2011 October « 2naluck

October 24 through October 26, 2011

October 25, 2011

New Orleans: Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday:

We left Alabama and went through Mississippi. Some photos follow

Then we went through part of Louisiana and ended in the French Quarter RV Park. Photos follow. This is a great RV park. Kinda skimpy on trees and quiet, but centrally located a couple of blocks from the French Quarter in New Orleans! The first thing we did was go to Sally’s best friend Pat’s for dinner. We also had dinner with her son and her grand daughter. They were so so so nice to have us over and cooked a fantastic meal. Vegetarian! It was so sweet of Pat to do this. Their home is beautiful. It is an old New Orleans house and is just gorgeous! Wish we still built homes like that. Pat’s son David told us about some great places to eat. Maybe not hard to do in New Orleans but it was wonderful to talk to someone who knew the restaurants. It was wonderful to see Pat and David again and to meet Pat’s grand daughter!

We ate at the Green Goddess and it was great. After the first day in New Orleans we decided to stay another day!

There are more than 50 photos below.

: Welcome to Mississippi. Just passing through.

: Road over Mississippi Swamp

: Road ahead in Mississippi

: Road ahead in Mississippi

: Welcome to Louisiana

: Road ahead Louisiana over Lake Pontchartrain: second largest salt water lake in the US.

: New Orleans through the windshield

: French Quarter RV Park. That is the side of Worf on the right and yes, that is a full-on freeway billboard IN the RV park! Also that is Interstate 10. Really interesting park between the interstate and the French Quarter.

: View of the city of New Orleans beyond the French Quarter RV Park

: Photo of FInnegan’s! in the French Quarter across the street from where we had breakfast.

: Gumbo’s Coffee Pot where we had breakfast where one of the wait staff broke into a beautiful gospel song that would have shaken a weaker building. Her voice was stunning and gave me goosebumps all day.

: Jack at breakfast

: Me at breakfast

: Our breakfast. I have already eaten one of the egg’s benedict. Under that egg is a huge artichoke heart. So yum. Jack’s breakfast? Chicken livers and other stuff.

: The French Quarter is so beautiful. Love the balconies and galleries. Galleries are supported by poles from the ground as in the first floor of this building. Balconies are self supporting as in the second and third floors.

: Jackson Square with the carriages

: Jackson Square, Catholic Church in the French Quarter. Jackson, as in Andrew, not Stonewall.

: This one is for Miriam. We did have the beignets here. So delicious.

: This was our dessert after breakfast. A beignet at Cafe Du Monde

: Beignet baker at Cafe du Monde

: Around the back of the cafe you can watch them making beignets!

: This is where the dough is cut into squares and then pitched in a vat of hot oil behind the baker.

: French Quarter musician playing a washboard.

: French Quarter musician playing a licorice stick.

: French Quarter yarn purchased at the Quarter Stitch. Some yummy yarns there boy oh boy. Jack was bored while I was shopping until he found out that the young woman behind the counter had crocheted a model of hyperbolic space in high school. That got his attention. Wants me to knit one of the same for him.

: Billboard Project NOLA. This is where my photographs are going to be shown the week of November 5. The green arrows show the billboard. The blue arrows show Interstate 10 where people can see the billboard in traffic. Read more about it at: http://www.billboardartproject.com/

: Great French Quarter Architecture

: Jack on his way to lunch our second day in the French Quarter after a musical lecture at the Jazz National Park.

: Down Exchange Alley toward the Green Goddess Restaurant for lunch.

: The Green Goddess Restaurant for lunch! It was so delicious, I forgot to take a photo of the food! Jack had pork bellies. I had a green goddess salad and a Cuban sandwich that was made with collard greens. Then Jack had a bacon sundae [yes, bacon] and I had black rice pudding. So so good. They even had Brother Thelonious beer!

: Carriage in the French Quarter

: Andrew Jackson riding through Jackson Square

: More great architecture

: Great street

: Looks like Europe to me

: Our carriage ride through the French Quarter

: French Quarter balcony over where the Preservation Hall Jazzband plays.

: Carriage Ride

: Oldest building in the city. More than 200 years old. Now a bar.

