The Ray Adventures: October 2015

Still heading toward our winter destination, Rockport, Tx, we are now at NASJRB Belle Chasse, La, just across the river from the Big Easy for five nights.  NASJRB is home to the 159th fighter wing, USCG Reserve, Marine Reserve, Army & Navy. The joint base supports the 159th homeland security, homeland defense and search and rescue.

Saturday, Oct. 17 Happy Birthday Talena, it's her 45th birthday today, she was only 8 when I became her "spare" Mom. Sunny and breezy & cooling down. Gary took Luci out for a walk, our neighbor across the street told us a bear was sniffing around our BBQ this morning, we didn't have a clue he/she was out there. I guess I was wise not to take the nature walk. Pretty quiet day, dog park, quilt store and the commissary were the highlights of the day. Watched some football, we couldn't get the Oregon game but they won without our help. Yea!!!

Sunday, Oct. 18 Sunny and breezy again, temps in the 70's, another quiet day. I cleaned house while watching football. Seahawks lost in overtime to the Panthers. Boo!

Monday, Oct. 19 It's cooled down, we had to turn the heat on to take the chill off. Moving day again, we left before 9 for our 246 mile drive to Gulfport, we are staying at Shields, a Seabee base, for four nights. We drove along the Gulf Shore Hwy, but saw mostly pine trees. We left Gulfport nine months ago heading North. We arrived about 3:30, a nice park with large spaces and concrete pad, especially after the dust bowl in Panama City.

Tuesday, Oct. 20. Another quiet day, we took Luci to the dog park before going to Triplett Drug and Soda Counter for Beignets, they were so good last winter we had to give them another try. Yum, Yum, Yum! After recovering from my beignet hangover I drove to the quilt store and also discovered the Outlet Mall, picked up a cute pair of $50. shorts for $12.

Wednesday, Oct. 21 After taking Luci to the dog park we drove down to the University of Southern Mississippi Gulf Coast in Long Beach, less than 10 miles to see the Friendship Oak. A spectacular Live Oak tree, it spreads 120 feet with foliage so thick during a heavy rain it remains dry within a diameter of 70 feet. Believed to be over 500 years old, it has survived many hurricanes including Katrina. Many Live Oaks in the area weren't so lucky but out of disaster came beauty, a wood carver has made over 50 carvings from standing dead oaks along Hwy 90. We headed down the coast to Pass Christian, it's so sad to see the empty waterfront lots with remains of foundations. Many were for sale, I did notice that a number of them had "price reduced" or "new price" on the signs. There are a quite a few beautiful homes close to Pass Christian that were spared Katrina's wrath. It's been 10 years and you still see signs of her devastation. We stopped at "Shaggy"s", for lunch, a cute "dive" on the wharf at P.C.

Thursday, Oct. 22 The highlight of the day was a visit to the Mississippi Model Railroad Museum, several layouts were set-up making conversation difficult because of the noise when all the trains were running.  Later we went to the Outlet Mall, finding a couple pairs of shorts and shirts for Gary.

Friday, Oct. 23 Moving day, we left about 10 for our 97 mile drive to Belle Chasse, La. We drove Hwy 90 along the coast, the white sand beaches run for miles. Just before getting on I-10 we stopped at the John C. Stennis Space Center, a NASA rocket testing facility on the banks of the Pearl River at the border of Mississippi and Louisiana. The location was chosen for the sparse population and the river to ship the Saturn V rocket too for large transportation overland. Five communities were relocated, necessary because of the noise of the rocket testing. 13,500 acres were acquired for the test site in addition 125,000 acres for an acoustical buffer zone, a wildlife refuge now, the animals are safe from hunters but have bad hearing. The Rocket Propulsion Test Site, built in 1965, played an important role in development of the Saturn V rocket, used in the Apollo flights. The 3 test stands are 200 feet tall, made of concrete and steel, are capable of withstanding thrust loads of 1 million pounds and temperatures up to 6,000 degrees F. We got to Belle Chasse NASJB around 2:00, as we drove in, there were about 30 egrets in the ditch along the road, all of which took flight as we passed. We'll be here five nights. The remnants of Hurricane Patricia will hit here Sunday night, we have been warned there might be tornadoes as well as heavy wind and rain.

