February 28, 2016
The New Orleans Rock and Roll Marathon was my 18th attended as a spectator.   I am counting one as part of Ritchie’s  Ironman and two halves equal a whole in two triathlons I spectated.  I think with these stats I can be considered a professional.
As I walked to the starting line at 6:30 a.m.  Sunday morning, with Richie, I had butterflies in my stomach.  With every step closer to ” our corral”  I could feel the excitement building.

     With the music blaring and the Race Announcer yelling “23,000 registered runners”, I got goosebumps.  People watching is at peak proportions.  Runners were dressed in everything from top of the line athletic apparel, costumes ranging from rock and roll legends to a tuxedo speedo!

    Not all the bodies are “fine”,  but they are all athletes.   Anyone that can run 26.2, 13.1 miles, a 10 K or 5 Kl are athletes in my book.  Spectating these events, especially when you have a participant, is fun and exciting.

After listening to the National Anthem with great pride in my heart, the anticipation explodes as the race begins. It is thrilling standing at the front of the starting line watching the first wave of elite runners charging forward.

    Then the spectators challenge begins.  How many locations along the route can you make to route your runner on and still catch him at the finish line.  This race it was mile markers 9 and 15.  We walked to 9, which was in the Business District,

    Then grabbed a shuttle to City Park (a fifteen minute bus ride), which dropped you off at mile 15 and a short walk through the park to the finish line.

     I cannot say enough good things about the organizers of this event.  The perks for both runners and spectators added ten fold to the enjoyment.
Each of the three categories of this event, Full Marathon, Half Marathon and 10 K, had their own finish line.
Richie is a Full Marathon runner so that’s where we took our post.  We missed the first male finisher to come across the finish line, but were early enough to see the first three woman cross.  It may sound funny, but I get emotional and tear up at times for many of the runners, always as soon as I spot Richie coming into the finish line corral.

    Some runners are racing for a qualifying time for events like Boston, New York or Chicago.  Some are coxing a friend, who is struggling to get to the finish.  From the anguish on some faces, to the joy, the experience is heartwarming.
Richie finishes with a very good time.  Not his best, but as he tells me “it’s good for my age”!

    His next marathon will be in Salt Lake City, Utah in April.  Just by chance a work commitment has him there the same time as a Marathon.  It will be a small group of participants of maybe 300.  Quite a difference from 23,000. He’s almost half way to his completing his 50 state goal.

February 27, 2016
DAYS 17 & 18

This was a great weekend.  I picked my son, Richie and his wife, Jen up at the Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport.  Easy in and out from I 10.   Richie was running  in the Rock and Roll marathon on Sunday.

This weekend was all about spending “quality time” with Richie and Jen.   I  miss the kids when we travel.   Richie did an awesome job with our hotel arrangements.   Anyone planning a “hotel”  trip to The Big Easy,  the Holiday Inn Express on OKeefe Ave is in a great  location with easy walking access to the French Quarter,  Riverwalk and Garden District.   David and I visited New Orleans in March of 2014 (blog in archives).   We stayed at the Pontchartrain Landing RV Park.

This slideshow is a little sampling of New Orleans character, or characters of New Orleans.

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Next Stop … Fort Pickens National Seashore

February, 25, 2016
DAY 15 & 16
Other than getting scared  _ _ _ _less by the tornado watch, we’ve been having fun.
The weather is not great.  It’s cool and the wind makes it cold at times.   We are using the heat at night.  This adventure is like the words to the old song  “make new friends, but keep the old, one is silver and the other is gold.”
We are enjoying some of our old favorite places and finding new.
E T had the dog park/beach to herself two days in a row.  She did not seem to mind at all.

    David and I were not able to fish, too cold and windy, but enjoyed a walk on the pier. There is a $3 per person fee to walk the pier (included in campground fee).

We had another little glitch and had to take the RV to Moyer Ford in Foley, Al.  A warning light had gone on.  It turned out to be nothing but a loose connection.  This was a glitch that went GOOD!  Right across the street is Lambert’s Cafe, Home of Throwed Rolls! 

We had the most FUN, DELICIOUS lunch ever.  There are two Lambert’s  in Missouri and one in Alabama.  If there was one in Connecticut you would have to make reservations months in advance.   The FUN is … servers (not waitresses) are continuously walking around, one throws you fresh, warm rolls, you  have to catch them.  Other servers dish out Pass Arounds (Macaroni and Tomatoes, Fried Potatoes and Onions, Black Eyed Peas, Fried Okra, Apple Butter, Molasses, Boiled Cabbage) you can get a taste or as big a potion as you like.  If you just want to sit and have Pass Arounds it costs $9.  I ordered Chicken Salad ($11)  which comes with two sides (there are 18 sides to choose from) and all the Pass Arounds.  I choose white beans and chunky applesauce for my sides.  I ate all the Pass Arounds and took my Chicken Salad and sides home for dinner.

