Texas plates

  We now have Texas license plates on the truck and 5th wheel. We also have Texas drivers licenses; we were suprised to be fingerprinted (thumb actually). Texas now has more of our money too. Doug already has the cowboy hat.
We are now at Hondo Texas (Escapee's Lone Star Corral) and will stay here through February and March. When we got here last Sunday, it was nice to be greeted by many people we know. Nice to hear "Welcome back!" We were also greeted by 70 degree weather. Since then it has cooled off but we know it will warm up again soon. Today I went to exercise class at the clubhouse while Doug stayed home and worked on his 'honey-do' list. Then we went out to lunch with friends at a Mexican restaurant. Good afternoon for napping.

Travel day, Doug & Leonard

 
  We had a fairly short travel day today, from Crowley LA, to Livingston TX, but it was rain all the way. Sections of the road were very rough; at one point I looked back and Leonard had his head lying on the wooden divider in the back seat. We were going bumpety-bump but he didn't seem to mind his head being jarred, silly dog. Since I had the camera in the truck, I decided to see if I could get a picture. I found a setting that minimized shaking so used that and I'm surprised that it came out. Not bad for a little point and shoot camera. The little dogs, Piper and Chester, ride in their crates which are secured in the other half of the back seat.
Since I had the camera out, I took a shot of Doug driving. Not sure if you can see it, but he has a toothpick in his mouth; a holdover from quitting smoking 30 years ago.

Quote of the day:
"Between two evils, I always pick the one I never tried before."
Mae West

Leaving Summerdale

We pulled out of the Rainbow Plantation this morning. It was a very friendly place to stay. We had a really good time while we were there, made some new friends and saw some of the gulf coast and other interesting sights. One of the best parts was getting to spend more time with Carol and Roger (they left yesterday to go back to Murfreesboro). We will go back to Summerdale sometime on our travels.
We drove a little less than 300 miles today - we forgot to reset the mileage indicator. We went west on I-10, over Mobile Bay -- a very looong bridge. In western Mississippi we saw evidence of Hurricane Katrina damage; mostly dead trees. We saw one crew taking down dead trees, and lots of new construction going on. I-10 didn't go closer than 5 to 6 miles to the coast, so we probably didn't see the worst of the damage.
A while after going through Baton Rouge Louisiana, we found ourselves driving on an elevated part of I-10; the road was only about 10 feet or so above swampy land. Lots of bare trees, some solid ground but mostly muck, not very scenic. This elevated portion must have been at least 30 miles long. It seemed very foreign looking to us midwesterners. I didn't have the camera in the truck but doubt I could have gotten any shots while we were driving anyway, and there was no place to pull off. I saw a sign that said "Atchafalaya Basin", so I Googled it after we stopped for the night. Here is what I found out:
"The Atchafalaya Basin is a semi-wilderness area of almost one million acres. It is one of the last of the great river swamps in the nation and the largest contiguous tract of bottomland hardwoods in the U.S., with cypress stands, marshes and bayous."
Wow - I am sure it is ecologically important, and maybe it looks better when everthing is green, but it sure looks dismal this time of year. Could have been a set for a movie about a swamp monster.
We are parked for the night in Crowley LA and will head on to Livingston TX in the morning.

Quote for the day:
Only in America do we use the word 'politics' to describe the process so well: 'poli' in Latin meaning 'many' and 'tics' meaning 'bloodsucking creatures'. unknown

"Throwed Rolls" for lunch

  We went to lunch at a great family run restaurant today -- Lambert's Cafe in Foley AL. Lambert's is "Home of the throwed rolls". The rolls are fresh baked all day long - the waiters come out with baskets of big rolls and if you want one, you hold your hand up and the waiter throws it to you! It is fun to catch your roll and even more fun to watch other people trying to catch one. Sometimes the customer doesn't catch it and the waiter just throws another one! Dozens of hot rolls are flying through the air every few minutes. Lambert's is also known for their "pass arounds" -- onion fried potatoes, fried okra, macaroni and tomatoes, black eyed peas. These are brought around constantly and are free with any meal. The drinks are served in huge mugs. The waitress played tricks on us and really had us laughing. She had trick food and would pretend to stumble and spill food and drinks on us. The food was good and served in large quantities; we had to take half of it home.

We went with Carol and Roger, and our new friends Andrea and Peter. We met Andrea and Peter at our RV park after noticing that they had the same make of RV as we do. They also live full time in their rig. Both of them are just a hoot and we all had a great time.

Good food, great company and no cooking tonight!

Rainy day

  We are having a rainy day at the Rainbow Plantation. The forecast is for the rain to last most of the day and it sure looks like it will. Well even though there is a steady rain and a chilly morning, the dogs still have to be walked. The little dogs, Chester and Piper, did their "business" quickly so needed only a short walk. I had to take Leonard for a longer walk in the field behind the RVs. We come equipped for dealing with wet weather - both Doug and I have our GoreTex rain proof jackets and pants. We first got that gear when we were doing lure coursing with the whippets and had to be out in the field in all kinds of weather; now that the whippets are gone (makes me sad), we still have these occasions to use our rain gear. I wore my rubber shoes too - solid no-holes crocs work well.
Now we are cozy inside our 5th wheel, dogs napping. Until the next potty trip!

