First Travel Day of 2013

Yes, the wheels are still round!  We managed to get ourselves together and on the road at a respectable 9-ish this morning.  First stop was at the Rainbow Plantation Office to pay out.  Escapees parks are a little different, we don't pay up front to stay there.  Instead, we pay at the end of the month, and when we leave.  The rate at the Plantation is $95 per week plus electric - 11.5 cents per kilowatt hour.

Our second stop was up the road in Robertsdale at the Gulf Shores Home Center where we got our onboard propane tank filled - 23.5 gallons worth.  We found out during this stay that Alabama has a law that propane trucks are prohibited from filling RV propane tanks unless the RV is tied down.  We ended up buying and setting up a 40-pound stand alone propane tank this winter so we could take that and get it filled and not have to unhook the motorhome and drive it over to Robertsdale to fill the onboard tank.  It worked out fine for us, and we're storing that portable tank with our friend, George, who has a house at the Plantation.

 By the time we got to Loxley, it was raining.  I guess we were lucky that it wasn't raining when we got up and left, or when we got propane.  We had a rainy drive to New Orleans,

On Interstate 10:

Across Mississippi:

Into Louisiana:

Across Lake Ponchartrain:

but by the time we got to downtown and took the turnoff to come across to the Westbank area, the rain had stopped.  I wanted to take pictures as we came by the SuperDome, but I was too busy making sure Jim was in the correct lane to change highways!

We're now settled in for the next few nights at Bayou Segnette State Park.  We met our friend, Rosalie, for dinner this evening at a very good restaurant, the Sun Ray Grill, and made plans for what we'll do in the next couple of days while we're here.  I first met Rosalie when I worked for the school district in Colorado Springs in the 1980's.  She's moved around the country several times since then, and has settled back in her home town, New Orleans.  We had a good visit.

This is our first visit to Bayou Segnette, it's a nice state park with water and electric hook-ups.  This is Spring Break time, so there are many families here, I think the park is almost full.  I know parts of it were closed last fall as a result of Hurricane Isaac, but it seems most, if not all, of the campground sites are open now.  I didn't get pictures of the campground yet, but I will before we leave.

It was hard to leave this morning, and I already miss Alabama, but we're also glad to be back on the road!  And we're also very glad that our first 2013 travel day went smoothly - even if it was wet.