2/11/10 Today this report comes from Betty's RV Park in Abbeville, LA. Betty is infamous amongst RVers, especially the Boomer's because staying here always involves lots of Happy Hours and special events in the community, all organized by Betty. Her place is "party central". There are only about 20 RV spots here and it is basically Betty's backyard turned into an RV park. We arrived yesterday and are the only ones here who are boondocking. The weather today is very chilly (in the low 40's) and rainy, with a forecast for more of the same cold weather in the next 5 days or so. UGH! Yesterday we attended the Happy Hour in her enclosed gathering room, and then after dinner everyone carpooled to a private club about 8 miles away called Touchet's. In the daytime it is an adult daycare center and at night it is a bar. There was a band there playing typical Louisiana music (very catchy) and our group was warmly welcomed by everyone. The music didn't start until the end of the business meeting of the Acadian Culture Club, and there were at least 80 people in attendance for that, so the dance floor was very crowded the rest of the evening. Laura Bornkamp didn't let that stop her and the whole crowd was enchanted with her enthusiasm. Earlier Gordon had fixed a nice BBQ rib dinner for all of us, supplemented by Elaine's wonderful salad and also sliced tomatoes in balsamic vinegar. So it was another fun-filled evening with good food and good friends.
The evening before we had also had an awesome time with our cruise friends, Jim & Jan Sylvester, who live north of Baton Rouge in Zachary. Happy Hour was held in our rig, where we were able to talk non-stop and catch up on all their events since last seeing them in Dec. on the transAtlantic. Then they treated us to a delicious seafood dinner (with Louisiana twists) at their favorite restaurant. Happily, they will be joining us for the Spring transAtlantic on the Independence in April, so it won't be long before we all are together again. Here is a picture of them:

Before going to Zachary, we had spent 9 days at Bayou Segnette State Park across the Mississippi River from New Orleans. It was a lovely park with very nice amenities and lots of wildlife. Last time I posted an armadillo picture, and we continued to see lots of those. There were many different kinds of birds but my favorite was the cardinal:

Nearly every day we went into New Orleans on the free ferry at Algiers Point.

The first day we walked to the French Quarter and had a cafe au lait and beignets (which are French doughnuts) at Cafe du Monde. We hardly ever eat this stuff, and nearly collapsed from sugar overload, but they were tasty.

After walking through the French Market, where there was lots of Mardi Gras related items for sale, of course, we went to the French Quarter for the first parade of the day. Here is a picture of some of the beads, and feather masks that were for sale:


The parades which go through the French Quarter are the ones which do not involve big floats and marching bands. The first one was the Krewe of Cork, which we learned was a group who enjoyed wine and who walked in the parade in costumes related to that. They also had several golf carts pulling large ice chests full of wine and most of the parade participants were pretty inebriated by the time they reached the place where we watched the procession. A lot of the costumes involved corks:

Some of them were just weird and colorful:

Others were grape related:

In the French Quarter there were lots of balconies that had been decorated:

And some of the balconies were full of people who were throwing beads and other things down to the crowds of people on the street:

After the parade, we bought a sandwich which is supposed to be "typical" New Orleans - a Mufaletta. As you can see in the following picture, it is a huge bun with salami, cheese, ham, and some pickled veggies, also olives. We split it 4 ways and it was pretty tasty - but also rather salty.

Of course, one of the reasons people go to the parades is to collect a bunch of beads. Here is a picture of Laura & Gordon on the ferry on the way home after only 2 parades:

The next morning we attended three parades on the west side of the river, so we didn't have to take the ferry over. It was pretty cold that day, although sunny, and here is a picture of us at the parade:

The first parade was the Choctaw Parade, so there was an Indian theme:

Here is another float from that parade:

The next parade had a mythology theme:

On Superbowl Sunday we took the ferry over to experience some of the energy of the city and to see 2 more parades. Here is an example of a few of the fans:

And there were people everywhere yelling "Who Dat", which comes from their saying, "Who Dat saying dey going to beat dem Saints?" Here is a typical poster:

The first parade we attended had some really fancy floats and had people on them who had fabulous costumes, such as the King:

I guess the guy following was one of the Knights:

And another guy on a different float had some fancy feathers in his costume:

We then walked through the French Quarter, which even at this early hour was already packed with people:

Think about how impacted it must have been later on, after the Saints won the game!
Laura made a real effort to get into the spirit by wearing her mask, which blinked
colored lights in 3 different patterns:

The parade we attended in the French Quarter was called The Barkus Parade because it was for dogs. People dressed up their dogs, and sometimes themselves, and paraded through the crowd:

Here is an alternative animal who attended the Barkus Parade:

On the way home we stopped at the seafood stalls near the state park to buy some fresh shrimp.

