the cruise. We are pretty eager to board the Harmony! I also worked on my albums and feel like I am really making progress. 

Day 25 - I did laundry, which was quite exciting - NOT! We ended up doing it here at the campground. We went in search of a cheaper option but for a variety of reasons that did not happen. I met nice people from Quebec while doing laundry. A whole group of them come for the winter months. I don't blame the but actually, it's too warm for me. We might cut our time short in the Keys if it is this hot and humid there to. 

John Prince Campground - Day 23

The wind has decreased some this morning but it is still too windy to play cards. By noon the wind drove us back inside. At least we could once again enjoy our chairs under the trees watching the lake for a little while. Today we spoke with the man in the old pop-up. He says he is an artist and takes his pop-up to save on hotel costs (makes sense to me). He said he has tons of silicone holding it together but he likes it, has an AC, fridge, and "everything" he wants, good for him. We saw some BIG iguanas. I am making a little progress on my albums, not as much as I thought I would but at least this trip is current and I have put a few pages in the Israel/Egypt album.

Today's Visitors

John Prince Campground - Day 22

We didn't get much sleep last night, somewhat by choice. The storm that has been threatening arrived about 2:30a. We were still awake because 1)  we have not acclimated to this time zone yet and 2) we were watching the lightening make its progress toward us. John went out and put our chairs, basket of table supplies, and tablecloth in the Jeep. We actually debated about doing that but it is a good thing we did because there was quite a downpour. However, by morning it was sunny and nice again, all but the wind. I stayed in most of the day working on albums because I just feel "wind weary" so we are hoping it lets up some by tomorrow. The temperature was a comfortable 76 degrees, other than the constant wind. 

John Prince Campground - Day 21

It is warm and windy today, warm might be an understatement. We had the visitor below go by our camp this morning! Today we took a short drive over to the coast. Everything is very populated by the coast with a high rise everywhere you turn. There is a mixture of homes this side of the Intracoastal Waterway there is a mixture of older homes and low rise complexes that look like more modern condos or townhomes. Older or newer, they all look very expensive. We went to Benny’s on the Beach and ended up having lunch there because it was really the only place to be out of the wind. They had live music so that was fun too. We tried walking on the beach but the blowing sand was brutal. The food sounded great and looked delicious, but it was a little disappointing. However, the view was spectacular. After lunch we took a walk on the pier, a pier that you have to pay $1 each to walk on! They weren’t going to let Tony on the pier but he had his “therapy vest” so it was a go, he was free. There were flags up stating not to swim but there were many people out in the very rough water. We relaxed the rest of the afternoon in camp. Tonight at 8p it was still 77 degrees. We are told we might get thunderstorms tonight, which is fine, we are in for the night. The waitress at Benny’s told us this wind is just from the storm system, that it is typically not this windy this time of year. 

Gila Monster? 

Cute Drink Menu at Benny's

Very Windy at the Beach

John Prince Park, FL - Day 20

Miles 134

We had a couple sprinkles on our windshield today but not enough to even bother with the wipers. We are happy to be here at John Prince Park by Lake Osborne. We have water and electric hookups for $28. a night at a lake side camping spot. We even got one night free for booking a week here. We are not supposed to swim in the lake, not that  we would, because of alligators! They have a sign posted "We have snakes and alligators in our park" so we will be cautious. Some people are camped in tents! Somehow bears seems less threatening than gators. I guess it depends on what you're used to! It would appear Lake Osborne is a favorite fishing spot for a lot of people. We saw many boats like Jeff's here today. There is some sort of bird here that makes a sound like the raptors on Jurassic Park! Haven't seen them yet, only heard them, Tony is not a fan. This morning when we left Melbourne the humidity was 90%, thankfully it is 60% here and 82 degrees when we arrived. It was still very warm by the time we were all set up. There are nice shade trees and a breeze but we did use our AC for about 20 minutes to cool off the inside of the trailer. 