Foley Model Train Exhibit

 
 
 
  We went to see a model train exhibit in Foley -- wow, it was really something. Alan Goldman is the man who built this train setup in Montgomery in 1996. He hired carpenters and electricians to help him, and he built an addition onto his home to house this hobby. In 2005, Mr Goldman decided to move (new hobby is touring the world on his yacht) and wanted to donate his train setup; he offered it to several alabama towns. Foley agreed to accept the model railroad and "won" over other towns because they could construct a building right away, and agreed to the stipulation that admission would always be free. Foley built an addition to the existing Railroad Museum Depot. The Foley volunteers had only three days to take apart the entire setup, and had to put it in storage until the new building was finished. It opened in February 2007.

This wonderful train setup is 60 x 24 feet with over a mile of wiring. It does not represent a certain time period -- it has trains from the 1930s to the 1960s, steam to diesel engines. Mr. Goldman wanted to depict the industries that the railroad helped make possible. There is a lumberyard, coal mine, circus and oil refinery among others, even a moonshine still on a mountainside. Attention to detail is amazing. Tiny figures come to life, trains make sounds, fire engines flash lights, a tiny car moves through the car wash. At Mel's Drive-in Restaurant, tiny waitresses come out on roller skates to the '57 Chevy to take orders. There even is a drive-in movie with a movie playing on the screen. Construction workers are hanging over the side of a bridge, laundry hanging on a clothesline -- so much to see everywhere we looked. The zoom on my camera could not get close enough to see many of the smaller details; the workmanship is exquisite. Volunteer (the Caboose Club) railroaders run the setup using remote controls. Funding is provided from the city of Foley. There are two electricians that keep all the wiring working. This is a must-see for anyone interested in railroads. And it is free! If you find yourself near Foley, the model train setup is open Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday from 10:00 am to 2:00 pm. Heritage Park, 125 E. Laurel Ave, Foley AL. phone 251-943-1818.

After touring the model train exhibit, we went to old time Stacey's Drugstore where they have an old soda fountain. Chocolate malts and polish dogs - yum.

bike ride at Orange Beach

 
 
 We went for a bike ride at Orange Beach with Carol and Roger. The bike trail was a very nice wide paved trail that went for about 5 miles through a swampy and wooded area. The sign said it was a savannah which sounds better! The trail is still under construction and will be several miles longer when it is finished; it has clean restrooms (important to us girls)and is quiet. We really appreciate it when we can find an area to ride or walk that is close to nature. It was a beautiful day, about 70 degrees and a slight breeze. Since the trail isn't very long yet, we also rode on a bike trail next to the busy street for a while before going back to the truck.
After our ride, we all went for lunch at "Sea & Suds" which was right on the beach. Carol and Roger had oysters and gumbo; Doug and I had hamburgers; guess you can tell we are midwesterners from cow country.
I took the beach photos from the deck of the restaurant. Wish I could have captured the sound of the surf! The snow fence is needed until the sea oats re-establish. We saw a sign that said "Dune restoration area, stay off sea oats". We are told all the beachfront buildings were demolished in the 2004 Hurricane Ivan, so all these are new construction.

Gulf Shores Alabama, white sand

 
  We drove 20 miles south to Gulf Shores to see the Gulf of Mexico - neither of us had seen it before. The sand was as white as new snow; in fact I used the "snow" setting on my camera. This is a public beach but it was deserted as you can see -- the day was windy and quite chilly. The combination of white sand and blue water is pretty, but I think we are more mountain than beach people.
The sign about the alligators was near the entrance to the Gulf Shores State Park campground. We didn't see any alligators but that's okay with me. There were large stands of dead trees near the campground. It looked to us like fire damage but we were told later that it was from Hurricane Ivan in 2004.

Rainbow Plantation, Alabama

 
 
  We are now in southern Alabama, at one of the Escapee member parks - Rainbow Plantation. We got here Dec. 31 and the day was warm and pleasant. We were glad to get out our recumbent trikes and take a nice ride, wearing T-shirts. That night the big cold front came through and we are having a few days of cold windy weather. The low tonight is supposed to be 19 degrees, so everyone here is disconnecting water lines. Folks here are not used to really cold weather - the TV news is full of cold weather tips. At least we know the cold will not last long. The forecast is for the temperature to reach 60 or higher by the weekend.

Rainbow Plantation is a very nice place. We plan to be here a month. We have a large grassy site with a tree. There is a large clubhouse where lots of activities are held; craft classes, line dancing, pool shooting, computer group, music, bingo and lots of dinners. Something for everyone.
We are about 20 miles inland from the gulf shore, across the bay from Mobile and about 12 miles inland from there. The nearest town is Summerdale but if you blink you miss it. It does have the post office. We haven't done much sightseeing yet but there should be lots to see.