Belle the bloodhound and Chelsea the Irish Wolfhound mix

Belle doesn't bark--she has this mournful howl

Beautiful live oaks on the Fairview plantation house grounds, which is in the park

A very large, older yacht going by the park on the Tchefuncta

Fairview-Riverside SP, Mandeville, LA: This morning dawned clear, warm, and sunny. Sat outside in the sun for a while and the clouds started rolling in—ugly looking clouds. We’re supposed to get severe weather again. Headed out to pick up some wonderful Ponchetoula strawberries, drive to Ponchetoula to get some beignets at a little café there in the old, historic part of town, and then have some lunch at Morton’s Seafood House in Madisonville. On the way we ran right into a storm with lots of rain—which they don’t need right now. The rivers are very high—some over their banks. Our campsite is only about 100 yards from the Tchefuncta River, and we’ve been keeping our eye on that for sure. Madisonville is a neat little town which is very historic—established in 1811. Our park is only a couple of miles from this cute, historic town which is also on the Tchefuncta. Had a wonderful lunch. Mike had oysters on the half shell and I had red beans and rice with smoked sausage and corn bread. Very good. Back to our site and cut up all the strawberries and mixed with sugar and water. There’s strawberry shortcake in our future for sure. It hit 80 this morning before the storm. After the storm it went down to the 60s. We leave tomorrow and head to St. Louis. Taking three days though which will make for easy drives.

Jade Plant--Fairchild Gardens--Miami

Fairview-Riverside SP, Mandeville, LA: Cloudy and threatening rain this morning. I set up a pot roast in the crock pot and then made smoothies for breakfast. We sat outside for a while and it started raining. Then started pouring. During a break in the rain I went over and checked out the new bath house and laundry. The new building is really nice and they’ve also put in wi-fi hot spots in both loops. Great park. Plus we only pay half because the state of Louisiana honors the Golden Age Passport. Love Louisiana! Ran out to get some strawberries but the market was shut down because of the weather. At least we didn’t get severe weather. The pot roast was great along with potatoes and carrots. Smelled so good in here.

Our site (the river in the background)

Tchefuncte (Cha-funk-ta) River

Chelsea--the Irish Wolfhound mix

Belle the Bloodhound

Eagle’s Landing RV Park, Holt, FL, to Fairview-Riverside SP, Mandeville, LA: Left this morning at about 9:30 this morning and arrived at Fairview-Riverside and were set up by 3:30. We made three stops—once for breakfast, once for fuel, and once at a rest area to get something to drink. Saw lots of signs of flooding along I10. Fairview-Riverside is such a pretty park. It was named after the Fairview-Riverside plantation—whose plantation house is on the park property and is available for tours. We’re right on the Tchefuncte (cha-funk-ta) River which is very high right now. The park has a lot of huge, old live oaks and Spanish moss is everywhere. Our neighbors are from St. Louis also. They have two dogs—a bloodhound named Belle and an Irish Wolfhound mix named Chelsea. We’ll get our dog fix for sure. Drove to Mandeville to get some prescriptions filled and then came back and had left-overs for dinner. Supposed to be nasty weather tomorrow. We’ll see.