Melbourne, FL - Day 19

Miles 243

This is the third day on the road. Apparently, there was a miscalculation and we will not be to our campsite until tomorrow. John knows I don’t want more than 2 nights at a Wal-Mart, so tonight we are at Cracker Barrel! LOL Just kidding, but it is true I don’t like more than 2 nights without a real campsite to walk around and stretch out. It is good for the budget though. There are 6 other RVs parked at Cracker Barrel. Our travels continued on Hwy 10 today, it was a quick fix to get back on Hwy 10 after the detour yesterday. Near Jacksonville we took 295 to avoid the city and meet up with 95.

We didn’t get to watch the inauguration on TV but I was able to read the speech on Facebook. I liked it and hope he means every word he says. I pray things to improve in our country, I think this is the last real chance we have. Donald Trump was not my first pick for sure but I am backing him now and feeling hopeful. I am certainly sick of people whining about how the election turned out. If all the people who have threatened to leave the country just left, it might be a boost! There are a lot of immature, spoiled people in this country who need to grow up and realize we don’t always get our way. On the other hand, this continued bellyaching might just cause the end of the Democratic Party, so it might not be a bad thing. I used to be a Democrat, but that was back when they were FOR the middle class and didn’t give away anything and everything to people who choose not to work for a living then tax the middle class to death! I feel I can voice my opinion here because few people read it anyway and if I post anything on Facebook one gets attacked pretty quickly by some snowflake brigade. If I was having a glass of wine I would toast to the new President (I’m not but next time I do, I will). 

Tony Likes Having Neighbors

Live Oak, FL - Day 18

Miles 232

Today was just another travel day for us. It was foggy when we got up but seemed to clear off pretty well and there was no stress driving in it.  We were on Hwy 10 all day. We were going to go as far as Lake City but the highway was closed due to some big accident. We couldn't see what was going on very well but it looked like perhaps a burned out semi on an overpass with about 15 emergency vehicles still attending. Anyway, we were detoured off onto Hwy 90 either completely stopped or going 10-15 MPH for a long ways. Therefore, we stopped in Live Oak, FL to spend the night at Walmart again. Thankful for a good and safe day for us. We crossed into Eastern Standard Time zone today so now we are 3 hours ahead of home. 

Our Detour Was Nice

Made it to FLORIDA - Day 17

Miles - 253

Today was a travel day only. It was 77 degrees with 80% humidity when we left Bayou Segnette. I guess that was our sign to hit the road! Once again we didn't get an early start but that's okay, it is vacation! We drove over the Mississippi biding farewell to NOLA for now. I am eager to return here for a real "foodie" tour of the area. The tempting creole tastes will bring me back. We did go to Cracker Barrel for lunch.  We are at WM in Crestview, just east of Pensacola, tonight. You might think we made it across Mississippi and Alabama pretty quickly and you would be right. Double check where Hwy 10 goes and you can see it only passes through the most southern portions of the states so there are not that many miles to travel there right along the gulf. We had dense fog in a few places over water ways. A good portion of Hwy 10 is elevated over bayous, rivers, swamps, and bays.  After entering FL we stopped at a nice welcome center and collected maps and other information for our trip. We were concerned about toll roads but now we know what to do so we are all set in case we encounter any. 

Bayou Segnette State Park - Day 16

Miles -  135 (while staying at Bayou Segnette)

Since we will leave in the morning we needed to get things done today to prepare for that. We made a trip to Walmart for supplies, filled our empty LPG tank, cooked some food for the next few days on the road, did all our laundry, and generally got ourselves ready to go. We have had a nice time here and we would stay here again if we had the opportunity. I cooked  our first food on the new camping stove today. I'm not sure I mentioned I also bought a large griddle that goes on it. That will come  in handy I am sure. We saw turtles today on a log, but when we tried to get closer I swear they looked like they hopped off in the water! We never did get a picture of an armadillo - Tony's nemesis. They are quite camera shy and the pictures we did take didn't turn out. We plan to drive for a couple days now and stop at free places like Walmart, Cracker Barrel, or Pilot. We have a place booked in West Palm Beach so we will be there the entire week before the cruise. It is very difficult to find places to stay in FL unless you book far in advance and FL residents get priority. If we had a large RV we could not be accommodated at this place we secured. Kudos for our Casita! 