Laura & Gordon were fixing a special dinner for us in their rig while we all watched the Superbowl Game together. They made a really delicious dish called Coconut MacNut Shrimp with Guava Sweet & Sour Sauce.

Of course, we were cheering for the Saints and were happy when they won. We were also glad that we were NOT in the huge crowds in the city which were shown on TV!
We have now established ourselves here in Abbeville, where there will be different events for Mardi Gras. Hopefully, the very cold and rainy weather will improve so we can get out to enjoy them, and we will tell you all about everything in our next report.

2/4/10 Hello from state park Bayou Segnette just across the Mississippi River from New Orleans. Yes, we arrived here early because it was so cold as we were traveling across Alabama and Mississippi, especially when we stopped in Biloxi, that we hot-footed it here where we knew we would have electrical hookups for the little heater. Last night and today a big rain storm is keeping us hunkered down inside our rig, but in previous days we have been enjoying good walks on the trails and roads here. Louisiana honors the Golden Age pass, so it is also inexpensive to stay here ($9/night). As we walk around the park, we are enjoying seeing the many cardinals, egrets, ibis, and even armadillos, which especially enjoy munching on the grass around the RV sites.

Our good friends Laura and Gordon Bornkamp arrived yesterday and we are hoping for some nicer days through the weekend so we can attend some of the Mardi Gras parades. Tonight they came over for a spaghetti dinner and it was a nice evening as we all were trapped inside all day by the heavy rain. Sunday is the Superbowl and of course, there is much excitement around here because the Saints will be playing in it for the first time. Elaine is pushing for us to go to a brewpub or some other venue to watch it with a crowd.
Thanks to all of you who remembered Elaine on her birthday (63) on January 28. We were staying at the SKP park in Summerdale, AL with Gordon and Laura, so they helped us celebrate. It was a cool day but we were able to wander around Gulf Shores near the beach for a short while, and drive around the area to see what it was like. Then we went to Foley to have lunch at a place recommended by other RV friends, called Lambert’s Café.

This place is famous for serving huge portions of food, lots of side dishes, and throwing large hot rolls at you almost as soon as you are seated. There are murals on the outside of the building showing some of the events and people through the years, and bragging about throwing rolls.

Here is a picture of the young man who threw our rolls at us.

Then they come around and slop a bunch of either apple butter or sorghum syrup on it. And here is a picture of the 4 of us with our food in front of us.

It was definitely a unique birthday lunch! But not a good place to eat for anyone concerned about healthy eating and keeping the pounds off...
Summerdale is not very far from Fairhope, which is across the bay from Mobile, where my cousin Gloria used to have a winter home. Turns out that just as we were getting ready to leave the SKP park, Gloria arrived from Montana because she was renting a home for 2 months in Fairhope. We parked at the WalMart and Gloria came over to have lunch with us. Then we drove over to look at her rental house, and also did a brief exploration of Fairhope. She is 80 now and still so active and vibrant; it was great to see her.

Biloxi, MS was our next stop but by the time we got there, the weather had turned very cold and rainy. Laura & Gordon were there ahead of us and we all parked in a casino parking lot overnight. The next day we drove around and it was disheartening to see that most of the big old mansions that used to line the waterfront had been wiped out by Hurricane Katrina. Lots of the big old trees that had their limbs broken partway off now have beautiful carvings in the wood that was left. Wish I could have gotten a few pictures but the weather was so ugly that we were unable to walk around to where we might have been able to take some. There are at least 5 nice casinos that have been rebuilt since the hurricane so we went to those to get some walking done inside, and also took advantage of some of their offers of free play on the slots. We won enough money to stop at the fresh fish store to purchase some of the local specialties: shrimp and crawdads.


Then we went back to the rigs and prepared an appetizer feast instead of dinner.

The crawdads (or maybe they call them crayfish) were highly seasoned and we all tried them but only Gordon enjoyed them.

The last picture is of a Mardi Gras King cake, which has all the official Mardi Gras colors on it. Usually there is a small, plastic baby hidden somewhere in the cake. The cake is called “King” cake because of the Biblical 3 Kings and the plastic baby represents the baby Jesus. The traditional Mardi Gras colors are purple, for justice, gold for power, and green for faith.

Our next report will be about New Orleans sights and experiences and the Mardi Gras parade experience.

