Friday, October 23, 2015

Baton Rouge.....hmmm....what can I say except that the traffic and roads are horrible!  Went to the Zoo last Tuesday.....this guy had a lot to say....
I think he was warning me about the traffic here in Baton Rouge!  It is clear the infrastructure here can no longer handle the amount of traffic and the bridges are down right scary!  It takes forever to get anywhere.
  We stayed at the Lakeside RV park...not a bad place, but very tight spacing.  You just feel a bit 'cramped' here.  We left Friday and headed to Beaumont, Texas....again the roads and traffic were bad.  We like to stop at about the halfway point on our travel days and we couldn't even locate a rest stop until we hit the Texas border.  The rest area was under construction and very busy (everyone stops there it seems) but we made it work and finally made our way to the Hidden Lake RV park in Beaumont.  Do ya notice a theme here....just can't seem to get away from water and they always want to charge you extra!  I can't even see the dang lake from my site...guess that is why the place is called 'hidden lake'...Ha! 
This is our site in Beaumont.  We do have a pull through, but you can see there is a 'back end' site up against our pull through.  Don't care for that at all....kinda like a 'jack-n-jill' site where you share your yard with your neighbor.  We are finding that rv sites are hard to come by these days.  We have been fulltiming for 8 yrs and never made reservations and never had a problem.  This year and last we have noticed that we need to at least 'call ahead' to see if they have vacancies and 9 times outta of 10 they are down to their last two or three sites so we go ahead and reserve.   I don't necessarily think more people are traveling, I think more folks are 'living' in rv parks.  Most of these folks have job sites that 'move around' or that are involved in some type of seasonal work.  So we are finding that many parks only have a handful of sites they keep open for travelers and they fill up fast. 

Looking at the weather, it seems we will have to stay here a bit longer then expected.  That hurricane is pushing a ton of weather into the Houston area and we don't want to get caught up in all that mess!  Travel safe y'all!

Sunday, October 18, 2015

We left Tampa and started our journey west.  Our first night was spent "way down upon the Suwannee river...." at the appropriately called, Suwannee River Rendezvous Rv Park in Mayo Florida.  Nothing too special, but great for an overnight or two.  This was our second stay at this park and it is a Passport America park so...can't beat the rate.  We did venture into the town of Mayo and found a quaint little cafe called 'The Great Southern Biscuit Company'.  Wow!  Had the best BLT of my life there!  Bacon, lettuce, and fried green tomatoes on a freshly baked biscuit....so good!

Back on the road and Ya know that feeling....the one where ya been listening and following that little voice on the GPS.  He is taking you deeper and deeper into the country side....narrow, little winding roads...left, right, left again.  You are starting to feel a little doubtful, a little nervous.  Does this guy know where he is taking us.  I mean, seriously, does he know we got 40 foot of fifth wheel behind us.  Ya just can't turn those things around anywhere...and then there is this sign that tells you a bridge is coming up.  A bridge that has a load limit of 3 tons.  "Hey, do we weigh more then 3 tons?" I ask my hubby.  "Oh yeah!" he says.  Well crap! We really didn't have much choice at this point....so over the bridge we went.  It was a small bridge and definitely in need of repairs, but we made it.  Suddenly that nut on the GPS says, "the destination is on your right".  We both look right....right into an open field full of nothing.  Well crap, again!  NOW WHAT!  Keep going and fortunately...after 1/2 mile...the destination was on our right!  Yippee!

Summerdale, Alabama Rainbow Plantation Escapee's park.  This is our first stay and it is a very nice and welcoming park.  The sites are very spacious, full hookup and some are 50amp.  We are in lucky number 13.  It is a 50 amp site and backs up to a county road, but road noise is minimal and we like not having anyone behind us.  Nothing but tall Pine trees.....smells like Christmas. 
As you can see...the sites are primarily grass...a little dirt under the trees.   Still, all in all a great site to sit and enjoy the fall breezes.  I'll admit the Florida heat and humidity were starting to get to me.  I'm loving the cool nights here and the 70's in the daytime!        

Yesterday we went down to Foley....only about a 10 minute drive.  There we found a walmart and a couple of other grocery stores, plus a very big outlet mall...tons of shops.  But the best find was a Lambert's.....'home of the throwed rolls'.  If you have never been to one I encourage you to do so.  Fun experience....good 'down home' cook-in and yes, they really do throw rolls at you! Don't be on a diet....though...we are talking about fried, smothered in gravy, and full of buttery richness!  LOL!

Tomorrow we are back on the road....headed toward Baton Rouge!

Wednesday, October 7, 2015

October Already

Good Lord....is it October!

YEs the house is sold, yes I had a fabulous time at my nephew's wedding.  Well, except for one little mishap.  I managed to sprain my ankle at the reception...I won't go into details....I'll just leave you with the image of my son and daughter-in-law helping me down the street, "Outta the way, broken Mom here!"  Funny boy!

We are currently in Florida....Tampa at the Bay Bayou RV resort.  What a lovely park...ample spacing and a wonderfully warm and inviting pool!

We have been here almost a month and it will be moving on in a few short days.  Starting our journey west to Yuma for the winter.

I know I've mentioned our desire to buy a motorhome...well we came very close to owning one.  At the last minute, we realized neither of us were having 'good' feelings about the whole process and called the dealership and 'backed out' of the purchase.  It was like a huge weight had been lifted from our shoulders.  Yes...I'm a little sad it didn't work out, but also so much wiser about the whole process.  It may not be for us and we may need to just stay right where we are at....happily rolling along in our fifth wheel!  No more 'house' worries......after 8 long yrs.....we are finally FREE!