Ocean Springs Mississippi

After spending a week in Jackson Mississippi with Jackie's Aunt Jackie we moved to Ocean Springs. It is about 6 miles east of Biloxi. We are staying in a Federal Park. Davis Bayou Campground. With my Golden Access Pass if only costs $8 per night and that includes water and electricity. We get asked by some of our friends what it costs to park. For the past 2 months we have averaged $12.39 per night. We parked for free for a week at Aunt Jackie's so it helped drop the cost some. I am still getting about 13 miles per gallon pulling the trailer. These pictures are were we are now parked. The picture with the rain was our 2nd day. It poured. There were tornado warnings, which means one has been sighted or radar shows one. Also there were flash flood warnings and we were parked next to a dry creek. We made it but there were a few hours of holding our breath. The campground ground we are in is surrounded by nice wildlife area and walking trails. A 1/4 mile from us is a fresh water alligator pond with this guy living in it. The campground is close to the ocean with a bayou that you can launch a boat and access the ocean. The beaches have beautiful white sand and calm ocean. No waves. Other than the 2nd morning with all of the rain the weather has been calm and warm. A little cool 1st thing but mid 60's to low 70's. The bad news is I have been sick. Had to go to an Urgent Care and after a shot, breathing treatment, ears flushed and a couple prescriptions I am on the mend. Bronchitis again. Third time in the past year. So we have been kinda stuck to the rig. We get out but don't do much more than a driving tour. BUT!! we did go to the Shed. It is a BBQ joint that has been on the tv show Diners, Drive-ins and Dives. Will post a blog on it next. Spoiler alert.......I make better ribs that they do. Some of you have had my ribs and know I make good ribs. I would put mine up against them any day. Not to brag but........

Odds and Ends in New Orleans

Jackie and I weather permitting try and walk 2-3 miles in the morning. After doing that spending 3-4 hrs walking around New Orleans we got a good workout. Here are a few pictures of the French Quarter that I liked. The guys playing music were fun to stand and listen to. I bought one of their CD's. There are so many old and interesting buildings in this town that it is hard to pick some to post. A lot of our friends and family have been here before so they understand how interesting the area is. We didn't go down town at night but it is a different town at night from what we were told. A few years ago I would have been there but now by dark I need my recliner. From what some of the locals told us be careful at night because of pick pockets and purse snatchers. Well thats of for New Orleans. Ocean Springs and Biloxi next.

New Orleans French Quarter

We got to the French Quarter and it was a little warm. So I asked a local, "Where can I get a huge ass beer?" And he said "Just around the corner from that cute ass woman". One of the reasons we go into a bar besides the obvious is you can walk into a cafe and spend $3-$4 dollars on a coffee or something and the waiter doesn't have time to talk. But in most bars you can get a lot of information and meet some of the locals. Heck even once in a while a hug from the bartender. We went to the French Quarter and French Market several times. It is a blast there! We think the best part of our visit there is just walking the streets and taking in all of the old buildings and history of the area. As with most of these type of places is they a lot of shops selling tourist things. Tee shirts, nick-nacks and junk that you can get at any k-mart. We took a trolley ride and got to see some of the town that you can't see just walking. I had bought 3 New Orleans Saints tee shirts in Baton Rouge for $15. I was wearing one and people were coming up and saying they are fans of the Saints and giving me thumbs up. I told them I wasn't a fan of the Saints, just a fan of cheap tee shirts. A few hours later we were walking down the riverwalk and someone yelled, "Hey cheap shirt". They had over heard me telling someone about the tee shirt. We cracked up that many blocks way from where I had said it there were someone who was there. We moved to Biloxi today. Have more New Orleans pics coming.

New Orleans

We have been here a few days now and are having a great time. We are staying at Bayou Segnette State Park in Westwego which is south across the river from New Orleans. I put a few pictures of the park we are staying at. The spots are deep so plenty of room for rig and truck. As you can see some have a wood deck. It is about a 15 minute drive to Algiers to catch the ferry across the river to Canal Street. Ferry is free and parking is $5.00. We wandered around the French Quarter and someone gave us directions to the what is suppose to be the oldest building used as a bar in the USA. As you know I don't like going to bars but Jackie drug me there. The building was built between 1722 and 1732 ( Bill Edwards was just a kid then) and is called Lafitte's Blacksmith Shop. Lafitte was a pirate and a hero of the Battle Of New Orleans. Then walked the streets until I had to have a cup of Gumbo and Jambalaya, good stuff. It was warm here 77 degrees and a little humid. But better than lots of rain and cold weather I guess. More New Orleans to come.