: Great street

: Corn Row Fence. Story is this fence was commissioned by the husband of a woman who was lonely for Iowa. Iowa? New Orleans? Wha?

: Halloween in the French Quarter

: Katrina show at a museum in French Quarter. This is a boat that was used to rescue stranded people.

: Beautiful balcony

: Our Carriage Ride

: Beautiful

: Carriage Ride

: Jack’s gallery

: Louis Armstrong Park

: Our carriage ride took us past one of the cemetaries in New Orleans. Seems the ground is so precious that they bury folks in these crips and then when they turn to bones they add another body on top.

October 22 and 23, 2011

October 25, 2011

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Saturday and Sunday:

The Gulf of Mexico! And Alabama! And Dauphin Island. Wow, what a great place. Unfortunately, we took the advice of the RV park owners and dined at Barnacle Bill’s the first night. Please some food that has just been cooked; not slathered, smothered, buried and beige. Oh well.

But the park is wonderful! Right on the beach and the sand is white and water is blue. Plus, there is an entrance to the Audubon Bird Sanctuary [as you Facebooker’s have already noticed] right from the park. And there is a private beach and we went swimming in the Gulf! Hooray, photos follow and more photos of the Audubon Bird Sanctuary walk.

: Fire in August, 2011 in the Alabama Audubon Bird Sancuary. How quickly nature can return.

: Alabama Gulf Coast Audubon Bird Sancuary

: Uh oh.

: Trudging ahead regardless of the warning signs on the trail in the Alabama Gulf Coast Audubon Bird Sancuary

: The lake at the Alabama Gulf Coast Audubon Bird Sancuary

: Our American alligator friend just 100 ft. from my camera right on the edge of the lake. Decided not to swim this one.

: Close up lenses make it so much more safe sometimes. Glad I bought the 18-200 lens.

: One of the turtles that the locals were feeding. We were excited about the alligator, they were excited about the turtle.

: An Alabama pine tree in the Alabama Gulf Coast Audubon Bird Sancuary

: On guard alligator dog.

: Alabama pine tree with nest in the sanctuary

: The gulf at the Alabama Dunes Sanctuary

: Alabama Gulf beach

: Later in the day that’s me swimming in the Gulf of Mexico, oil derricks in the background. No slimy black goo in the water that I could see.

: Jack swimming in the Gulf of Mexico. Same oil derricks, no goo but a lot of signs touting safe seafood on the island.

: Hooray! I am in the Gulf of Mexico!

: The ever vigilant dog.

: Gulf Sunset. Jack saw a green flash! I got a bit cold and couldn’t make it past the sun going down.

: Beautiful Gulf Sunset

: Gulf houses on stilts. And for good reason I have been told.

: White sands in the Gulf

: Goodbye to the Gulf Coast in Alabama

: Road ahead in Alabama

: Goodbye to the Gulf Coast in Alabama

: The road ahead in Alabama

: The road ahead in Alabama

October 20 and 21, 2011

October 24, 2011

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Thursday and Friday:

Only one night in Georgia [Wednesday, the 19th] and not A Rainy Night. Drove to Alabama for our first stop there. Gunter Hill Campground [a Corps of Engineering Campground]. Right on the Alabama River. Kind of smelly but pretty. We hiked a morning hike with fog on the river before breakfast. We took lots of photos and it was really interesting to see the swampy kind of river.

Photos follow:

: Alabama River at Gunter Hill, Alabama

: Alabama River at Gunter Hill, Alabama

: Alabama River at Gunter Hill, Alabama

: Campsite at Gunter Hill, Alabama

: Jack at the Campsite at Gunter Hill, Alabama

: Alabama River at Gunter Hill, Alabama

: Leaves along the Alabama River at Gunter Hill, Alabama

: What’s in that river that has corroded cement?

: Alabama River at Gunter Hill, Alabama

: Portrait of Jack, Jeannie and Trixie along the Alabama River at Gunter Hill, Alabama

: Self portrait in Alabama moss.

: Jack and Trixie by the river.

: Alabama River at Gunter Hill, Alabama

: Campsite at Alabama River at Gunter Hill, Alabama

: Bridge at the beginning of a trail that was closed!