Saturday, Oct. 24 With the foreboding weather forecast we decided it would be a good day to re-visit New Orleans. We caught the Algier Ferry (for$1.00 ea) across the Mississippi to Canal Street, saving a lot of stress and parking fees. We walked down to the French Quarter, since I was starving lunch was first on our agenda. We ate at New Orleans Seafood and Hamburger Co. sitting on the balcony overlooking Charles St. Gary had the Shrimpzilla PoBoy and I had red beans and rice, both were delish! We took the trolley down as far as we could to Mardi Gras World, where the floats are made for the Mardi Gras festivals. We had to walk past the full length of the convention center, what a hike!   The tour gives you a overview of the history of Mardi Gras, you can try on costumes before going to the float den. The artists work year around crafting the floats with Styrofoam and paper mache.   We did get to see a couple of artists working on next years floats. We were surprised to be so up close and personal with the finished floats from previous years. The size surprised us, some of them were double deckers. Krewes own the carriages, which can cost $80,000 from start to finish, the following years the cost is around 3 to 5 thousand dollars for re- decoration, MGW reuses the props, just changing some props and color. The Mardi Gras Festival, which runs for 2 weeks prior to Fat Tuesday benefits the economy of New Orleans in the millions of dollars. A Krewe is an organization that sponsors a float or ball for the season. Members are assessed fees to pay for the floats, some of the Krewes are exclusive organizations limited to relatives of previous years and others you just need to be able to pay the fee. After looking at the floats and taking pictures we caught the shuttle back to Canal St. where we caught the trolley back to the French Quarter, walking through the French Market, checking out the architecture on the less touristy streets we finished up our day with Happy Hour at Café Pontallsa at Jackson Square before heading back to the ferry. The weather cooperated, it was mostly overcast and breezy with temps in the 70's. Perfect.

That's it for this week, enjoy the pic's.

TTFN

Gary and Pam

Our friendly neighborhood bear

Friendship Oak

Trying on masks at French Market

Gary "smitten" with tall girl at Mardi Gras World

Beautiful masks for sale at French Market

For $25. I can have this Seahawk hat

Example of N O architecture

Musicians at Jackson Square

Margarita to go

Juvenile Blue Heron seemingly not afraid of us

Gary at beach in Gulfport

Engine for 787

Sad Gary, I guess he doesn't want to be an astronaut

Test stand for Saturn V rocket

Another rocket testing stand, metal on bottom help diffuse the heat

The Egrets at Belle Chasse

Heading across Mississippi

Lunch at New Orleans Seafood and Hamburger Co.

Inside trolley

King cake on Mardi Gras World tour

Artist working, attaching paper mache

Floats in storage

The carriage

Float ready for painting

It has been a busy 2 plus weeks plus a little procrastination is why this newest blog is so slow in coming. We are at Tyndall Air Force Base, 12 miles east of Panama City, Florida. Tyndall AFB's mission is to provide combat ready F22A Raptor pilots and personnel. The base opened in 1941 as a gunnery range becoming an air training command in the 50's. It is fun to watch and hear the jets flying low over Fam Camp but sometimes when they fly directly over the coach it scares Luci, not normally afraid of loud noises, making her hide under the table.

Tuesday, Sept. 29, Gary and I agree, Tampa is one of our "favorites", MacDill Fam Camp is also one of our "fav's", located right on Tampa Bay. Outdoor Rec rents everything water, from boats, canoes, kayak's, and paddle boards. We have enjoyed watching manatee's rise to the surface, snort and I assume take a breath before disappearing under the water. I always thought manatee's were just fresh water mammals.

Wednesday, Sept. 30 I had to be up by 3 to get to the airport by 4:30 for my flight to Oregon. The good news was I got to Portland by 11:00. The first leg, to Dallas, was smooth and uneventful, I was able to get an aisle seat, the next leg to Portland I was squeezed between two "big" people, very cozy and warm. I picked up my rental car, grabbed a quick bite before heading to see Georgie, my hairdresser of 17 years. It was so good to see her plus she fixed my lousy haircut. Yea!!!! After picking up our mail, seeing the CPA I went over to Chris's new house, they just got the keys the night before. Much work is needed but the house has good "bones". I'm staying at Charlotte's again, after she got off work we went out for broasted chicken in West Salem then back to Chris's. Got back to Char's house about 9, and just died, I took off my shoes and pants and crawled into bed, it had been about 21 hours since I got up.

