Dec 15, 2011 Ernie's Weatherford TX

We left Betty's in Abbeville, LA, yesterday morning by 8:30 - knowing we had two long days of driving ahead of us.  We drove to Tyler TX where we stayed at a so so RV park - it was ok for a night, but wouldn't want to stay there longer!!! 

Got up this morning to pouring rain - and 160 miles to go, through Dallas and Fort Worth...to Weatherford.  It was terrible driving and very heavy traffic, but we were here by noon!  We are set up in Ernie's driveway, and we are having the floors re-done in the motorhome.  The carpet is shot, since it has not been replaced since 1997, so 14 years old, and we do live in it!  We are excited to get new! 

I will do before and after pics side by side...it is gonna be gorgeous!  Oh yes, we are not replacing the carpet in the bathroom (don't you hate carpet in a bathroom?), we are putting wood in and will either match it to the kitchen (pretty near impossible) or put in some type of light wood. 

This is our beautiful granddaughter, Ariel - ready for her performance in A Christmas Morning at school.  I wish we could have seen it - her mama said she did great!

Dec 13, 2011 Betty's RV Park, Avery Island

We arrived here in Abbeville, LA at Betty's RV Park, and it is everything we heard about.  Betty is a wonderful warm, welcoming lady, and the 4:30 happy hour is just that - each couple brings what they want to drink, from ice tea to scotch (me, I took wine:), and something to munch on.  What a kick it was!  There was lots of munchies, and didn't break up until after 6...both nights!  Met some terrific people!

Today after we got moving (at the crack of 10 am), we headed out to Avery Island, the home of the McIlhenny Tabasco company.  The tour was very interesting, and we did learn some things - about Tabasco, how they make it, and the different varieties they make now.  For example, they now make a buffalo hot sauce that David likes, as well as a habanero blend - whew hot hot hot!  I particularly liked the spicy teriyaki version - and bought a bottle of it. 

One of the interesting things we found out is that there is a salt mine under the island - they have drilled down more than 2200 feet and still didn't make it through the salt!    They use the salt in the Tabasco, and they also put a layer on top of the barrels which ferment for 3 years - very interesting. 

However, the best thing was the 'store' next door, where any and everything Tabasco is sold!  David sampled Chili, and 9 different varieties of hot sauces, and then he had jalapeno ice cream...no wonder his tummy was upset this afternoon!  Whew!  We did indulge in a few things, but didn't break the bank :) 


We then drove all around this parish!  Lots of swamp and water - thought about taking an airboat tour, but it is just not the season for it.  We ended up going to Sweirs (rhymes with Beers) for lunch, had a terrific shrimp po boy...forgot to take pictures sorry, but take my word for it, it was worth taking a picture of!  We then stopped at WalMart where we made our usual donation stopped and bought a bag of satsuma oranges and a bag of fresh dug sweet potatoes, and came home...where I made a really nice plate of layered Mexican dip and headed over for happy hour :) 

We'll be heading out tomorrow, and I will tell you that I have not finished with this area :)  So many places and so little time!!!

Dec 11, 2011 Summerdale AL to Houma LA

Oh my, we've been busy the past couple days!  On Friday it was clean up day at the ranch - so I took off and did laundry, at least that was the plan!  I left the MH and went over to the laundry, only to find out that there were only 3 washers and 5 dryers...the washers were full and there was already someone waiting for them next.  I got there at 8:15 and got back to the MH about 12...NOT a typical wash day!  While I was there, David dumped the tanks, did the dishes, vacumned the MH...and played on his 'puter!

When I got home we were starving - and hungry for chinese, so off we went, and had a very reasonable buffet for 13.50 for the two of us - it was excellent!  I had about a half a sore throat, and when Ellie called to see if we wanted to go along to a country jam/line dance place, I said no...and I took nyquil at 4 and again at midnight. 

When I got up on Sat morning, I felt pretty chipper, so off we went to Mobile, where we toured the USS Alabama.  USSALABAMA.COM  This is a battleship, and David wasin his glory!  We spent about 3 hours touring, and got some great pictures,
however you are better served clicking the link - gives you a lot of history that we read but couldn't share here because I don't do very well with statistics!

When we got home we napped, then went over to visit with Ellie & Jim - chatted for about 2 hours - and I know that we will see these good friends down the road!  We had hamburger helper cheeseburger macaroni for dinner...nothing fancy but comfort food all the same :)

We got up this morning and were on the road by 9:05 - we had tentatively scheduled a day that would be about 3 hours long, and instead we just kept rolling until 2:30, when we located a campground in Houma LA.  We stopped, set up and I made a great dinner, Salisbury steak, bakes sweet potato, brussel sprouts and biscuits...it was very yummy and heated the MH up nicely! 

This is my gorgeous grandson, Branden. I rarely get photo's of him - he is dressed for something called the Madrigal dinner :)

The motorhome did not get out of the garage until about 4:15 yesterday, and the bill was atrocious!!! Yes, we did have to have the work done, and they did the best they could, but still...sigh.

We had a terrific lunch with Jim and Ellie at Daddy's Grill - I had shrimp and it was just to die for - so fresh it popped! Yum! oh yeah, sweet potato fries too :) David had the shrimp basket too...it was lovely, and we sat and chatted a while with this wonderful couple! Hopefully we can get together with them again before we head down the road!

