Tue, Nov. 9:

Chattahoochee KOA to Manatee Springs State Park, Chiefland, FL:  Left this morning at 10:30.  It’s noticeably warmer already.  Back on Interstate 10 heading east and dropped south on 27/19-98 just east of Tallahassee.  A pretty drive through what old Florida must have looked like.  I love getting off the highways anyway.  Never did stop for lunch because we couldn’t find the restaurant that we thought we stopped at last year.  So I ended up doing all the driving.  Wasn’t bad though—only took 3 hours.  We were set up by 1:45 or so.  Starving though because we hadn’t had lunch.  Heard from one of the rangers there were 21 manatees in the Suwannee River, so we walked down there before going out to eat.  Glad we did because there were manatees everywhere—including two babies.  Watched them for quite a while and a bunch of grass carp swam in.  Huge things. Drove to Chiefland for dinner.  Back home and there was a herd of deer in back of us.  It’s like the wild kingdom in here.  Loving it.  And, it hit 79 today.  That’s more like it!

On the boardwalk down to the river

Gulf Pines KOA, Pensacola, FL, to the Chattahoochee KOA:  After breakfast we went for a walk.  Beautiful day and starting to get a little warmer. We left around 10:15 and arrived at the Chattahoochee KOA at around 2:00.  We’re now on Eastern Time (sigh).  We’re a little west of Tallahassee—here for one night only.  Tomorrow we leave for Manatee Springs State Park and it should be a lot warmer.  We can only hope.

German Air Raid Shelter--used for workers who were out in the open, like railroad workers, who could duck in this thing during a bombing raid.

National WWII Museum

 

Gulf Pines KOA, Pensacola, FL:  Hunkered down all day today.  I went for a short walk but it was pretty chilly—even though the sun was out.  Started a new book and watched a couple of movies.  Backed up the computer.  Went out to get a bite to eat and fuel up around 4:00.  50s today.

French Quarter--New Orleans

French Quarter--New Orleans

Gulf Pines KOA, Pensacola, FL:  Went out for breakfast this morning and then drove into Pensacola. A pretty day, but really chilly.  Down into the 30s last night.  Other than that we just hung out and watched the 6-year-old mare, Zenyatta, and the Breeders Cup.  Was a nervous wreck.  She came in second by inches (sigh).  

The Blue Angels

 The bridges around Pensacola decorated with the Blue Angels
 

Fairview Riverside SP, Madisonville, LA, to Gulf Pines KOA, Pensacola, FL: Left Fairview Riverside this morning at 10:30 and arrived at Gulf Pines and were set up by 3:30. Stopped once for fuel and lunch. A nice, sunny day, but pretty windy. Felt it a lot on some of the bridges. The I10 bridge over the bay in Pensacola is finally finished. The last time we came through here the bridge consisted of pontoons and metal grid road beds because of the damage of one of the last hurricanes. Finally, it’s a real road again. We plan on going back to the Naval Air Museum in Pensacola tomorrow. We were hoping to see the Blue Angels which are based there, but their practice sessions are on Tuesday and Wednesday. We won’t be here then (sigh). Only in the low 60s today.

Tchefuncte River--Fairview Riverside State Park

Peacock hanging out in our campground

Fairview Riverside State Park, Madisonville, LA:  Cloudy most of the night, but I looked out at around 4:00 a.m. and there was Orion twinkling away in the night sky.  A beautiful, sunny morning but really windy.  Mike was up at 4:00 a.m. taking the awning down.  After lunch we went for a walk and then drove into Mandeville, got the truck washed and bought some groceries.  Relaxed the rest of the day.  We leave tomorrow for a KOA just outside of Pensacola.  Mid-60s today.

Cafe Du Monde--New Orleans

French Quarter--New Orleans

Pirate's Alley--French Quarter

Tchefuncte River--Fairview Riverside State Park

Fairview Riverside State Park, Madisonville, LA: Left this morning around 10:30 and drove over the causeway across Lake Pontchartrain to New Orleans. We wanted to see the new addition to the National WWII Museum. The new building is basically an entertainment building. They have a huge, state-of-the-art interactive theater where they show a movie overview of WWII narrated by Tom Hanks. After seeing the movie we had lunch at The American Sector restaurant in the building. I had shrimp creole and Mike had a pork po boy with home-made chips. They have another restaurant in the building called Stage Door Canteen. They have a daily stage show (like the Andrews Sisters) along with a dinner or lunch buffet. They were sold out unfortunately. After the museum we drove over to the French Quarter, had some beignets at Café Du Monde and walked around Jackson Squarefor a while before heading back to Madisonville. Right after we got back it started pouring again. Hit 79 today and actually cleared off for a while.

St. Louis Cathedral--Jackson Square