On our way to Boynton Beach 2015

We were excited to be going to Florida for my next assignment.  We were a little worried though, as we could only find an RV park to stay in till November 24th and my assignment was supposed to last till January 8th.  However, we were hoping that after arriving in Boynton Beach, we would be able to look around and find something, somewhere near my work.  More on this later in the blog.  Kirk and I arrived in Destin, Florida on 10/4 and stayed at a very nice, small, privately owned Geronimo RV Park in Miramar Beach, FL.  We were only a few blocks from the gulf, but really had to drive to find a place on the beach that wasn't private.  Beautiful, white sand beaches and very relaxing.  We stayed for two nights.  While there, we had to drive to Pensacola on 10/5 to have my fingerprinting done before I could start my assignment.  Kirk was starting to get a sore throat, so I worked on orientation modules online that also had to be completed before I started work.  Why I wasn't getting suspicious of this company by now is beyond me.  More about them later.    On 10/6 we left Miramar Beach and headed to St Augustine to Ocean Grove RV park for two nights.  This was an okay place with partial gravel pads.  It was just across the street from the ocean, so that was a plus, and the lady in the office was very nice.  We ate supper at Salt Life food shack on the ocean side.  Good food.   The next day (10/7) we visited  The World Golf Hall of Fame in St Augustine.  We had driven by this place many times when in Florida, however, just never had the time to go.  This was much more than we expected.  We bought the year membership which we'll never use, but, they gave us a package that included 2 tickets to a senior golf event, gift bag, extra challenge balls for the Challenge golf which is hitting the ball off the tee 140 yards over the water and getting as close to the hole as possible.  Now, you wouldn't think 140 yards would be too tough.  OMG!  I couldn't get over the water and gave up.  I gave my extra balls to Kirk, and he only got a few over the water and on the green.  Not sure why this was so difficult, but, I now understand why they call it a challenge.  We also received passes for their 18 hole par 2 putt course which was a lot of fun.  After our trip there, we drove over to Flagler Beach and ate a late lunch overlooking the ocean.

 Miramar Beach....So nice

 Only in low 70's, but great for sitting and relaxing

 More of the beach

 Probably as close to St Andrews as Kirk will ever get

 More of the World Golf Hall of Fame

 View of the Challenge Hole.  Tee box on left.  Green across the water on right.

 Taken from inside the WGHOF.  Though it was cool

 The dreaded, unforgiving Challenge hole

 Gotta get a selfie :)

 Very nice and fun par 2 putt course

 Outside the WGHOF

Our view eating lunch at Flagler Beach

Finally, New Orleans 2015

We left Texas on 9/30 and headed east.  Since we had some extra time before my job would start, we decided to try to get to New Orleans, again!  In the past 5 years we had attempted to visit New Orleans, however, something always prevented us from getting there.  The first time, our coach had a run in with a cement block, so we had to forgo NO and head to Red Bay, AL for repairs.  Our second try occurred when we were leaving Florida, and had to head north to stay away from a killer tornado. We were able to stay ahead of that one, but sadly many people weren't and died.

Our first stop out of Texas on 9/30 was Cushauta Casino RV Park (also known as Red Shoes RV park) in Kinder, LA.  It was only $20/night, and has nice long, paved pads.  They provide a shuttle to/from the casino.  We did go to the casino, ate supper, and did NOT win any money.  There goes $20.    The next morning, 10/1 we drove to Slidell, LA.  We had reservations to stay at the Pine Crest Campground for 3 nights.  This is a 30 minute drive into New Orleans, but we were told that we shouldn't stay in the RV parks in the city.  We usually do what we're told :)  This was a nice park.  The sites were kinda tight, but the people there were extremely friendly and helpful.

On 10/2 we decided to do the Plantation tour first.  There are many plantations, so it was difficult to choose which one to tour.  We drove by several, and decided to tour the Laura Plantation. The San Francisco Plantation (surrounded by oil refineries), The Oak Alley plantation (which is beautiful, but ran out of time), and Houma's House Plantation were ones we had driven by.  Time allowed us to take only one tour.  The Laura plantation is a french creole plantation.  This place has been restored and the history is amazing.  Although, one of the smaller plantations, the history of the family, slaves, and life on the plantation is remarkable.  I highly recommend taking this tour.  After the tour we drove to downtown New Orleans.  On our drive there we saw the "above ground" cemetery, and the Super Dome.  We ate at the Napolean House.  This is a neat little historic place with decent food.  Our seating was an open wall concept with access to the street and passersby.  Had our first Boudin. Not bad.

 Laura Plantation.  Great guide.

 Banana trees on the plantation, and Kirk

 This was Laura's retirement home on the plantation

View of slave housing from deck of the plantation home

Napolean House.  Open wall concept to street.  We love to people watch.

 First time seeing this type of cemetery

 The new Mercedes Benz Super Dome

 The Food Tour stopped to entertain us while we were eating at Napolean House

Street view from our table at Naplean House

On 10/3 we returned to New Orleans.  My brother, Rudy had recommended that we have the beneigts at Cafe de Mundo.  We also had the cafe au lait, which is a must with the beneigts.  We stood in a  very long line, as this is "the place to go", but it went fast, and the people in line were interesting to talk to.  The beineigts were great.   Next, was Jackson Square (everything is walking distance).  Never a dull moment on the streets.  So much to see, so much happening on the streets.  Later in the day we had Charbroiled/grilled oysters at Dragos in the Hilton.  I normally HATE oysters, but these were wonderful, and I want more.  We walked Bourbon Street and saw many interesting sights, took the trolly car just because (and to give our feet a rest), and stopped at Pat O'Brians where Kirk made me drink the original Hurricane.  They even package the Hurrican glass and place it in a bag for you to take home.  Yay, I have a souvenir.  Kirk and I are so glad that we finally made it to New Orleans.  The weather was perfect and we had an awesome time.  We love New Orleans!

