May 21: Goodbye FL, Hello LA

Here is a view of our second campsite in FL.  We had to change sites in the same park due to availability.  It was a nice site nestled in teh palm trees.

 We got an early start and threaded our way down Route 98 and then I-10 west.  Here is a view of Mobile, Alabama. Alabama definitely got the short end of the deal from Florida when they laid out the state boundaries.  Florida took a good portion of the coast that should have gone to Alabama.  Also the gas was $0.40 cheaper in Alabama, so another reason I was sorry we were in Fl so long on I 10.

 The welcome center in Mississippi was designed as a Southern plantation.  When you walk inside it is like walking into an elegant southern plantation.  Look who I met there!   The King!

 Here is the outside view of the welcome center in Mississippi.

 The New Orleans downtown skyline is partially dominated by the Superbowl.  I did not realize it was so close to downtown.

 We camped at Bayou Signet State Park for two nights.  It is a great park with plenty of space between sites, a playground, showers, and a free laundry!.  We still had some sheets to do so the next morning I did the sheets and worked out some Grit aerobics while waiting for the loads to time out.  I did not get to many stares.

May 20th: And the theme for the day is Rain!

Well it started raining and thundering during the night and that pretty much set the theme for the day.  So why fight city hall!  We decided it was a good day to do laundry.  Using my space age computer power from my iphone I located a nice out of the way coin laundry and we set out with 10 days of dirty laundry to take care of.  So I don't usually do laundry and this became a good lesson for me.  I did have to ask for help only twice on how the quarters went in.  And I was delegated to folding socks, towels and underwear, while the more difficult items like shirts were handled by Elaine.  After a few hours at the laundromat, I drove Elaine to a nail salon to have a pesky nail repaired.  Then we celebrated a job well done by having a late lunch at J Michaels Crab& Seafood establishment. We had the best flounder dinner with this great garlic pepper sauce.  On the way back to the campsite we stopped at Gator Lake in the park to see if any gators we out.  We spotted one right near our viewing platform.  A nice day top vege out. Maybe we will go for a long walk and see if any gators are still out at dusk.

May 19th: Panama City and Warmth!

We left Andersonville mid morning and headed to panama City FL for St Andrews State Park which is on the ocean just south of Panama City.  We had to drive through Panama City and the main street had just about every box store in existence and then some.  Luckily by the time we got to the park we were back in a somewhat rural setting at least for the immediate area around the park.  The park is located in between the ocean and a bay.  For a state park I thought it was a little close in, but Elaine reminded me that at least we had some trees in between us and our neighbors.  

 Here are a few shots of our campsite while we relax and have our early evening drinks.

 I raise the hood of the RV to keep the interior as cool as possible since the engine gives off quite a bit of heat..  Yes, its warm enough to worry about HEAT!

 We took a walk after a light salad dinner and here a re two views of the bay at dusk.

 Surprisingly we saw many deer as we walked and also at our campsite.

May 18th: Andersonville & Plains GA

We arrived at Andersonville late in the afternoon after visiting Atlanta.  Andersonville is small and dedicated to the visitors of the local national momument for the Andersonville Civil War Prison.

 This is a view of our rv spot for the next two  nights.  Rain has been with us pretty off and on.

 These next eleven shots are of downtown Andersenville.

 The one distinctive thing they do have is an excellent Civil War museum.  It is small but has and incredible collection of memorabilia.

 As I mentioned Andersonville is the location of the Andersonville prison during the Civil war.  As such the US govt has located the National Prisoner of War Museum here.  It is a very extensive museum covering all of the wars from the revolutionary war to the Gulf war.  It really drives home how stupid war is and how inhumane one group of people can be to another in the name of nationalism.

 A recreation of the wall around the prison.It was made of pine trees and constructed by slaves!.

 After the Prisoner of War museum we needed and uplift.  A visit to the Jimmy Carter homestead in Plains GA provided just the lift we needed.

 The next seven shots are from the home where Jimmy Carter grew up.  This is his living room.

 This was the bathroom.  I thought the shower design was distinctive with the bucket that has holes in the bottom of it.

 The rear of his house.  The put white sand around the house every year to have the sun reflect off of it and it keeps the yard and house cooler.

 Pecan trees in his back yard.

 Lilian Carter, his mother said that pecans were money on trees.

Tuesday, May 17th Atlanta and the Jimmy Carter Presidential Library and Museum

We left Lake Powhatan early and headed for Andersonville, GA.  But we had to literally loop right around Atlanta so we stopped into the Jimmy Carter Presidentail Library.  I have a lot of respect for Jimmy Carter especially for all the good work he has done in his retirement. 

 Entrane to the Carter Museum.

 This quote sounds familiar.

 These next three shots are from the recreation of the Oval Office.

 This quote rang true for me.

 Elaine and I at the front of the museum.  All in all it was a good museum to visit.  It brought back a lot of history of the 1970's for us.  I highly recommend this museum.

At a stop light after leaving the museum I could not resist this view of downtown Atlanta.  The loop road around Atlanta is 6 lanes wide and packed!  I think some call it the LA of the East coast.  Pretty impressive.

Monday, May 16, 2016: Biltomore Estates Asheville NC

We spent most of Monday exploring the Biltmore Estates in Asheville.  It is a cross between Downton Abby, Newport, RI, and Disney Land.  I added Disney Land because the walking tour of the inside of the mansion was pretty crowded and had long lines.  

 The one interior visual was the three fireplace mantle, I have never seen this before.  It must have kept everyone in this dining room pretty toasty.

 These are some views of the outside front of the mansion.

 Here is Elaine and I in the Rose Garden.

 This is my artsy shot from the gardens looking towards the mansion.

 What the heck.  OK who knows the name of this?

 Front lawn, I think this would take awhile to mow.

We ended the day visiting with Elaine's cousin Cynthia's daughter Michelle Pugliese who is the  ‎Land Protection Director at the Southern Appalachian Highlands Conservancy.  We had a nice dinner at Doc Choy's and dessert at the French Broad Chocolate Lounge.  I had a dark chocolate liquid Truffle! All the food was great and we had a great time catching up with Michelle.