Montgomery...no, Birmingham...no wait, Nashville!!!

Sorry we have been absent. There is a reason: We haven't done much.

We left Biloxi (FINALLY!) this past Saturday. Our thought had been to wander north and spend time in Montgomery, then Birmingham...THEN Nashville. But Mother Nature and her friend, the Polar Vortex, teamed up against us and we rushed north to avoid traveling on sub-freezing days.

The morning we left Biloxi, it was 19 degrees. Our water hose was frozen, and no one was out for their usual morning stroll. It was C-O-L-D!

However, on Saturday and Sunday in Nashville, it did warm up to the 50's during the day, with bright sunshine perfect for travel. But the roadside creeks had frozen, and there were cascades of frozen water down the cliffs lining the freeways.

We settled into the Nashville KOA. Again, it was COLD! Monday morning had a wind chill factor of 12 degrees. Since we are flying back to the west coast in a couple of days, we checked Irv (our RV) into Camping World for for a couple of weeks for some minor maintenance. It's a lot safer than leaving it in an RV park where things could freeze. Then we checked ourselves into Holiday Inn for a couple of days.

Today we tried to visit the Country Music Hall of Fame. But, on arriving at the door, we discovered it is closed on Tuesdays. It was way too cold to walk around Nashville, so we drove around a bit and then went to a movie.

See? I told you we haven't done anything. We don't even have any photos to share. Sorry.

Tomorrow we are flying out to the West coast. Stacy is going to Oakland/Sacramento to see her mom. Jack is heading to Portland for work and family before meeting up with Stacy in the Bay Area on Monday. We are scheduled to return to Nashville on 2/6. THEN we will finally do the touristy things there. Maybe even including The Grand Ol' Opry!

You will want to hear about that, I'm sure!

Biloxi redux, and New Orleans

It has been an entire week since we posted anything.

We are still in Biloxi because li'l Bessie, our truck, is still in the hospital. They were able to repair her rear end, but now her transmission is slipping...and they are going to fix that.  I should have such a great extended warranty!

AND they are paying for our rental car! We are cruising around in a little black Ford Fusion.

Fortunately for us, Biloxi is a nice place to be stuck. The people here are warm and friendly. We know where the movie theater is...in fact, we have been there 3 times. We pretty much belong to a gym here. Jack went to one of the casinos, and won enough to pay for his lunch. There is a great bike trail along the beach, and we took a refreshing (COLD!) ride a few days ago. We have viewed the Katrina memorial wall. We know where to get the best charbroiled oysters, and the best blackened grouper sandwich. We're locals!!!

Many of the HUGE old oak trees lining the beaches in Biloxi were destroyed by Katrina. Rather than tear our the broken trunks, the community decided to leave them in place and carve them into wonderful sculptures. The "can-do" attitude here is amazing. Everyone is looking ahead, and no one is moaning about the past.

A dolphin, rising from a Katrina-sticken Live Oak tree

We told you in our last blog that we had not been allowed to drive through Keesler Air Force Base due to security precautions and budget cuts, even though Jack trained there in the '60's. Well, Jack located a wonderful P.R. person from the base named Susan, who volunteered to give us a private tour. So last Thursday she spent over an hour driving us around the base, and updating us on what she could. It was interesting, and a walk down memory lane for Jack. No photos though.

Due to our mechanical difficulties, we have had to significantly change our travel plans. We had planned to spend 3 nights in Biloxi, then 3 nights in New Orleans.  The RV parks in both locations have bent over backwards to accommodate our ever-changing needs, which has been a real blessing.  But, we still need to see New Orleans.

What the heck?!? Let's go to Louisiana!!

Sunday we decided to drive there in our rental car (only about 90 miles) and spend a couple of days...IN A HOTEL!!! We stayed right in the French Quarter (Canal Street at Royal Street, for those who know the area).

Row houses in the French Quarter

Jackson Square. (Andrew Jackson saved New Orleans during the War of 1812.)

We had red beans and rice and a Hurricane at Pat O'Brien's on Bourbon Street. We walked the French Quarter and Jackson Square, and the dikes along the Mississippi River.

The mighty Mississippi

The Port of New Orleans

We walked through St. Louis Cemetery, with graves dating back to the 1700's

Tombs of families dating back to the 18th century

Some a little worse for wear...

Some quite extravagant

We thought this was neat.

Grave of a woman known as the "Voodoo Queen"....although this is an exclusively Catholic cemetery. Go figure.