: Yup, closed alright.

: Self Portrait on the Alabama River at Gunter Hill, Alabama

: Alabama River at Gunter Hill, Alabama

October 19, 2011

October 24, 2011

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Wednesday:

Made it to Georgia! After Lake Powhatan we drove to the only stop in Georgia: Redtop Mountain Park. We wanted to stay two nights but there was only one night available! The park has lots of trails on the Allatoonas River. All we did was walk around the campground loop. But we did meet some really, really nice people who wanted us to stay and have dinner with them. They had cooked beef vegetable soup hanging in an iron skillet over a campfire. Sometimes I am not happy to be a vegetarian.

Photos below.

: Georgia Drive By

: Out the Window in Georgia

: The Road Ahead in Georgia

: Where are we going? Montgomery, Alabama? Birmingham, Alabama?

: The Road Ahead in Georgia

: The Road Ahead in Georgia

: The Road Ahead in Georgia

October 18, 2011

October 23, 2011

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Tuesday:

Did laundry at Raccoon Holler and ate a really great breakfast at the Winner’s Circle Cafe in Glenville, NC. Looked for a yarn store, but to no avail. There was a great hardware store though. I wanted to buy a clock for my sister-in-law Sally that was just like the bird clocks that chime a different bird on the hour, but this one was a cat clock that chimed a different meow on the hour. Jack talked me out of it. I still think it was a great idea. Sort of a peacepipe from Trixie to Sally’s cat Penny who had to put up with Trixie for many weeks.

We drove Tuesday through North Carolina to an RV park outside of Ashville called Lake Powhatan Recreation Area. There was a pretty lake that we walked around. Jack talked me out of swimming as there was lightning and thunder predicted. Gives me the shakes to swim with lightning. We got back to our campsite just before the skies opened up and poured. Not much lightning, but I guess it is better to be safe.

First some photos of Raccoon Holler, then the trip to Ashville, North Carolina. Lake Powhatan photos in the next post.

: Road ahead, Still North Carolina

: Real road under the Parkway, North Carolina

: Blue Ridge overlook. Like the ones we missed in the Shenandoah Valley in the rain.

: Road ahead, North Carolina

: Near Raccoon Holler, North Carolina

: Road ahead in Raccoon Holler, North Carolina

: Outside the window near Raccoon Holler, North Carolina

: Raccoon Holler, North Carolina

: Near Raccoon Holler, North Carolina, this is a Christmas tree farm. There were a lot of them here.

: Road ahead in Raccoon Holler, North Carolina

: Near Raccoon Holler, North Carolina

: Picturesque North Carolina

: Picturesque North Carolina

: Pier overlooking lake, Raccoon Holler, North Carolina

: Lake at Raccoon Holler, North Carolina

: Bummer at Raccoon Holler, North Carolina

: Mushroom species: Death Cap. Actually all wild mushrooms I see are Death Caps. That way I stay alive.

: Another Death Cap

: Road ahead on a sunny day.

: Road to Georgia. North Carolina in the rain

: Beautiful countryside, North Carolina

: Out the window, North Carolina in the rain

: Road ahead, North Carolina in the rain

: North Carolina in the rain

: Road ahead; North Carolina in the rain

: Uncle Bill’s in North Carolina. Looks more like Jack.

October 16 and 17, 2011

October 23, 2011

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Sunday and Monday:

Left Daddy Rabbit’s, Virginia for Raccoon Holler, North Carolina. Beautiful day and scenery. When we got to Raccoon Holler, I had to write a check for our stay since they didn’t take plastic. I thought it was Raccoon Hollow and everyone pronounced it Raccoon Holler, but actually the name of the RV place is Raccoon Holler. The road it is on is called Raccoon Hollow.

Seems hollows are the little valleys in the Blue Ridge. Back in the 20’s and 30’s the people living along the Shenandoah Valley and Blue Ridge Mountains were relocated “for their own good.” The US government sent out educated sociologists who studied the folks there and said they were too poor and uneducated to stay by themselves and needed to relocate for educational purposes. One old holdout said it was just so business could get in the wallets of tourists. So we went to the Nature Centers along the way and emptied our wallets.

