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Published: March 19th 2013
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Wednesday, February 13th--Sam Houston Jones State Park, near Lake Charles, LA
Overcast. Starting mileage today is 37,525.
Packed the Mardi Gras stuff up in the back of Rosie and left to drive to the Isle of Capri Casino where Valerie played some slots and cashed in her winnings. This time, instead of watching her, I stayed in Rosie and read. Unfortunately, they do not have a non-smoking section and the air quality was very poor in this casino. We then drove along Lake Charles on Shell Beach Drive and admired the homes fronting the lake. Spring was happening here with flowers and trees in bloom. Several of the homes looked pre-Civil War.
After a quick stop at the Post Office to mail post cards, we drove to the Mardi Gras Museum that is housed in an old high school. Wow!!! Liberace and Elvis eat your hearts out---I have never seen so many sequins!! There is no way I can describe the Krewe costumes we saw, each reflecting that year's chosen theme. You will have to just look at Valerie's pictures to get an idea of what the chosen King and Queen would wear at their
Krewe's balls and other events.
After spending some time looking at all the costumes, we drove highway I-10 to just the other side of Baton Rouge and stopped at the Pro-Bass store. It is one of the largest we have been in and it was decorated inside to match the area's environment with bayous and swamps painted on the walls and stuffed animals indigenous to LA in natural poses. They even have a pond filled with native fish with wild duck species living on the edges. Planned to have lunch in their restaurant but, after checking the menu, decided their food was a bit pricy and went across the road and had some hamburgers at a different (to us) fast food place.
Continued east on I-10 until we came to the Atchafalaya NWR welcome center where we pulled in to spend the night. Free parking in their parking lot with a security guard on duty, free wifi, and a free dump station that we used in the morning. When we turned out the lights there were about 7 other units parked with us. One was another Roadtrek.
Thursday, February 14th. Happy Valentine's Day!
Atchafalaya NWR welcome center and at 10:00 am it is clear with a cloud here and there and 59 degrees.
Drove I-10 until it becomes I-12 and then back on I-10 at Slidell. We exited where highway 607 crosses the interstate and followed it until it became highway 90. We wanted to drive south along the coast of Mississippi to see what it was like now since we hadn't been to the area since Hurricane Katrina hit.
It was interesting to see where one beautiful home had either weathered the storm or had been rebuilt and its next door neighbor had been demolished with only cement slabs remaining. Also interesting was how many trees seemed to have survived with many that hadn't, being left in place and carved into various birds and animals. Much of the damage has been repaired, but even after 7 years, the destruction is still very, very apparent. One large casino's parking decks are still standing but are clearly not usable.
Between Ocean Springs and Gautier, we pulled into the Gulf Islands National Seashore to camp for the night, only to learn that the small campground was full. The camp host
told us that there was a Wal-Mart about a mile from the park entrance that allowed overnight parking. We drove the mile and settled into the parking lot with about 5 other RV's.
Friday, February 15th-- Wal-Mart parking lot in Ocean Springs, Mississippi
Blue, blue skies at 9:00 and 51 degrees. Headed to the nearby Micky D's to have breakfast and check the weather out in a number of locations on the computer. Discovered that the cold and more rain was coming and staying no matter which way we headed, so decided to head on home.
Continued to drive on highway 90 until it crossed into Alabama and eventually joined back with I-10 on the outskirts of Mobile. In Mobile, we traced our route back home--I-65 to Montgomery and I-85 to Atlanta. Ending mileage was 38256.
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