Turtles

New Camp Stove

Tidbits From Yesterday - Day 15

There are a few things I didn't mention yesterday that we gleaned from the City Tour. Mardi Gras is BIG - we all know that. There are a number of Mardi Gras flags, I liked the one below as it shows the green, gold, and purple equally. Green for FAITH, Gold for POWER, and purple for JUSTICE. Our driver told us that even if you see Bourbon Street as the spot for Mardi Gras the really best spot is on St. Charles Street. People bring their families, chairs, BBQs, and stay here for the festivities. This year Fat Tuesday falls on February 28, probably a good time to stay away from NOLA if you don't like crowds. St. Charles Street is part of the Garden District. There seven Municipal Districts in New Orleans, the three areas "Uptown" which are called the Garden District, Lafayette, and Carrollton.  The Garden District has the antebellum homes made from Cypress wood from the swam areas, why they have lasted so long. This Garden District used to be a sugar plantation owned by François Livaudais, eventually sold and subdivided and became what it is now. Carrollton Historic District is farthest from the French Quarter, borders the Mississippi River, and used to be a separate town until it was incorporated in 1833. Lafayette architecture is mostly mid-century Revival. There is a vibrant history surrounding the 7 Districts if you want to read about it here.  And lastly, I must mention Magazine Street – 6 miles of shopping! Not for me but can you believe 6 miles of boutiques and shops of all sorts?

If I think of more NOLA tidbits I will add them later!

New Orleans - Day 15

We had a tour of the city today with VIP City Tours. We dropped Tony off for daycare at Shampooch again and took the Algiers ferry over to New Orleans. We decided to walk back to the Cooking School of New Orleans because I really didn’t have a chance to look around their shopping area and get some things I might want. I looked up the Gumbo Filé online and it cost twice as much from Amazon so I wanted to go back for that for sure. I don’t like shopping much but LOVE kitchen stores, different cooking items, and looking at the Louisiana and Fleur de Lis themed items. Anyway, the mind wanders.  

We got a call on my cell phone to see if we were waiting at the Hilton yet for the tour pickup. We were and we were the first ones picked up so we got the front seat, which probably had the best view. We booked this particular tour because the woman who book it told us it went into the French Quarter (it didn’t, only skirted it) and the 9^th Ward (it did) because the bus is smaller and therefore better. We did have a guided walking tour through the St. Louis Cemetery #3, which was interesting. In the 9^th Ward we saw the places nicely rebuilt but also the devastation of the homes abandoned and still in dilapidated condition. We also saw the Musician Village, all rebuilt after Katrina. We drove through the Treme district, the birthplace of Jazz. We saw the 17^th Street Canal that failed, it is rebuilt and looks the same. We drove by brackish Lake Ponchartrain, which we also crossed over on our way here. We did not go on the 24-mile causeway though! The brochure says it is “one of the longest…” Our driver said it IS the longest causeway in the world. Who knows? There are nice areas along this side for family outings, etc. We passed through lovely and expensive homes/mansions in the Garden District – noted to be New Orleans first American neighborhood with many antebellum homes still remaining. I love the architecture with such beautiful restoration. In this area, even the businesses have to “look like a church or home” so they have a McDonalds that looks like a church (we didn’t see it, Anthony our driver told us this).  Our last stop was at the City Park, a lovely, rambling park, which is really lovely with the Live Oaks and Spanish Moss. I finally had my first Beignets at this stop in the park called Morning Call. The menu pictured shows what they serve. By the time I remembered to take a photo only one Beignets was left! So delicious! We had a short walk into the Sculpture Garden then it was time to get back on the bus and the tour was over. This is a lovely City Park with a Story Land, Amusement Park, canoes, paddle boats, and much much more for the people of New Orleans. We got back just in time for the ferry, which was slightly delayed as the Carnival Triumph was leaving port and heading out to sea. Nevertheless, we were able to pick Tony up before 5p. 

