New Orleans, Louisiana. Home of the French Quarter, amazing cajun food and, the real reason to visit, the Beignets at Cafe Du Monde! The best part of the visit, though, was spending time with Butler and Jill who flew down for the weekend.
The weekend was filled with searching out interesting places to sample the local fare.
It’s a city of balconies, mostly for hanging off to view the madras gras parades.
It’s also a city of street artists, musicians and other performers.
The beignets!!
Of course, we end up at the water…
Andrew Jackson at the Battle of New Orleans.
Watching street magicians ply their trade.
Interesting concept…
It was a great time with great friends. A highlight was the day at the WWII museum, next post.
But if not…
We found a nice little National park campground tucked away in the southern tip of Mississippi. Turns out Davis bayou is at one end of the longest national seashore in the USA. Who knew?
The park is small but quiet. There are not one, but two “gator ponds” along the trail that are supposed to have several juvenile alligators in them. At least that’s what the ranger claimed. We can’t verify that claim. Unless the gators were cleverly disguised as snapping turtles, there was no sign of them the couple times we walked by the ponds.
The ranger we talked to had some interesting info. Turns out that gators are rarely threatening to humans. Unless, of course, people have been feeding them. Generally, they try to stay away from humans. He did say that they are generally cannibalistic and eat young gators. So the young ones tend to leave home pretty quickly.
Definitely not a gator…
But if not…
“I think we have a fair hope of success.” Supposedly that’s the quote from one of the founders of Fairhope Alabama, a picturesque little town on the eastern shore of Mobile Bay. It’s a quiet little spot with a couple of hotels, some boutique-type shops and a nice walk to the town pier. The big surprise for us was the flowers blooming everywhere and the “see our new spring arrivals” signs in the store windows. It’s mid January! There’s still snow on the ground and more coming back home.
Somehow we find these types of exhibits often! Who knew there were so many successful writers living in little towns. Guess that’s where they found their inspiration. Fairhope is home to Winston Groom, the author of Forest Gump.
Fairhope apparently was founded on a political principle called “single tax.” The idea was that a single land use tax should be sufficient to raise all the funds needed for the town. The “Single Tax Corporation” is still around and gets credit for all the flowers around town.
Mardis Gras displays are everywhere. We learned something new on this trip. Turns out Mobile Al is the home to Mardis Gras. New Orleans gets all the press because it’s a big city. But Mobile and the surrounding small towns have a succession of parades and celebrations throughout the month of Feb.
Flowers everywhere!
Nice little town marina. Looks to be a bit shallow based on the type of boats docked here.
We love murals! Not sure why more towns don’t decorate with them.
Not sure about the need for a railroad. It was a very pleasant walk down to the dock and back.
But if not…
After leaving MD, we drove south down the east coast looking for some warm weather. After stops to visit friends in Wilmington, NC and Beaufort, SC, we finally found some warm in North Florida in a National Park just outside Pensacola Beach near an 1834 Army fort. The campground and the fort are actually on a spit of land nestled between the Gulf of Mexico and Pensacola Bay. One day the bay side was calm enough to break out our new inflatable kayak and give it a try. It was great to be out on the water. As is often the case, we went into the breeze and current with a lot of effort and then floated back to our launch point with no effort at all.
Our first time assembling the kayak went pretty smoothly. Only a couple gotchas with the sequence of how things are supposed to be inflated.
All ready to go!
The fort is pretty impressive, even though it only saw action once – during the Civil War.
Interesting bit of trivia for military buffs: this gun weighed 13,000 pounds, took 15 minutes to load one round and had a range of about 8 miles. The bad news is that it is a smooth bore cannon so aiming it is a bit random.
Restoration work in progress. It looked like very slow work remortaring and tipping all the bricks.
And, of course, we are always on the lookout for new lighthouses!
This is the Pensacola Lighthouse built in 1859 and is the opening of Pensacola Bay.
It’s a beautiful area to spend a couple weeks relaxing. We’ve also found a great church with some very friendly people. We also went to their Wed night Bible study and fellowship dinner this past week. Turns out the pastor is a sailor so we talked boats and passages for a while before dinner. Made us miss Paperbird!
