Staying Dry in the Big Easy

Nawrlins! Home of jazz, Cajuns, gumbo and the French Quarter. We took a tour of the city and in particular the Lower Ninth Ward, the area devastated by flooding in 2005.



The bus first took us by the Katrina Memorial (the pylons mark the various levels of the water)












before heading to "ground zero", the levee that gave way letting all hell break loose. The concrete wall looks pretty inoculous today but the devastation caused by the flood is still visible.










The tour took us by homes that were destroyed beyond repair,




















homes that were salvaged but not yet occupied,













and new homes that have been erected by agencies such as habitat for Humanity, and celebrities like Brad Pitt.

Fats Domino is a long time resident of the Ninth Ward. He refused to leave his home when the flooding started and evetually had to be pulled from the roof of his house by a helicopter. He has not yet returned to his home but plans to do so in the near future.









After leaving the Ninth Ward, we headed to the Garden District. Surprisingly, areas close to the Mississippi River escaped the flooding. These included the Garden District and the French Quarter. These areas are built on the natural levee of the Mississippi River hence are on higher ground than the remainder of New Orleans, which is built in a bowl that is below sea level. The boat on the roof of the house in this picture was built there and did not float there during the flood!




While in the Garden District we passed the childhood home of Peyton and Eli Manning. Their parents still live there today.











Of course, no trip to Louisianna is complete without a trip to a bayou! The weather added to the overall atmosphere - overcast and raining. The trip started with a brief jaunt down the West Pearl River to a typical fishing village. Most of these villages are accessible by water only.

This boat trawls for shrimp.

Many of the homes in the fishing villages did not survive the storm surge associated with Katrina and were washed away in the flood waters. The home in this picture did survive, but the water level reached two feet above the patio!

All along the river evidence of the flood can still be seen, like this shed resting on the bank of the river.

Travelling back up river, we headed into the bayou and bumped our way through very shallow waters, sometimes hitting tree stumps as we moved along.

The bayou has lots of wildlife. We saw a blue heron, owl, nutria rodents, an egret and a hawk, but no alligator! It's hibernation season for them!

Those who wanted to see an alligator were not to be disappointed! Capt Mike had a baby alligator back at the office for days when none were visible in the wild.

(I expected it to be much bigger than what it was!)

Of course, Jim had to get up close and personal with the alligator. He was careful to hold it properly because, despite it's size, Capt Mike says it's nip hurts big time!

In addition to the bus tour, we took time to walk around the French Quarter on our own and took in the sights, including Pirate's Alley, St Louis Cathedral, and Jackson Square.

and listened to the calliope music from atop the SS Natchez

On Friday we ventured into downtown Slidell and found a Louisianna version of Silver Heights. We had supper, a few wets and danced to live music provided by a band called Monster Crawdads and a good time was had by all!

Saturday morning dawned bright with no hint of rain but it was time to move on. We packed everything up and travelled a little further east to the Mississippi Gulf Coast region and the town of Bay St Louis. It's here that we will spend the holidays. We spent today cleaning and decorating the RV. With Christmas only five days away, Jim and I want to wish everyone a Merry Christmas.

Relaxin' in "Red Stick"

The RV park in Baton Rouge is quite picturesque, with sites circling a stocked fishing lake. A walkway gave us a chance to get up close and personal with the swans, both white and black, that are residents of the lake.

This is the first park on this trip with an off-lease park for the pups. An added bonus were two playmates. The staff had found two dogs and were holding them in the off-lease park until the pet rescue team came.

The weather in Baton Rouge was inclimate (ya, we know - no where near as bad as north of the 49th, but still not conducive to a great deal of sightseeing). As such we did not do alot while here. We did get a round of golf in a Louisiana State University - Geaux Tigers! The course was okay but not as nice as the one at New Mexico State University. That evening we sampled some of the local fare at a seafood restaurant called Mike Anderson's. The food was excellent, the portions huge and the atmosphere relaxing, although I was not game to try the fried alligator appetizer with Jim!

The only field trip this week was a drive along Louisiana's Great River Road. Here you can see a parade of plantations. We stopped at two, a Creole plantation called Laura and a former sugarcane plantation called Oak Alley, named for the 28 beautiful oak trees that line the entrance to the mansion. This picture was taken from the second floor balcony

The grounds of the plantation were very beautiful and contained interesting artifacts from both the pre- and post-Civil War era. Below is a 1928 Ford and to the right is a road grader. Jim noted the grader was required to fix the roads after the Civil War - work formally done by slaves!

There was an abundance of plant life here, many of which I could not identify (quelle surprise!). I found this one particularly interesting. Can anyone identify it?

On Saturday we hit the road again and travelled down the I-10 to the town of Slidell located about 25 mins NE of New Orleans. No sooner had we set up camp when the skies opened up and let loose a deluge of rain that lasted for the remainder of the day. Hopefully not an omen of things to come this week.

See y'all next week. Stay warm!

