Party Hardy Mardi Gras

Our latest segment of the trip as of Feb 13th, 2010
(Double click on the picture for more detail)

Say that 3 times fast. Well, we were there but the Party Hardy I'm afraid was way past these two oldies.
But on the 13th:
Bright sun today, so on the move by 8:30AM
Travel down Highway 319 to Tallahassee, Alabama and the west on Interstate 10 all the way to Mobile Alabama
Highway 319 was very interesting with the huge oaks extending right out over the highway, giving it a "Tunnel" effect, in much of the 40 miles that we were on it. Then on Interstate 10. We commented that the grass was much greener than when we passed over this same area a month prior on our way to Florida. This part of I 10 does not seem nearly as busy as sections we have been on farther to the west in Texas and Arizona. Being able to keep a steady 65 MPH (limit is 70) ate up the miles fairly quickly and it seemed in no time we were in Mobile. Turned south at exit 17 A&B and followed 193 south for 15 miles along the bay to Alabama Port RV Park where we have reservations. Checked in. It seems to be another rather "homey" Type park where no one is too concerned. I wanted to get the paperwork done, but the guy looking after the place just said, "Oh just come back when you are ready to leave and we will straighten up then"
Its a pretty basic park. All hookups except Cable TV and WIFI. Don't miss the TV, but no WIFI is a bit of a downer. The man advises us to go south 6 miles across the bridge to Dauphin Island, and at the "T" interstection, turn right and into the laundermat, and we will be able to hook up there.

Feb 14th - Valentines Day. My Sweetheart gave me a Nice Card!!!
Today drove to Dauphin Island. Route to it is over a 4 mile long bridge. Interesting, as most of the way is about 20 feet above the waves, but then the center arches up to probably 150 feet above water. One of the biggest hills on a highway that we have seen in the last month or so!! Once on the island, we turned right and went to the extreme West End. Nowhere on the island is the elevation more than about 4 feet above sea level. All dwellings are on stilts near 20 feet high. The road to the beach just reminds me of snowplowing back in Alberta, as there are "Drifts" across the road all along the way. Heavy equipment (Cats and Backhoes) are being utilized to "sandplow" the road on a regular basis.

The Beach Park is just a narrow spit of sand, only a foot or two above the ocean. Lots of sea shells!! We were treated to a great adhock Dolphin Show just off shore where at least a half dozen played for 15 or 20 minutes. From there we went to the east end, and to Fort Gaines. This was a fort that during the civil war was a site of many battles. The Bay of Mobile was an important port at the time. Fort Gaines on the west and Fort Morgan on the east guarded the Bay. Fort Gaines has been restored and is a great representation of the requirements of the times.


15th Feb
I woke up at 3:00AM this morning with a gut feeling that something was amiss in the motorhome. We have the little electric heater ( Denices favourite) to keep the chill off during the night, but it was not running. Instead the motorhome furnace was running almost not stop. I got up and went and checked the heater, and yes it was not working. No power to it. Checking found no power to any outlets in the kitchen/living section, but all OK in bathroom and bedroom. I reset the breakers. Still nothing. Even went outside and checked the Parks breakers. Nothing. No more I could do now, so went back to bed and stewed about what could be the cause the rest of the night. Circut breakers, wiring prolems, vermin chewing off wiring, RV Park problems just continued to swirl through my brain until time to get up. At 6:00AM Denice offered to get up and make coffee, as obviously I had been keeping her awake as well. I told her she would have to plug the coffee perk into the bathroom, as that was the only place we had power. She got up and went to the kitchen. Came back in about 2 minutes, and with tongue in cheek stated, "Motorhome fixed." "What do you mean" I answered. " I just fixed the problem. You know that little button on the plug in in the kitchen? Well it was out and I just pushed it in, and now everything works." I had completely forgot that in both the kitchen and the bathroom there are Ground Fault Protectors, and for what ever reason the one in the kitchen had popped out. Now of course Denice is promoting herself as the savior of the day, and requests $100 compensation for after hours call out. Super Electrician Extraordinaire!!
That little distraction behind us decided to go into Mobile today, drive through the old city on highway 90, and to the tourist info bureau at the convention center on the waterfront, and then out to the USS Alabama Battleship museum.
Arriving downtown we found it packed with people and many streets blocked off, obviously in preparation for a parade. We knew Mardi Gras was on, but what we did not know was that Mobile is actually the home of the original Mardi Gras. We stopped and asked a very nice colored lady what was happening, and she was happy to fill us in with all the details. A parade was due to pass by within 30 minutes as there are parades about 3 to 5 times every day for the total 2 weeks while Mardi Gras is on.

Tomorrow is the last day or "Fat Tuesday" as is the literal translation of Mardi Gras. Tomorrow there will be 5 parades, today 3, with the first in 30 minutes. We found a place to park and walked one block to the route with the 2 ladies who had filled us in on the history. People lined the route and soon the parade started passing. Bands and and lots of great floats with lots of hoop la. Music, whistling, cheering, and shouting was all part of the fun time and of course the main attraction was the bead strings, candies, whistles, cookies, and toys that every floats participants threw to the crowd. They must buy these by the boxcar, as there sure is no shortage!! Everybody on the route is ensured of being able to pick up all that they desire. By the time the parade had passed, everybodys neck was adorned with copious amounts of these beads as well as the ground was littered with them. It was great to take part in those festivities.
Then to USS Alabama battleship and to USS Drum Submarine as well as a Plane museum.
Walked the entire self guided tour of the interior workings of a Second World War Class Battleship.

I even climbed the the steeps stairwells to the upper 7th level of the Superstructure. There were two more above,but were restricted. Then able to do the same in a Submarine, the Drum. Now let me tell you, you would have to be a special person to live and work in one of those. She was 311 ft long, only 23 feet wide and was manned by a crew of 7 officers and 65 enlisted men. Passage ways are only a couple of feet wide, and everything is "Cramped." If you suffered from claustrophobia , this would not be for you.
Inside the Plane museum was an array of many of the early jet fighters, but the most interesting was the "Blackbird" We had seen one before in Tucson at the museum there, but still find them awe inspiring, as could flew at 3 times the speed of sound. As they explaind it, "If you could shoot a bullet across the USA, the Blackbird would beat it by 7 minutes, from LA to New York.
16th Feb
Out to Dauphin Island for WIFI - reserve RV spot in Jellystone RV park in Lake Charles for Thursday night for 3 nights
Then we go to Bellingrath Gardens for the rest of the day. This over 200 acres of flowers and walkways with lots of different landscape themes. Ponds, swampland, fountains, chinese and Japanese gardens were just a few of them.

Although this was not the optimum time of the year to be there, the flowers that were blooming were just great.The original owner was the Bellingraths who made their money as one of the biggest Coca Cola bottlers in the US. More info can be found at http://www.bellingrath.org/home/
17th Feb
Rest and get ready to move on to Yogi Bear Jellystone RV Park in Lake Charles, LA
Go to the local market and buy some groceries. It appeared quite small and we supposed it to be basics and nothing more, but once in found it to be large and well stocked. Many brands that we unfamiliar to us. We bought a lot more than was on the grocery list. Evan the meat selection was very good. Came home and stored away our purchases, then took a short trip down to a seaside park where we looked for birds to photograph. Found quite a few, so Denice is happy again!!