This morning we got up and went to Pensacola to the National Naval Museum - all I can say is WOW! It is free...extremely large, wonderful exhibits, spotlessly clean, and free! David was in heaven - lots of tv's with clips about carriers, planes, and submarines, very well done - took us 4 hours to walk around and we left a second building because we were tired...and it was free! The pictures do not do it justice as usual - it was just awe inspiring walking around and touching a part of history! Of course, per our friends here at Rainbow Plantation, no visit to the museum is complete without a visit to the Cubic Bay Cafe/Bar. The story goes that when the US closed the base in the Phillippines, they dismantled Cubic Bay and brought over every plaque and picture that was there...and it is totally amazing - many of them have been touched so much they are hard to read, but David was able to find the USS Wichita that he BOARDED IN THE PHILIPPINES!!! How cool is that - and he took a picture of it too! We were unable to find the USS Tolavana, the other ship her served on, but was thrilled to find the Wichita. Oh yeah, Pensacola is the home of the Blue Angels :)

I drove home while David napped, then walked Cinder, and it was time to go to the clubhouse where we had signed up for chicken (me) and pork (him) and the dinner was excellent - both came with baked mac & cheese, black eyed peas, roll, salad and dessert, and drinks for $6 each - what a bargain! I brought David back to the MH and I went back to the clubhouse and played 9 games of Bingo - didn't win but had a good time.

Now we are snuggled in, and I'm having a glass of wine...yum! Do you know that the $4 buck chuck at Wal Mart is pretty good wine? I like it pretty well - of course, I've never been an expert :)

Rainbow Plantation Dec 5, 6, 2011

Dec 5, Sunday we got up and moving pretty quickly, David was concerned about going through Pensacola, however our journey was very smooth with little traffic.  We arrived at Rainbow Plantation in Summerdale AL by 11:45 am.  We got parked in site 61, and right across the street are friends Ellie & Jim Meecham! 

However, once we got set up it was pouring rain, and we immediately got on the phone, David calling to make an appt for a oil change, lube job, transmission flush and brake inspection at B & D RV repair in Robertsdale - about 8 miles from the park.  We went to the post office to see if David's drugs were in, and they were there BUT David forgot his ID and they wouldn't pass over the mail without that!  However, we found out that we could get our passports processed at that post office.  I also found a guy that would come wash and wax the MH for a reasonable amount, so that will happen on Friday morning. 

We finally got settled in for the night, had ramen noodles for dinner - then I called Ellie and said hey, we're across the street and we both laughed - and set up a date for lunch on Wednesday.

This morning we got up and headed to the garage where things did NOT go as planned - the transmission needed flushed, and that went well, the oil change and lube job - everything needed new filters and 'stuff', and then the brakes - total new brakes needed all around - no parts available except in Indiana - they are air freighting them in tomorrow...so we are staying in the MH in the repair facility - it's all gated and we're secure, but not exactly where we wanted to be this evening...sigh!

We went to the post office and got our passport applications processed - got the pics done too!  Passports are expensive!!!  Here we are, gettin' processed!

While this was all going on we went to Wal-Mart - David had broken the bow on his glasses, and unfortunately they had nothing like it, so it looks like a trip to the VA for glasses is in our future! 

We then moseyed over to Foley, AL where we had lunch at Lambert's Cafe, the home of the 'throwed' rolls.  Oh my, because of all the other rver's whose blogs I read, I knew to tell David 'only eat a small amount of your entree and fill up on the 'pass arounds'...we did and brought home enough food for at least 4 more meals!  I got roast beef, mashed potatoes w/gravy, baby carrots and cukes and onions, David got fried ham, mp w/gravy, and baked beans...the pass arounds are:  black eyed peas, sauteed cabbage, fried okra, macaroni & tomatoes, fried potatoes w/onions, and of course their yeasty hot rolls that the waiters throw to you - you've gotta be quick and have a place to dump em, 'cause they are HOT!  What a great time we had - were there for over an hour :) 

We had signed up for the potato bake at the park, so we locked the gate and drove to the park, where we had a marvelous meal - we each had picked white potato (we eat a LOT of sweet potatoes), and there was every topping imaginable, butter, sour cream, bacon, onions, chili, cheese...and turkey rice soup, drinks and dessert for $5 per person.  We really enjoyed our meal, and funny thing, we sat at a table with a single lady, Shirley, and a couple, all of whom remembered us from the park in Hondo...woo hoo!  They said oh yes, they want to go back to Hondo and they told others at the table that we made them feel very welcome...wasn't that nice!  Gave us a snuggle feeling!

Keaton Beach to Bonifay Dec 3, 4, 2011

Yesterday was a LONG day - we hitched up and hit the road in Tampa at 9:15 am, figuring that we had about 10 miles of city traffic on Hwy 19, then we should be out of the city - ha ha, joke was on us!  45 miles later we were still in city traffic - even though it was a Saturday the traffic was pretty heavy and every couple blocks we were stopping at red lights - we drove and drove, stopped on the side of the road at a rest area and had some brunch - got back on the road and managed to get to Keaton Beach to The Old Pavillion RV park about 3:00 - way too long for David to be driving - he was beat! 

However, the park was very nice, especially the deck -where we joined the owner and another couple watching the sun set on the gulf...OMG...pictures can speak for themselves!

This morning once again we were on the road before 9:30, the roads were great, driving was easy - we stopped at Bonifay at Florida Sprins RV Resort/Campground, which is a Passport America park - so for the amount of $17.99 we have full hook-ups, and nice park!  We're exhausted...tomorrow we head for Summerdale, AL where we may stay for a week :)  It depends on what we can get done on the MH, we need the brakes looked at and packed, and possibly an oil change & lube job - David will look at figures tonight and make that decision!

My wonderful aunt, Nancy Gindlesperger got a laptop and is now on facebook, and I figure she must be reading our blog - Welcome Nancy!