Gulf Shores is already one of our favorite areas to visit, but we just added another reason to come back.
No way we were going to be in Gulf Shores and not bicycle  The Hugh S. Branyon Backcountry Trail.  There are nearly 14 miles of paved paths, throughout Gulf State Park.  Most of the paths are at least eight feet wide.  We took a bike ride from the campground down Catman Rd (2.2 miles) to our favorite trail the Rosemary Dunes (1.75 miles).

This trail takes you through an alligator habitat.  We were lucky to see, Lefty, the resident alligator. 

Can anyone guess why Lefty was named Lefty?  I’ll print the answer at the end of the blog.  Here’s a clue … It is very obvious by looking at him from the front why his name is Lefty. 

Yes, there are alligators in the park, as well as, snakes, armadillos, racoons, otters, coyotes, fox and even wild boar.  If any of these things creep you out, staying on the well traveled paved roads and paths make it easy to spot critters well in advance. 

Next Stop … New Orleans, LA (A litle back tracking)

Answer to Lefty question:  He has no front right  “arm”,

February 23 – 25, 2016
Day 14

I am a happy camper!   I like  Gulf Shores State Park in Orange Beach, Alabama.  It’s pretty and there’s a lot to see and do here.

Gulf Shores State Park Campground is the best of the best as far as campgrounds go.  Full hook up, large paved sites, ($40 a night).

There are too many amenities to list within the park and campground.

This year a pleasant surprise  at check in,  free passes to the  Gulf Shores Fishing Pier and $3 discount on one day fishing licenses.

This trip we have run into a few clinches.  At check in someone asked the clerk if they were evacuating the park.   HMMMM, I ask myself, “Why”  It’s been overcast and very foggy most of the way here.  There was some wind and heavy rain going through Mobile, but nothing horrible.  I actually like being in the RV in the rain.  The pitter patter of the rain on the rooftop is very soothing.  So the clerk says “No evacuation,  watch the weather and you might want to head for one of the storm shelters, if it gets bad.”  Storm Shelter aka any concrete building in the park.

It’s nice outside, warm, a light breeze.  We walk E T,  have dinner and David is surfing TV channels for something to watch.  All of a sudden we hear the thunder.  Then the sky lights up like daybreak with lightning flashes and the downpour begins.   It happened in a matter of minutes.  The downpour was so heavy that we couldn’t hear TV or each other talking.  The RV stated rocking.   The TV channels started flashing tornado watches.  There are two tornado’s forming a few miles off the Gulf Shores coast, heading for Orange Beach.  That’s right where we are,  David says “Do you want to head for the BUNKER?”  I’m already hooking E T’s harness on and grabbing my raincoat.  I step out of the camper into water up over my ankles.  The rain is coming down so hard that we are instantly drenched.  The wind is blowing me backward.  Fortunately, the Storm Shelter/Bunker aka Ladies Rest Room is less than a hundred feet from our camper.   In we go and it’s packed!  Men, Women, no dogs … there is a no pet in any park building rule.  So I explained that E T is a therapy dog in training.  She became the calming effect that many needed.  They became the calming effect she needed.

Many of the campers were tracking the storm on their cell phones.  We spent a scary hour or so gathered in the “bunker”.  The tornado’s dissipated.  The wind and rain alternated between mild and strong all night long.  We watched the weather until we felt comfortable enough that the threat had passed to go to  sleep.

So we weathered the storm with no incident.  Oh! and I did check the pet rules.  There are exceptions to the no pets in park buildings rule 🙂

February 22, 2016

Days 12 and 13

Today was overcast and threatening rain.  It was a little spooky traveling through the Louisiana and Mississippi  Bayous.

It felt good to be back in Alabama.

The last time we visited Gulf Shores, Alabama we had planned to take the Ferry from Fort Morgan to Dauphin Island.  It was not running.  We were a little disappointed, but had a fun afternoon touring Fort Morgan.  We just happened to have our bicycles and were able to ride out to bunkers and places we would have not walked to.  Today when we were looking for a place to stay for the night, coming west to east we could get to Dauphin Island over the causeway.

Now this is an Island!  We have already added at least a week stay next year at the Dauphin Island Campground ($32.50 water and electric).  From the campground you can walk to the Ferry,  Fort Gaines, the beach and a 4 1/2 mile hiking trail through a bird sanctuary.  I saw my whooping crane!  No photo 🙁   We were walking the boardwalk to the beach and startled each other.  She flew off in a flash.

