Three Day Drive From CR to Gulf Shores, AL.

Sunday 11/4/2012

After 18 days in Cedar Rapids, IA it was time to hit the road again. Malley is checking out the road ahead with Joe.

Mallery usually rides in her kennel for most of our drives in the Nest. After a couple of hours she gets bored and whines until I let her out. Then I seatbelt her to my seat belt and she sits on my lap the rest of the day. Before we left on this trip, we got her booster car seat that is in the car, and strapped it on top of her kennel, which sits next to my front seat. It took a while, but  Mallery decided it was a pretty good seat with great views out the front window.
Our route took us south on Hwy. 218 to Mount Pleasant, IA. We stopped for 30 minutes, so my sister Karen could see are new Nest. After leaving Mount Pleasant, Mom said she was enjoying her ride in our Nest. She said she could see out the side and front windows.



Later that day she got very quiet, so I looked back to check on her. I guess she got tired and slipped into dreamland. The first night we stopped at a Wal-Mart in Festus, Missouri, just south of St. Louis after a 203 mile day.

Our second day on the road continued south of Festus, MO. As we left Missouri, this route tooks us into the NE corner of Arkansas for a few miles, then into Tennessee, and finally into Mississippi. We stopped at a Wal-Mart in New Albany, MS that night, with a long drive of 330 miles. We arrived at Wal-Mart just after dusk.



Day 3 we continued our road trip in Mississippi on Hwy 45 south.

Mom was really enjoying the fall colors we were seeing in Mississippi.

The fall colors turn into evergreens further south on Hwy. 45.

Finally we crossed the state line into Alabama, and onto a two lane road.

Hwy. 45 continued into Alabama.

As we entered into Mobile, AL the day was getting short. We had beautiful cloud views most of that drive.

Mobile had a high temp of 64 degrees that day.

Cedar Rapids, where we had left 3 days prior, had a temp of 46 degrees. we were so glad we had left CR and the cold weather.

Mobile, AL.

The first and last time we came through Mobile, this tunnel startled Joe, because you come around a corner and don't expect it. This time we were ready for it.

We crossed the Mobile Bay and took Hwy. 10 to Styx River Resort in Robertsdale, AL This resort is a ROD resort, so we can stay there free for 3 weeks. Then we have to leave for a week before we can come back in for another 3 weeks free. Our  drive was 329 miles that day.

Heading North to Iowa

4/30/09

We left New Orleans and took Hwy 55 North threw Louisiana, then into Mississippi. We drove most of the day, and finally stopped at a Wal-Mart in Grenada, Mississippi. We had great driving weather, even though the forecast was for rain. We drove about 5 hours and 265 miles, which is a lot for us.



5/1/09

We left Grenada, Mississippi and head north on Hwy 55. Before we left the state, we stopped at a rest stop, and dumped our black water tanks. This is the 1st state we've found that have dump stations at their rest stops. That's really cool Mississippi. (Does't take much to make a RVer happy. Wish more states had rest stops like that). We went around Memphis, into the upper north east corner of Arkansas, then into Missouri. We were looking for a truck stop or a Wal-Mart to stay at for the night. We went to one truck stop that we found in the Interstate Exit Authority, a book that a friend gave us, but the truck stop was no longer there. The book is 10 years old and has served us well in most searches. We have tried to get an updated book, but the last publication was in 2001. Too bad, it was a great book. We had to go by our GPS to locate the nearest Wal-Mart. The GPS does not give truck stops. It was getting close to 5:00 PM, (Joe's quitting time) and we needed to find our stopping place. There was a Wal-Mart in Eureka, Missouri which was about 15 miles off the interstate. We decided on this Wal-Mart even though it was out of our way a bit. What a mistake, we ended up on a curvy, hilly and narrow road, with Joe wondering, what he might run into next.

Joe does not like roads that have narrow shoulders. In case of an emergency, he might have to pull over!Joe was not a happy camper. The roads got more curvy and narrower than these pictures. I didn't take pictures, because I felt I needed to help by watching the roads for Joe and keep track of turns on the GPS. I am the navigator after all, and have a serious job to maintain! I can't be having fun taking pictures all the time.

