Huntsville, Alabama

We left New Orleans headed for Huntsville, Alabama. We took the scenic route. This photo is a beach in Mississippi. We also went into Pensacola, Florida, just to say we got to Florida.

In Huntsville we visited friends George Giller and Gay Lynn Beard. Gay Lynn is a long arm quilter, meaning her quilting machine is really big. We got a wonderful, informative demonstration of her 2 machines and also wonderful show and tell of her quilts.

Gary and George are consentrating on moon landing simulators.

Here we got a chance to play with the controls of a space capsule.

This is the type of rocket that takes men to the moon. It was difficult to take photos here because everything is so big. George worked for a contractor here that had to do with NASA so he was a great tour guide. He answered all my stupid questions.

New Orleans

We rode into the French Quarter on the shuttle from the KOA this morning. Several of the photos I took from the van window. We had a knowledgeable van driver that took us on a tour of several specific sites along the way, so our very own guided tour in and back. Once in the city our first stop was Cafe Du Monde for beignets. There was a 45 minute wait for a table so we took ours to go and found a bench along the river to eat them. We had powdered sugar everywhere. They are a deep fried pastry, like a doughnut but square and without a hole in the center.

We walked down several streets enjoying the architecture as well as the people. Bourbon street was quite a scene even in the day time. Gary commented that it wasn't a place for women and children. It is one of those places I wanted to see but now I have been there I can check it off the list and don't need to go back. For lunch we went to a buffet that served local food. We enjoyed the meal but it is the same as the environment. I have tried those things and now I can move on.

The van driver took us thru a cemetary and explained how the above ground vaults work as well as pointing out some beautiful structures and stained glass windows in the vaults.

He drove thru a different devastated neighborhood with many boarded up, abandoned homes as well as some vacant lots and rebuilt homes.

We took a ride on a steam powered paddlewheeler, the Natchez. The Mississippi river is at flood stage so high and fast. Got to see the city from a different perspective.

Louisiana

Today we drove across Louisiana. +254=3761
These photos are from the truck as we drove for miles on an elevated freeway across the Atchafalaya swamp. I didn't take photos but we drove on a 12 mile long bridge over Lake Pontchartrain. The interesting thing there was that the diversion gates were open allowing water to flow from the Mississippi River into Lake Pontchartrain. An area that is normally dry had several feet of water flowing through the trees.

Once we were parked and had lunch and a nap, we drove about a 40 mile loop from the campground thru beautiful old homes, past Tulane University, thru the French quarter and into the lower 9th ward. In the 9th ward there was a variey of housing. Some lots were empty, others had new or rebuilt homes and others were boarded up. We went thru 1 area where Brad Pitt was involved with building new homes. http://www.makeitrightnola.org/ I didn't take photos because it seemed like intruding, but the homes were distinctive, very modern looking. We ended our drive at a restaurant recommended by the campground hosts. Gary had alligator, frog legs, crayfish tails, turtle soup and shrimp ettouffee. He brought home his alligator sausage. I stayed with the more recognizable blackened cat fish with a wonderful shrimp sauce.

A Wonderful Surprise

Today was a driving day +425=3507. We traveled thru Texas on I-10 and made it into Louisiana. The fellow at the check-in desk at the RV park in Sulphur, LA gave us a brochure outlining the "Creole Nature Trail" which is 180 miles of roads thru the bayous to the Gulf of Mexico. It said we might see alligators but didn't see any. We did walk on the beach and collected some shells. We saw flying fish and diving birds.

Then, with me driving, we took a drive on the beach. Fortunately, we didn't get stuck. Pulled over to have our dinner on the tailgate, just enjoying the beach.

San Antonio

We decided to take a guided tour of San Antonio. The bus picked us up at the RV park. The first stop was a boat ride on the San Antonio river along the river walk. The city has done a great job making the area tourist friendly.

For lunch we returned to the river walk. Had great Texas BBQ.

We toured 2 of the 4 missions here. Our tour guide was raised here so had lots of interesting facts and stories.

Here is the Alamo, the reason we decided to come here. After the tour was over we went back to take in more of the museum. We learned a lot about the different governments who wanted control of the area and the reason for the quote "remember the Alamo". Revenge.

Mishap along the way.

Monday morning we took a ranger guided tour at Carlsbad Caverns. It was wonderful. The afternnon we planned an easy, short drive to Fort Stockton, TX. However, we lost a tire along the way. Gary had to change it in 100 degrees. Once we got to Pecos, TX we got a replacement and then treated ourselves at the nearby Dairy Queen.

Here is Gary relaxing in the pool at Fort Stockton RV park. It was a good way to cool down and relax.
No photos for today. We drove +324=3082. Our travel today was through the "hill country". Lots of ups and downs on the highway. It started out really dry and rocky. By now it is green with trees and pasture. We are parked in San Antonio at a very nice RV park. Will take a tour of San Antonio tomorrow.

