Life On The Road Lately

It's time for another one of our "Life Lately" posts. Just some bits and bobs about what we've been up to since we headed out of Texas and made our way along the seaboard to Florida. So here's what's been going on for us lately.

One of the things I'm loving about our road trip is seeing new parts of the country. We had such an interesting drive from Texas to Louisiana - such interesting scenery and sights along the way. Our original plan was to head straight to New Orleans in search of beignets, gumbo and jazz. But then Scott had a great idea to spend a few days at Grande Isle, a barrier island south of New Orleans. Unfortunately, the weather sucked, but fortunately, we found shrimp which helped improve our mood immensely. We finally made it to New Orleans and had a great time. We stayed at a really dodgy RV park in the city, ate some mediocre Ethiopian food, had way too many beignets and enjoyed the sights. One major drawback of New Orleans - a complete lack of public toilets. If you're middle aged too, you can probably relate.

After New Orleans, we headed down to the Gulf Islands National Seashore in Mississippi. We had hoped to stay at the Davis Bayou campground but it was chock-a-block. The campground host and the volunteer ladies in the visitor center were really helpful and tried their best to help us get a spot, but no luck. So we spent the night at the nearby Shepherd State Park. We tried again the next day to get a spot at Davis Bayou, struck out again and spent the next night boondocking at Walmart. I love free camping! We're keeping track of how much we spend on our campsites and I have an Excel spreadsheet set up which calculates our average daily rate. Our stays at Walmart sure help to bring this figure down.

One of the guys we spoke to at Davis Bayou in Mississippi suggested that we check out the Florida unit of the Gulf Islands National Seashore. I'm so glad that we took him up on his suggestions. Not only was there room at the Ft Pickens campground, the place is gorgeous. We've enjoyed walks on the beach, learning about the history of the fort and having some great barbeques. Scott also managed to hook in with the local racing scene in nearby Pensacola and got out on a boat one day. We also spent an afternoon checking out Pensacola. Such a great little town. And you have to love the fact that you can hear taps and reveille being played at the Naval base across the way from the campground. 

So that's what's been going on with us lately. What's been happening in your neck of the woods?