Saturday, January 12, 2013

Bloggy Interlude

Apology:  The blog has been temporarily co-opted to function as a travelogue for those family members who may choose to keep up via this vehicle.  You may skip over this if you wish, no offense taken.  It is much too long for a blog post.

January 9
We got away from Athens about 9:45. No time clock to punch. Headed south on 65 in rain most of the morning, but it was a short morning, for by 11:45 we stopped for lunch. Following the discussion about big meal at noon vs. big meal at evening, we elected to attend a buffet where we could have but didn’t pig out. Good lunch to be followed by soup and sandwich at seven in the evening.

 Here was a high point of the day. Cruised along at 65 (70 limit, so lots of traffic passing us, not to mention pushing-the-limit-and-then-some traffic.) Anyway somewhere south of Montgomery a gorgeous blue coupe passed us. To the best of my recollection, it was the first time ever I have seen a Maserati on the public highways. Then. Just north of Mobile, the same car passed us again. I am guessing that vehicle gets about the same mileage as the RV, but has a much smaller tank, hence he must have gotten behind to slake the car’s thirst. A Shelby Cobra passed us near Mobile; never saw it again.

 The afternoon drive got us to Gautier (Go-shay) MS where we camped for the night at Shepard State Park. First order of business after basic hook-up: open windows, turn on fan and strip to t-shirts. And jeans, of course. Stop picturing spindly old legs. We have stayed in this park on at least two other trips to the South. It may be a day, or it may be longer, which is to say that we are following no particular plan.

 January 10
And the threatening weather to the west of us has delayed our departure from Gautier. No desire to drive into severe weather. This morning we walked the trails along Lamotte Bayou here in the park. Excellent walking trails for people such as ourselves, for while there were some dips and rises, there were no physically daunting portions of the walk. Got a few nice pictures, and since the temperature hovered right at seventy, we enjoyed the morning very much. The glories of nature clearly do not provide sufficient incentive for some people to use the park, so the areas through which we walked are encumbered with an 18-hole (basket?) Frisbee “golf” course.

 About lunchtime, we drove into town, explored a bit, then had lunch at a nice Mexican restaurant where we have eaten on previous trips. More driving around and some shopping at “Dirt Cheap” which other than a half-dozen books JoAnn bought, had tons of junk, but little of interest. We arrived back at the park just as the clouds burst open, and had we been five minutes sooner I would not have had to hook up in a downpour. Rained a good bit of the afternoon, and in fact, though we had a couple hours respite, it is raining now (9:00 pm).

 Forecast says rain gone by morning, but also warns of probable fog. That is a condition that could preclude travel, too, as neither of us is fond of driving in bad visibility. Clearly we have had no internet connections, so I say, who knows when this may leave the folder and arrive on your desk?



January 11
At Lake Charles, Louisiana we now have internet connection, but this is too long already, so later.

8 comments:

Shelly said...

Too long for a blog post? Never. You all are making good progress. Most of the major roads here in Texas have new speed limit of 75, and it's off to the races for too many people. Safe travels!

vanilla said...

Shelly, we'll be in Texas ere noon!

Vee said...

Glad you are having a safe trip and hope that continues.

Secondary Roads said...

And here in Michigan today's high is forecast at 56 F. Reporter says more snow in Texas than in Chicago.

Hope the trip continues well.

Anonymous said...

If meandering and enjoying is what you like then you seem on a pleasant journey. Meandering is good - I hate rushing about, it never leaves time for poking around and discovering something...

vanilla said...

Vee, thanks. Things are going well to this point (Galveston).

Chuck, if there is snow in Texas, it is no where near here (Galveston, 72 F.) But it is nearly 900 miles from here to the west exit from Texas.

Grace, meandering is good, adventure sometimes arises. Hurry between stops, though, because I only drive four or five hours a day anymore.

Sharkbytes said...

Sounds like a nice journey.

vanilla said...

Sharkey, and so it was!