OCT 8, 2015 ACROSS THE SOUTH AND UP TO BOSTON

Thursday, October 8, 2015

On the Road Again….

Today we left home about 7:30AM, joining heavy traffic heading towards town until we turned eastward on Beltway 8 to I-10.  I-10, which runs the whole way to Florida was typically busy, especially with 18-wheelers.  Through Beaumont,  Orange, and into Louisiana.  On through Lafayette, passing many sugar cane fields and bayous.

Gas was $1.89 at home and is just a little higher here, still mostly under $2.00.

First stop for gas and lunch was in Baton Rouge.  We tried a little Cajun place called Heads and Tails, which was decorated with LSU memorabilia.  Trip Advisor recommended it and reviews were good for their poboys.  We make it a point to try shrimp poboys whenever we are passing through Louisiana and these didn’t disappoint! 

A short while after getting back on the road, Beth noticed a piece missing from the back of the camera!  Couldn’t remember what was in the spot that now showed a film of dried adhesive, but all the controls seemed to work.  After looking for a camera shop in several cities and speaking to one owner, we determined that the missing piece is probably just for appearance so we will continue on and contact Canon at a later date.  I called back to Heads and Tails to see if it might be there and they were super nice and looked through trash and all around, but nothing.

Continued into Mississippi and left I-10 for “Scenic 90” which goes closer to the Gulf coast.  We stopped in Bay St. Louis just to walk around a bit and see the beach.  There was a huge car event going on with hundreds of antique and muscle cars and trucks; many parked and many cruising the main streets.

 Greg found a parking spot near an old cemetery which had a couple of “angel trees”, carvings of angels made from trees otherwise destroyed by hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

After walking and people watching, we headed back to I-90 and then the Check Engine light came on.  Yikes.  We stopped at an auto parts store where the clerk hooked up the machine that reads the codes to tell you why the light is on.  He seemed awkward and confused, so we asked if there was a repair shop nearby and he pointed us down the street.

A young man who worked there checked things again and said there was random misfiring. Other than noting and correcting the overfilled transmission fluid and oil, he couldn’t find a problem and suggested bad gas.   He turned off the check engine light and sold us some gas additive, and we were on our way – with hope and a prayer!

It seemed to be running a little more smoothly and check engine light didn’t come back on as we continued across the bay to Pass Christian.  Greg spotted an RV that was boondocking  at a small park just along the beach there and we decided it was a great place to stop for the night. 

Beth walked the beach and took sunset photos and played with hermit crabs, while Greg did some PT. 

 We enjoyed the breeze, the sunset and quiet wash of the waves. The folks next to us – in a huge rv – are here for the weekend and the car show.  Tiny sickle moon tonight and a few stars among the clouds.  Today was in the 80s but has cooled off to about 70 tonight.

Friday, October 9

Mississippi, Alabama to Florida.

We both woke early when the sun was just a thought, and decided to move on down the road.  Stopped near Gulfport a little while later and watched an awesome sunrise at Harrison County Sand Park.

Lots of birds waking up too and fish jumping near the shore.  We found a bench and ate breakfast as the day brightened.

There were many rv’s boondocking along the highway, most with their cars nearby for the show.  Chairs and canopies everywhere, as this is where the cars will cruise later in the day.  Quite an event!

Stopped again near Biloxi to take a few photos.

 Passed several fancy casinos, many hotels and businesses catering to the beachgoers.  Decided we’d seen enough, so we headed north to I-10 toward our next destination – Gulf Shores, Alabama.  Through Mobile, where we spotted the battleship USS Alabama along with a submarine in their bay.  Dropped back down to the coast and Gulf Shores.

The attraction here was the National Shrimp Festival, a popular annual event.  We were early so found parking easily and walked the many aisles of arts, crafts and food.  We bought a piece of locally made yard art featuring three hummingbirds. 

Many of the crafts featured area schools - no, Toto, we aren't in Texas any more!

Two stages featured singers who sounded pretty good! And the food looked amazing!  We tried a Cajun Pistole first, which was tasty!  A soft fluffy beignet-type roll filled with a sweet, spicy sauce with shrimp and fish.

 Later we tried some generous free samples of boiled shrimp, some gumbo and coconut shrimp.

 Yum.   We decided we could easily eat our way across the South!

Lots more people, so a few hours later we left Gulf Shores and headed towards Florida.  Crossed another huge bridge – there are lots of them along the coast.  Decided to stop at the National Museum of Naval Aviation near Pensacola, home of the Blue Angels.  We had to show id’s to get a pass to enter since it is an active Naval site.

Huge facility with lots of videos and history and many many airplanes.  Most but not all had the fold-up wings necessary for an aircraft carrier.  Watched interesting footage and interviews about the USS Enterprise , a very active carrier in WWII commanded by Admiral Hulsy. 

Greg leaving helicopter 1 - used by Nixon and Ford

Stopped by the Pensacola  lighthouse across the way but were too tired to climb it...  Another day….

Back on 98 along the coast which was ALL commercialized. Not much opportunity for boondocking here!  Destin, Fort Walton, etc.  A few state parks which were packed.  Decided to head inland a bit to Niceville, which is quieter and has a nice (really) Walmart.   We’ll take some small inland roads tomorrow en route to Panama City and a Pirates of the High Seas Festival.

The van is still idling roughly but running fine otherwise.  We will try another tank of gas with additive.