Mississippi Memories

As you recall we started this week in Grain Valley MO with repairs to the RVs "sagging rear end". The techs were quite quick and we got the RV back by midday and resumed our journey south however we will have to swing by the factory in Indiana on our way to Ontario for some additional repairs.

We arrived in Vicksburg, late on Tuesday evening and set up at the Battlefield Campground for one night. Wasn't quite what we liked in an RV park (too many trees - no satellite reception!) As such we relocated to a park about 20 miles further east of Vicksburg called Askew's Landing, a quaint campground near the site of a Civil War battle.

Civil War memorials can be found all around and in Vicksburg. We're told Lincoln declared Vicksburg to be the key to success! Now I'm not much of an infantry tactician but even I could see how difficult it would be to capture Vicksburg! I mean the bluffs and valleys and gorges that surround the town are not ones I'd want to have to charge up with artillery shells and rifles balls showering down on me!

That's a close as anyone ever let Jim get to the "big guns"!

The temperatures were a little cool while we were in this part of Mississippi so we opted not to take in a round of golf. Instead, on Day 2 we headed for the Petrified Forest. Here we found a collection of old logs, and I mean old -millions of years old. Benji and Zoe were able to walk the trail with us. They didn't quite get the concept of walking as Jim had to grab them for a photo op but they had a wonderful time running around the area.

Of course regardless of where we are, we still have our chores that have to be done and that includes making wine for the new year. While the quarters are a bit cramped, my wanna be wine meister started a new batch that hopefully will survive the travelling around and be ready for bottling in Jan.

After surviving a Mississippi snow storm (yes it really did snow - well at least a trace of the white stuff fell on Friday night), we headed down the Natchez Trace Parkway on our way to Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The parkway follows an old trail used by animals, the Indians, the early settlers, Kentucky Boatman known as "KainTucks" and others who travelled north from New Orleans by foot to avoid battling the mighty Mississippi river current. Again, we were able to stop and walk a part of the Trace known as the Sunken Trace. Here the soft soil was compressed by the millions of footsteps that trod over it!

Of course, anywhere were you have multitudes of travellers, you'll have a need for food and lodging. Mt Locust, located one day's walk north of Natchez, provided just that to weary travellers. The original inn has been replicated using wood and glass found around the area from other buildings from that era. Some of the original parts remain such as the brick walkway and fireplaces and some of the timber beams.

It's amazing the difference a day, or two, can make. On Friday evening we were tucked away in the RV while white flakes flew around us. In an effort to strengthen my wireless signal, tonight I'm sitting outside in front of the park office working on this week's blog with XMas lights twinkling all around me and a huge blow-up snowglobe in front of me. Not sure what this week will bring. Hopefully at least one round of golf at the LSU campus and perhaps an introduction to Cajun food

On the Road Again!

Having said good-bye to family and friends on Friday night, we met Ken and Tracy in the Wal-mart parking lot on Saturday morning to pick up Benji and Zoe, hook up the RV and head out. The morning broke cool and windy so good-byes were quickly said and off we went.

First stop was the Walmart Shopping Center in Sioux Falls, SD. High head winds slowed us down and as such we did not get as far south as we had originally hoped (not to mention eating into our gas mileage - 2.9 Kms/l - OUCH!). Then to add insult to injury, our RV battery didn't recharge during the journey so we ran out of power quite early in the evening. Good thing we were ready for bed by 2000 hrs. Next morning we purchased a new battery and were on the road again by 0930 hrs.

Second stop was - you guessed it - a Walmart Shopping Center but this time in the town of Bolivar, Missouri. Hey what can I say, the price is right! While we had lots of battery power this time, two of the three slideouts did not open! While the RV was cramped, it was still livable. We assumed the problem was related to the previously diagnosed "sagging" rear end which was scheduled for repair in Kansas City on 30 Nov. With that in mind we pressed on to Branson the next day.

Branson, Missouri is nestled in the Ozark Mountains, a small town that is focused on tourism and is famous for it's line-up of live shows. With more than 40 theatres and 100 shows playing at any given time, you can take in three shows a day and not see them all in the run of a month.

We stayed at the Ozark Country Campground located about 4 miles south of the city. The campground staff were great and the facilities were excellent. A little too cold to use the swimming pool but we took advantage of their small library and very clean laundry facilities.

Of course, the first order of business was a round of golf! There are nine golf courses to choose from in the Branson area. Jim and I opted for an Executive course in the heart of the city called Thousand Hills. The view from the clubhouse of the first hole gives you a good idea of the construct of the course, hilly and narrow!

Jim and I both parred this little par 3. Good for morale given the way we played some of the other holes(LOL).

But as I mentioned earlier, Branson is famous for its live shows. We decided on three - a local musical duo, a local comedian and a more familiar country performer. We were not disappointed. The duo, the Rankin Brothers, gave an outstanding performance of songs from the 50s, 60s and 70s. Their ability to sound like the performers who did the actual songs was uncanny!

