And then there was Sat. night

Nothing brings a vacation to a screaming halt like a trip to the E.R. I fell and broke my wrist and had the unfortunate opportunity to be in the ER from 7:00 p.m. to 3:30 a.m. Then a search for a 24 hour pharmacy-led us to getting back to the RV about 4:30 a.m.

We had originally planned to leave on Sunday, but I was still under the weather so we stayed another day to rest up.

I have an appointment with the doctor at home on Friday. We were thinking that was plenty of time to get home, but we keep getting waylay-ed by things. The latest is a part we need to have overnighted before we can get on the road again. It's just a reminder that we're on "RV" time. which rarely coincides with our time/schedule. Ah, the life of an RV'er!

USS Lexington

Saturday was spent touring the USS Lexington. This aircraft carrier is permanently docked in Corpus Christi.It's nicknamed the "Blue Ghost" since Tokyo Rose (Japanese propagandist) kept reporting the Japanese had sunk it. But after it was reported, it would keep re-appearing. Besides it being a floating museum, it houses many historic fighter aircrafts on it's flight deck.

The USS Lexington was commissioned in 1943 and saw extensive service in the Pacific. It is the oldest remaining aircraft carrier in the world. Although permanently docked, it was used in filming the movie Pearl Harbor.

top of the ship

T-6 SNJ/TEXAN

We couldn't help but notice the A and J on the tail of this jet

Andy on the flight deck

Artillery being restored 

In the bridge

More instruments in the bridge 

Corpus Christi

I was going to catch up on the blog last Sat., but other things, such as a broken wrist (more about that later) got in the way.

We had a great week. Had wonderful temps (70's), lots of sunshine, and, yes, lots of wind.

A couple of pics of the beach on South Padre Island

We also did some sightseeing. On Friday we drove to Kingsville, TX. Andy had heard about the King Ranch from a co-worker. King Ranch is the oldest family owned ranch still in existence. It was started in 1853 by Capt. Richard King. He was one of the first to lead cattle drives, he developed the Santa Gertrudis and Santa Cruz breeds of cattle, and bred the finest quarter horses, which included a Triple Crown winner. Today it is a major agribusiness.

Cattle fields on the King Ranch

We also saw a lot of wildlife. (King Ranch is also a wildlife sanctuary.) Besides the cattle and horses, we saw a coyote, alligator, a variety of birds including an absolute stunning scarlet tanager. 

A Walmart is a Walmart

We stay overnight at Walmarts when we are traveling. We've learned (the hard way) to call ahead and ask permission. Not all Walmarts allow overnight camping (or boondocking). Today was no exception, we called three Walmarts before finding one that would let us stay overnight. We always buy groceries when we stay, so we do spend money in the local economy. Walmarts are definitely our friends, but they can't be taken for granted!

PS Dallas is a no go zone for RV'S and Walmarts.

Louisiana

After five days in Louisiana, we're headed west to Corpus Christi, Texas. But first, here are some highlights of our time in Louisiana.

We stayed at Poches (pronounced Po Shay) RV & Fish Campground in Breaux Bridge, LA which is a short distance from Lafayette. The campground has three different fishing ponds. (It made me wish I had had brought my fishing gear.)

We are in the middle of Acadiana, which an area where Acadians who were expelled from maritime Canada by the British moved to in the 1800's. Their descendants have formed the nucleus of Louisiana's Cajun life and culture. Near us is the Atchafalaya Basin & Swamp, the nation's largest river swamp, containing almost one million acres of hardwoods, swamps, bayous, and backwater lakes. Interesting side story-in the fall of 2014 we were in Acadia National Park in Maine. We had no idea of the connection between that area and Louisiana when we were there.

On Tuesday we decided to take a swamp tour. It was very interesting and the only disappointment was that we didn't see any alligators.

The only alligator we saw! 

Flooded Cyprus Trees

These "cones" are roots that let the Cyprus trees live. 

The tallest Cyprus tree in the swamp, estimated to be 500 years old. 

Beautiful reflection of trees in the water 

Louisiana is home to Avery Island, the home of McIlhenny Tabasco Sauce. The seedlings for the peppers are started on the island and then exported to South and Central America where they are grown and then harvested. The peppers are mashed at the factory. The mash ferments and ages for three years in white oak barrels. The aged mash is mixed with vinegar, stirred for a month, strained and poured into slim bottles. 

A tour of the factory was followed by the obligatory time at the Tabasco store. 