We drove down to the Lower Ninth Ward to see first-hand where the levees broke. It struck us both how absolutely terrifying it would have been to be in this low-lying, low-income neighborhood, surrounded on three sides by water, and not knowing where to run.

This morning we had cafe au lait and beignets at the famous Cafe du Monde, while a man with a trombone played Amazing Grace on the sidewalk.

Can't figure out how they got those beasts to stand still for this. We didn't partake.

We walked through the Battle of New Orleans battlefield memorial. In 1815, this was the final battle of the War of 1812 where Andrew Jackson -- teaming up with the pirate Jean Lafitte -- beat back the British to win the war. Some say the prayers of the Ursuline nuns helped, and every year a mass of Thanksgiving is held.

15,000 graves...Mostly American Civil War and War of 1812, but some from WWI, WWII and  Vietnam

We thoroughly enjoyed our time in New Orleans. There was music at every corner, odd and wonderful characters, fascinating history and modern day triumph.

It was wonderful!

Shout out to Alabama!!

Just wanted to note that we passed through the southernmost 50 mile stretch of Alabama.

We will be back!

Biloxi Blues (well, not really)

A million years ago, Jack was stationed at Keesler Air Force Base in Biloxi, Mississippi, so he was especially keen to revisit his old stomping grounds. We tried to get permission to cruise thru the base, but were met with stoney stares and a firm but respectful, "No, Sir. That is NOT allowed". We'll be seeing a LOT of Biloxi, as we've had to extend our stay to have some work done on Bessie, our trusty Ford F-150.

Biloxi white sand beaches, 84 degrees!!!

Since Jack was here last (1967), the Biloxi-Gulfport stretch of coast has been devastated by two major hurricanes: Camille in 1969 and Katrina in 2008. Driving around the east end of the Biloxi peninsula we saw blocks of empty building foundations where the neighborhood was leveled by Katrina and simply not rebuilt. However most of the area has been not just rebuilt, but greatly improved, thanks to a MAJOR effort from the state (and FEMA funds). Everyone we talk to is extremely proud of the Biloxi spirit, and no one seems to be dwelling on the past. The Biloxi area is regaining its reputation as the Riviera of the South, with at least 10 casino-hotels, including a Hard Rock and a Margaritaville Casino-Hotel.

We went to the Biloxi Visitors Center where they had a wonderful 45-minute video of Katrina's devastating blast through town. It was really moving, and drove home how powerful these storms are. Several residents told their individual stories, and they showed dramatic  local footage of before, during and after the "surge".

On Sunday we took a day trip eastward to Dauphin Island, Alabama, a resort area just off of Mobile Bay. Beautiful and pristine white sand beaches, houses built on stilts (that apparently survived Katrina, or they are new), and not much else. On one end, there was Fort Gaines, another defensive installation dating back to the early 1800s. Adjacent to the fort is the Dauphin Island Sea Lab.

Dauphin Island beaches

Beautiful beaches on Dauphin Island

Fishin' in the Gulf

We read that this part of the Gulf of Mexico is one of the largest natural gas deposits in the world.

Fort Gaines, completed in 1862 by Confederate Army

More cold...and Manatees at last!

We left Carrabelle Beach, Florida yesterday. It's beautiful. We'll have to come back some time when it's above freezing.

This is the 1/2 inch thick ice that fell off our roof in Carrabelle Beach... FLORIDA!!

Late Tuesday afternoon, we noticed that our furnace had stopped working. Assuming we were out of propane, we loaded the tank into the truck and drove 25 miles to the nearest propane station, filled 'er up, and came back. Still didn't work. Turned out we had a failed regulator in the system. It was 7:30 at night, temp dropping past the freezing mark, and we had no heat.

Well, went to the warm clubhouse and settled into the comfy recliners, where I promptly fell asleep for the night. I elected to stay there. Stacy went back to the trailer, piled all the covers on the bed, and slept like a baby for the night. When I shuffled back to the trailer in the morning, it was 23 outside and 34 inside. Ahhhh, Florida!

Wednesday, we packed up Irv (our trailer) and drove west to Navarre Beach, near Pensacola. On the way, the great folks at Camping World (the mecca for those on the road) replaced our regulator and we are again "cookin' with gas".

We finally found the fabled white-sugar-sand beaches of Florida. We drove past mile after mile of them on the way.