Thursday & Friday I had whirlwind days of doctor and dentist appointments, lunch with Sharon, helped Chris by washing down walls with TSP and happy hour with Char at a new whiskey tasting bar in Salem. ( I had red wine)

Saturday, Oct. 3, My date, Linda, picked me up for the drive to Lincoln City for my 50th class reunion. Linda went to grade school through the 7th grade in LC. The picnic was held at the Community Hall in Depoe Bay. It was great seeing everyone again, that is after I read their name tag. I was so embarrassed, I hardly recognized anyone. How did they all get so old?    I nearly froze to death even though it was a beautiful day, my blood was thinned out from the hot Florida weather.
Saturday night the dinner buffet was held at the new high school, catered by the culinary art students. All I can say is, they need to go back to the books, the best part of my dinner was a half baked potato. The old high school had pictures on the walls of previous graduating classes, my brother and sister included. I had wondered if the tradition continued. I was so happy to see they had, I found my siblings and my class easily. After the dinner Linda and I went to Ron's house to spend the night. Ron's Mom and mine were best friends, he was like a brother to me, only 2 months younger we had fun playing together. He remodeled his parents home on Devils Lake beautifully, we felt like queens spending the night there. We talked so late we over slept, missing the reunion breakfast. Oh well.

Sunday, Oct. 4 We had Egg McMuffins before heading back to Salem. We stopped by Chris's for a quick visit to check on their progress, they had ripped off the deck, ripped up carpeting, started to tear up the parquet floors and painted a bedroom since Friday. They have picked out beautiful bamboo flooring that has to acclimate to their house for two weeks before they can start putting it down. My friend Joan is going to have a heart procedure on Monday, she has A Fib, they will stop her heart then restart it, she is very anxious, as would I. After Linda dropped me off I went to visit with her.

Monday, Oct. 5, After a morning doctor appointment I had lunch with my Red Hat quilting group. I sure miss those girls, most of them are very talented quilters, somehow I slipped into the group. Twice a year we go to the coast for Quilt Camp, 5 days of quilting, overeating and maybe a little wine. Later I spent the evening watching the Seahawk game with Carol (girl football chum), I screamed, paced and covered my eyes, finally the Hawks squeezed the win out.

Tuesday, Oct. 6, I talked with Joan, the procedure worked, her heart is back in normal rhythm again. What a relief. I had my last doctor appointment, I passed all my tests. I visited with my old neighbors, Brian and Susan (Seahawk season ticket holders) and Edie, 94, is still as sharp as ever. Gary's sister from Michigan arrived to spend a few days with Gary.

Wednesday, Oct. 7, Now that it's time to head back to Florida I think I've adjusted to Pacific time. I'm taking the red eye back to Tampa, giving me an extra day to see family and friends. Char and I had a bite to eat before I headed to Chris's (to watch her work) and Portland for my 11:55 flight. Gary and Suzanne had a great day at Epcot, she has never been to Disneyworld before. Poor underprivileged girl. Luci went to Epcot too, to daycare. The daycare opens an hour before the park and stays open for an hour after. From the sounds of it I'm not too sure who was the most tired, Gary, Suzanne or Luci.

Thursday, Oct. 8, I landed in Tampa about 11, my bag however liked it in Dallas, it stayed there. It was great to see Suzanne again. Luci gave me the cold shoulder, how dare I leave her plus she likes Suzanne best! We walked around the park, she had never seen a manatee, they were back in the boat basin. Suzanne rented a fishing pole from Outdoor Rec, she caught a ray of some kind. She didn't want to be like Steve Irwin so was very careful removing the hook. Manatees are a marine mammal, also known as a sea cow because they graze on grass underwater, they can grow to 13 feet long and weigh up to 1,300 pounds. And they are "cute".

Friday, Oct. 9 Gary, Suzanne and I rented paddle boards in the morning before it got too hot, I have done it once before but G & S hadn't. I was the only one who fell in, all that was hurt was my ego. We paddled around the beach area when a manatee swam under Suzanne and surfaced a few feet in front of her. WOW! Later she went fishing again, this time only catching small perch.

