Around the Gulf to Louisiana

We left Nokomis on Monday, February 15th with mixed emotions. We were sad to say goodbye to family, yet were excited to get this adventure off to a proper start. Bill admitted to being a little anxious since we had no more safety nets. Just us and the great beyond from here on. Our original plan was to drive to Texas in two days, skipping the southeast for the most part since it has either already been explored or could easily be at a later time. We wanted to get west! That plan was quickly aborted because we don't want to spend grueling days driving when this trip is supposed to be about relaxation and adventure. We'll drive slowly and stop as often as we like.

Day one of travel led us to Suwannee River State Park in northern Florida, which took us about six hours of driving time. Florida was getting some worth out of their convicts because we saw several crews doing various jobs on the side of the highway. Karen was upset that she missed getting a picture of the "Historic Suwannee River" sign on I-10 because it has the opening musical notes of "Old Folks at Home" on it. She thought it was unique and it also spoke to the musician in her. With a little help from our Blackberry we discovered that the composer, Stephen Foster, shortened "Suwannee" to "Swanee" in order to better fit the melody of the song. Karen asserts that 99.9% of yankees have no idea there is a "U" in Suwannee because of the song.

The campground was rather full but quiet and well maintained. There were some nice nature trails that we took advantage of, but couldn't fully explore because of high water levels in the area. The Suwannee was running very high and fast which flooded out nearby low areas and consequently the nature trails. We still had a good walk, which didn't include the dog because he is still rehabbing his leg. This was only a stopover and the weather was still chilly (50's) so we only set up a minimal camp site again.




One of several submerged walkways:



We got a reasonably early start the next morning enroute to Blackwater River State Park just east of Pensacola, FL which took about four hours of driving time. The park was amazing in how orderly and manicured it was. The camp sites were gravel which was retained by a wood border. The gravel was raked and leveled like it was a Japanese garden. As usual, the staff was friendly and helpful. Similar to the Suwannee, the river was running high and had inundated a number of the nature trails. Much of the park was flooded, which might be a common occurrence because there was a network of boardwalks supporting the picnic shelters. This was another one-nighter since we're focused on getting west and it's still cold.







Another quick pack and load job got us on the road again, heading west. Almost as soon as we left the park, we saw Historical Florida State Road 1, an old brick paved road that was built in 1921 and paralleled today's US-90. It was neat to see, but we couldn't get a decent picture of it speeding by in the truck. We did manage to get the following pictures along I-10.

Mobile, AL taken from the truck:



Karen was a little more impressed with the Mighty Mississip than when she first saw it in Memphis a few years ago (where it was narrower than the Susquehanna back home in Harrisburg PA). This is from the truck in Baton Rouge:






We arrived at Frenchmen's Wilderness RV park near Henderson, Louisiana in the Atchafalaya Basin, about six hours after we left Florida's Blackwater State Park. (You might see the trend that we're trying to keep driving days to below six hours.) This was our first use of a private campground, and we were very pleased about the friendliness of the staff and the condition of the park. This campground is literally in the middle of a swamp and mosquitoes have to be murder in warmer weather. We decided to stay in the area for an extra day so we could explore the bayous and Bill could eat some Cajun food. It was still cold and locals were telling us that it snowed there this year and last, and never had snowed before in their memory.

We got on the road the next morning to explore. Bill wanted to get back into the bayous and off the beaten path, and Karen had a couple river plantations that she wanted to visit. The first thing we discovered is how indescribably horrible the back roads of southern Louisiana are. It was a continual bumping and jostling that had us worried that we could lose a kidney at any moment. So we revised our plan to get off the back back roads and switch to the back roads - no improvement. So we got on US90 with a glimmer of hope that this would be better. It was, but only by a fraction. Our route took us south toward Morgan City then back up north toward Baton Rouge. Bill got to see New Iberia which is the setting of a series of books he has read and Karen got to see Oak Alley Plantation which was beautiful. At Oak Alley, we toured the mansion and grounds and were happily surprised to find gorgeous camellias in bloom. Karen found it interesting that the dining table and chairs were rather short because the average height of a male in the mid 1800's was 5'4" and for women it was just under 5'.

We got to see a bald eagle after lunch and there were also many great blue herons out fishing. We were ready to end the day because we ended up going much farther than we thought we would and the roads were really taking their toll on us. There were levees everywhere and we have no doubt that the entire southern end of the state would be under water if not for these.

Various shots in St. Martinville, Evangeline, and New Iberia in southern Louisiana. We should have gotten a video of us bouncing down the road!






Oak Alley Plantation, Vacherie, Louisiana:







A casino at every truck stop and convenience store:

Florida....Where it's Warm. Right?

The next leg of the trip was to visit family in Nokomis, Florida. We left Skidaway Island and traveled the 446 miles in about nine hours. The weather front that brought the rain to Savannah also brought high winds in Florida. I soon learned how to pilot the rig in strong cross and head winds. Karen is beginning to master our new Blackberry Storm and researches various things that we encounter along the way. For instance, what is a "Silver Alert" in the state of Florida? You'll have to look it up like Karen did.

Upon arrival, Bill parked the rig in his Mom's (Sue’s) driveway for the duration of our stay in Nokomis. It was not unlike the movie Vacation. Bill's brother, Vince, had pruned a couple ficus trees which allowed us easy entry. The next week or so consisted mainly of visiting family - Maw, Vince, and Bill's grandmother, Carmen. Celebrating Maw's birthday on the 11th was a highlight since we were all together as a family.





We were also able to hit some more antique shops in Englewood, Arcadia, and Sarasota. The shops aren't as good as at home or what we saw in North Carolina, but it's still fun to do. We especially enjoyed the Arcadia shops, where an old theater has found new life as a combination antique co-op and show business museum. Stage costumes, props, playbills, movie posters, and a movie projector taken from a now-closed theater in New York are some of the items on display. We were in the Arcadia area because we did a short five mile paddle on the Peace River courtesy of a shuttle by the Canoe Outpost. We saw a small gator (Karen thought it was huge), a couple turtles, and birds everywhere. We were hoping to see a Kingfisher, but we missed out on that.





Our initial plan was to head south for the warm weather, then move west. That plan is a failure because of the unseasonably cold weather in the south. During our time in Florida there were two days where the temperature reached at least 60 degrees. It has mostly been in the 50's and low temps in the lower 40's. We hope to hit warmer weather as we move west.

Barkley hurt his leg and was nursed by Dr. Kate Brown of the Brandt veterinary clinic. A claw was clipped off and he has a club foot for a few days. He's still gimpy but will hopefully continue to improve. I have to haul him up and down stairs and neither of us likes it.