: Road ahead

: Road ahead

: Road ahead on a sunny day.

: Road ahead on a sunny day.

: Beautiful countryside.

Road ahead on a sunny day.

Road ahead on a sunny day.

Beautiful countryside.

Road ahead on a sunny day.

Road ahead on a sunny day.

Road ahead on a sunny day.

Road ahead on a sunny day.

Beautiful countryside.

Beautiful countryside.

Beautiful countryside.

Beautiful countryside.

Beautiful countryside.

This is where we skipped a two hour wait for pancakes. Took this photo instead and had a terrible brunch [?] at the closest townl; Meadows of Dan. Didn’t see Dan. I had a grilled cheese sandwich and was still scraping the cheese off my teeth hours later…

Beautiful countryside.

Beautiful fall color, beautiful countryside.

Beautiful fall color, beautiful countryside.

Beautiful Virginia countryside.

Beautiful fall color, beautiful countryside.

Beautiful countryside.

Road ahead on a sunny day.

Road ahead on a sunny day.

Beautiful countryside.

Town road under the Parkway.

Beautiful countryside.

Beautiful countryside.

Beautiful fall color, beautiful countryside.

Beautiful countryside.

Beautiful countryside.

October 15, 2011

October 23, 2011

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Saturday:

Back on the Blue Ridge Parkway. We stopped for lunch at a place called Peaks of Otter. Very pretty and our first southern buffet. I scarfed the MacNCheese and the rest of it. Berry cobbler for dessert. Then on to our next overnight stop: Daddy Rabbits! It was a great place. Really quiet and beautiful. But here are some photos of the Parkway and Peaks of Otter.

: Dinosaur along the road at Natural Bridge, Virginia. Kind of fits with the Foamhenge theme.

: Along the Blue Ridge Parkway, Virginia

: Along the Blue Ridge Parkway, Virginia

: Along the Blue Ridge Parkway, Virginia

: Color along the Blue Ridge Parkway, Virginia

: Along the Blue Ridge Parkway, Virginia

: Blue Ridge Parkway, Virginia

: Along the Blue Ridge Parkway, Virginia

: Along the Blue Ridge Parkway, Virginia

: self portrait at an overlook

: Jack at an overlook

: Long the Blue Ridge Parkway, Virginia

: Overlook along the Blue Ridge Parkway, Virginia

: Along the Blue Ridge Parkway, Virginia

: Along the Blue Ridge Parkway, Virginia

: Overlook along the Blue Ridge Parkway, Virginia

: Along the Blue Ridge Parkway, Virginia

: Along the Blue Ridge Parkway, Virginia

: Along the Blue Ridge Parkway, Virginia

: Blue Ridge Parkway, Virginia

: Along the Blue Ridge Parkway, Virginia

: Out the Window

: Blue Ridge Parkway, Virginia

: Blue Ridge Parkway, Virginia

: Peaks of Otter, Blueridge, Virginia

: Trixie at the Peaks of Otter Lake, Blueridge, Virginia

: Trixie on the scent of something.

: Lake at Peaks of Otter, Blueridge, Virginia

: Trixie at the Peaks of Otter Lake, Blueridge, Virginia

: Blue Ridge Parkway, Virginia

: Blue Ridge Parkway Overlook, Virginia

: Blue Ridge Parkway Overlook, Virginia

: Blue Ridge Parkway, Virginia

: Blue Ridge Parkway Tunnel, Virginia

October 13 and 14, 2011

October 23, 2011

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Thursday and Friday:

Spent the next two nights at Natural Bridge, Virginia. It was a KOA and it was raining leaves. All the trees were in color and it was really windy so it seemed like it was raining leaves. Really beautiful. Always nice to stay two nights at a place so there is a day to rest from driving and packing and unpacking and setting up Worf and breaking him down again. We went for a walk in the hills and got a bit lost. We were looking for Devil’s Marble Yard. Never did find it but it looks like this: http://www.midatlantichikes.com/devilsmarbleyard.htm