I think if we stop here on the way back home I would like to try the Hop On-Hop Off option to compare tours. HOHO would have had upper deck seating and perhaps a better view? Maybe we would have gotten more info on the typically recorded spiel they have on the bigger buses with earphone recordings? I definitely would have gotten better photographs not shooting though a window. After this “brief” visit to NOLA I can see that one would need more than a week if you move at a slower pace like we do. There are many things I would like to see and do here – and I haven’t even touched on the genealogy research I was interested in doing!

Abandoned House Check - 9th Ward

St. Louis Cemetery #3

Beignets

Menu

Bayou Segnette State Park - Day 14

Nothing much to write about today. We relaxed at the campground. John attempted to have one of our propane tanks filled but most things seem closed on Sunday, a nice touch! I organized photos and worked on the album for this trip. I hoped to be working on other albums but there really hasn’t been time yet. It was over cast part of the day but pleasant all day. We enjoyed our leftovers from yesterday! I couldn't pick just one photo of the beautiful sky tonight. 

To God Be The Glory

New Orleans - Our 33rd Anniversary - Day 13

It was really foggy this morning, like it gets at home sometimes. We decided we would take the Algiers Ferry to the city today $2 for a one-way trip, $1 for seniors. Unfortunately, the view was nonexistent due to the fog. It is just a very short ferry ride across the Mississippi into New Orleans. Our first stop was a little tourist booth with a woman who gave us all sorts of information and coupons. Buy on meal, get one free or buy 2 entrées and get a bottle of wine free, etc. We booked a city tour for Monday, which will pick us up near the ferry disembarks and takes us all around the city with 2 walking tours as well. We opted for this instead of the Hop On, Hop Off because it was a smaller bus and went more places. We leisurely walked by many shops, enjoyed the architecture, and took in the sights on our way to Galatoire’s where we had 12 noon reservations. It didn’t take long and we were actually there by 11:30a when they opened so we went early. They have a lovely and lively atmosphere. The ceiling fans and lights are antique and look as old as the restaurant (1905), I guess they are authentic. The fleur de leis wallpaper, though gaudy, really adds to the overall atmosphere. There were 2 lively bachelorette parties going on as well! We started with a bottle of the Galatoire’s house champagne, which was reasonably priced and quite good, not too dry for John along with a warm, freshly baked French bread and butter. For appetizers John had escargot and I had Canapé Lorenzo. John’s was the typical looking escargot one gets on the cruise ship, he said it was delicious. I never had anything like the Canape Lorenzo! It appeared to baked with a very thin crust on the outside and filled with a mixture of succulent crab, breadcrumbs, and other delicious things. Our waiter Adam apologized when he brought it saying sometimes the chef makes them larger and other times – it could have been my entire meal so I only ate about 1/3 of that. Next was a green salad with garlic and mustard vinaigrette. Neither of us finished that but saved it to eat some with our main entrée if we wanted to. For our entrée, John had the filet mignon with Crab Yvonne topping, I had the Crab Yvonne, and we shared potatoes Lyonnaise. Crab Yvonne is delectable crab meat with artichokes and mushrooms cooked together with sauce that is indescribably delicious! We didn’t finish our green salads but we did order a Key Lime tart to share. In addition, our waiter brought us a Caramel Cup Custard with a candle for our anniversary. Unbelievably, even after 2 hours we seemed rushed because we left at 1:55p to get to our cooking demo class in time. A scrumptious meal for our anniversary!