After 329 miles, 6 hours on the road we find the Wal-Mart. Praise the Lord!

Bay St. Louis, Mississippi

4/24/09


Next stop, just a few miles down the road, is Bay Hideaway RV Park in Bay St. Louis, Mississippi. I wanted to stop here, because our oldest daughter Alisha, had visited this town, while in her early 20's. She was so enamored with this little town, and said after visiting it, she was going to move down there someday. Well, she didn't move there, but a hundred miles east of Bay St. Louis, is now her home! She moved to Gulf Shores, Al about 2 years ago. Bay Hideaway was a very nice and clean RV park, with very new and clean facilities.My only complaint, would have to be the large gravel roads, and parking spaces. ( Mallery has a hard time walking on the rocks and hates southern grass- too prickly)



Entrance to Park



Light house (only light at night)
Bathrooms, playground, & rec room w/ big screen TV

Pool w/ fence around it



Bay St. Louis also had lots of damage from Katrina. And even though there has been much restoration, there is still much evidence of her presence!







Mile after mile on the Bay with nothing left, but just foundations

and just steps
and more foundations


and parts of churches

and destroyed docks


and more foundations




and more foundations with a for sale sign

and a destroyed car

and more just steps

addresses written where ever they can

and church steeples
and temporary churches



Most debris has been removed, but the old homes are gone, but there are:







a few lots with hugh new homes


but more of these very small mobile homes
and many RV or trailers on the lots


Just for you Alisha- a store named Maggie May's- in old town Bay St. Louis, which house's 8 to 10 stores that were destroys and are now under one roof. ( Alisha's dogs name is Maggie May)
On August29, 2009 it will be 4 years since Katrina hit this area. Most home owners didn't have enough insurance to rebuild. And if they had insurance, they couldn't afford insurance now if they rebuilt. Most land owners hope to sell to those who can afford the insurance! But there are many lots available, so it keeps the cost of the lots not in demand, especially in this economy!

Biloxi, Mississippi

OK, I know I have got some of you confused with where we are! We are still in the Northwoods of WI at The Harbor Campground in Three Lakes WI. In April and May we were moving pretty fast and staying in places with no or weak internet connections. Plus I was having computer problems. So all and all I didn't get my blogging done. So now that we are staying in one place for the month, ( which helps us stay within our budget) I have more time to get caught up. I have a good connection, even thought we were told we wouldn't have one, and would have to drive at least 7 miles to find one. Oh that reminds me, the other day, Joe was talking to the owner of the place and had mentioned that I had been on the internet a lot. The owner couldn't believe we could get the internet. He said nobody has been able to get a connection around here. He's been wanting to have a tower put up on his land so internet connections could be reach, but because there is a small airport next door, it's not allowed for fear of interference. What can I say. I speak blessings over us all the time. I say," we are blessed and our God provides all our needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus." And we are blessed! Sometimes, I just think, it really works! Just kidding, I know it works, because our Father does not lie. OK, I'll get back to what I was talking about. We are in WI, and I am going to tell you about our April adventures!



April 22- 23,09

Our 1st stop after our week with the girls and our nanababies, was at the Martin Lake Resort in Biloxi, Mississippi. The place was nice, with full hookups, cable and cement pads. By the time we got there, got set up, and walked around the park, it was time for dinner.


Nice pool we never used
Nice lake with small beaches we never used

Several carved out private beaches




Cute little cabins if you don't own an RV


Miniature golf
And 5 duck that stick together and live in the park

All for $17 a night with a Passport membership, which we have and it has paid for itself in 2 months after we bought it. The next day we drove around Biloxi and saw a lot of Katrina damage, and a lot of new Casino's. If gambling is your thing, it seems more are coming in. Not much else to see and I was not impressed with the water or the sand. The water looked dirtier and the sand more brown. Maybe this has been caused by Katrina. I know there was still a lot of debris still floating in the water. The only thing I could say was a negative for this park, was there were many permanent RV that brought down the neighborhood. Not bad enough where I would not come back, but I would defiantly lock my doors when gone.