Daytona 500

When we left Vancouver Washington in September, we knew that we needed to be in Florida by the end of March, so we arrived a few weeks early.  We were looking at the map the other evening, when the realization of just how far we have traveled became apparent.  It is a long way across the USA.

 



 

When we left Panama City Beach we made it as far as Lake City, Florida, where we decided to just kick back for a few days, do some laundry, get some groceries, give the old RV and truck a bath, and recover from the colds we had acquired.  Panama City Beach is a gulf coast beach town, but we don't think it will be one of those places we plan to return to.  Don't take that wrong.  It was nice to see, but it was just another beach town.  Very pretty white sand for as far as you could see.

 

We would have to guess that this is a huge Spring Break PARTY area for the college scene.  Many hotels on the beach, and lots of fun and crazy things to see and do.

Somebody even built an upside down building.

So we said goodbye to Panama City Beach, and pointed the truck east, toward the Atlantic Ocean.

We found a place to park the old wheelhouse in Daytona Beach, just a few miles from the Daytona Speedway race track. We had originally plan to stay in the Orlando area, and drive up for the race on Sunday, but this worked out so much better. We arrived in Daytona early Friday afternoon, and went out exploring. We headed down to the beach to get our first glimpse of the Atlantic Ocean, and hopefully find something to eat. The first beach area we found you were able to drive on, park and spend the day if you wanted. We found a nice beach Bar and Grill to quench our thirst and feed our bellies.

We bet that this beach is CRAZY during Spring Break

The weather here in Daytona is very warm and muggy during the day, but the evenings a perfect to sit outside, or go for a walk.  Saturday was our day to check out the Daytona Speedway, and figure out where we were going to park on Sunday for the race.  Daytona has this race business under control.  There is a free parking area, about 2 miles from the track, and they run school bus shuttles all day long back and forth.  We didn't have to wait at all for a shuttle.  The raceway grandstands are enormous, and when we first arrived, they were pretty much empty.
 

But just a short time later, when the cars first came out of the pit area, it was packed.
Not a seat in sight.

So we must say that our NASCAR experience was very COOL.  The weather guessers were all predicting rain for the race, but not a drop showed up.  The cloud cover helped to keep the temperature pleasant, and Roberta didn't have to lather all up with sunscreen.  We were able to bring a small cooler in with us, so we loaded it up with some beer and water, and didn't have to spend 6 bucks for a beer, or 3 bucks for a water. And to top off a perfect day, Jimmie Johnson, Roberta's favorite driver, crossed the finish line first, to win the Daytona 500 . We are thinking about attending another race, later this year, maybe Talladega, Alabama, if our timing works out.  We'll have to see.............

Tomorrow we are moving down to Orlando, about 60 miles South, for six days.  We aren't sure what our plans are for there, but we figure we will be able to find something to do.......  ;-)

Thanks for looking in on us.

Till Next Post,

Roberta and Steve

Goodbye New Orleans........ We Will Be Back.....

After two Exciting Weeks in New Orleans, it came time to hook up the old wheelhouse, and head on down the road.  We must say that New Orleans is a wonderful place to visit, even when it is Super Bowl and Mardi Gras Crazy.  We met so many awesome people, that gave us directions, asked if we needed help, and even opened their homes to us.  We can not say enough about their Southern Hospitality.  We have all heard, and read, that New Orleans may never recover from the Katrina Devastation, but we are here to say, New Orleans is already back.  We will return to New Orleans someday, and if the timing is right, we would even return during Mardi Gras.  Yes, it was overly crowded, but even with the crowds, it was a BLAST.

 

 

Just a few fun facts about Mardi Gras that we learned.

1.  Mardi Gras is French for Fat Tuesday

2.  Lundi Gras is French for Fat Monday... The day before Fat Tuesday, and another day to PARTY

3.  Fat Tuesday is a State Holiday in Louisiana, and everyone, in every neighborhood, has a PARTY

4.  LSU's colors of  Purple, Green and Gold were chosen because they are readily available.

(The official colors of Mardi Gras)

 

We attended more parades than we ever expected to attend in one week....... 11 of them in all.

 

 

And as we mentioned in our pervious post, we are overloaded with beads, so be prepared to be presented with some of them when we see y' all.