 Lake Pontchartrain Causeway (Bascule bridge in Louisiana)

 Jackson Square

 A must go to in New Orleans

 Digging in to our first beignets and cafe au lait

 More of Jackson Square beautiful architecture

 Street artists on Jackson Square

 Some great jazz going on

 I always think of this person when I think of Jackson Square.  Isn't she cute!

 They just set up and play in the middle of Bourbon Street

 A real live guy "frozen" in the middle of Boubon Street.  The dog is fake

 YES, and so much fun!

 I thought this was an interesting sculpture 

 The original Hurricane.  They let you keep the glass.

Love, love, love these oysters.  A first for me.

Texas 2015

Kirk and I left Albia on 9/17 and headed to Texas.  We had made several Dr and Dentist appointments and had 4 days to get there.   Our first night out, we stayed over at Cedar Valley RV Park.  The park is a Passport America Park which is wonderful, because if you are a PA member the rates are 1/2 off.  We drove into town (Guthrie) and ate at a unique BBQ place called Stables.  Good eats!  The next day, 9/18 we arrived at Paradise RV Park in Argyle, TX just down the road from Rudy and Bev's place in Denton.  We stayed at the park one night, and then spent two additional nights in the RV in front of Rudy and Bev's home, which was much more convenient.  While at their place, we kept busy touring their retirement/golf community, shopping at Costco (of course), attending their grandson, Henry's T-ball game (and also seeing Dustin, Courtney, and Owen), ate supper at Christina's Mexican Restaurant (where we received a complimentary shot of coffee liqueur at the end of the meal), golfed at the golf course they live on, had a cookout at their home with Dustin's family attending.  Whew!   We really love and miss my brother and his wife!  They are awesome hosts.

 Little Henry's T-ball game (he just happens to be an awesome treasure hunter also)

Dustin, Courtney, Owen, and Henry

Early 9/21, we left Rudy and Bev's and headed to San Antonio, TX.   We arrived at Greentree Village RV Park that day, got settled in, and drove over to the old neighborhood.    After talking to several of the neighbors, we made dinner plans with Dave and Karin, Ava and Dylan, and Dave's mom, Doreen at Aw Dangs in Schertz.  We had a wonderful feast!  These people are our SA family, and even though we don't keep in touch like we would like to, we are always able to pick up where we left off.  

The rest of week we also visited and had dinner with Jan and Bill, our other awesome neighbors.  Kirk also golfed with Bill at the Bandit in New Braufels where Bill works and had a great time.  On Friday night (9/25) we met the Vollbrects for supper at our favorite Mexican restaurant, Chuys, along with some friends of theirs, and Karin's mom and dad, Frank and Peggy.  We had a great time and  "several" margarita's.  

 Aw Dangs give awesome kid treats.  Owner, Dylan, and Ava

 Chuys!  Kirk, Frank, Dylan, Dave, me, Peggy, Ava, and Karin

 After the margaritas!  Outside of Chuys

 Kirk photo bombing sweet picture of Bill and Jan.  Love these two!

Saying goodbye to the Vollbrecht Family! :(

On 9/22 Kirk had his first of several Dr appointments at the dermatologist.  He had several spots nitro'd, and several biopsies done.  Later finding that most were basal cell cancers (follow up would be in Florida).  I had my "yearly" appointment with the gyno that afternoon and everything was great.  Two down, more to go.   The next day 9/23, we both had dentist appointments, and later that afternoon, Kirk saw his Pulmonologist.  We were a little more worried with this appointment as Kirk hadn't been feeling well lately and we were thinking it might be related to his Sarcoidosis.  Dr Syed ordered a pulmonary function test and chest x-ray to be done the next day.  All the results came back negative.  What a blessing!  

The evening of 9/23 we decided it was time to relax, and drove down to the RiverWalk.  One of our favorite places in SA.  We ate at Bourbon Street restaurant and took the taxi boat ride on the RiverWalk.  We had a great time.    The next day I stopped at my old workplace, Northeast Methodist Hospital, to visit with some of my old peeps.  Always great to see them all.  

 Kirk's in Heaven, Bourbon Street Gumbo

 Pic of newer part of RiverWalk taken from Bourbon St restaurant

 RiverWalk from the boat taxi

 Seeing Tower of the Americas from the RiverWalk

 Cool pic from the boat taxi

More of the RiverWalk, just a beautiful place.

On 9/27, Kirk and I took a ride to Wimberly, TX.  Earlier this summer, Wimberly experienced a devastating flood from record breaking rains.  Houses were destroyed, and several people were killed.  Even after a few months, the damage is still unbelievable.  We watched the Super Moon/lunar eclipse/blood moon this night.  Won't appear again till 2033.

 This wasn't even the worst of it.  Floods slanted the trees.

 Click on picture and see the damage close up :(

 More flood damage

This guy was roaming freely around near the road.  Time to call the farmer

Of course, the camera never does it justice...Lunar eclipse/super-blood moon

After staying at the Greentree RV park for a week, we decided to move to Hill Country RV Resort in New Braufels on 9/28.  This was a much nicer park and a lower rate as they accepted Passport America.  I also found out that my next assignment would be in Boynton Beach, FL and would start on 10/13.  So, we had more time to spend in TX, and also to take a few short trips on our way to FL  On 9/29, we said our good-bys to our neighbors/friends, and got our flu shots (work requirement) which I will opt out of from now on.  I forgot to mention, that we also visited with Larry and Carmen.  When we lived in the neighborhood, I could always count on Carmen to make me laugh.  I'm thinking if we ever decide to settle down and live in a stick home again, our old neighborhood may be in the top contention.