1/25/10 Having returned from our very enjoyable 5 day cruise, we have now packed up the RV and are on the freeway, heading north and west. Don't know how far we will get today, but there is no hurry since our reservation at the state park across from New Orleans isn't until Feb. 5. In the meantime, we will be trying to catch up on things, get back in better physical shape after some days of decadence, and see a bit more of the countryside in northern FL, Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana. There is a SKP park in Summerdale, Alabama, not far off our route, so we will pause there for a few days.
The cruise was delightful, and we weren't even hauling a bunch of friends along with us. The ship was the Grandeur of the Seas, which is in the same class as the Splendour, which was the ship we cruised on for our first several cruises and enjoyed very much. The Grandeur is more elegant, with nice wood paneling wonderful art work, and very good food. Happily, the weather had warmed up so the day we left Tampa was in the 70's, and the next 4 days of sailing and Mexican ports were in the low 80's. Now that is the type of weather we LOVE! Here are a few pictures of some of the art work on the ship:


Because of our access to the Diamond Lounge each day from 5 to 8:30 PM, with free wine, champagne & soft drinks, we met at least 6 other couples who were fun, interesting, liberal, and well-traveled. So every evening was a pleasant diversion with them. We also met two women, Sheila & Stephanie, who own a restaurant in Rehobeth Beach, Delaware, which is a Gay friendly resort town. So we joined them at our first port, Costa Maya, for a trip to the nearby fishing village of Majahual. Once there we were immediately reminded of all our enjoyable trips to Mexico, and realized how much we missed going there. We haven't been back to Mexico since 2004 when we spent 2 months there on our way down to the Panama Canal, and 2 months there on our way back. Other parts of the world have been calling us! This part of Mexico was hit by a hurricane in 2007 and there has been a lot of rebuilding going on.
Right where the ships dock there is an area enclosed by brick walls where there are many upscale shops, bars and restaurants for the cruise passengers, along with a very nice pool and a swim up bar. From here we took a bus ($3) to Majahual, where we enjoyed strolling on the very pleasant cement promenade with the beach on one side and the shops, bars, restaurants, and vendor stalls along the other. There were many opportunities to have services performed by local women, such as massages (30 minutes for $10) and hair braiding. Most of the stalls were selling jewelry, carvings, various textiles, and other Mexican handicrafts. After a long walk, we found a small, shady bar and restaurant where we had a beer and enjoyed the beach view. Here is a picture of us with the girl friends on the beach near the bar:

Also as we walked around, there were quite a few iguanas in evidence, scurrying under the buildings, and also out in the areas of the lagoons and mangroves, which the bus passed:

The next day we were in Cozumel, a place we haven't visited since 1995 on our first RV trip to Mexico. That time we had taken the ferry over from Playa del Carmen, rented a moped, and gone out to the marine reserve for some excellent snorkeling. It mystified us how the fish could know that they were protected in the reserve, but judging by the large number and the diversity of them there, they KNEW!!! This time we had arranged to meet our very good friend, Jonna Harlan, for lunch. Her partner, Mimi, was in California dealing with some of their real estate, so she didn't come, and we missed her. But we were delighted that Jonna came since she had to drive from their newly renovated home in Merida to their condo in Akumal, then take the ferry over from PLaya del Carmen. We had a delightful visit with her over some food and drinks at Pancho's Backyard:

This was a place that was recommended on Cruise Critic, and which was tasteful and pleasant, but over-priced, we thought. Later when we discussed it with Adele and Carl in the Diamond Lounge, they said that the best thing there was margaritas. So we missed out on those....
The weather was warm and the waterfront area in Cozumel has been very tastefully restored after their hit from a devastating hurricane. We walked around and talked and talked with Jonna. I also took a few pictures of some of the new sculptures and artwork in the area and here is one of them:

There are 3 piers in Cozumel where cruise ships dock, with only one of them being right downtown. The International pier, where we docked, was a little over 2 1/2 miles from the downtown, so we walked along the waterfront on our way to meet Jonna. There is now a very good sidewalk the whole way and we could see that some places that had been damaged or destroyed by the hurricane had not been rebuilt. Others were spiffy and new. Cozumel is much larger now than when we were there in 1995! And Jonna says that Playa del Carmen has greatly expanded as well.
When we returned from the cruise, we were held up in docking by heavy fog in Tampa. That was the first time that has ever happened to us. After retrieving our mail at the post office, we drove to Pinnelas Park to have a happy reunion and lunch at the home of Paul & Alistair, 2 friends from our very first cruise on the Splendour. They are from Blackpool, England, and they come over every year for the winter in their Florida home, and return to their English home in the summer. The Spring and Fall transAtlantic crossings work very well for them, and we were delighted to learn that they will be on the Independence of the Seas with us this Spring, when we go from Fort Lauderdale to Southampton starting April 11. Here is a picture of them with Elaine at the luncheon:

So you can see that we are doing well, are fat and sassy, and looking forward to our upcoming adventures in some of the southern states we will pass through on our way back to California.

