The Ray Adventures: Bremen, Ga, Huntsville, Al., Tupelo, Ms, Natchez, Ms., Gulfport, Ms, Duson, La.,Galveston, Tx., Rockport, Tx 10-14

Sometimes it tends to be a "crap shoot" when picking RV parks, reading the reviews are a must. When we were desperately looking for a place to stay in Chattanooga I found a RV park that had an opening but they didn't have sewer, while mulling the decision I checked reviews. Good thing! The review was, and I quote ,"it's a good place to stay because you don't have to go outside the park to buy drugs" So we stayed at Cabela's.

Monday, Oct. 14, Gary woke in the middle of the night to discover we had lost power, he went outside (with a flashlight) to check the plug- in but still no power. In the morning after a call to Fleetwood the diagnosis was the inverter was toast. We had to miss our tour of Mercedes Benz Stadium in Atlanta to high tail it to Huntsville, Al. We spent the night at Redstone Arsenal waiting for our noon appointment the next day. (We didn't open the freezer or frig unless absolutely necessary)

Tuesday, Oct. 15, God bless Bankston RV, they "squeezed" us in, they were able to get the inverter in one day. We decided to have lunch at "Below the Radar "in downtown Huntsville. Gary checked the parking meter to see how much change we needed, about the same time a local couple pulled in behind us. We all got to chatting as we crossed the street. We decided to share a table, Elbert and Kim are both retired Army. How fun, if our inverter hadn't died we'd never had the good fortune to meet them. We spent the night in the RV lot, in the morning they finished the repair, we were on the road by noon. On our way to Tupelo, Ms. (160 miles), we got there before 5. Hooray we have power and I didn't have to throw out too much food.

Wednesday, Oct. 16, We took Luci to Doggie Day so she could get some exercise while we saw the sights of Tupelo. When in Tupelo you must visit the Elvis Presley Birthplace and Museum complex. In 1934 Vernon Presley built the 2 room house where Elvis and his twin were born (twin was stillborn) The museum compound is small (compared to Graceland), the artifacts consist mostly from the personal collection of Janelle McCoomb, a long time family friend, photo murals and audiovisuals. The church he attended and sang at was relocated to the museum property. A 20 minute film presentation of the God Pentecastal Service that inspired Elvis love of Gospel. On the birthplace complex are statues of Elvis at 9, on an overlook the statue is of Elvis at 13 behind him Elvis the entertainer. In front of the museum is a 1939 Plymouth like the one the Presleys used to move to Memphis when Elvis was 13.

Thursday, Oct. 17, Happy birthday Talena. The Natchez Trace Parkway is a historical forest trail that extends from Natchez to Nashville for 444 miles. It was created by indians then later explorers, traders and emigrants. Today, a National Park, with a 50 mph speed limit with restrictions against commercial hauling, It is a beautiful, relaxing scenic drive with pull-outs (large enough for RV's)showcasing historical events, trail heads, picnic areas and overlooks and NO billboards. Easy on the eyes. We got to the Plantation RV Park in Natchez about 3:30, 260 miles.

Friday, Oct. 18, - 20, This was our second trip to Natchez, city on the bluff, this time to see the Natchez Balloon Festival. It was held on the Rosalie Plantion grounds right on the bluff overlooking the Mississippi. The "glow" consisted of about 10 balloons at sunset followed by the fireworks set off from a barge in the Mississippi River. It was truly a Chamber of Commerce weekend, the weather was perfect but for some reason they only flew on Saturday morning - which we missed. Sunday we got up early to watch "lift off" but due to "conditions" the flying was canceled. Some of the pilots and crew stuck around, inflating the balloons for the crowd. Slightly disappointing. Saturday afternoon we walked along the bluff, discovering an open house for a historic home built in 1894. For a minimum bid of $450,000 it could be yours. What a view, worth every penny! One afternoon we drove north to Vicksburg National Military Park, it preserves the site of American Civil War battle from 3/29 to 4/4 1863. a 47 day siege that ended with the surrender of the city by the south.

Monday, October 21, We left early to outrun a storm headed up the Mississippi Valley, it did rain most of the way but we dodged the nasty thunderstorms. We got to Gulfport about 1:00 (222 miles)
About 4, the Gulfport, Biloxi area got about 2 inches of rain in a couple of hours.

Tuesday, Oct. 22. Okay, the real reason we came back to Gulfport is the Beingets at the Triple H-Day Drug Co, inside is a 50's style old fashioned soda fountain. They serve Beingets from 8-11 , they also serve breakfast and lunch. Tip of the day: Do not inhale while taking bites, you'll choke on the powdered sugar. Yum! After we took a 10 mile bike ride along the beach. Lunch was at Shaggy's in Pass Christian, about 8 miles south, It sits on a Pier beside a marina. Yum again!

Wednesday, Oct. 23rd Another 10 mile bike ride, this time along the Biloxi beach. The beautiful white sand beaches run from Bay St. Louis through Biloxi, 30 plus miles.

Thursday, Oct. 24th A rainy day that turned severe with tornado warnings - that touched down in nearby Alabama. We spent most of the day hunkered down.

Friday, Oct. 25th We were going to leave today but the weather is still bad with strong winds.

Saturday, Oct. 26th Up and out early again to avoid Tropical Cyclone Olga, we stayed in Dusom, La, 214 miles, just west of Lafayette. It was very windy the first part of the drive but the rain held off. We spent 2 nights at the Frog City RV park, great park, they give fresh home baked cookies to new arrivals. We watched the Oregon/Washington game. Oregon won! Sunday the Seahawks won! Yes!! A good weekend for the home teams.

Monday, Oct. 26 Off to Galvaston. Near the Texas, Louisiana border we stopped at NASA Stennis Space Center, we've been there before, just wanted to see if anything was new. Not really but a good place to take a break. Thanks to me we took a 70 mile trip on the wrong road, we were heading to Pt. Bolivar, Tx ferry to Galvaston, at 8 miles per gallon it was a costly mistake.

Tuesday through Thursday we stayed at Sandpiper RV Park, right on the beach in Galvaston. The weather was "iffy" most of the time but we were able to walk the beach several times. Thursday afternoon we had the RV washed by a local couple who detail RV's in the park. What a luxury. Of course we played mini golf, Gary has been winning much too often lately.

Halloween, 200 miles to Rockport, we arrived by 3. That night was a costume party, we went as weary travelers. Good to be back with our friends again,

Our international trip to Texas was good, we saw many new things, revisited favorite places and had our share of challenges. The water pump, getting stuck, no place to stay in Tennessee, the windshield cracking (we used packing tape to keep it from cracking, we look like the Klampet's) and the inverter going out, but such is the life of a RVer. We traveled to 15 states and 3 provinces. Salem to Rockport 5,642 miles September 4 - October 31.

That's it until we hit the road in April. Enjoy the pic's,

TTFN,

Gary and Pam