I love Pelicans!  Don’t tell David.  My feeling is that fisherman find them pesky.  i find them entertaining.

Next Stop …. Gulf Shores State Park

February 21, 2016
DAY 11

David and I are travelers,  not “stay – put – ers”.    Today  was fun.   We are on the road again.  Up at 6:00 a.m.  We caught the sunrise.  When we arrived at Mustang Island,  I told David that one of the mornings I was going to get up early and catch a sunrise.   I didn’t have to get out of bed.  I could lay in bed,  raise the window shade and vawala!!  A beautiful sunrise.  This morning I walked out with E T,  for the photo op,  and we were bitten alive by mosquito’s.  Have you ever heard jokes about things being  BIGGER in Texas?   The bites on my legs will vouch for the mosquito’s being bigger.   David has been taking Benydryl daily for whatever has been biting him.

First Stop … the RV / Car wash.   RVing is NOT all fun.  It’s a lot of work.   One of the things that David scoped out on our previous trip to Port Aransas was an easy in, easy out RV wash.

Second Stop …. We took the RV and  E T on their first Ferry ride.  What a hoot!  I LOVE ferries.  I have taken all five “Grands” on the Rocky Hill, CT ferry.   It’s an,  almost,  extinct mode of transportation, at least it is in CT.

Our new route takes us on Tropical Route 136.  Sorry but this is just not my idea of Tropical.  It looks like more of what we’ve seen on every other HWY, Route and Interstate we’ve been on in Texas.

It is February on the Gulf Coast of Texas and it is hot and humid.  Eighty degrees with 80 per cent humidity.  The locals are saying the temps are about 10 degrees above normal.  The area is also in its second year of serious drought.    My thoughts are “What would be different,  if we came on a different month, in a different year?”

Would there be no snake warning signs?

I didn’t have to ask what kind of snakes.   I learned my lesson at the Texas Visitor Center and had googled  snakes in Texas.  All four major species of venomous snakes can be found in Texas, especially in swampy areas.   I am not going to google the difference between an Island and a Swamp.   I want to sleep tonight.

On the lighter side, you’ll love this story.

Travel Tale ….   This is a true story, told to me by a Texas sheep and goat farmer.  One day HER teenage daughter came to her in a frenzy.  “Ma! Ma! There’s a snake in my bedroom!” They rush to the bedroom.   The mother can barely open the door to the bedroom.  There’s clothes, shoes, books … scattered and piled up everywhere.  She yells at the daughter, “How am I suppose to find a snake in all this mess?”  Well, as it turned out it wasn’t hard at all to find.  All coiled up in a corner was this big ole’ corn snake, round as a Coke can and maybe four/five feet long.  Well, darned if her husband wasn’t anywhere to be found.  Wouldn’t matter anyway, cause he’s scared to death of snakes.  So, She does what any woman would do.  She puts on a pair of high rubber boots, a pair of hefty work gloves, grabs the kitchen trash can and the biggest pair of salad tongs she can find.  She opens the back door and heads back into the bedroom.  Well, it wasn’t a pretty sight.  She grabbed hold of the snake, right below the head with them salad tongs.  It was wrestlin’,  twist in’, turn in’ and swing in’ every which way.  The dang thing was heavy.  She finally got it into the trash can, yelled to her daughter, “Hey! Ya wanna come take a look at this snake before I go toss it?”  The daughter yells back with disinterest, “NAW!”
Well, it ain’t over yet.  Goin’ down the hallway the dang snake comes up, over and out of the trash can. Fortunately, it heads right down the hallway and with a little cox in’  from the trash can, out the door.  “Now if it had been a rattler” she says “I woulda just got the gun and shot it.”
I wanted to ask how the snake got into the house in the first place, but decided I was probably better off not knowing.  I did google corn snake … they resemble copperheads.

Would the dozens of Fire Ant Nests not be here?

When we arrived at Mustang Island I asked one of the Volunteers what were all the Volcano looking piles of sand.  The answer was Fire Ant nests.  Fire Ants nest in mounds of 1 to 2 feet in diameter that are about 1/2 foot high.  Large colonies can have up to 250,000 workers.    Yowza!   Her suggestion was,  if you accidentally disturb one of the nests,  drop your pants immediately and run.  For any of you free-spirits, that like to go commando, I’d watch where I stepped in this part of Texas.

Would there not be as many  Portuguese Man Of War on the beach?