 

 

There is also a tradition about King Cakes, that dates way back.  Apparently a figurine of a baby is baked inside the cake, and if you get the piece of cake containing the baby, you get to bring the next King Cake to the next party.  Well, we had to purchase a King Cake to see what they are all about.  Basically, it is a Cinnamon roll, rolled into a giant donut, covered in icing and sprinkled with Purple, Green and Gold colored sugar.  Very Good, and we both gained 5 pounds sampling it.

 

 

Notice the Plastic Baby on the cake.

Hummmm......were we suppose to hide it in the cake ourselves..?

Guess we will just have to return and purchase another one.

 

We heard about a floating casino up on Lake Pontchartrain, so guess what.....?

 

Three floors of casinos, and the entire 3rd floor was Non-Smoking.

We had a good time, but we were not winners this time.

 

So anyway, our plans have changed.  We had mentioned that we were going to head up North, to the Memphis / Nashville area, but the weather up that way has turned COLD, so we are now on our way to the Florida Panhandle, to find some warmer weather.

 

We made it as far as Mobile Alabama, and stayed for 2 nights.  As Luck would have it, the disabled Carnival cruise ship, "Triumph", was being towed into the Mobile Harbor.  We drove out, as close as we could get, to the Harbor entrance to see if we could see this "GREAT" event.  (Well, the Media thought it was something spectacular)

 

The"Triumph" is the dim lights, just to the right of the bright light, in the middle of the photo.

Ya, we know, not much to see.

By the time it got to where we were, it was dark.



 

We are currently in Panama City, Florida, and will be about 100 miles from Orlando tomorrow evening, and then staying in Orlando area for a couple three of weeks.  We just realized yesterday, that this week was the beginning of the 2013 NASCAR season, and the first race of the year, The Daytona 500, is next weekend.  Ya, you guessed correctly, we went online and got tickets.  Should be FUN, since Steve has never been to a NASCAR race.  Can't Wait.!!











 

We both managed to acquire the dreaded "COLD BUG", which has slowed us down for the past few days, but this morning we are both feeling much better.....  "YAHOO"

Thank God it wasn't the flu.

 

Thanks for looking in on us..........

 

Steve and Roberta

Our 1st Mardi Gras Parade

 

Today was our day to experience a Mardi Gras Parade.  Actually there were 2, since one started at 6:30 and one started at 7:00, all on the same route.  It really only seemed like one parade to us, but they each had a different theme.  We found a place to watch the parade, so we left our chairs, walked a few blocks for a burger, and came back.

 

If it looks like we are on train tracks, we were...!!!!

We were on the St. Charles Streetcar Route.

They shut down the Streetcar during the parade.

Not many people when we first got there.

When we got back from our walk, it was almost dark, and a few more people had arrived.
By the time the parade started, there wasn't anyplace left on the curbs.

 

 

The floats were very cool, and every float had people throwing Beads, Stuffed Animals, Blinking Lights, Bracelets, and all sorts of things.  It was "CRAZY FUN".

 

 

We managed to catch more beads than anybody would ever need in there entire life, so when we see you, we will definitely be leaving you with some Authentic New Orleans 2013 Mardi Gras Beads.  Before the parade was over, it started to rain, so by the time the parade ended, and we made it back to the truck, we were soaked.

(Ya, we thought we would mention rain, for once, to make ya' all feel better)

 

Not sure what the next few days will have in store for us, but since Mardi Gras goes on for another 6 days, we are pretty sure we will find something to do.

 

Thanks for looking in on us.

 

Roberta and Steve



Super Bowl Is Over...............

For all you San Francisco 49'er Fans, we offer you our sympathy for your Super Bowl Loss.

And for all you Baltimore Raven Fans, congratulations on your 2013 Super Bowl Win.

We were happy that it was a Very Exciting game, and the Half Time Show was "Terrific".

 

 

We will be staying here in New Orleans for another week, to take in the rest of Mardi Gras, 2 Big Parades, on Sunday, the "Krewe of Bacchus", and Monday, the Krewe of Orpheus , and then Mardi Gras Finale on Fat Tuesday.  Even though Super Bowl is over, there seems to be more people arriving.  The RV Park we are staying at is filling up fast.

 

 

Today we took a drive to see the 630 square mile Lake Pontchartrain, which is just North of New Orleans.  Someone had this crazy idea to build a bridge across the middle of this lake, which is 23.8 miles long.  We had to drive it, just to say we did.  Going North bound, it is free to cross, but to come back, South bound, there is a toll of $3.00.  It's the closest thing to being at sea on four tires as you can get.