But if not…
The 2 leads all the way from Washington State through to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.
We remember one of those!
More lighthouses. There are more lighthouses in Michigan than any other state, even though it borders no oceans! That must say something about the navigational hazards on the Great Lakes.
We weren’t sure what in the world this was. A little googling and we discovered that it is a brand of saunas. Who would have thought? Seems a little claustrophobic…
Some RV friends we met in Alaska recommended this stop. And we’re very grateful to them. It was a memorable and moving place.
The original bell on the Fitzgerald was taken off the wreck and replaced with a new one inscribed with the names of the men lost in the wreck. This original bell was then installed at the museum as part of the exhibit about shipwrecks on the Lake.
Even with all the science available, there’s still no definitive answer about what caused the wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald. Lots of theories, but even the formal official inquiries came to different conclusions.
Life in a lighthouse. Not all glamorous and a lot of hard work.
Another pretty cool boon docking spot we found along the road. This was a large parking area that was welcoming to RVs for overnight stays. No hookups, of course. But a great view!
A little disturbing…
As we turned south, the fog rolled in.
Crossing the bridge from the UP into Mackinaw City was interesting. The fog was so thick, we couldn’t see the water at all.
A Coast Guard icebreaker.
These ferries were amazing. They came roaring into the harbor at full throttle.Then turned sharply to starboard and throttled back just before reaching the docks.
Despite the fog, it was fun to walk around the town.
We didn’t take the ferry out to the island…the fog was too thick to see anything. Maybe next time!
We pulled off the road for a stretch break and found this neat little harbor. Complete with a pretty large resident salmon.
Everywhere we went, we found places named after the distance either from or to someplace else. Sometimes the names made sense. Other times, we never did figure out what the distance referred to. This lighthouse was on a point 40 miles from somewhere, but where?
Probably the most unusual placement of a boat lift we’ve ever encountered. Not even sure which house it belonged to.
Good ole Paul Bunyan and Babe, the blue ox.
Out of the UP, off the 2 and headed on the final stretch towards home.
Only in West Virginia…
Two continental divides in one drive!
This was an interesting series of rolling hills, each peak slightly lower than the previous one.
Back to our home turf. And back to the reason we come back every time! The kids and grands!
They make it worth coming home to, every time!! Love these guys!!!
Wow. Five months. One month to drive across the country out to Prince Rupert where we started the ferry hopping up the inside passage. Then three months visiting the islands of the inside passage and then wandering clockwise around the rest of Alaska. Then another month to drive back across “the 2” to Maryland. We’ve talked about going to Alaska for most of our married life. To get to do it in such an amazing fashion was beyond anything we ever anticipated. It’s a wild, beautiful, amazing, friendly place. Tons of pictures, even more memories. Oh, and we’ve started our list for our next visit…
But if not…
After leaving Glacier, we continued east on “The 2.” It’s a fun drive through varied landscapes and lots of small towns.
One of the things that we enjoy most about traveling is the travel itself. In other words, just seeing the varied scenery go by and soaking in the different sights along the way. We never know exactly what is coming around the next turn, but the anticipation rarely matches the reality.
Flat, flat country – and lots of it!!
Lots of wind power, as long as the wind blows.
Interesting collection.
Beautiful church buildings all across the country in each small town.
Another small town main street. Looks sorta the same as many others, but still unique.
Herd of antelope.
A beautiful, free campsite along the side of a reservoir out in the middle of nowhere. All on private property opened up for others to use and enjoy!
Not a bad view for the night!
We even found a little marina with one small sailboat.
The look is not just in magazines and on TV, it’s normal attire out in these parts.
One of our joys along our journey is to seek out churches in the small towns we drive through and join with a new congregation for a worship service. It’s great to see how the love of Christ goes before us and is the same everywhere. People are welcoming, the preaching of the Word is heartfelt and the blessing is always a highlight of each week.
Trains were a pretty constant part of the trip across the country. We rarely were out of sight or sound of a train going by. Must be a good economic sign.
Not sure that “tolerably lurid gunslingers” is good grammar, but it paints a vivid picture of the old west.
Driving through this part of the country gave us a whole new perspective on the courage and perseverance of the early explorers. It took us days to drive across. Imagine doing it all on foot! Months of arduous trekking with no idea what’s to come. Amazing!
