Sun, 3/30/08

St. Louis, MO: Left W. Memphis this morning at 8:15 (at least we’re consistent). I drove first until we stopped for breakfast at about 11:00. Starving. We pulled into the Storage Banc where we store the RV at about 3:00. It was a miserable drive—rainy, windy, and cold. No leaves on the trees yet and it’s really bleak. Get me back to Florida. All in all, a good trip.

Memphis KOA; West Memphis, AR: Left Fontainebleau this morning at 8:15 and arrived at the Memphis KOA at 4:30—stopping once for breakfast. We drove through a front and the temperature dropped from 75 to 50 by the time we got to Memphis. And the Tom Sawyer RV Park which we usually stay at was flooded out, so we got into the KOA. A lot more flooding in the Memphis area than we thought. And it was raining when we rolled through Memphis. We are tired from driving all day. Plan to warm up left-overs, watch TV, and go to bed. Another early start tomorrow.

Fontainebleau State Park; Mandeville, LA: Clouds rolled in this morning, but by early afternoon it cleared off. Very warm. So, we took the bikes and headed for the Tammeny Trace bike path. That’s the big reason we stay here. And you can bike right from the campground. It’s only a couple of miles on the park road where the bike path intersects. We biked towards Mandeville. Went through hardwood forests, cypress swamps, crossed streams, and they actually spent a lot of money building a tunnel under Rt. 190, so there are no dangerous intersections. We went through the outskirts of Mandeville towards Covington. On the way back we detoured off the path through old Mandeville, stopped at a place and got an appetizer and a couple of drinks and then continued on. We were only a block from the lake, so we continued on the path by the lake down to Mandeville Harbor and then hooked back up to the Tammeny Trace and back to the campground. An absolutely beautiful day. Lots of wild flowers along the trail. We leave tomorrow to head home—a couple of days earlier than we planned.

Private Residence on Lake Poncetrain

Fontainbleu State Park; Mandeville, LA: A beautiful morning. I sat outside in the sun for a while and then the clouds moved in. Went to eat in the early afternoon at a place along Lake Poncetrain. Some pretty homes along the lake. 80 today.

Live Oaks

Fontainbleu State Park; Mandeville, LA: A beautiful, sunny day. After lunch we hiked the little nature trail (1.5 mi.). About halfway on the trail there is a boardwalk that goes out into a wet area off the lake. The last time we were here there were LOTS of water snakes in and around the water. Today we only saw two—one on the boardwalk and one in the water. Then we walked around the sugar mill ruins. This whole park used to be owned by a Frenchman who built a plantation, brick kiln, and a sugar mill. He operated it from 1828 to about 1856. He owned most of what is now Mandeville. His main residence was in New Orleans, but he loved to spend the summers here by the cooling breezes of the lake. The plantation is long gone, but you can still see what used to be the drive up to the plantation which was lined with live oaks. They are now huge—hundreds of years old—and dripping with Spanish moss. Checked out the beach area and then came back. Made Mexican lasagna for dinner.

Park Entrance

Little Cottage at Park Entrance

Fontainbleu State Park; Mandeville, LA: Had a hard time getting out of bed this morning. Cold! Warmed up to the mid-60s and really pretty and sunny, but cool. We decided to do the laundry and grocery shopping. Got that done and just relaxed the rest of the day. Roast beef, mashed potatoes, and a vegetable for dinner.

Fontainbleu State Park; Mandeville, LA: I started driving this morning until we stopped for fuel and food. Then Mike took over. We left the Pensacola area around 10:00 a.m. and arrived at Fontainbleu at around 3:30—stopping for lunch for about an hour. Fontainbleu is a pretty park, but the campground isn’t the best. Our site isn’t that great, but we’re only here for 7 nights and we’re only paying $8/night with the Golden Age Passport. There’s also a bike path that goes right through the park, so we’ll do some biking. And hiking. After we got set up we went into Mandeville for dinner. Supposed to get into the 30s tonight. Brrrrrrr!