No trip to Louisiana is complete without a trip to New Orleans. Although we skipped Fat Tuesday, there were still plenty of Mardi Gras decorations on the balconies of hotels and apartments. 

We decided to take a buggy tour of the French Quarter. Our guide was very colorful. We learned a bit more about the history of the area than what we already knew. 

My must have was a stop at Cafe du Monde for beignets. They are wonderful! 

Aaah

White sand beach and the Gulf of Mexico. Say aaah.....

Sara, this one's for you.....

Not a very good picture as we were moving when I took this, but, yes, there is a town of Saraland in Louisiana.

People think we're crazy.....

It's 45 degrees outside but sunny and a pleasant walk from the RV to the hot tub. People here think it's too cold, but, we're going to take advantage of a hot tub when we have one. High today in Biloxi will be about 60.

The water wasn't boiling as Andy's face might indicate, the sun was in his eyes. 

On the Road Again...

Red Bay total: 19 days in service, plus a couple hours at Bay Diesel for our 6000 mile maintenance.
25 days with the weekends. Time to move on! We're headed toward the Gulf Coast, with Biloxi our first stop. Hoping for a bit warmer weather, we're still getting freezing temps at night. We're ready for something more than going to the service bays every day. More to come!

Some more signs we're not in Kansas anymore

OK, here are two things that prove we're in the south.

This one should maybe be subtitled: We think we've found the source of the demise of the English language.

This is actually a bit embarrassing, since I have to admit I ate the whole thing. It is actually biscuits with chocolate gravy, which is a breakfast delicacy around here. It didn't sound good to me at all. But, when in Mississippi, you try the local food. The biscuits were very fluffy and the chocolate gravy delish. Once is definitely enough! (This was a single serving, you could actually get a double if you wanted to.) 

Interesting Things

One of the things we love about RV'ing is the strange and unusual things we see (well, at least they seem strange to us!). You can come to your own conclusion as to why there is a Burnout Cemetery, but there actually is a town named Burnout.

Weekend Travels Part 2 - Huntsville, AL

Instead of making a day trip in the car, we decided to take the RV and camp in Huntsville. We found a campground right next to the US Space & Rocket Center, which will be our destination on Saturday. Both the Center and the campground have the same address, 1 Tranquility Base.

As we drive into Huntsville, we see a Saturn V rocket that is lit up at night. Standing 363 feet tall, it can be seen for miles. This is a replica of an actual Saturn V rocket. After getting to the campground and parking, we head for some dinner and then drive around the Space Center to get the lay of the land. We also see a space shuttle outdoor display, also lit up. The orbiter Pathfinder, is the only full-stack shuttle exhibit in the nation. It looms more than 80 feet above the ground and has a wing span of 78 feet.

View 1 At night

View 2 Daytime From the front showing the rockets and the fuel cell 

We start off with touring part of the Space & Rocket Center. We've decided to take in the movie "Journey to Space" in the IMAX theater. This movie addressed our efforts to go to Mars by 2032. Then at 12:30 we boarded a bus to go to NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center where we are able to see the Payload Operations and Integration Center, where they handle the day to day operations (science experiments) of the International Space Station.

It was the weekend so not as many people were working. When employees arrive for their shift, they are at their desks for 8 hours. They can take short breaks when the space station is out of communication. Each desk is a separate operation. For instance, one desk is the stowage - it handles where everything is on the space station.

The Space Flight Center is located on the Redstone Arsenal (Army) base. We also toured several testing sights, and the vibration building (where they tested how much the rockets would vibrate).

  Redstone Test Stand, a national historic landmark. 

There was so much to see! We saw the Apollo 16 capsule, a Mercury capsule, an Apache helicopter simulator, numerous rockets and mockups of the SLS (Space Launch System) which will take crew and cargo services to the International Space Station and to Mars.

By far the most exciting exhibit is the Saturn V rocket in the Davidson Center for Space Exploration. The sheer enormity of the rocket and space ship, which can be viewed up close and personal, is amazing.

View from the bottom of Saturn V

From the side

Lunar Module (LM) Eagle & Land Rover

Capsule in which the astronauts came back to earth

Mockup of SLS which will take us to Mars

Close-up of men at the bottom of the SLS mock-up to give indication of size of the rockets 

This was a fun day and we learned a lot about space history, current day space exploration and the future. The Space and Rocket Center also hosts Space Camp for kids and adults (you could do it as a family). If you're in the Huntsville area, we recommend stopping here.