Saturday, Oct. 10, Suzanne went fishing first thing, again, only small perch. She really enjoyed standing on a rock casting into the Gulf. She's going home today with a nice sunburn to show her friends. We took her to the airport after lunch for a 3pm flight. We decided to check out Raymond James Stadium, home of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, which is close to the airport. Bad idea, a University of South Florida football game was scheduled to start at 3:30, we beat it out of there before we got caught in game day traffic (again). We made our way downtown to the Riverwalk along the Hillsborough River. An Octoberfest celebration was a big draw, we skipped the party choosing to take the walk. So beautiful, not as extensive as San Antonio but more beautiful. Time for dinner, we wanted a restaurant on the water, after reading the restaurant reviews we chose Whiskey Joe's, the reviews were right, the food was good but the service was lousy. The view was nice, we watched jet skiers scoot about the bay, we could see MacDill in the distance.

Sunday, Oct. 11, We were supposed to leave today, we were able to extend for 3 more nights then they will kick us out. It is so nice here, today we spotted two bald eagles circling over Fam Camp and most of the time we spot Spoonbills and Egrets in the ditch along side the road. Today is International Earth Cache day, we almost forgot, about 6 we went downtown to Rivergate Tower, a 31 story cylindrical tower made from French and Texas limestone, the shape is round to symbolize optimism. Locals call it the limestone beer can. Earth caches have several questions listed in the description, after finding and answering the question you e-mail the cache owner with the answers to get credit for the "find". The Riverwalk is beautiful at night too, Luci was with us as we walked along the water, lights on the canopies change colors as well as buildings on the other side.

Monday, Oct. 12, We said good-bye to our neighbor Keith, a Lt. Commander in the Navy Reserve, from Spokane, he owns a watersport rental company in St. Petersburg. He's heading home to his wife and girls. What a nice guy, he took Gary fishing while I was in Oregon. We took Luci to Picnik Park dog beach, she had the greatest time, our goal of wearing her out was accomplished. A couple of days ago our BBQ's igniter rod went out, Gary had Googled Traeger dealers in the Tampa area finding one in a mall. No luck, out of business. We happened upon an outdoor kitchen store that had a sign "We now sell Traeger's"   We could not believe our luck, they had on in stock. We would have starved to death I cook most of our dinners on the BBQ.

Tuesday, Oct. 13, The main reason we came to Tampa was to see the Raymond James Stadium on our quest of visiting all the NFL stadiums, this made 25 out of 31. There are only 31 because the New York Giants and Jets share Met Life Stadium. Our 2:30 tour, led by Jason, was one of the better tours. We saw all the usual places, the feature that makes this one special is the pirate ship and "town" at one of the end zones. Walt Disney Imagineers built the Caribbean style façade concessions. How fun! I would hate to be seated right in front of the ship when they shoot the cannons. After the tour we drove to Madera Beach to Smuggler's Cove for mini golf. At the first hole is a group of baby alligators, most of them seemed pretty grown up to us. My game was "off" Gary beat me by 5 strokes. Gary put away our outside things in preparation for our departure Wednesday.

Wednesday, Oct. 14, We really hate to leave here but we must, we have reservations in Rockport, Texas starting Nov. 2 for the winter. We left about 10 for the 145 mile drive to Rocky's RV park just outside of Perry, in the middle of nowhere it seemed like a good spot to stop. What a nice little park for an overnighter. Beats Wal-Mart except for the $30.00

Thursday, Oct. 15, We fueled up at the station adjacent to the park, $2.48 a gallon for diesel, that seemed comparable to the prices we'd seen on the way in, however, about 20 miles down the road we spotted a station that had it for 20 cents less a gallon. Bummer! We arrived at Tyndall AFB, another 145 miles, a little before 1pm.  The nightly rate here is $25.00 more expensive than most but still a bargain. On the Fam Camp door was a sign warning about bears in the area and what to do if you encounter one and not to leave food or garbage outside or leave your dog unattended. Our space is located right next to the start of the nature trail, after dinner Gary wanted to walk Luci down the trail, I didn't think it was a good idea so we just walked around the park. We'd like to go to the beach but right now there is a "red tide" which happens when naturally occurring algae bloom out of control producing deadly toxins to fish and other marine life, can also cause respiratory distress in humans. Fish by the thousands wash up on the beaches.

Friday, Oct. 16, We left for the Panama City Beach area for some lunch at Fishale House, a brew pub, yum, the water was delicious, Gary tried a local "brown" he enjoyed along with a spicy tuna roll. Off to min-golf for my redemption, no such luck, my game was really off, Gary beat me by 8 strokes! When we turned in our clubs the lady told us we could play another 18 holes for $5.00. I still had visions of beating him. I did by 4.

That's it for this week(s), enjoy the pic's.

TTFN

Gary and Pam