Carlsbad Caverns

+162=2558
We had a nice drive from El Paso TX to Carlsbad, NM this morning. We passed thru the Guadalupe Mtns. This is El Capitan. Looking at the map, I think we will be leaving the mountains soon.

All of the cave tours were sold out when we got here. We have purchased tickets for a guided tour tomorrow morning. There are 2 self guided cave tours totalling about 2.25 miles. We did both of them. This is an amazing place. It was nice to be able to go at our own pace and really enjoy the formations. There are lots of park rangers along the way and they gave lots of interesting information. We will go back tonight to see the bat flight. There are about 20.000 bats living in the cave. If they all leave for a night of feeding it is really spectacular. Last night only 4 left so we are hoping they all want to eat tonight.

Saturday, Driving Day

Xaviar Mission was 1 of the first in the area. It surprised me how ornate the church is, out here in the desert, built in the 1800's. Very beautiful.

Then we left for our trip across New Mexico into Texas. Gary liked the motorcycle lane in the middle of the freeway. Don't really know why there were 2 center lane stripes.

Here is the Continental Divide. We were a little underwhelmed considering all the mountain ranges we have been driving thru. We spent the day at around 4000 ft elevation.

+352 miles =2396.

Saguaro NP

We enjoyed the cactus in Arizona. We camped among them. If you look really close at the front of the trailer, you can see Gary relaxing, enjoying our view. We are here late in the season so the campground was nearly empty.

There were a lot of petroglyphs in the park. We didn't have to hike very far to see them. Hayden and Lilly, can you see the horse?

I don't know if you can see all of them in this photo. there are a lot all in 1 place.

These 2 photos of the Ochotillo cactus show what a difference a little bit of rain can make. They drop their leaves when it gets dry, then regrow them as soon as it rains. I think this was Garys favorite plant.

We spent the afternoon at the Desert Museum. It really isn't a museum, but more like Northwest Trek. Lots of animals, but the big ones were sleeping. Can you spot the lizard?

Here is a bobcat, thought it looks like a cougar (GO Cougs)

Frustrations

Hi all,
I had hoped to send photos but the internet at this RV park is so slow that I get timed out before the photo uploads. We had a great day at Saguaro NP yesterday as well as the afternoon at the Desert Museum. Today we went to Xavier Mission and then drove all day to El Paso, TX.
Seems either the internet won't work at all or it is really slow at these places. Guess you get what you pay for. The weather has been beautiful. Cooler than usual everywhere we have been, which works out great for us.
I will try again.
Judy

Organ Pipe Cactus NP

We had a wonderful 21 mile drive on gravel road looking at cactus. We learned the difference between Organ Pipe cactus and Saguaro cactus. Below is the Organ Pipe. These plants are huge, amazing, awesome. We took lots of photos and had to choose only a few to share.

We are here at the right time of year to see the Saguaro in bloom. If we were there in the morning before 8:00 we could see the Organ Pipe blooms too.

Here Gary is standing by 1 of each. There were many other varieties of cactus as well. We were within 5 miles of Mexico at the visitors center. We are surprised to see Border Guard stops along the way. They aren't just at the border. Had a nice chat with a young guard from Spokane. He lived in Richland for a while. Today +280 miles = 1867.

Death Valley, California

We left Rooneys for Death Valley Monday Morning, May 15th. We intended to spend 1 night in the National Park campground. Once in the park we realized there was more to see than Scottys Castle and the "valley". Monday we toured the castle and camped nearby.

Tuesday morning we continued south thru the park. We hiked in several canyons and drove on several scenic roads. This photo is from a lookout at 5475 feet elevation. The deepest part of the valley is -282 feet. We hiked over 6 miles combined and drove 170 miles.

More to the valley than the floor. We were amazed at all the rocks, hills and mountains. Tuesday afternoon it got to 87 but the wind was blowing so didn't seem hot.

As we left the park Wed morning we stopped at Badwater, so named because the horses wouldn't drink there. Lots of salt. We walked out on the salt flat to experience that, now need to clean the salt off my shoes.

Wednesday we drove on south. Highway 167, also named Joshua Tree Highway. We stopped here for lunch. Today we started in California, then into NV, back into CA, NV, AZ, CA ending in AZ. Beautiful scenery, lots of wind. So far 1587 miles.

May 15

We are having a wonderful visit with the Rooneys in Gardnerville, NV. Can't believe it, but it snowed off and on today. Didn't stick to the ground but it is COLD. This afternoon we had fun playing a new game, Sequence. Tomorrow we hit the road again.

Day 1 over

Here we are ready to leave This is the view of the John Day River from our lunch stop

We made it to Lakeview Oregon on our first day.