ROBERTSDALE, ALABAMA 4/4-8/2011

Along the Alabama Gulf Coast we went on the 4th.  We found that there are many retired Navy ships that serve as educational opportunities for people to see what they are like.  It is an honor to go on these ships and gain an understanding of the service they and the men and women that served on them have given to our country.

 We drove north a little to Robertsdale, Alabama, where we stayed until April 8th.  We had our mail forwarded here so Ann could pay bills.  While here, Wayne scanned many Cowley photos.

 There was a couple in the park, a few spaces from us that every day were sitting outside their trailer making baskets.  They were quite skilled at it and seemed to be enjoying themselves.  We visited with them some and they sell their baskets all over the USA in gift shops.

 It was fascinating to watch and visit with them

The park was beautiful, so we went for some walks too.  Another day it clouded up and then during the night there were severe winds and rain.  We were told that there was a tornado watch out for the area and at times it felt like the wind was lifting our trailer off the ground.  We learned the next day that there had been sustained winds of 60 mph in the park with gusts way beyond that.  There were no tornadoes in the park, but apparently, some touched down in other parts of the state.  New experience!!

BILOXI, MISSISSIPPI 4/1-4/2011

We cruised into and north of Biloxi, Mississippi, where we stayed the weekend so we could have some spare time to watch General Conference.  It was a great weekend and the weather was really nice.  It has been in the 80's every day and 50's every night.

 On April 4, we headed east and into Alabama.

GENERAL CONFERENCE 4/2-3/2011

We have been uplifted by spending several hours this weekend watching and listening to General Conference.  Twice a year the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is commanded by the Lord to gather together to conduct the business of the church and be uplifted and edified by talks given by the our Prophet, Jesus Christ's 12 Apostles and other leaders of the church.  Many Latter-day Saints gather together in Salt Lake City to participate in this twice a year event.  But for those of us not in Utah, we can view via satellite and internet these same proceedings; which is what we are doing this weekend.
It has been a wonderful time of instruction and contemplation.
The website that we used to watch conference, where you can learn about conference, listen to and watch what was taught there, and get any questions you may have about The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints answered is:
http://lds.org/
If you want to watch a couple talks from conference, just click on Conference 2011 Archives and then click on any of the talks.
There is further opportunity for exploration into our beliefs and our world as you search the site.  There is one video you can watch about the life of Joseph Smith, he who was used as a tool by Jesus Christ to restore His Church back to this earth.  There is another place you can click to see what our beliefs are. 
We invite you to read and explore and learn of us and of our Savior, Jesus Christ.
Wayne & Ann

GULF COAST 4/1/2011

We left our spot located off I-10 exit 24 on Menge Ave and headed south to Hwy 90 so we could drive along the coast.  Inland there were many beautiful homes.

 Then when we got to the beach we were amazed at the beautiful while sand beaches that were virtually empty.  We stopped at one pull off and in the 80+ degree weather we sat and had lunch and absorbed the beauty all around us.

 But, as we looked closer we saw the remnants of the last few hurricanes that left devastation and despair.

 Though there were hundreds of sites where the storms had left nothing but cement pads where homes had once stood overlooking the bay, there were also a few signs of new beginnings.

 Hope of a bright future of basking in the life of warm beach air and beautiful views.

 Where hundreds of beautiful, hundred-year-old, majestic oaks had stood, now there are a few beautifully sculpted designs.  There were new oaks being planted everywhere.

 As we cruised along Hwy 90 through Pass Christian, Long Beach, Gulfport, Biloxi, D'Iberville and Gulf Hills, Mississippi, we were astounded at the beauty of the beach on the south side of the road and the hundreds of remnants of once beautiful homes on the north side.  Below, the next few pictures show what was left of one once beautiful mansion, just across the road from the bay.

 The oak shaded brick circle driveway....

 ... the front porch on the left and the brick carport in the center....

 The back patio, yard, fountain and tennis court...

 ...the steps leading up to the huge tennis court....

As we walked across the cement and tile floors of the bottom story of what had once been an obviously lavish place, we were saddened by the lives that had been changed by nature's fury.  Out front, across the street was one lone palm tree. 

But, life goes on and we drove on too.  We headed up Hwy 609 to our next place to stop for a few days, Martin Lake Resort.  We will stay here until Monday 4/4, giving us the opportunity to watch all of General Conference at a local Stake Center about 2 miles from our park.

By the way, the people we have dealt with in several situations here in Mississippi have been overly friendly and there seems to be a less negative atmosphere.  We like it here.

NASA 3/31/2011

The next morning after touring New Orleans we headed east towards Pass Christian, Mississippi.

Shortly after crossing the border we found a beautiful visitors center rest area and to our surprise the head quarters for touring Nasa's Rocket Test Center. We decided to take a tour. So we boarded a bus and were shuttled to the facility several miles away. It was thrilling to be on NASA land and see their facilities.

Seeing as how this is the test facility for all unmanned and manned and manned space exploration rockets, there were plenty of old rockets and engines around to see up close.

 This is one of 4 test sites in this several thousand acre site.  They were not testing rockets this day.  Bummer!!

They also had a museum/educational center that had tons of neat displays, including this mock up of the zero gravity shower used on the International Space Lab being constructed in Earth Orbit.