Another boring, old campsite! Tucked up in the shade alongside a beautiful lake. All these lake visits have us talking about kayaks…
Sometimes the road construction reminds of Alaska. We found a several mile long stretch of mud and potholes that brought back memories!
Oil wells seemingly everywhere. The flares could be seen all over the horizon.
Wildlife alert!
Apparently there is some dispute about exactly where the geographic center of the country is, but we know for sure because we found the sign! This spot was claimed first and was based on a pretty simple method. Someone made a paper model of the country then balanced it on a pin. The point where it balanced was right here. Forget all the fancy math calculations and let gravity sort it out!
Camped at Turtle River state park
A sure sign that fall is coming quickly.
Ever wonder how those huge wind turbines are moved from the factory to the installation site? Wonder no more. They are trucked in, one blade at a time.
Is that really a sport?
Lighthouses! We must be getting close to the Great Lakes!
I remember studying Leahy way, way back. Something about “Sea Power.”
Interesting sights along the 2.
How to parse that name? Bad River? or River Indians that went bad? or is the reservation bad?
Lots of veterans memorials across the country. Good to be reminded!
A small, and quite beautiful city campground. Some locals told us that almost no one camps there. No clue why. It was a great spot!
Good thing it’s not November yet…
But if not…
One of our goals on the return trip was to stop in Glacier National park. We heard mixed advice about when to go since the park closes sometime in September. The good thing is that the campgrounds are mostly first come first served with only a few sites set aside for reservations. Given our lack of a schedule, that was a good thing.
Then we met a family at Curlew Lake that was enroute to Glacier for their vacation. Since they had done lots of research, we were able to piggyback on what they learned.
The key lesson was to spend the night before arriving somewhere close to the park so that we could arrive at Apgar campground on the west side of the park fairly early in the morning. Sites tend to fill up by late morning or, at the latest, early afternoon. We found that to be true throughout the time we were there, even as late in the season as we were.
Apgar, our first campground, on the west side of the park and on one end of the “Road to the Sun.”
Glacier is definitely in bear country, although all the significant bear activity seemed to be on the east side of the park. Those campgrounds were ‘hard side’ only with no tents allowed due to some aggressive bears. There had been no recent reports of any issues on the west side where we were.
The lake near the campground was beautiful!
Apgar Village with lots of little shops was an easy walk from the campground. The free shuttle bus started at the visitors center, stopped at the Village and then at Apgar campground. We walked over to watch the operation and talked to a couple of the shuttle bus coordinators. We learned that the line for the bus was about 20 people long 1/2 hour before the first bus, which only holds 15 people. So waiting until the bus arrived at the campground was a non-starter. So we hiked over to the visitors center 45 minutes before the bus and got there just before a large student group. Whew!
A friendly reminder…
There was some kind of helicopter ferrying going on while we were there. No one seemed sure about what they were ferrying, but a helicopter often flew by with a load in a cargo net and then returned shortly with an empty net. Probably some kind of construction project in the backcountry.
The hiking trail from the campground to the Visitors Center.
The rocks were fascinating. All brown when dry and lots of colors when in the water. Maybe the minerals combined with the light filtering through the clear water?
The campsites were nestled among the trees. No hookups, but we’re used to that.
What a treat! A couple we met at the Homer Spit in Alaska was visiting Glacier at the same time. We connected via Instagram and caught up on each others adventures since our time in Homer.
The “Road to the Sun” has some pretty strict vehicle limits. Nothing over 10′ high or 21′ long is allowed on the road. After riding the bus from one side to the other, we understand the logic. The road is narrow, crowded, twisty and has some pretty low rock cropping overhangs. The traffic alone would make driving it a pain. The bus is definitely the way to go.
Another good thing about the bus is that we could both enjoy the scenery. Driving would have taken so much concentration that it would be impossible to enjoy the views.
The weather always adds drama to the views!
Another bear. This guy caused a ‘bear jam” – cars stopped all over the road, people jumped out and ran towards the bear to get a closer picture. No way was anyone getting through until the bear decided to amble on it’s way. Of course, we wondered what those people would think if the bear decided it wanted to get up close and personal with the crazy humans.