1/16/10 Hello Blog Readers and thanks for your patience. It seems like we are always too busy to post something! Currently we are at the Brandon Elks and are happily parked in the RV storage area, because this is where we will be leaving our RV while we are cruising next week. There are between 15 and 23 nice hookup sites here, for $15 a night, in case any of you RV friends are interested. The Elks here are very friendly and nice - much more so than the SKPs at the Wauchula SKP Park where we stopped on our way here. Happily, the weather has become much warmer, although it is currently overcast and looks like rain. Monday we leave from the Tampa cruise port, about 12 miles from here, for our 5 day cruise to Costa Maya, Mexico and Cozumel. Our good friend, Jonna Harlan, who has relocated to the Yucatan in Mexico, is going to meet us in Cozumel. We are also hoping that Kathe Kirkbride, who lives not far from the Costa Maya port, will be able to meet us there as well.
Last weekend we had a marvelous time on our 3 day cruise on the Majesty of the Seas with Martin & Roger, Reuben & Sergio, Jack, and four friends of Roger and Martin's: Amy & Dilia, and Nancy & Faith. The weather was very cold and a big storm hit just as we arrived at Coco Cay, which is RCCL's private island. So they didn't put anyone ashore there, but instead hauled A__ for Nassau where we could be tied up at a pier instead of at the mercy of the wind and waves. Most of us never got off the ship, because we have been there many times before and also it was too cold. But we had a good time anyway, because we always enjoy being on the ship and having time together as well as a few of the ship activities.
Here are a few pictures:
Roger, Martin & Jack on the wave runner on the ship's deck:

In the next picture, you can see it was quite sunny the day we sailed. This is looking towards Miami Beach:

Roger, Reuben, Martin, Jack & Us in the Diamond Lounge:

When we got off the ship on Monday morning, the temperature was in the 30's!!! This was practically a record for Miami. Here is a picture of some of the friends while waiting for the shuttle to show up. Please note what Elaine is wearing. Roger says she looks like she is a member of the Taliban:

Once back from our next cruise, we will post another update and let you know where we are going next.

1/6/10 Hope you all are having a Happy New Year! Here in the Miami area is has been unusually chilly. Since we have 4 days in between our 2 day cruise last weekend and the upcoming 3 day cruise starting Friday, we have been trying to do some shopping we have been putting off. Yes, I finally found time to buy the new computer I was promised for my 65th birthday, which was last August!! I decided on a small Toshiba Satellite, which is really like a large netbook, because it requires an external CD drive, and it only weighs 3.8 pounds. Now I can take it along on international trips and cruises. It is taking me days to get programs transferred and installed, new printer drivers downloaded, etc. I will still be using both of them for a while, I can tell.
Janice Ryder wanted to know about the cruises. We are doing 3 short cruises while we are here in Florida because we need 3 more cruise credits with Royal Caribbean in order to achieve Diamond Plus status. This gets us lots of perks when we cruise with them. So last weekend we took the Majesty of the Seas to Nassau, in the Bahamas. It really isn't that exciting because we have been there lots of times, but it was nice to have slightly warmer weather there. It was so unexciting that I didn't even take any pictures!
This Friday we will be sailing with our "boy toys", Roger and Martin, and 4 of their female friends. So it will be a big PARTY weekend on the ship. Again we will be going to the Bahamas and also to Coco Cay. When we get back, we will be driving over to the Tampa area where we will stay at the Brandon Elks Club, and take a 5 day cruise on the Grandeur of the Seas starting Jan. 18. It goes to Costa Maya and Cozumel, in Mexico. Then we will be done with cruising until April, when we are going to do a transAtlantic.
It has been interesting to be staying in this part of Miami. It is pretty close to 100% Hispanic, with most people being Cuban. Nearly everyone is bilingual, so it would be a great place to stay if someone wanted to be "immersed" while learning to speak Spanish. And the food is wonderful!! The people are friendly and nice and we have been enjoying our stay here.