Also a capsule from the pre-moon exploration period.  It was pretty burned from re-entry friction!

Ann went into outer space and did a little moon exploration while we were there.  People always look taller on the moon!

This is a Saturn Rocket Engine.  There were usually 4-5 of these huge things on each Saturn Booster, depending on the pay load.  These were the rockets that were used to send our men to the moon.

Behind us is a rocket from the Mercury program that took several astronauts into pre orbit flights as well as putting John Glenn up for his historic 3 passes around the Earth.

It was amazing how small the Mercury rockets were.  Here is the one you saw behind us, only closer up.  There is a replica, up top, of the first satellite we put up, using this type rocket.

This was a lunar landing module trainer used for the astronauts to practice in while here on earth.

 

A fascinating day long tour that put us finally arriving in Pass Christian late in the afternoon.  We stayed here one night.  Beautiful park called TLC Wolf River Park.

NEW ORLEANS 3/30/2011

 We decided to stay an extra day in the Jellystone Preserve in order to spend a day in New Orleans.  The heavy rain, lightning and thunder had cleared off and it looked to only be a sprinkling type day, so off we went.  Traveling south on I-55 we drove across about 20 miles of elevated freeway above bayou or swampland.  It was amazing!  There were the dwellings that you see in movies of people living on the swamp. 

Then we arrived in the big city of New Orleans.  We were able to drive past the places we saw in the news during the hurricane devastation that took place here a couple years ago.  It was amazing at how many places we recognized from the TV coverage we had watched.  Amazingly too was that there was so little evidence of the damage we had seen then.  There was some, but very little evidence.

 We parked our truck in the Hilton parking lot and then walked and took a trolly to The French Quarter and French Open Market and spent our day there.  It was full of all the sights and sounds one would expect from this area.

We found the streets much narrower than we thought they were, but then this area was established in the 1700's.

We were lucky that we were there during a slow day.  I guess the drizzle kept people away.

 We had fun just walking the streets, meeting the people, looking in the hundreds of tourist shops and taking in the sights.

It was hard to imagine the bands and floats coming down these streets as we have seen in films about Madi Gras.  They were very narrow!

 We were also surprised that a section called bourbon Street was so vulgar.  There were porn shops, scantly clad and almost naked dancers in the doors to the bars.  It was worse than Las Vegas on the strip.  We did not take pictures here or linger longer.  There were other places to see.

This was the nearest Wayne could find to a man hole cover that said New Orleans... New Orleans Public Sewer District???

We ate lunch at The Gumbo Shop, a well recommended place by the people on the street.  We were actually guided there by a delivery man for another restaurant.  It was quaint.  Ann had a Cajun Sampler with Shrimp Creole, Jambalaya and Red Beans and Rice.  Wayne had a bowl of Sea Food and Okra Gumbo.  All good, but much milder than we thought Cajun food would be.  This was Wayne's second bowl of Gumbo here in the south and he has decided it is not his favorite.  The Shrimp Creole was mild and bland.  The Jambalaya was thick, like Spanish Rice and very mild.  The Rice and Beans was delicious!  We decided that we liked the Jambalaya that Wayne made several months ago much better.  It was soupier.

We were amazed that The French Quarter was a gathering place for run away teenagers attempting to find themselves, older individuals that still hadn't found themselves yet, street people, pan handlers and musicians that were playing for tips.  It was sad, the apparent lives some of these people lived.

But there were some that were vibrant locals that were hustling for tips.  These two innovative young men had tops of tin cans attached to their tennis shoes and were vigorously tap dancing for tips.  We stayed and watched awhile.  They were good, but it was more interesting watching the crowds that gathered to watch and visit with these two polite and well tipped youth.  This one in the black reminded me so much of your mother, Chip.  Her face, hand gestures, voice, mannerisms and such were so like your Mom.  I watched her for awhile just absorbing the memory of special times I had spent with Peggy over the years.  She was so interested in the boys and especially in their welfare.  She tipped generously.
I was amazed at myself later as I realized I did not go visit with the lady.  I usually do with people that look like someone I know.  I now wish I would have.

Tried to visit with this famous butcher, but found him stone silent.  Had a rather brassy personality.

Toward late afternoon we stopped for some beignets in this open air coffee shop.  The waitress that served us was a teenage high school student from Belgium that was here on a foreign exchange program for her summer break.  She was beautiful and very fun to visit with.

She took our picture for us.

As we explored the streets, there were many historical plaques attached to the outside walls of the buildings.  Essentially, this was a French neighborhood of houses, stores and such built in the mid 1700's  Each plaque described the history of the particular house.  This place, was a shocker to Wayne.  Think Eric Burden and the Animals.  Think 1964. There's the song  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mmdPQp6Jcdk  Below is the actual House of the Rising Sun, as told by a local horse and buggy tour guide.  There was no plaque on the building and in looking it up on Wikipedia, there is no confirmation of the place.  Who knows???

We also took the ferry across the Mississippi River and back so we could have a view of the skyline of the city.

New Orleans!!

 It actually was a wonderfully educational day.  Long and tiring, but fun too.  Got home to the trailer at Robert LA about 10:30 PM and went to bed soon after. Tomorrow, we leave for further easterly travels.