Baton Rouge, Louisiana 5/18/10

So we were on our way to Mobile, Alabama to have our cruise control looked at. The Cummin's dealer in North Houston said that would be the nearest place to have it worked on. The cruise worked only about 2 weeks after we got the RV so it is still under warranty. We decided since we were going that way, that we would stop in New Orleans and spend a day/night and check out the French Quarter, Jackson Square, and Oakville Plantation (highly recommended by Rudy). Well, after coming upon an accident near Lafayette that allowed us to go about 6 miles in 4 hours, we decided to spend the night in a WalMart parking lot in Baton Rouge. It was already about 9:30 pm which was much later than we had wanted to drive anyway. While turning into Wal-Mart, we took a turn and heard what we thought were the tires rubbing against the curb. Well, no, that wasn't what it was. We came by a light pole with a huge cement base. The passenger side of our RV (the back basement doors and the back of the RV) caught the cement base. OUCH! We had to scrap our plans for New Orleans and head to Red Bay, Alabama to repair our coach. We spent the next night in Meridian, Mississippi (home of Jimmy Rogers) at the Benchmark Coach and RV park. Nice place. If you ever get that way, you'll have to go to the Crescent grill and have the "cajun enchilada". It is fabulous. We arrived in Red Bay Thursday morning and may be here for 2 weeks while our RV is getting repaired.

Florida's in Livingston, TX

Florida's in Livingston, Tx as seen on the travel channel.

Livingston, TX

We took off Saturday morning (5/15/10) and headed for Livingston to the Escapees RV Park. This is where we will have our mailing service. It's neat how all this works. You pay so much a year for them to receive and handle all your mail. You put money into an account and when you want you mail forwarded to you, they take the money out of your account for postage and you receive your mail w/in a few days. So, because our mailing service is in TX, we are still officially TX residents. I got my license changed and the registrations on the cars changed to our new "address". This was all stuff we really could have done online, but it was still cool to see the park and talk to everyone. Escapees is an RV group with some benefits. Besides the mailing service, they also teach classes for going full-time (which we didn't take), they have a web-site with just about any kind of information you would ever need, and you can also get great discounts at some RV parks. We were only in Livingston for 3 nights. We were told that we "had" to eat at Florida's. Well, of course Florida's is closed Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday. Florida's is run by Florida herself. She does all the cooking and baking. Maybe that's why she takes 3 days off. Anyway, we didn't get the chance to eat there as we were there the days she was closed. We heard her specialty is BBQ. For all you Northerners, BBQ consists of pretty much anything grilled or smoked, generally, brisket, ribs, sausage, along with anything else you want to throw in there. Texas is pretty tops in the BBQ bracket. Back in 2008, Florida's was featured on the travel channel in the Top 10 BBQ places. Now to look at this place, you might be afraid to go in as it's just a hole-in-the-wall place. We will definitely go there our next time through. One of the biggest negatives about this park is that they only had wi-fi in a small room in the office area. I was all panicked about not being able to play my Bejeweled Blitz and see what my FaceBook friends were doing (just kidding, kinda), so my wonderful husband drove me 45 miles to buy the Sprint 3G/4G Mobile Hotspot. We now have internet on the go 24/7.

We're Off!

Ava and D spending night in the RV

D tooting the airhorn before we leave.

We spent our last night in the RV in front of David and Karin's house. Ava and D spent the night in the RV with us. There was a rain storm during the night and D crawled in bed with us. We didn't mind a bit. He's a snuggler! We had a blast with the kids. Dylan even got to blow the airhorn right before we left. Okay, now I'm gonna get teary cause this family has been "family" to Kirk and I. Saying good-bye to them was probably the hardest of all the things we had to do before we left. Enough of that for now. We'll be flying back at the end of June for their wedding (yay!!)

Last Days of Work

Nacho Libre!!

It doesn't get any better than this!

Laurie escaped the above picture. Notice the rubberband indentation on her forehead!

Kirk finished his job on May 12 and my last day was May 14th. It's been a week and still hard to believe that we've begun a new chapter in our lives. Lily and Chuy have adapted quite nicely. My peeps at NE Methodist gave me a "surprise" potluck last thursday. I have to admit, I worked with the best therapy team in San Antonio, TX. I'm not just saying that because I love them. I'm saying it because it's true. Mady, Lainey, Terri, Merrikay, Erin, Laurie, Karen, Edith, Christina, Chrissi, Melissa, Johnel, and Frank I will never forget you. The rehab nurses and Dr. B. were great. My radiology gang was the best. I can't imagine any radiology dept. topping this one, especially Rosemary, Susan, NINA, David, Johnny, and Dr. Greif.......you too, Torrence. Thank you all for being so patient with me. Oh yeah....how could I forget Vincent and Walter. You all be good to them, they are great!! There are many people that I haven't mentioned, but it's not because I've forgotten. There are just too many of you. NE METHODIST ROCKS!!! Gabriela, I will miss you and our "discussions" . Please keep in touch. Theresa in housekeeping, you and your husband will always be in my prayers. I took some cool pictures and will try to post them on here (I'm still new at this). I already miss ya'll.