Our next event of the day was at the New Orleans School of Cooking. Food, Fun, and Folklore! It was just a short walk from Galatoire’s. Our class was from 2p-4p. We received a pen and the recipes that will be demonstrated today. Pitchers of iced tea and water were on the table, lemonade and coffee were also at the side of the room in large containers. The chef Pat first gave an amusing talk about the history, people, and food of New Orleans and how the many flavors of different nationalities blended together over the last couple centuries to make the food we eat here today. She was very animated with her story and the 40 or so people in the room all enjoyed it. Our menu was Shrimp & Artichoke Soup, Crawfish Étouffée, and Pralines. After her beginning entertainment of about 30 minutes she began cooking. All the dishes had been started but she demonstrated making roux two different ways, either for the soup or the Étouffée. Everything was almost done cooking and she began on the Pralines, which were amazingly quick and delicious. Right before serving the food they brought pitchers of beer to the table as well. The food was served in medium sized portions, plenty for us since we were still full from lunch. Many people went up for seconds, they serve the food until it is gone, I don’t think it was finished. By now it was a little after 4p and we were getting concerned because we told Tony’s daycare person we would be back by 5p. I texted to let her know we would be later, it was fine with her. We will use her at least on Monday so we can take the tour we booked. Tony was happy enough and she gave him a toy too! Our return views on the ferry were rewarding.

After returning to camp a big rally of decorated bicycles went by, maybe 50 of them! They all had glow-in-the-dark decorations, loud music, and they were obviously having a great time. I forgot to mention the other day there was a Dodge Challenger Rally that went through the park as well. I didn’t see it, John did. There were maybe 15 Challengers and when they got on a straight away in the park the drivers all got out and went one car back, with the last driver coming to the front. I have never heard of that kind of car rally but John said maybe they all want to have an opportunity to drive different Challengers. I guess. We had a full and fun day and of course we are tired. 

Canape Lorenzo

 Filet Mignon with Crab Yvonne

Cooking Demo Class

Mississippi River

Bayou Segnette State Park – Day 12

Yesterday we talked about doing the Hop On-Hop Off bus today but the reality is we are tired. We both had leg cramps in the night (not enough water yesterday no doubt) and we just want to rest some today. Instead, we decided to do a little house cleaning. I cleaned the trailer and John cleaned out and reorganized the Jeep. We needed cooler clothing so this entailed getting into the cargo carrier, dragging down the suitcase, and switching out things. Needless to say, we spent 2-3 hours doing these tasks. Now we are organized again. We ran a short errand into town and got gas and a couple other things. I fixed a nice lunch of ham and cheese omelet and fresh stir fry veggies. When I began to use our ancient camp stove, flames kept coming out of the area around the knobs, so that’s the end of that stove. I don’t mind cooking on the trailer stove, but I just prefer to cook things outside. We are going to attempt to order one on Amazon and have it delivered here to the park. Our neighbor John said he could fix it for us but we told him he could have it! No pictures today. John and Tony are out right now in search of an armadillo to photograph. So far none of the pictures have turned out.

Yesterday … I only wrote about the WWII Museum because that topic deserved to be solely addressed and not discussed along with laundry and dog grooming! Yesterday Tony did get groomed while we were at the museum. His hair is cut a bit shorter for this warm weather, plus it is easier to keep him clean. I took our enormous bag of dirty laundry and worked on that for a couple hours after we got back from the city. I will do laundry again before we leave here since it is free. I met some French speaking folks at the beginning of my laundry adventure and a man from GA at the end. Not much conversation with the French couple, I couldn’t even recall a friendly phrase in my exhaustion from the day! The man from GA was very nice and we talked as I folded my dry laundry. Most people are so interesting and nice. He was asking me about the park and what is here. He said the person who checked them in was “snarky” and didn’t give them any information. We got 4 pages of printed info along with a nice map. He will check that all out tomorrow. Meanwhile, back at camp John and Tony were walking around the campgrounds Tony tried to attack an armadillo! They are not as fast as Tony and John said he was about 4 inches away from it when he reached the end of his leash! Then the biggest surprise of the day was when I returned from doing laundry. To my astonishment there was a plate with two baked potatoes and some sliced beef fillet waiting. Our neighbors John and Debbie from NY brought it over to share. It wasn’t a lot but it was delicious. I was tired and so grateful. I made a salad and we were set for the evening.

