Day 4 & 5: Grand Western Adventure

Day 4: Thursday, April 17, 2014

Mobile, AL to New Orleans:

Distance: 152 miles; time: 2:15 

Total Distance to Date: 586 miles.

Route taken: Straight west on I-10. 

So, we left Mobile, AL under cloudy, rainy skies with a 60% chance of rain later in the afternoon. We hoped to find the campground and get set up before the rains came. 

We kept looking out the windows thinking we'd see an alligator or two lurking in the waters. But no such luck.

It seemed we entered New Orleans in rush hour traffic. It's very stressful finding your way thru a new city in a 45 ft. vehicle.

You can see the downtown in the distance.

The KOA Campground is across the street from the Mississippi River. We set up camp and hurried to check it out. The rains are holding off.

We discovered a trail on top of the levee. What fun! We walked a mile or so to see if we could see much of the mighty Mississippi!

Adam had to take a picture of the ships moving thru the waters. They are huge! The water is mud colored and very choppy. Adam says he can't imagine how Tom Sawyer managed his little raft on that river.

Day 5: Friday, April 18, 2014

Visiting WWII National Museum

The front desk manager was friendly and gave us directions to the WW2 Museum in the Warehouse District. She told us to take the scenic route thru the Garden District on St. Charles Ave. WOW! You have to compete with bikes, street cars, pediatricians, and other vehicles on this road. It was chaos. But it was very pretty too. 

We arrived at the WW2 Museum and planned to spend the whole day there. We were not disappointed. The mission of the museum focuses on the remembrance and celebration of the American Spirit, teamwork, courage, and sacrifice of the men and women who served during World War II. 

The museum is broken down into sections: Ground Vehicles, Home Front, Aircraft, European Theater and Pacific Theater. 

Adam checking a German bomb shelter.

We all came away with a deep sense of the sacrifices made by our courageous troops in defending our country. The exhibits approached WWII on a very personal level, bringing to bear the individual stories of how these world shattering events impacted their lives on an individual basis.

Day 3: Grand Western Adventure

Bellingrath Gardens and Home:

Mr. Bellingrath was Mobile's first Coca-Cola bottler and was advised by his physician in 1917 to buy an abandoned fishing camp on the Fowl River so he could "learn how to play." Then Ms. Bellingrath soon began to beautify the fishing camp with flowers. Later, it was developed into a country estate. 

Heading into the rose garden.

Nana and Paw posing under the arch.

Beautiful rose.

Hydrangea are blooming too.

The great lawn.

South Terrace and Mermaid Fountain.

Overlooking Fowl River.

After getting a quick bit to eat, we drove over the bay to the USS Alabama.

USS Alabama:

Alabama was commissioned August 16, 1942. She earned 9 Battle Stars, and shot down 22 enemy airplanes during WWII. She had a crew of about 2500 men and under battle conditions would have weighed well over 45,000 tons.

We took the yellow tour, which took us to the main and upper decks, including the officer's living spaces, main guns, anti-aircraft guns, and ship's bridge.

Adam was our cameraman today, taking all the pictures on the blog so far. (unless of course, he was in the photo!) He's snap happy. I downloaded a total of 170 pictures just for Bellingrath and the USS Alabama.

Day 2: Grand Western Adventure

Day 2:

Palmetto, GA to Mobile, AL

Distance 317 miles; time 5 hours

I-85 south to I-65 south @ Montgomery, AL to I-10 in Mobile, AL

Paw was out yesterday evening, hooking up "Little Whitie #2" to the back of the RV. It rained heavily all night long and in the morning was still sprinkling. Therefore, we gave up taking a group shot before heading out. 

Nana walking up the hill one last time. From the kitchen window, Adam is photo bombing in the background. I think we trudged up and down this steep driveway to load the RV at least two dozen times.

All loaded up and ready to go!

We saw a tractor trailer that had flipped over on its side on I-65 S. The tow truck had it work cut out for it. Traffic was not too bad with this one. However, another accident on down the road  forced us to take a 20 mile detour near Georgiana, AL because both lanes of traffic had completely stopped on the interstate. Glad we have our GPS to help us navigate these backroads and give us options.

Nana and Adam sharing secrets in the back.

Flooding has been a major problem here due to the recent deluge of rains.

Heading up over the bridge. Look how close the water level is to the bottom of the elevated road. I spoke too soon and told Paw how glad I was that he was driving and I helping with the navigation when I sent us in the wrong direction! (INTO downtown Mobile instead of the bypass) Opps. He drove thru the downtown streets and traffic like a pro. Of course, it was about 5:00 with heavy traffic. We finally found the right I-10 hwy and I promptly made another wrong direction and sent us off the interstate north onto Dauphin Parkway instead of south. Paw may fire me yet! Found a place to turn around and then spotted the RV Park.

Our destination at last. Shady Acres Campground. Mobile, AL. Its a quiet little place. Thankfully.

Adam and I took a stroll down to the Dog River which was nearby. It was swollen and had debris scattered along the riverbank. The walking trail was muddy too. Adam spotted an interesting pine tree.

It's cold tonight, supposed to get down to 44.  Had a wonderful supper of potato soup and sourdough bread.  We're all trying to get settled into this narrow, tiny space we're calling home for the next six or seven weeks. Trying to remember where we put our things, where's the best place to put our things, and how to stay out of each others' way. 

Some of you may remember how on our last trip in 2012, we had engine trouble that plagued us for the first several weeks, all the way up to Bismarck, ND., well it seems this time it will be a dead battery in little Whitie #2. When we arrived and unhooked the tow car, the battery was dead. We'll keep you posted. 

Day 1: Grand Western Adventure

Day 1

Monday, April 14, 2014.
From Milledgeville, Ga to Palmetto, Ga. 117 miles/2:20 hours.
Tomorrow we embark on our next adventure, our third RV trip out west. We're calling this one the "Grand Western Adventure 2014" which will take us from Georgia to Utah and back home, via the southern route, over the next six to seven weeks.
We spent the day loading the RV and making sure everything was in it's proper place, dodging the rain that began on our trip up from Milledgeville to Palmetto. It's very difficult to make a packing list when you don't really know what kind of weather you'll encounter and still try to pack as light as possible.
 I told the kids they could bring only 3 pairs each of short and long sleeve T-shirts, and shorts and long pants. Plus, we will need jackets, hats, gloves and warm socks for the possible cold temperatures in Colorado and North Rim of Grand Canyon.
So, you're invited to come along with us for the ride. I guarantee it will be a Grand Adventure! So let it begin!