Now We Really Are Heading East

Day 26

After exploring NOLA for 2 days and Whitney Plantation for a day, we have one more thing to do while here in Louisiana and that’s go to the NOLA Gold-Seattle Seawolves Rugby Match. Today we basically did rig and us maintenance. I wiped down the outside of the coach while Vicki did a couple of loads of laundry. After that the heat and humidity wiped us out. So what does one do when that happens? Why, take a nap!!

After that we used the Google machine to find a Costco and picked up some necessities before heading down the road on Monday. Spent a chill afternoon vegging in front of the Television and fixed a baked potato with chili and cheese. Not a spectacular day, but not all days of retirement have to be. It works for us!

Day 27

Our final day in New Orleans with one final thing to accomplish. A bit of testosterone laced rugby! Fixed a nice brekkie of scrambled eggs on the flat top and walked the dogs about the park. Even got a morning bike ride around the park with my beautiful bride. Saw the air boat tours leave. All the while we thought an airport was nearby. Heard the guide as he told his passengers ‘time for y’all to put on your head phones ’cause it gonna get crazy!’ Apparently he then pushed the throttle to the stops and roared out into the swamp.

We then chatted with our daughter and had a spot of lunch. Corn dogs and tater tots. Everything a retired family needs prior to a Rugby match. Fortunately we were close to the stadium. The drive was short 15 minutes with free parking. How many times can you go to professional sporting event and get free parking! That said, we had issues with our phone where are tickets were. We spent almost 10 minutes waiting for a download to no avail. So we went to the will call office where we handed the phone to the lady in the booth. No sooner had we handed the phone to her then our tickets showed up. Seriously?!?!? So into the stadium we went. We had great seats at mid field. We actually found some Sea Wolf fans and did the infamous SEA – WOLVES cheer throughout the game. First play out of the box, the Wolves stole the kickoff and scored a try! 30 seconds later and we were up 7-0. The first half was all NOLA gold, but the Seawolves came back in the second half and pulled out a squeaker 36-35. So much fun!

Came home and enjoyed bbq ribs with beans and watched a couple of episodes of Yellowstone Season 2. Will head for Gulf Port tomorrow and a new front yard. Still Loving retirement.

Day 28, 29 & 30

Our drive to Gulf port was basically uneventful, other than our generator dying. I went to check the error code, which turned out to be 47. So onto the interwebs and discovered that its an ignition recognition issue. The fix…contact a certified Onan Technician. So now the research shall begin. Ah, the life a full time RVer. Had a very wonderful park in Gulf Shores. Met a nice couple, Bob and Christine from Pennsylvania. After chatting a bit, thought we had dopplegangers of our Robert and Christy from Brownsville. They too celebrated the perp walk and will leave it at that. Wonderful meeting likeminded people even in Alabama.

Took a bike ride outside of the campground for 6 miles round trip. A beautifully paved trail that went along a busy road, passed beautiful homes and a manicured golf course. So fun to get a ride in and we so love the pedal assisted bicycles.

We are following the southern coast of Alabama and Florida’s panhandle as we made it to our next 2 night stop. We are in Port St Joe Florida in a tiny RV park. Only 12 sites with 4 that are empty. It is still hot and muggy here, but look forward to a day of adventure. We’ll either take another bike ride or head to the beach and work on tanning and wrinkling our skin. Did I mention we are still loving retirement.

Day 31

A warm day in Port St. Joe and since we are only here for 2 nights, not going to spend too much time sight seeing. The white beaches of the Florida panhandle are a sight to see though. We are in a tiny RV park. Literally a block from the beach, however, to get to it one must cross a busy highway, so hard pass. Worked on repairing the rearview camera. For some reason, the camera connection was not fully making contact so disconnected, cleaned with air and electrical cleaner, added electrical contact gel, then reassembled. Hopefully that will restore and resolve that issue. Worked on the generator a bit. As always, the thing started and the repair code is gone. Seems after researching on the internet that the fuel line can overheat causing the resulting fault code. Who knew?

So as the day got hotter, we jumped in the Escape and drove to Apalachicola to explore a bit of downtown. Went into a few shops, bought a pair of shorts and at the Up to No Good Tavern had a wonderful lunch of Muffaltas. So large in fact, we’ll have enough for lunch tomorrow as well. A cute little fishing village that has turned into an artsy-fartsy gallery with prices that correspond to its new character. Since Vicki was doing the driving we returned to the coach without incident, pulled down the blinds, cranked the AC and had a nice afternoon nap. Then after walking the hounds, binge watched Yellowstone through dinner and bed time. Life is pretty good! Did I mention yet again? Still loving retirement!

Day 32

So down the Road early, (8 am) to head to the west coast of Florida. Still having issues with the generator so will need to look in earnest for an Onan guy to troubleshoot and repair the generator. The drive along the coast was remarkable! Florida has some beautiful coastline. We did notice however that there were a large number of beachfront properties for sale. Upon further examination, we noticed that those properties were lots with slabs already in place. Not new concrete slabs, but 20 to 30 year slabs with only plumbing attachments. Hurricanes have taken their toll for sure. We also noted that with global warming and rising sea levels, these lots are going to become pole houses in the Gulf of Mexico. Are thoughts of buying and building have turned to a hard pass. The weather here in north Florida has been brutally hot, 89 F (32 C for Ron, Shar, Mike, Lynn, Cathy, John and Meghan) but at least the humidity is high at 75%. Good thing all of our campsites have 50 amps.

Today was a long drive, hence the early start. Drove 280+ miles on mostly 2 lane roads. Thank goodness it was Good Friday so at least traffic was fairly light. It was so interesting driving through small towns and seeing the local lore and businesses. With all of the faults, America is such a site to see and is filled with interesting people. We stopped for lunch in a Piggly Wiggly parking lot and finished off the Muffalattas from the previous day. YUM!!! Arrived in Hudson Florida at the 1000 Trails Encore. A nice park. Since we didn’t have AC for the last 2 hours of the drive, we were both a bit cranky. Somehow we managed to back the rig into a rather tight spot without killing one another! Set up and I made the command decision that we were going out to eat. Found a killer BBQ joint just a mile away from the park and talk about a bag of deliciousness!! I had 1/2 a rack of Ribs and Brisket. Someone forgot to tell them there is an obesity issue in the US as we must have gotten 10 lbs of meat!!!! We’re gonna eat like kings for days!!! We then settled into an evening with RuPaul until we dragged our exhausted bodies to bed. Another great day of retirement!!