 

 

 

So for the next few days we are planning to just kick back and take it easy.  It started raining late this afternoon, so we are being reminded of the weather back home in Oregon.

 

Thanks for looking in on us, and we will tell you all about the rest of Mardi Gras later.

 

Steve and Roberta



The Crowds Have Arrived.................

 

We have visited the downtown New Orleans area every evening, just to see how much it changes from day to day.  Last night it was almost impossible to walk down Bourbon Street.

 

PARTY CENTRAL 

 

During the day, we checked out an amazing cemetery.  Since there is so much water in this area, graves are above ground.  Below are just a few of the grave sites we visited.

From the cemetery we headed back down to the water front area, the Convention Center.  Wandering around the river front we stumbled across where the floats are being prepared for the Mardi Gras Parades.

There is a huge barge on the river with a Super Bowl Symbol on it.  During the day, with the sun shining, it is pretty amazing.

But at night, they display Super Bowl images, and videos, on the Roman Numerals.
AWESOME

We also came across the Yacht of the Owner of the Jacksonville Jaguars.
If you are interested, it is For Sale for only $214 Million

 

 

It is Super Bowl Sunday.  Are you "READY FOR SOME FOOTBALL"....????

 

Roberta and Steve



Louisiana Plantation Day...............

Just a quick note about today.   We took our Internet map and drove to a few Plantations about 30 miles outside of New Orleans. 

 

We stopped at 2 Plantations and took their tours.  Taking a tour was cool because we learned about the Louisiana Plantation Laws back then, which were much different than other states.  But taking two tours was almost to much, since we heard almost the same information as the first, just a different family.  But on the other hand, we would have missed the Plantation we liked the best.

It was named Oak Alley Plantation.

Huge Oak Trees

 

No, the trees, or branches are not broken.

 

And the grounds around the home were beautiful..!!

 

After a day of driving around, becoming self made tour guides, we decided to stop by Bourbon Street to see if the tourist have arrived, and to have a drink.  The streets were definitely more crowded, the nightclubs were busy and there were noticeably more police officers, like hundreds of them, everywhere.  We figured that the safest place to be was Bourbon Street.

 

 

 

At one street intersection, on one corner there were some  very "COOL" looking bikes parked, then turn around, and at the other corner there were more bikes, not quite as "COOL". All Police bikes, and every head you see in the lower picture are officers.

 

We will be returning again tomorrow to see how much it changes on a Friday.

 

Until Next Time,

 

Roberta and Steve

Super Bowl and The Big Easy............

We have landed in New Orleans.  Interstate 10 through Louisiana is pretty amazing.  There seems to be swamp land everywhere you look.

and there is one section of the freeway that is a bridge over swamp water that is 18 miles long.

Yes, we said an 18 mile long bridge.

New Orleans is all a buzz with Mardi Gras, and the area around the Superdome is "CRAZY" with Super Bowl preparation.

We found out where the 49er's are staying.  It was pretty obvious when a bus load of players arrived with an escort of police officers on motorcycles.  It is amazing how much security there is around this hotel.

We were lucky with having nice weather for our first day, with temperatures in the mid 70's, and not very muggy at all.  Everything is decorated up, including the locals and tourists.  Even the pets are wearing beads.

Before we knew it, the evening arrived.  Well, we did make a stop, inside Harrah's Casino, for a chance to win some money...... Didn't Happen for me, but Roberta did pretty well.  It was good that we went inside, because we found that it poured down rain while we were there.

 

 

So, we had to see Bourbon Street and the French Quarter at night

It wasn't very busy while we were there, but it was still early.  There was live music at every night club we went by, and if I remember correctly, we stopped at about every one of them.  By the time we were ready to head back to our wheel house it was beginning to get busy.

We woke up this morning to a good old fashion rain and wind storm.  We were wondering if a hurricane was here, but it was just a storm.  The rest of the week, and weekend, is suppose to be beautiful, but only in the 60's.  I guess we will be able to survive.

So, according to the news reports, New Orleans will become a Madhouse beginning tomorrow, with most of the people arriving Friday.  Should be a good time.  We are planning to be right in the middle of it all.  We are thinking about staying until after Fat Tuesday to take in the Mardi Gras finale.

Thanks again for looking at us.

Steve and Roberta