Friday, March 31, 2017
"Go east young man, go east." I know the saying is "go west", but for our third year in a row, we are heading east and north. Today is a great day to hit the road. The weather is perfect...sunny skies and little wind. After many hugs and wishes for "safe travels" all around, we left Johnson Creek RV. We're headed east and north to Brevard, North Carolina.
Today, we drove to Brookshire, about 40 miles east of Houston. We stayed here one other time in November, '14.
It's a decent park, lots are fairly wide, roads and pads are gravel.
During our travels, we have seen quite a few "tiny homes" being
towed down the road. We also saw one on private land in
Weatherford, Texas Today is the first day we have ever seen
one in an RV Park...
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| very small, not thinking I could live in one |
Saturday April 1
We awoke to partly sunny skies and 70. Today, we are heading to Frog City RV in Ducson, Louisiana (about 10 miles east of Lafayette). We are planning on staying here for two days, as storms are moving in on Sunday. We will leave here on Monday, April 3.
We really dislike driving through Houston. I don't care when you go through it, there is always traffic. We try to time it so we travel through on a Saturday or Sunday morning...
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| we drove straight down the gut |
My favorite bridge across Lake Charles...
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| Lake Charles |
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| another view |
Along the way to Duson, we spotted crawfish farms and
rice paddies along I-10...
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| notice the pots? they hold the crawfish |
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| rice paddy |
By the time we arrived in Duson, the wind was gusting up to 26 mph.
We were happy to get off the road at Frog City. We have stayed
here before as well.
Sunday, April 2
We had some nasty storms go through here this morning; lightening and a little bit of hail. Thankfully, no damage. We were on the edge of this storm. Lafayette (about 10 miles west of us) received the brunt of the storm.
In between raindrops (more rain is expected this evening) we headed out to Don's Seafood Grill for some cajun and creole food.
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| Yum! Half & Half - half fried craw fish tails & half craw fish etouffee |
Rain is to continue tomorrow, possibly severe storms near Mobile,
Alabama which is our next stop. We'll keep an eye on the weather
and make our decision in the morning.
Monday, April 3
The storms continued throughout the night; none of us got a whole lot of sleep. A tornado touched down about 20 miles east of us. We are so grateful that the brunt of the storm missed us. We've sunny skies this morning. A quick check of radar shows the storms nearing Mobile. We've decided to leave for Mobile later this morning. The storm is moving pretty quickly and will have passed through Mobile by the time we arrive.
We took our time packing up and hit the road. The sun is shining and we've a tail wind. Love those tail winds!!
Some sights as we passed through Louisiana...
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| Atchafalaya Basin Main Channel |
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| the river flows in the middle of I-10 and out into the Atchafalaya Channel |
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| a better picture |
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| bridge in Port Allen |
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| barges |
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| Baton Rouge. view from the Port Allen bridge |
Thankfully, we had a much easier drive today. We're staying
at Shady Acres in Mobile. Shady Acres is a smaller, older campground. Perfect for one night...
I love magnolia trees...
This is a very nice RV park; it is also the only private park in the area...
If you plan on staying here during home football games, you'd better
have your reservation! Sites are reserved a year in advance.
this lovely bluebird came for a visit this afternoon
As RV'ers we've seen some pretty crazy things on the road and
in RV parks. The incident tonight topped them all! A gentleman
driving a motor home and pulling a trailer behind him came
into the lot next to us. His lot was a horseshoe shape; he came
in on the wrong side, which was his first mistake. Granted, it
was dark. However, the site was still rather lit up due to the lights
on at the softball complex. Anyway, just as Ron was running
out the door to tell him he was about to hit the power pole, he hit
it. Second mistake. Right after he hit the power pole, he hit the
water spigot. Third mistake. Yikes...
The good news? No one was hurt and it didn't take long to make
the necessary repairs.
Friday, April 7
Today is a beautiful morning. Sunny, cloudless sky. It is brisk (cold); 45 with a windchill, yes a windchill, of 37 when we left this morning. Today is the last leg of our drive to Brevard. We should be there in approximately three hours.
at Shady Acres in Mobile. Shady Acres is a smaller, older campground. Perfect for one night...
