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.

WWII Museum--Magazine Street

New Orleans

Historic St. Patrick's--circa 1838

Camp Street, New Orleans

Camp Street--New Orleans

Fairview-Riverside SP, Mandeville, LA: This morning dawned cloudy and grey. Mike dropped me off at Family Cuts so I could get my hair cut and he went over to check out what movies are playing. Cinema is shut down for renovations, so we decided to drive over to New Orleans and go back to the WWII Museum. Drove over the 24 mile long bridge over Lake Poncetrain into the city. Decided to get some lunch before hitting the museum, so after parking we walked down to Poydras looking for a restaurant. Nothing. So walked back down Magazine and found a little eatery on the corner of Magazine and Lafayette. After eating we walked back to the museum. This is a great museum and the area around the museum has improved quite a bit. They’re building a huge addition to the museum and there seems to be a lot more galleries in the area. We toured the museum until 5:00 and then headed back. Right in time for rush hour traffic. Got back around 6:30 and had left-overs for dinner. Supposed to be lousy weather tomorrow too.

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.

Check-in--Discovery Cove

Tropical River--Discovery Cove

Clerbrook RV Resort, Clermont, FL, to Eagle’s Landing RV Park, Holt, FL: We were able to leave by 8:15 this morning—even though it was raining a little. With Mike driving we headed north on Florida’s Turnpike and picked up I75 north. Went through a pretty area that probably was what old Florida looked like. Lots of huge live oaks dripping with Spanish moss. Then when you get to Ocala you get into horse country. Got on I10 and headed west. We could really see signs of all the rain they had in this area yesterday. At one of the rivers the water was almost up to the bridge deck. At one point on I10 we saw either a small gator or a very large snake that had been run over. Yikes! Stopped and had breakfast and then I started driving. We made it to Eagle’s Landing by a little after 4:00, but we picked up an hour because we’re finally back to Central Time--so it was really 3:00. This is a really nice little park—very neat and clean. We’re about 30 miles east of Pensacola. Going to watch Tiger play golf for a while. A beautiful day once we cleared Ocala. 70 here in Holt and not a cloud in the sky.

Sea World

Hello...

Clerbrook RV Resort, Clermont, FL: We were supposed to leave this morning for a week in Louisiana, stopping for one night just west of Tallahassee. But they were calling for severe weather in the Florida panhandle today, so we extended here for one more day. It hit 90 today but was extremely windy. Mike finally put the awning up. We went to a Mexican restaurant for a late lunch and then drove around the little lake in the area. The lake is extremely low. The homeowners around the lake spent a lot of money on their docks, but they can’t even use them because the lake shore is about 5 feet from the end of the dock—their boats hanging uselessly from their lifts. We stopped at a little tiki bar on the lake which was really nice. Back home and Mike watched a basketball game. Hopefully we will be able to leave early tomorrow.

Sea World

Our pretty little site--Clermont RV Resort

The poor yorkie getting a bath

Ruby, the African Grey

The Conure (sp?)

Clerbrook RV Resort, Clermont, FL: Got going late this morning. Our neighbors from Michigan, Bill and Wanda, were outside bathing their yorkie, so we went outside to watch. Took some pictures of their parrots. The conure bit Mike, but he deserved it. We headed to Sea World since our entrance fee to Discovery Cove included a free pass. Walked around there all afternoon. A beautiful place. Had lunch and went to the Shamu show which is always good. Back home and had a light dinner. Hit 85 today.