A few years ago we ended up in New Orleans trying to escape a cold blast (it didn't work). We decided to visit the same park again hoping for better weather. We stayed at Fontaine Bleu on the north coast of Lake Ponchartrain. Another lovely Louisiana park! Lots of walking, free laundry, and cool weather. At least it didn't snow this time!

Alligator boardwalk, again we saw no alligators

You always knew I was a tree hugger, right?

I love these big old Live Oaks

We had a sweet gum tree right beside our motor home . Apparently those spiny little fruits are good eating because the squirrels sure were busy!

Double trouble!

Trading Places: I went home for a week while Rochelle came down to New Orleans to see Denny and experience New Orleans. I miss my kitties a lot while we are gone (surprise!) so I stocked up on kitty snuggles while Rochelle got to experience Carnival in New Orleans and fill her tummy with beignets! They stayed at an RV resort on Lake Ponchartrain with live music nightly, a restaurant, and a shuttle to the French Quarter. Fun times!

Ready to party!

Everything goes in Nola!

They saw 2 parades with many floats and bands.

Hard Rock cafe, still standing after 4 months. Locals are not happy! The Uber driver told Rochelle and Denny that the orange and red tarps in the middle are to hide the decaying bodies of two workers still inside. Very sad!

Face paint and Nipple glitter. I've been told Rochelle did not partake...

Rochelle loved the street performers and street art.

Trolley, next time I want a ride! Rochelle and Denny did!

This tree is ready for Mardi Gras!

Louis Armstrong park, right downtown, is a lovely place to walk and relax. Just minutes from the craziness of the French Quarter!

Music Legends park, where you can listen to live music with your morning beignets. My favorite!

The last day before I returned they moved to a park a little further from all the decadence. There they saw a couple of baby alligators and a lot of small green eyed geckos.

Our flights were due to start and end at the same time allowing us to leave cars at the airport for each other. It would have been perfect if my flight wasn't delayed! I got to spend the night in Detroit and picked up the car the next morning. Then it was on to Mississippi.
Good bye until next time New Orleans!

We headed into Mississippi for a few days before we head back to the New Orleans area. First stop: Infinity Science Center, a space museum. One of the Apollo 13 astronauts was from this area. They had a rocket booster and a lunar module outside and many displays and interactive exhibits inside.

Booster

Lunar landing module

Denny is smaller than a rocket engine

Inside, we stood in front of a thermo-imaging camera. Who knew I was such a hot mama!😂

Then, on to Buccaneer State Park, where everything is named after pirates. It is right on the gulf coast and has a water park (not open yet).  We have had three very sunny days here and enjoyed all the trails, ocean walks, sunsets and water birds. However, the next two days have torrential downpours in the forecast. Time to clean house, read and do some sewing!

White ibises in the tidal marsh

Cool mushrooms on the nature trail

This fishing pier looks old.We're not sure if it survived Katrina (doubtful) or was built right afterward (2005) and has already weathered.

This area has very few coastal buildings left, and it doesn't appear that anyone is snapping up the vacant property. There are a few houses that appear to have survived the hurricane but that's it. No new building going on. Maybe a lesson has been learned?

We stayed one night at Crying Eagle Brewery through our Harvest Host membership. Stays are free but you are encouraged to patronize the host. No problem. We enjoyed some good pizza, great beer and trivia night! I'm pretty sure we spent more than it would have cost us to camp elsewhere but we had fun and enjoyed a non-cooking night!

Mardi Gras tree behind the trivia hostess

The next day we moved on to Bogue Chitto State Park, another Louisiana state park. Louisiana has very nice parks! We only stayed 2 nights because they were having a race over the weekend and we wanted to be out before the hordes moved in! We took a lot of walks on paths and through swamps on boardwalks. They were also slippery but not as much of an incline so no falling this time, which is good as I am finally almost healed from my last fall! We were only there two days but managed to hike all the trails and find 5 geocaches!

A tree limb that Denny thought looked like a wild boar.

Swamp boardwalk

They had a small water play feature which was not running. Denny decided it was too cold and told me it wasn't working. I saw a button which I thought activated it. He said it wouldn't work. I told him I was going to push it anyway. He was so convinced that he was right (like always) that he walked straight across it and was surprised when water started coming up out of the ground. 😆😜

They also had a small area they called a sandy beach. We Michiganders, who know what real sand looks like, would call this crushed rock!

All signs warned us of alligators but even though we scoured the swamps for them, we never saw

even one! 

For the last three days we have been at South Toledo Bend SP in Louisiana, which is possibly one of the nicest state parks we've ever been to. The sites are big and have paved, fairly level pads, and our site backs up to the lake and has a dock as well as a a deck right next to the motor home! Plus, we nearly had the place to ourselves. Possibly due to temperatures in the low 60s and some rain every day!

Between rains we hiked the Hippie Point Trail and the Bald Eagle Trail but saw none of either unless you count Denny and I as old hippies.😁 The park ranger told us that the last hurricane wiped out the eagles nest, sadly.

Hippie Point

There was also a small beach which was nice as long as you don't mind possibly swimming with alligators! Again, we saw none. I guess it was just too cold and rainy for everyone!

This park was beautiful and well maintained which made their maps even more hilarious. All maps are hand drawn and photo copied, perhaps a project of some 4th grader. 😂

Today we're moving further south, still in search of warmer and dryer weather, but it is not looking good!

It seems no matter how far south we go, this damn cold front seems to follow us. It needs to go back north where it belongs!

We are in SE Texas at a lovely state park on a lake and river. At 60-65 degrees during the day, it is plenty warm enough to hike, but we've had a lot of rain and little sunshine until yesterday. On a cloudy day after the rain stopped we took a couple of hikes on a trail through the bayous complete with many very slippery boardwalks crossing wet areas. All went well until an extremely slippery descent landed me on my butt and shoulder. I think I jammed my shoulder. But it gets better every day with naproxen! I'm not letting it stop me. I'm just glad I still have strong bones!

One of the slippery, slimy boardwalks

The next day was our first all sun day and it felt sooo good! We took a nice long hike (actually several shorter hikes combined), including around a small island and were even able to cook out before the sun set and the temperatures dropped.

The first hike was called the wildlife trail but we didn't see much wildlife.

Then on to the island trail which we accessed by a small bridge between the river and the lake.

Sun!

At least this bridge wasn't slippery, especially since the sign said there might be alligators. We didn't see any though.

We'll spend one more day here completing the last of the hiking trails, and then it's on to Louisiana where the cold front is supposed to follow.😡 Unfortunately, most nights are still down into the 30s!