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| it was warm and breezy when we arrived |
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| heading out for a walk |
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| on the nature trail |
Tuesday, April 4
We awoke this morning to heavy fog. Visibility is almost zero. Thankfully, it's a shorter drive today. We'll wait out the fog.
By 9:30 we were almost packed up and the sun was burning through the fog. We're headed to Auburn. Soon, the sun was brightly shining. We had another easy drive today. We're thankful for that.
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| bridge over the Mobile River |
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| Mobile River |
I love magnolia trees...
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| magnolia trees at a rest stop |
Today and tomorrow we're staying at Auburn RV Park and Leisure Time Campground,
which is about three miles from the University of Auburn
campus. It's a beautiful campus; reminds us of the University of
Michigan campus. This part of Alabama is much hillier and
prettier than I thought it would be.
which is about three miles from the University of Auburn
campus. It's a beautiful campus; reminds us of the University of
Michigan campus. This part of Alabama is much hillier and
prettier than I thought it would be.
Our site is on a bluff that overlooks a very nice city-owned
softball complex.We can sit outside and
(using binoculars) watch a game...
softball complex.We can sit outside and
(using binoculars) watch a game...
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| we're on a higher elevation than the field |
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| looks like there will be a game tonight...getting the field ready |
This is a very nice RV park; it is also the only private park in the area...
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| some sites (ours is one of them) are sunny |
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| while others are shady |
If you plan on staying here during home football games, you'd better
have your reservation! Sites are reserved a year in advance.
this lovely bluebird came for a visit this afternoon
in RV parks. The incident tonight topped them all! A gentleman
driving a motor home and pulling a trailer behind him came
into the lot next to us. His lot was a horseshoe shape; he came
in on the wrong side, which was his first mistake. Granted, it
was dark. However, the site was still rather lit up due to the lights
on at the softball complex. Anyway, just as Ron was running
out the door to tell him he was about to hit the power pole, he hit
it. Second mistake. Right after he hit the power pole, he hit the
water spigot. Third mistake. Yikes...
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| Ron helped him get back out of his lot... |
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| closer view |
The good news? No one was hurt and it didn't take long to make
the necessary repairs.
Wednesday, April 5
So glad we stayed put today. Schools were closed to due potentially severe weather. We had thunderstorms this morning, but nothing severe. We've been under a tornado watch for most of the day. The storms have been north and east of us. Atlanta, our next stop, was hit pretty hard today.
Thursday, April 6
A cold front blew in with the storms last night. It's sunny, cold (49) and very windy this morning. We packed up and were on the road by 9:00. By 9:30 we were back on eastern daylight savings time. We've a short drive today; 160 miles, 108 miles from Atlanta.
We were glad of the short drive as there was a high wind alert for Atlanta as well as being overcast and rainy. We chose to take the 285 bypass around; we ran into a bit of traffic near Augusta for the Masters. We experienced the normally heavy traffic on the bypass. Speeds were 35 mph; the slow speeds helped us; easier to view signage, etc. Overall, Atlanta is much easier to navigate than Houston!!
Thursday, April 6
A cold front blew in with the storms last night. It's sunny, cold (49) and very windy this morning. We packed up and were on the road by 9:00. By 9:30 we were back on eastern daylight savings time. We've a short drive today; 160 miles, 108 miles from Atlanta.
We were glad of the short drive as there was a high wind alert for Atlanta as well as being overcast and rainy. We chose to take the 285 bypass around; we ran into a bit of traffic near Augusta for the Masters. We experienced the normally heavy traffic on the bypass. Speeds were 35 mph; the slow speeds helped us; easier to view signage, etc. Overall, Atlanta is much easier to navigate than Houston!!
We left Atlanta, the sun began to shine and the dogwoods are in bloom!
Still cold (mid-50's) and windy. The wind will continue as we travel to Brevard tomorrow.
Tonight we're staying at the Georgia RV Park...
Friday, April 7
Today is a beautiful morning. Sunny, cloudless sky. It is brisk (cold); 45 with a windchill, yes a windchill, of 37 when we left this morning. Today is the last leg of our drive to Brevard. We should be there in approximately three hours.
Welcome to North Carolina! It is good to be back in the mountains!!
We are very much looking forward to our time here in Brevard...
Stay tuned!
Til next time,
Dawn, Ron & Coop