National World War II Museum New Orleans - Day 11

Today was the big day at the WWII Museum. I could barely sleep thinking about that and about Mom. She was so pleased, even astonished, that they wanted her handbag. I wish I could have done this before she passed away but I also feel it was more important to be with her than to do this. Even though other things happened today I am not going to mention them. Today is about Mom and her service and the donations to the museum.

As we entered the building we could see this sidewalk and pathway of many bricks with names on them, that alone is emotional. This is the Road to Victory Brick Program, which continued inside as well. Later I asked about this program and a nice lady gave me the information. I asked if I got a brick would they send a photo of it, but no, they don’t do that. I decided I would probably still do it and hope to come back and look at it one day. I want to add that while I browsed the gift shop the same lady (Nancy) found me, gave me her card, and said she volunteers on Thursday’s. If I call the cell number on her card, she would take a photo of the brick and mail it to me. I was so grateful. I am going to look into doing this for both Mom and Uncle Buz. So of course, this is all very emotional. In addition, the volunteer we met outside told me to go see the man in the red shirt a he is a WWII veteran and I could shake his hand, we did. What a personal place this big facility is!  

There is the museum of course with a movie that plays periodically, an enthralling gift shop, and 40’s themed snack bar. Across the street there is a huge theater, it is unclear to me at the moment what goes on there but at times they do have themed shows pertaining to the WWII era at least. Those who know me know that shopping is not my “thing” but a military gift shop is pretty special. We got there early for our appointment so we browsed the gift shop, while they made a call Toni Kiser. She was also ready to see us early and met us at the counter. It happens that her office was being renovated so we used a little area on the side of the entrance counter. At first I thought that was not very personal for such an event and it even seemed awkward but I was wrong. When I opened the box with the handbag and other items, it drew a crowd of volunteers to see what treasures I had. Of course, Toni knew ahead of time that I had Mom’s Army handbag and they did indeed want that. We agreed in a previous phone call I would bring a few other things to see if she wanted them as well. Inside the handbag is what appeared to be a little wallet of sorts with her name stamped on it. It also held a mirror and two dog tags; Mom’s and Uncle Buz’s. Oh boy, it was emotional talking about Mom and then telling them about her brother. It brought back such memories of how close they were all their lives. I shared a little bit about the many Glos cousins who all served during WWII. We sat and thumbed through two albums that belonged to Uncle Buz and they did want both of those. Some photographs were not even on pages, but they wanted them anyway. They also wanted the Vmail sent to Mom from Uncle Buz, a postcard from her cousin Elton serving in Italy at the time, a personal letter Mom wrote to her friend Freda in Rutherford, a ration book with stamps, and actually they wanted everything I brought but the patches. Mom told me the patches were a little collection and when other passed through they would trade them off and save them. Apparently, the museum has plenty of those. One of the volunteers watching was stunned to see a patch that would have been one his father wore! He said he had been looking for one of them for a long time so I gave it to him. He was so grateful and came over to us several times to say how much he appreciated it. I told him I was sure my Mom would be happy for him to have it. About the 3^rd time he came over to thank us he said he figured out that his father’s unit had passed through Fort Oglethrope, GA at some point before going overseas and that must have been how Mom came to have the patch. It just made me very happy to know this man will treasure it.

As Toni filled out the donation paperwork one thing they asked for was Mom’s ending rank.  I did not know. I told Toni I would send a copy of Mom’s discharge papers so they can list her final rank on the items that are displayed. I hope I have Uncle Buz’s too but I am not sure of that. She did not ask for Mom’s obituary, life story, or anything like that but I thought I put it in the box, it was not there so I will also send that later. She said it will take 6-8 weeks to receive a written confirmation and thank you for the donation. She did give me a receipt today for everything donated. Uncle Buz’s items were donated in Mom’s name. It just seemed easier.

There were a couple gentleman sitting at a table with their own personal items. I asked if I could take their photo and the older of the two said only if I give them a hug too. Of course! The younger man was also in WWII but in addition to his items he was there displaying his brother's Purple Heart. I don't think I have ever seen one in person and touched it. It was an amazing day. 

