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.

New Orleans, Louisiana

We are staying at the Jude Travel Park of New Orleans which is about 5 miles from downtown New Orleans. There is another RV park that is right down town, but it is charging $199 a night, or $799 for 5 days, just so one could be closer to the activities.

So much going on here in New Orleans this week. First, there is the Mardi Gras celebration that goes on throughout lent. Then, there are all the Superbowl activities taking place before Sunday's game. (Mardi Gras is temporarily put on hold for Superbowl week.) With so much happening, the police are out in force. They are everywhere.

Since we arrived here last Tuesday, we've had a chance to see some of the Mardi Gras partying.

 Lots of these guys around.

King Cake is a tradition. (They don't put the baby Jesus

inside of the cake anymore for liability reasons.)

Lots of Mardi Gras items sold in countless

small stores throughout downtown New Orleans.

The French Quarters

Lots of Jazz musicians playing their music 

in the narrow streets of the French Quarters.

Young party people on the balconies.

When the Family Motor Coach Association (FMCA) learned that we, as members, were attending the activities this week, it arranged for the local ABC affiliate television station representative to come out to the RV park to interview Jerry for a piece that will show on television later this week. 

Jerry and Blaire after the interview for WGNO-TV in New Orleans.

Jerry also is volunteering for two days at the NFL Experience which takes place each day from Wednesday through Saturday. As a result, he was given two free tickets to the NFL Experience. We took advantage of this and attended the NFL Experience yesterday at the Convention Center.

These are life size statutes of all the teams 

on a display at the NFL Experience.

We saw various Superbowl Rings in a locked display.

We also saw the Heisman Trophy on display and other memorabilia of interest to football fans. I wanted to get at least one autograph from a football player -- and I did. 

Drew Brees of the New Orleans Saints 

signing autographs.

While others were handing Drew Brees footballs,

jerseys, and helmets to sign, we handed him

a page out of the notebook that Jerry 

carries with him at all times. (We think

that he signed DB 9, his number.)

Took this picture of the Superdome (where the game will be played 

on Sunday) from an upper level of a parking

structure while waiting for Jerry to pick up

his volunteer jacket, t-shirt and cap. He had to go

through Homeland Security procedures in order

to become a volunteer.

The Superdome taken as we were driving past it.

We also took some time to visit the local cemetery.

The Lafayette Cemetery No. 1.

Just look at these huge above ground graves

in this old cemetery.

Flowers on the graves.

Other graves are stacked on top of each other.

One other site we visited yesterday was The River Walk along the Mississippi. 

Barges and boats on the Mississippi River.

Inside The River Walk

We are staying here in New Orleans until next Wednesday and plan to update this blog one more time  before we leave here. 

Have a great weekend, everyone.

GO 49ers!!!