The east side of the road has another visitors center at St Mary’s with a great short movie about Glacier.
One of the 2 major north-south continental divides. The other is along the Appalachians back east. Then there are a couple that run east-west.
Our ride through the park.
We were there in what they called the “shoulder” season. The summer season is the most crowded, then the park extends the season by a week or so depending on the weather before they close the campgrounds and the road. It was pretty obvious that a lot of people like the shoulder season! Very early each morning, signs went up that all the parking lots at the top and along the road were full. Seems that the best way to drive the road was to leave either at dawn or even earlier. But everyone knows that trick as well…
An example of the steep drop-offs along the road. Some were pretty spectacular.
But if not…
While we were in Alaska, we started looking at the atlas and pondering possible routes back across the country to get home. Needless to say, there are a lot of possibilities, most involving interstate highways. While those may be the fastest, they are not our favorites. We also didn’t want to dip too far south and get caught in the late summer heat. Then we noticed a little secondary highway, Route 2, that crossed from Seattle all the way to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, staying fairly close to the Canada border and going through small towns. Perfect! Then we talked to folks who lived along Route 2 and all said the same thing – “Oh yeah, the 2. That’s a great route.” So we decided to take “the 2.”
Another bear sighting! He was almost quick enough to miss out on getting his picture taken. But Lyn usually has one camera or the other in her hand and ready.
Driving along the Columbia River after leaving Curlew Lake.
A steep downhill led to the small, free Keller ferry to cross the Columbia River. Leave it to us to go for another ferry ride in the middle of Washington State!
Packed in tight!
The road leading south from the river was just as steep or maybe steeper than the one leading down to it.
More irrigation. Everything in the region grows well, but only with a lot of help.
The view of Lake Roosevelt from partway up the climb out of the river gorge.
Once on top of the mesa leaving the river area, the landscape changed again. We were amazed at how many different types of landscapes we saw during our trip, ranging from dry and arid to lush and verdant. Out west, lots of climbs and descents. As we moved into the midwest, it turned flat.
We couldn’t resist taking a picture of the larger than life Wilbur the pig standing watch over Main Street in Wilbur, Washington.
Hmm. Wonder how he gets that boat on and off the trailer? Or does the trailer have to come down first? The sign in the window of the truck listed a welding business, so our guess is that he built the rig himself.
Amber waves of grain! We saw miles of fields just like this.
Another state checked off – out of Washington and into Idaho.
A very cool name for a mountain pass. We’re guessing they have a great July 4th celebration.
Out west, the roads are more open, the speed limits much higher and the trucks a lot longer! Just how does the driver look in the mirrors and know when the truck is safely past someone?
We never liked to see the “check brakes” notice on the signs. Although it’s better going down than up, maybe.
The northern neck of Idaho is pretty thin between Washington and Montana.
What a great name for a town!
Paradise has a church – a very photogenic one.
Off the mesa and back into mountains. Notice the train track running alongside the road. We never could escape the trains!
Just a reminder that we’re in the west! It’s actually the name of a small (very small) town in Montana.
Wildflowers are always pretty. It’s like God decided to put a little color into the landscape every once in a while just to add a touch of beauty.
A beautiful lake. And big enough for lots of sailboats.
Wild goats along the side of the road.
Balloons! Hot air balloons always look so graceful and peaceful. Maybe we’ll have to go to a balloon festival someday.
But if not…
One of the stops on our list was the Grand Coulee dam on the Columbia River. Neither of us had ever seen it before and we were so close…
We followed this couple in their roadster until they turned around. Wonder if it was the steep climb up the mountain or if they were just at the end of their planned outing.
This was an impressive cut in the rock. It was obvious as we drove up to it that the roadway was cut right through the edge of the mountain. We stopped and looked around a bit and realized that cutting through really was the only option. There simply was no way to skirt the outcropping.
The view from the overlook just before the cut through the rock.
A lone sentinel.
The Columbia River gorge is beautiful! If it weren’t for that little thing called winter…
A close-up of the cut through the rock.
One of the signs we were getting close to the dam was the increasing number of power lines. The mountain ridge was covered in high voltage lines criss crossing the landscape.