Vicksburg Mississippi Murals

We took a driving tour of Vicksburg and went by the Vicksburg Riverfront Murals. There are 32 murals that depict periods of history. We were impressed how life like they were painted. We drove around some of the old town area and plan on coming back and spend some time here. The picture of the bridges was taken from the Visitors Center on the Mississippi side of the Mississippi River. We have spent the past few days staying at Jackies Aunts house. Her name is also Jackie and at 82 she is one of the most active people I know. You would think she is only in her 60's. We were able to park our rig in her driveway. It gave us lots of time to visit. We moved to New Orleans and will have lots of pictures in the next few days. Weather is a little cool but suppose to warm up. The rv park we are in is a state park and very nice. Water and electric but no sewer. Pepper likes it here. Some wild life wandering around and she saw her first Armadillo walk by and couldn't decide which way to run, to it or from it.

Short stay in Baton Rouge

Baton Rouge is just across the Mississippi River. We had planned on staying there only 2 nights but I found out that 2 of the tires on the truck were on Load Range E and were C which is a lite SUV rated tire. To make a long story short I ended up with 4 new tires at no cost. Even though we were here only a few days had time to see some of the city. The picture of the bridge had a paddle wheel casino in the foreground. We walked around the area and went aboard the casino. Guess what, its just another casino. We went to the Bluebonnet Swamp which is in the middle of town. They have a nice visitor center there and give you a map of the swamp to you can walk several paths. It was enjoyable to wander along the trails and look for the wildlife. (There are no alligators in the swamp which but a damper on my plan to score on Jackie's life insurance. So I wasted money on buying that lucky ham for her to wear around neck. ) We stayed at a rv park that is a county park and had 60 spots and only 6-7 rigs there. We are now in next to Jackson Mississippi visiting Jackie's aunt. She has taken us on several tours of the area, so we have got to see a few of the small town around Jackson. We move on to New Orleans tomorrow and will be spending a week there. Weather has been cool during the day and cold at night. Yesterday was warmer and comfortable. Pepper is liking it here because she can walk around without a leash.

Houston Skyscraper

We went downtown Houston and found the JP Morgan Chase building. They have a observation area on the 60th floor. From there you can see for miles. The building is around 1000 ft tall and I think the 60th floor is around 700-800 above the city. Jackie is scared of heights and couldn't walk to the window and look down. From up here you can see a mix of the old and new buildings. Houston has a good downtown area with lots of shops and restaurants. As with areas like this it is expensive to eat and drink. But we did find a place with some free smells. So I took Jackie there for lunch. I had a burger and she had club sandwich. They both smelled good. We have moved to Baton Rouge and spent a couple days here. Today we move to Jackson Mississippi to visit Jackie's aunt. Going to stay there a few days then back down to New Orleans. For those of you who thought we would never get out of California, we now have been to Oregon, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Louisiana and now Mississippi. We were laughing that it took 2 1/2 months to get across Texas. Damn big state.

Houston!! we have a problem

You knew I was going to say that. We went to the Houston Space museum and it was worth the time and money. I was surprised that only the building where you enter is a museum and the rest of the site is still being used by NASA. We took a 90 minute tram tour. Stopped by the room where launch control was until the 90's. The flag in on of these pictures was taken to the moon on Apollo 14 but as a back up flag. One of the buildings had there mock ups for the space shuttle and space station. They use them as a training aid. Now that the space shuttle has ended the room will be changed over to Orion the next NASA space craft. There are around 10,000 people working here on new projects and ongoing space station projects. 4 miles from here they have the pool where they train for weightlessness. We have moved to Baton Rouge La. Will be here for a few days then on to Jackson Miss. Jackie has family up there.

Battlefield of San Jacinto site

About 5 miles from us is the San Jacinto battlefield. It is just outside of Houston.It was the last battle againt Santa Anna. After the Alamo Sam Houston army arrived and moved in on the Mexican Army hiding behind a tree line and high ground they caught the mexican army on guard. The battle lasted 18 minutes. 630 of the mexican army were killed and 730 captured. The shooting went on for an hour as the Sam Houston army shot the fleeing mexican army. Only 9 Texans were killed and 30 wounded. Very interesting battle. Google it quite a bit of history. There is a monument on the site that has a museum and a elevator up to the 498 foot observation area. The museum is small but has a real interesting collection of historic items. The knife in on of these pictures was Davey Crocketts and from the Alamo. Some of the other pictures show the amazing waterways in and around Houston. The picture with the straight stretch of road, just past the curve is where our rv park is located. Weather has gotten better. Cold in the am but tee shirt after it warms up. We will be here until Sunday the 8th then moving to Jackson Mississippi. Jackie has an aunt there she want to visit. After that dropping down to New Orleans. Found a cheap bead necklace place here. Bought a bunch for New Orleans just in case. If it goes as planned give out a necklace, have a girl flash and then Jackie slaps me upside the head. Repeat until lose consciousness.