I am sure I will want to add more to this blog but right now I just want to post it and relax for the rest of the evening. It is almost 10p here and I was up at 7a so I am bushed. What a day, only wish I could call Mom and tell her about it. I will be posting photos to FB as well.  

I think Mom's items will be  in the Women in WWII Collection.

Westwego, LA - Bayou Segnette State Park - Day 10

Miles - 221

We are "Happy Campers" today - because we are finally "campers" and not travelers! It was 66 degrees when we left Alexandria and only continued to warm up along the way. We went from an extra blanket at night to sleeping on top of the covers last night! We passed over the Mississippi River twice today, once in Baton Rouge on Hwy 10 after leaving Hwy 49 in Lafayette and then again when we left Hwy 10 to travel on secondary roads and Hwy 90 to get to our campground. We passed multiple rivers, swamps, and bayous along the way. One was Henderson Swamp (7,000 acres and a well known portion of the Atchafalaya Swamp) that had a bridge over it that was several miles long! I believe it said Atchafalaya swamp is the largest swamp in North America. No drought here! I believe it is at least 76 here at BSSP (Bayou Segnette State Park). We only had a few drops of rain during the day and then a mist that did require wipers. Thankfully it was not raining when we arrived and we were all set up when the rain began to fall. The rain only lasted a few minutes. It will be nice not driving every day! I am very excited about our appointment at The National WWII Museum New Orleans tomorrow at 2p. 

We are in campsite #50. As above this is a Louisiana State Park. The amenities are astounding! For the park itself there are two Comfort Stations with restrooms, showers, laundry facilities, and there is one dump station serving the park, all free. Each campsite is paved and has water and electric hookups, Wi-Fi (it is slow), a table, BBQ pit complete with briquettes, fire ring, a deck (due to the surrounding swamp/bayou I'm sure), a lantern, pole, and a fire pit. There are trash cans in between each campsite as well. All this for $20 a day. Please tell me why our CA parks charge a minimum of $35. per night with few amenities? We may have a table a and fire pit, and if we are lucky, pay-for-use showers, and they act like they are doing us a favor? Something to ponder. Our neighbors are from NY, they said there we tons of mosquitoes last night at this same time. Perhaps due to rain they are not out? Yes, there are alligators. Our neighbors were warned to watch their dogs and not let them go swimming in the river nearby, which is a breeding ground! The only thing they have seen are armadillos coming out of the swamp right behind our trailers.

Tidbits from today: Lettering on a police SUV that went by, "Blessed are the peace keepers." We gave our first Casita tour today when we got gas. I think there are enough of them in TX area so maybe there aren't so many requests or they are not so unique! Tony will be groomed tomorrow at PetSmart New Orleans while we have our appointment at the museum. 

Note the Fan Palms

Bayou Segnette State Park, Louisiana

Our Camp

Alexandria, LA - Day 9

Miles 245

The weather has certainly changed. We had a warm night, even took off our extra blanket. I've retired the thin sweatshirt top and have sleeveless for sleeping now! It was very windy in the night, we heard trash can tipping over and blowing by. It is a balmy 66 degrees this morning. As the day progressed we passed into Louisiana and ended up in Alexandria, LA with 75 degrees. It is still windy but did it not create any problems towing the trailer. We just slowed down a bit. We traversed Hwy 37 and 69, which got us back to Hwy 20. From Hwy 20 we took a short cut to 49 on LA3132. Then it was Hwy 49 south at Shreveport, LA. As we passed a turnoff for Leesville I was nostalgic. I hope we can take a side trip on the way back and go by Fort Polk where Jeff was stationed. We visited him there in Feb. 1990, and towed the 1970 Ford Maverick Sport to him while he was stationed there. We were able to spend the weekend near Fort Polk and visit him and introduce his new little brother Steven, then we turned around and drove straight back home!  We are at WM tonight and looking forward to our 5 day stop beginning tomorrow in New Orleans!

Beautiful, thick forests