The second performance we took in was an Ozark version of Buddywassiname and the Other Fellas! Paul Harris is an outstanding comedian and with his four supporting musicians put on a show that had everyone rolling in the aisles. Pictured below is the Cleaverley "trio" - yah there's five of them in the trio! It was hilarious.

We finished the week by taking in a Christmas performance by Mel Tillis and two of his children - Mel Jr and his youngest daughter Carrie April. Again, a very entertaining evening. Apparently Mel Jr is an accomplished songwriter and Carrie April is a singer (although not as well known as her older sister Pam). Her performance of O Holy Night and Ave Maria sent tingles down your spine. Mel was vintage Mel, performing some of his favourite Christmas songs as well as familiar country tunes. It was a great way to end the week.

Bright and early Sunday morning we hit the road for the return trip to Kansas City. We arrived safely and are tucked in at the Travelside RV Park in Grain Valley, MO, directly across from the dealership that hopefully will fix on RV so we can resume our travels. See you next week.

Home Again, Home Again, Jiggity Jig

This past week we travelled to Memphis - home of the blues, R&B and rock & roll. Memphis is really all about the music so we hopped on a 50s era bus

and were introduced to the city by a singing troubadour.

The history of Memphis was accompanied by live music; even the passengers were given percussion instruments so we could participate in the music as we toured the city. What a hoot!

Of course, no trip to Memphis is complete without a trip to Graceland.

The mansion is quite something, not as grandiose as we had expected but certainly had some unique decorating styles.

After Elvis purchased Graceland for a mere $100K in 1954, he made some changes, including the addition of a racquetball court. It was on a piano inside this building that Elvis sang his last song on the morning of the day of his death

The tour finishes at the Meditation Garden, the resting place of Elvis and his parents and grandmother.

Sadly, all good things must come to an end. After travelling more than 30,000 kms, setting up in 31 RV parks, fixing three flat tires and surviving one tow truck experience, we're safely back in Winnipeg with the RV parked at it's summer home in Stephenfield.

It's back to work this week but we're already thinking about our next RV adventure.

See ya next time! Jim & Lesley

Taking in the Tunes in Tennessee

We're in Music City USA and loving it! Everywhere you turn there are musicians plying their trade. We've danced at the Wildhorse Saloon, listened to up and comers at local honky tonks like The Stage and Tootsies but the highlight of this trip was our night at the Grand Ole Orpy!

The line-up of stars, both new and old, was outstanding! Newer stars included

Dierks Bentley

Aaron Tippin

and

Vince Gill

Of course, no show at the Grand Ole Opry is complete without a performance by Minnie Pearl.

And the stars of old were not to be outdone! Mel Tillis, Del McCoury, Little Jimmy Dickens, Connie Smith, Marty Stuart, Whispering Bill Anderson, The Whites, Jimmy C Newman, and Jean Sheppard performed many favourites and had the crowd clapping and singing along.

But the night belonged to Carrie Underwood as she was inducted as a member of the Grand Ole Opry.

And the night was made even more special for her when none other than fellow Oklahoman, Garth Brooks showed up, unannounced, to present her with her award.

While performing her last number, she was joined on stage by yet another fellow Oklahoman, Vince Gill

This leg of our trip has been extra special because we were joined by my Mom and Dad, and my Uncle Mac and Aunt June. After attending a performance at the current Grand Ole Opry House, we took a stroll down memory lane and visited the Ryman Auditorium, known as the Mother Church of country music and the building that housed the Grand Ole Opry for several decades.

(Note the coats! The temperature on Sunday did not get above 55F. Guess it`s preparing us for what`s ahead when we return home!)

The Ryman is said to have fantastic acoustics - second only to the Mormon Tabernacle. The self guided tour allows you the opportunity to go up on stage so Dad and I, and Dad and Uncle Mac grabbed guitars and made like country stars.

Today it's on to Memphis - wonder if we'll catch a glimpse of the King!

Surviving the Storm

Well, the weather has been interesting this week, to say the least. We had hoped to get a number of rounds of golf in while in Oklahoma City but that was not to be the case. The wind blew and blew and blew. At times I wasn't sure the RV was going to stay on the ground. On Thursday, we gave up on the idea of the wind ever letting up and hit the road to Little Rock, Arkansas. Well... I'm sure you're familiar with the saying, "Better the devil you know than the devil you don't". Truer words were never spoken in this instance. Friday morning we awoke to tornado warnings across the state of Arkansas. We are very thankful that when all was said and done, the tornadoes stayed northwest and southeast of our location. All we had to suffer through was a tremendous thunder and lightning storm with some wind. By late afternoon it had passed and the sun was out. Saturday we hit the road again and have stopped for a couple of days in Southhaven, Mississippi. The weather has improved greatly so we're off for a round of golf this morning. Next week it's on to Tennessee, a visit from my parents and my uncle & his wife, and our trip to the Grand Ole Orpy.