The town of Coulee was a bit of an oasis in an otherwise pretty barren landscape.
One of the narrower bridges we’ve crossed in the RV. Fortunately, we managed to time it when there were no large vehicles coming the other way.
The power lines were very big!!
That’s a lot of concrete! We often wonder if it’s even possible anymore to build something as massive as the Grand Coulee dam. Between the increasing regulatory burdens and the vastly increased construction costs (8,000 workers on the GC dam received an average of $0.80/hr) contrasted with improved technology, it’s hard to know. Besides the dam, 4 bridges and worker housing were also part of the project. Overall, the construction took 9 years to build the original dam.
Lots of dam sites in this part of the country. So lots of power generation capacity.
One interesting side note is that the 3rd powerhouse, the one on the far left, was built 30 years after the dam was completed (also taking about 9 years) and it generates about 60% of the total power output of the dam. Technology had improved that much in a short time. At about 7,000 megawatts, the Grand Coulee dam is the largest power producer in the country.
Upstream of the dam, the Franklin Delano Roosevelt lake was calm and placid..
Not a very crowded day. Of course, it was late in the season.
We found a little out of the way campground at Curlew Lake.
Surprisingly, most of the small campground was either full or reserved. But they had an area set aside called “Random,” for either tents or no-hookup RV’s. Since we’ve rarely had hook-ups anywhere we’ve been, that worked perfectly. The woman working at the camp office also took pity on us and gave us the senior discount even though it was state not national park, probably because we were OK with the Random area.
This might be the most interesting boat we’ve seen in a long time. It was a homebuilt pontoon boat with large corrugated pipes as the pontoons. A plywood platform covered with a backyard screen awning sat across the corrugated pipes. The driver steered by leaning down and pushing the outboard then sitting back up to see how much effect each shove of the outboard had. Needless to say, the trailer was also homemade. It was all excellent craftsmanship, just odd.
But if not…
When people think of Canada, we’re sure that “desert” is not at the top of the list of descriptors. But there is in fact a desert in western Canada. And we found it. And it was beautiful!
Not sure what these crops are, but the land is all fertile from the irrigation. They pull water from the lakes and rivers and then just about anything seems to grow fine. But it’s obvious where there is irrigation and where it stops. We were told that the irrigation systems are turned on several times each day.
One constant on our trip south was trains. Not sure who’s following who, but the trains ran all the time!
Complete with mesas, steppes and very sparse vegetation
On the way North through BC, we stopped and camped at a small town named Terrace. We camped next to a couple from BC whose daughter had just moved to Terrace. After giving us lots of great advice about places to stay and routes to take, they offered us a place to park at their house on the way back south. They live in the town of Savona on Savona Lake. And it was beautiful!
Although they claimed the water was nice and warm, we decided that their thermostats were a little out of adjustment. Warm for Canada, maybe! But we did swim for the afternoon. After a while, the water felt good as a relief from the heat. Lyn and Louisa stayed in the water longer; I quit after a while and helped Bill do some wiring on their camper.
Nice view!
They have even installed a 30 amp RV outlet on the outside of their garage!
Hmm – thinking there might be a mosquito issue here?
The lake is huge!
Lots of toys on the lake. We drove through here on the Saturday of Labor Day weekend. Canadians celebrate and it’s their last long weekend before winter starts so it seems like everyone was out camping. So we decided to make a run for the border rather than linger too long.
A large campground along the edge of the lake. We never saw a road leading down the hill but it looks like a nice spot!
Float planes – they’re everywhere!
Lots of crops, all on irrigated land.
Given the desert conditions, it shouldn’t be too surprising that there is a strong rodeo culture in the area.
We didn’t see many sailboats on our trip. This was one of the few lakes large enough to make it attractive. Of course, several sailboats equals a race. In this case, it was a full on regatta.
At the south end of the valley, the landscape turned lush with vineyards and orchards everywhere. One frustrating aspect is that we were headed to the border and no fresh fruits or vegetables are allowed across. So we passed up all the stands. And, like just about every other car and camper, we were stopped and searched for fruits and vegetables! Then on the US side of the border – no fruits, no vegetables. Bummer!
But if not…
