South Toledo Bend State Park, Louisiana

We were going to spend a couple of nights in Jackson, Mississippi, but decided to postpone our trip there because of the thunderstorms. Jerry doesn't like driving in storms. So we arrived in Jackson on Wednesday (Feb. 13) to await Dorothy's arrival. (Dorothy is my sister.) We stayed at the Swinging Bridge RV Park in Jackson. There was an actual "swinging bridge" near the park.

Due to its run-down condition,

the "swinging bridge" in Jackson

was closed to traffic.

Picked Dorothy up at the Jackson International Airport at midnight. Because it was so late and we had 300 miles to drive to deliver her to her husband, Dave, in Burkeville, Texas, we decided to take our time getting there. So the next day, we drove from Jackson, Mississippi, to Vidalia, Louisiana, where we stayed for one night. What a lovely park! The River View Park and Resort is located right on the Mississippi River. Wish we could have stayed longer than just one night.

Parked at the River View Park and Resort

in Vidalia, Louisiana

We arrived early enough for Dorothy, Chanti and I to take a 4-mile walk along the Mississippi River.

Dorothy and Chanti along the Mississippi River

in Vidalia, Louisiana

Walkway along the Mississippi River

in Vidalia, Louisiana

Same walkway -- looking in the other direction.

Bridge over the Mississippi River.

Notice the long barge that spans the photo.

Another look at a large barge. We saw

a number of these barges going up and down

the Mississippi River.

On Friday (Feb. 15), we drove the rest of the way and arrived at the South Toledo Bend State Park. This Park is located in Louisiana, but is 3.4 miles just across the border from Dorothy and Dave's place in Burkeville, Texas.

Parked at the South Toledo Bend State Park.

The water from the Toledo Bend Lake is behind us.

The Toledo Bend Lake, at 186,000 acres, is the largest man made reservoir in the South. This State Park is absolutely beautiful. All of the 55 sites are paved and there are many miles of paved and unpaved walkways around the water and into the trees. For $20 a night, we get 50 amp. electricity and water. Right now, there are only 2 other sites occupied.

One of the paved walkways.

One of the unpaved walkways.

Dave has been busy working on his house on the water. He has really done a lot of work so far.

Dave and Dorothy's house -- looking up from the water.

We have taken turns eating together at each other's place every couple of nights. We were with them last night and they are due back here for dinner on Friday night. Lots of fun together.

Dorothy and Dave

We had originally planned to leave here next Tuesday, but have decided to stay four days longer. Only, this time, we are going to move to another state park on the Texas side that is also on the water. It will be free, but there are no services. Since we are self-contained, it will work for us.

Have a great weekend, everyone.

McComb and Meridian, Mississippi

Now into Mississippi - our 33rd state on this east coast trip. Arrived at Dr. Bob and Cheryl's place about 15 miles outside of McComb on Wednesday (February 6) and spent two nights in their drive-way. Had a great time catching up with them. We hadn't seen them in over 30 years. They are good friends of Pat and Bill.

The weather has not been our friend as it has rained off and on for the last six days. And, the forecast is for more rain until Thursday. Lots of heavy rain with lightening and thunder last night. In fact, a tornado touched down last night in a town we had just traveled through on our way here to Meridian. Poor Chanti! Even with three doses of homeopathic anti-anxiety drops throughout the day and evening, she barely settled down.

Driveway leading to Dr. Bob and Cheryl's house.

Parked in their driveway.

Cheryl and Dr. Bob with Hercules and DJ (peaking around the left side). 

DJ stands for "just dog."

Hercules, a German Shepherd.

Since Pat and Bill will be moving here when their house sells in Cambria, we took time to check out where their new pad will be, and to take some pictures of the ponds on the property.

 Had a little fun colorizing this photo. 

(What else could we do with rain clouds like this?)

Same photo angle.

The second pond on the property.

Looking over the first pond towards their house.

Thank you Bob and Cheryl for a great stay. After saying our good-byes on Friday morning, we headed over to Meridian, Mississippi, because Jerry was stationed at the Naval Base here over 50 years ago. He just had to check out the old base. At that time, he was assigned to the Photo Lab and was anxious to see the old Lab. Well, I guess things change. There is no Photo Lab because everything is now digital. Duh!

Nevertheless, he had an appointment this morning to get a tour of the base. A couple of servicemen took him on the tour. But, since it was raining, he didn't get the pictures he wanted to take.

 We took this picture the other day when it wasn't raining.

(We checked out beforehand where he was to meet the 

servicemen for his appointment today.)

Not much more to see in Meridian other than there are 100 carousel horses located throughout the town. Here are pictures of a couple of them.

We leave for Jackson, Mississippi, tomorrow where we are going to pick up Dorothy (my sister) at the airport on Wednesday and drive to the Burkeville, Texas, where her husband, Dave, has been staying to get away from the Minnesota snow. So looking forward to that.

Have a great week, everyone!

New Orleans, Louisiana

Congratulations to the Ravens, though we were disappointed that the 49ers didn't win. Good game none the less!

We are still in New Orleans at the Jude Travel RV Park which was filled for the weekend. The park half emptied out since Sunday, but has now filled up again. Guess these new guests are here to celebrate the last week of Mardi Gras. We will be pulling out of here tomorrow morning, too.

For those who haven't seen the clip that was shown on national television last week, here is a link: (you may have to copy it and paste it into your browser)

http://wgno.com/2013/01/30/hotel-rooms-on-wheels-rvs-invade-new-orleans-for-the-super-bowl/

Not much more to report. We had tickets to go on the Creole Queen Paddlewheeler last night for an evening of jazz music and buffet dinner, while cruising the Mississippi River. Was really looking forward to the evening -- but the rain cancelled the event.

We took a ride around New Orleans to check out the devastation caused by Katrina in 2005. Lots of areas still look pretty bad, but others are on their way to recovery. Here are a few pictures that we took.

Off to Mississippi tomorrow. Have a great week, everyone.