Change of Plans (brrrr!)
The whole country is one frigid mass right now and our sympathies go out to our family and friends north of us. We know it’s colder where you are.
We left the Suwannee this morning and watched the temperatures DROP as we drove east in a heavy mist in northern Florida. 37…36…35…all the way down to 31 when we neared the coast.
We did a quick drive through Fernandina Beach/Amelia Island…then made an executive decision. Lets come back up here when it’s warmer. We turned the wheels and pointed south.
Tonight we are in St. Augustine tonight and we’ll be in the Florida Keys by tomorrow night or Thursday night. This is an advantage of traveling without an agenda!
Stay warm, everyone.
Suwanee River
Way down upon the Suwanee River for New Year’s Eve, 2017. Thinking of all our family and friends tonight. Grateful for each of you, and for each precious day of good health and good life on this earth.
FLORIDA
Short trip today and smooth sailing. We left News Orleans early, and worked out at an AF gym in Bay St. Louis, Mississippi. It was more of Muscle Beach Gym (all the guys in ripped t-shirts looking at themselves in the mirror)…but clean and well-equipped. We just go in, mind our business, do our workouts, shower and leave.
We fired up the RV generater to run our blender for our green smoothie breakfast. Smoothie ingredients: Frozen blueberries 1 banana 3 T flaxseed handful walnuts (or almonds or pecans) ½ C tart cherry juice 2 tsp magnesium powder 3 T potato starch (it’s a potent prebiotic) 1/3 C plain yogurt VSL3 probiotic packet water As many greens as I can stuff in the blender (spinach, kale, dandelion, collards, beet greens, swiss chard…it doesn’t matter…but I put about 3-4 CUPS of greens).
For protein I use NAKED WHEY (Undenatured 100% Grass Fed Whey Protein Powder, Unflavored) which I purchase online. If we don’t have the protein available we eat a couple of eggs. No, we don’t put raw or cooked eggs in the blender…we eat ‘em separately.
It actually tastes pretty good, although I’d much rather have doughnuts for breakfast.
We took Highway 90, and really enjoyed seeing the little towns of Pass Christian, Gulfport, Biloxi, Ocean Springs, Pascagoula. You could still see damage from Hurricanes Katrina and Ike, but overall the towns seem fully rebuilt. The little towns were picturesque, and we were impressed with the long, wide white sand beaches the whole way.
We stopped at Felixes Fish Camp outside Mobile for lunch, at Ronnie and Yvette’s recommendation. Delicious crab salad (me), crab soup and oyster salad (Ross).
Landed at Big Lagoon State Park outside Pensacola for tonight. T'Chat loves it here. Lots of bugs to chase.
NOLA
Lucked into a cool, sunny day here in New Orleans. Worked out in the little gym here at the French Quarter RV Resort. Decided to forgo our healthy green smoothie in favor of a decadent breakfast.
Our nephew Quentin gave us the recommendation of St. Roch’s Market. It’s an ultra cool food/coffee/bar court. He did not steer us wrong! I had chicken and waffles. Ross had Trash Grits: pulled pork and a poached egg over grits.
After breakfast we walked through the Bywater. Ross showed me St. Vincent de Paul Catholic Church, where he lived in the rectory during his first 2 years of Tulane Medical School (86-87). He told me some good stories of his time there.
We stopped in the sunshine and rested on a bench in Jackson Square, people watching. From there it was up to the balcony at Tableau (thanks for the recco, Louie!) for a brandy milk punch.
Rode a pedicab back to the RV for a nap and for me to nurse my stomachache from Too Much of Too Many Good Things.
Rousted ourselves for one more good meal in New Orleans…another of our all time favorites: Irene’s Cuisine. Mussels in a tomato broth for me, a whole redfish (WITH EYES) for Ross. And a lovely visit with a man and his corgi-german shepherd service dog. I wish I’d got a picture of his doggo, Wriggly.
French Quarter RV Park
View from the treadmill at the French Quarter RV Park. And there’s Ross, working out hard.
Lafayette to New Orleans
We had a wonderful holiday week with our Judice Family in Lafayette. We wished we had time to visit all of our old friends in the area, but family takes priority on these visits, when time is limited. When you have 30-40 family members, it’s an intense visit! We both feel like our parents need the most time on the ‘home visits’ so we try to spend the most time with our folks and branch out from there as we can.
Thank you Ronnie and Yvette for welcoming us and T'Chat with open arms for the week. An especial thanks to Remi and Lisa for opening their home (twice!) to the whole family to gather and enjoy each others’ company. I was so glad we got to spend a little extra time with dear Karen and Alina, 'Dis Robin, and some of our nephews and nieces. Visiting Father Louie, Carm and Paul was another special treat.
We pulled out today and headed to one of our favorite cities in the United States, New Orleans. Join me as I share a few snapshots from our stay here.
Lafayette, Louisiana!
Smooth traveling on last day to our Judice Family.
Worked out at the Schulenberg Anytime Fitness, stopped for coffee next to the Polka Museum, and Kolaches at the Kountry Bakery. I’m always suspicious of businesses that change their spelling from ‘C'to 'K.’ Except Krispy Kremes, of course.
Kolaches ~ bread, cakelike thing (like a cinnamon roll without the cinnamon), topped with cream cheese, cherries or other fruit. I wasn’t impressed, but maybe Kountry Bakery didn’t have the top-notch kolache.
The excitement of the day was driving through Houston. Not as scary as when I drove our old Magic Bus RV through New York City, but still required my full driving attention.
We were so happy to arrive at Ronnie and Yvette’s this afternoon. It is great to be home. They treated us to a good homecooked meal tonight. Now for 8 days of family visiting and Christmas festivities.
Merry Christmas all!