While we were in Carrabelle, we drove to Tallahassee one day. It's the state capitol and home to Florida State University, whose Seminoles would beat the Auburn Tigers that very night for the BCS college football national championship. It was too cold to walk around, but we did a driving tour.

Boardwalk to Carrabelle Beach

Carrabelle Beach (NOT one of the fabled site sand beaches, but beautiful still)

On the way to Tallahassee we went to Wakulla Springs State Park where we -- FINALLY! -- saw Manatees in the wild. Wakulla Springs is the largest of the warm water gulf springs where Manatees spend the winter. It emits 200-300 MILLION gallons of water each day! There must have been 30-40 of the big mamas swimming -- well, mostly just lying around -- with their babies in the crystal clear water. But it was VERY impressive, these 1,000-3,000 lb. mammals surfacing every couple of minutes for a new breath of air. They are not terribly active animals, and are most closely related to elephants and aardvarks. It says when they migrate, they move at 2-10 miles per hour. I guess they don't go far.

Historic 1930's resort retreat, a lodge, swimming and boating. Very pretty. And, did we mention, COLD!!

Yes, that white blob is a manatee surfacing!

A lovely vintage lodge, still in operation, right above the Springs

We also had some unbelievable seafood, both in little gulf side restaurants and on our own grill. I put a fish called Tripletail (aka Blackfish) on the Weber one night and it was absolutely fantastic! They told us that 90% of all Florida oysters come from a little port called Apalachicola, just up the coast from us. Honestly, oysters from the gulf are the best I've ever tasted!

The bridge to St George Island....BEST OYSTERS at the Blue Parrot Cafe!!!

When we stopped in Panama City to get the propane problem fixed, we went for lunch at a place called Hunt's Oyster Bar. Now this place was the real deal! I'm sure we were the only tourists. We sat at the bar in front of three surly guys shucking oysters. Jack's were raw (6 for $4.50), Stacy's fried...and they were fantastic, with all the gritty atmosphere you'd expect.

Stacy just loved these signs and wanted to put it in somewhere. So here it is for your musical enjoyment. :)

So, now we are parked in a beachfront spot in Navarre Beach. More to come.

Holy #^@*&!... IT'S C-O-O-O-O-L-D!!

After more than a month in the 80-degree warmth of south Florida and the Keys, we are now in north-central Florida. I guess the storms that are ripping through the northeast are finding their way down here too. We woke up this morning and it was...wait for it... 30 DEGREES! Really a shock to the system! Looks like we will be going back to long pants and sweaters, if not coats, for a while anyway.

Cold weather aside, yesterday we went to an absolutely beautiful place called Manatee Springs State Park. It is a warm water spring that pumps 100 million gallons a day of 72-degree spring water into the historic Suwanee River via a 300-yard-long river. In winter when the Gulf of Mexico water cools down, Manatees take refuge in the warmth of this bucolic river.

It really was a beautiful place. The water was almost eerily clear, and the whole area was under a canopy of moss-laden cypress trees. We didn't see any Manatees or gators, but plenty of tropical birds, turtles and other wildlife.

Manatee Spring. Those "stumps" sticking up are called Cypress Knees, and are actually part of the Cypress Tree root system. 

This is the spring origin. The ultra clear water is over 25 feet deep.

You can actually swim in the spring during the months when Manatees are NOT here. But...would YOU?

New Year's Eve, 2013 Tampa Bay, Florida

Happy New Year!!!!

We were so blessed to be able to get to the Tampa area as 2013 wound down because one of Stacy's oldest friends, Kathy Rapp, lives here, and we got to ring in the new year with Kathy and her family.

The "Girls"

Kathy and Stacy were cheerleaders together long ago, and have kept in touch over the years as life's changes have moved us around the country. Kathy, her wonderful husband, Jim, and their great kids, Lindsay and Austin, welcomed us into their home and then Jim and Jack beat us SOUNDLY at a rousing game of Pictionary. (Yes, we DO know how to party down, don't we?)

Jack, Stacy, Kathy and Jim...midnight, 12/31/2013

The lovely Rapp family, plus Scout (who really wanted a biscuit!!)

On our way here, we did stop for one night at Lake Okeechobee. We didn't see much of it because it is surrounded by a really large berm and several waterways. But we understand it is one of the largest fresh-water lakes in the U.S.

Lake Okeechobee, Clewiston, Florida

We are heading north now, it is pouring rain and getting colder,  and Jack keeps saying "I like it better when it's warm". He misses the Keys already.  But, we have new adventures to discover!