The first time I saw a Portuguese Man of War was on a beach in Florida.  They are so interesting looking I almost picked one up.  Fortunately, David saw what I was about to do and stopped me.  I have never seen so many,  in so many different sizes, as here.  Some are as small as a pencil head and others, like the one above, the size of a plum or larger.   If you get stung by a PMOW, according to a Texas beachcomber I met,  you have two options # 1.) You can urinate on the area of the sting or #2) If you happen to have Adolf’s Meat Tenderizer on hand you can “treat it” with that.   We went out and bought Adolf’s!

When David went to the Park Office to tell them that we would be leaving a few days early the Ranger asked if it was because of the wind.  The wind patterns here change so quickly that it’s difficult to plan any outdoor activities.  We tried taking evening walks on the beach, but the wind whipped up blinding sand storms without a moments notice.

David and I like spending a lot of time outdoors.  We found ourselves very limited in what we could do here and enjoy safely.  Alas,  it was time to move on.  Were we glad that we came, yes.  We would have always wondered.

We stopped for the night at our favorite Texas campground, Gulf Coast RV Resort in Beaumont,TX.  We had a ton of laundry to do and they have four washers ($1 a load) and four dryers ($1 for 1 hour of drying time).  David got to watch the Daytona 500, Congratulations to Denny Hamlin.

Next Stop … Dauphin Island, Alabama

February 20, 2016

DAYS 9 and 10

We drove to Port Aransas.  David wanted to check out taking the free ferry  vs  going back the way we came.   We also wanted to find Cline’s Landing Condominiums where I would be playing in the Mah Jongg Tournament on Saturday.

E T and I went walking along the “fishing wall” in the park and met a fisherman.  He told that told me he was fishing for Black Drum.  He used sea lice for bait and you couldn’t keep any drum caught under 30 inches.  He said pulling them in was like pulling in a Volkswagon.

We have decided to leave Mustang Island on Sunday instead of Tuesday.  The weather forecast here  is for rain Sunday and Monday, so they would be good travel days.   David made a call to the Gulf Shores Campground in Alabama.  We were very disappointed to have missed or reservation there on the way down.   They have a site availability for us for the 23rd, 24th and 25th.  A little juggling and we’re going to get to do both, just backward.

My Mah Jongg Tournament was GREAT!  The Ladies of Texas were more than hospitable, they were fun.  I didn’t score well, but the competition was tough.  The venue was beautiful.  If I want to make an excuse for my score,  I can use the view was distracting.  In between and during rounds we were treated to dolphin shows in the port.   After, a delicious lunch we were treated to a comedy performance.

Next Stop … back to Gulf RV Resort in Beaumont, TX

February 18, 2016
DAY  8

On our way to the U.S.S. Lexington we stopped in Downtown Corpus Christi.  One of the places we wanted to visit was the  Downtown Seawall.  It is a 1 1/2 mile seawall that you can walk or ride a bicycle along and view some amazing art work and enjoy the sights and sounds of the waterway.

We spent our afternoon checking out Padre Island National Park.

A beach is a beach,  but I really wanted to come here to check out Bird Island.  I have hopes of spotting a Whooping Crane.

I guess I just have to keep looking!

February 18, 2016
DAY 8

This was an awesome day.  I’ve decided to write two blogs about today’s adventures  instead of one.  The U.S.S. Lexington deserves it’s own.

If anyone reading has wondered, why we chose where we travel, the answer is “someone told us too!”  That may sound funny, but it’s true.  Talking to fellow RV-ers, everyone has a  “must visit”.    Visiting the U.S.S. Lexington was a must.  I am a history buff.  David is retired from the aircraft industry.   A bonus feature for me was “It’s Haunted”.   This is not an advertised feature.  We stopped at a local locksmith on the way and he told us about the ghosts that roam the ship.   I was totally in awe from the first minute I stepped on board. Entrance fee was $12.95 (senior). The entrance fee included a 50 minute 3 D film about flight.

Flight Deck

This was awesome!  They let you walk out on this 20ft plank that is hanging from the bow of the ship.  It tips down at about a 20 degree angle.  It was more fun than a thrill ride at an amusement park!

We were advised to allow at least 4 hours to tour, especially if you bring your children.  Lots of photo opportunities!

February 17, 2016
DAYS 6   R&R   We are just chillin!”  We totally enjoyed just spending time walking the beach and settling in.

E T competed in a sandcastle competition.  David and I were the  judges 🙂

DAY  7  I am going to a Mah Jongg Tournament in Port Aransas on Saturday and one of the organizers was kind enough to invite me to play with her group today.   I drove into town,  in the morning, did laundry and then had an enjoyable afternoon playing mah jongg with some very nice ladies.  David and E T spent some quality time together and relaxing.

We enjoyed a spectacular sunset!