Anywho, it was a great trail up the mountain but a little taxing. Afterwards, we decided to take in Foamhenge, a full scale version of Stonehenge made out of foam. I have photos below, but you can read all about it at: http://www.roadsideamerica.com/story/9209

: KOA Natural Bridge, Virginia

: Foamhenge, Natural Bridge, Virginia

: Natural Bridge, Virginia

: Foamhenge, Natural Bridge, Virginia

: Natural Bridge, Virginia

: KOA Natural Bridge, Virginia

: KOA Natural Bridge, Virginia

: KOA Natural Bridge, Virginia

: Natural Bridge, Virginia

: Trail at Natural Bridge, Virginia

: Jack on the trail, Natural Bridge, Virginia

: Natural Bridge, Virginia

: Natural Bridge, Virginia

: Foamhenge, Natural Bridge, Virginia

: Foamhenge, Natural Bridge, Virginia

: Foamhenge, Natural Bridge, Virginia

: Foamhenge, Natural Bridge, Virginia

: Foamhenge, Natural Bridge, Virginia

: Foamhenge, Natural Bridge, Virginia

: Foamhenge, Natural Bridge, Virginia

: Foamhenge, Natural Bridge, Virginia

: Foamhenge, Natural Bridge, Virginia

: Self Portrait, Foamhenge, Natural Bridge, Virginia

: Foamhenge, Natural Bridge, Virginia

: Foamhenge, Natural Bridge, Virginia

: Foamhenge, Natural Bridge, Virginia

: Foamhenge, Natural Bridge, Virginia

October 12, 2011

October 22, 2011

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Wednesday:

We leave Front Royal and begin our trip through the Shenandoah Valley via Skyline Parkway. Just too beautiful. It was rainy and foggy but that just made for great photos. At least I think so.

We stay one night at Loft Mountain, a National Park on Skyline Parkway. No electricity. No sleep for Jack as his anti-snoring, anti-apnea machine needs much electricity. It was a most beautiful park. Photos below of the park and Skyline Parkway through the Shenandoah Valley. There are 43 of them though so be warned. And there are more in the next posts…

: The Road Ahead!

: The Road Ahead!

: The Road Ahead!

: The Road Ahead!

: The Road Ahead!

: The Road Ahead!

: The Road Ahead!

: The Road Ahead!

: The Road Ahead!

: The Road Ahead!

: The Road Ahead!

: The Road Ahead!

: The Road Ahead!

: The Road Ahead!

: The Road Ahead!

: The Road Ahead!

: The Road Ahead!

: The Road Ahead!

: The Road Ahead!

: The Road Ahead!

: Speeding by Worf’s Window!

: Speeding by Worf’s Window!

: Speeding by Worf’s Window!

: Speeding by Worf’s Window!

: Speeding by Worf’s Window!

: Speeding by Worf’s Window!

: Speeding by Worf’s Window!

: Speeding by Worf’s Window!

: Speeding by Worf’s Window!

: Speeding by Worf’s Window!

: Speeding by Worf’s Window!

: Speeding by Worf’s Window!

: Speeding by Worf’s Window!

: Speeding by Worf’s Window!

: Speeding by Worf’s Window!

: Speeding by Worf’s Window!

: Speeding by Worf’s Window!

: Speeding by Worf’s Window!

: Speeding by Worf’s Window!

: Speeding by Worf’s Window!

: Speeding by Worf’s Window!

: Speeding by Worf’s Window!

: Speeding by Worf’s Window!

October 10 and 11, 2011

October 17, 2011

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Monday and Tuesday:

Left PA. Drove through Maryland, West Virginia and finally Virginia. Stayed at Front Royal. Also the same place as last trip. Bad last time, but tried to give it a second try. This turned out not to be a good idea. We woke up the next morning to find a river of sewage running under Worf. Moved to a different site on the opposite side of the RV park. Much better. Did laundry and dipped into the town of Front Royal for groceries. Front Royal, VA is the start of the Shenandoah Valley. Jack also fixed the mysterious boom sound in the bulkhead [aka; cab over the driver seat]. Lose bolts. Glad we got rid of the heavy tv because the bolts would have been impossible to get to otherwise! Ha Ha Ha.
Many more photos to come in the next posts.