New Orleans, Louisiana

When we arrived at our campground in New Orleans, we hit the ground running! We didn't waste any time and scurried off to find the French Quarter. The office personnel gave us wonderful directions to the downtown area and it led us along the levee and through the Garden District on St. Charles Ave. We drove past beautiful vintage homes and mansions. Once in the French Quarter we took in the sights and sounds of New Orleans. It was a Saturday evening and the town was busy. The city sits right on the Mississippi River.

We had a wonderful meal at the "Gumbo Shop"! Everything was so melt-in-your-mouth delicious; such new & different tastes we haven't had before! We tried the Gumbo(of course), Jambalaya and the Crawfish Etouffee -yum! Then we walked up and down Bourbon Street with it's famous balconies over looking the pubs below. ~ People were having a good time - if you know what I mean! We were there a bit early; 8:00ish. I could only imagine what the scene would be like later.

Our welcome to "America's Wetland" ~ and indeed it is a soggy state!

The levee runs along the Mississippi River and has a bike path along the top
of it. We took a walk along it while Nicolas rode his bike.

Sunset along the Mississippi River

Nick & Vasili downtown at the French Quarter

Famous Bourbon Street ~ they close it to traffic on Saturday nights

We took the Street Car along St. Charles Ave. into the French Quarter/
It was fun to ride along.

Here comes the Street Car! They're the original cars from the 1920s!

Real Time Update

Hi everybody!
We are in New Orleans, Louisiana right now! I thought I would bring you "up to speed" on our where abouts. From the onset of this trip, it's been nearly impossible to keep the blog posts exactly current. We have been plagued with various computer difficulties. Add to that, the "spotty" wifi connections at the various RV parks and you can see it's been a challenge!

Also, uploading photos can be time consuming and depending on our internet connections, sometimes impossible. For instance, while in NY, we didn't have any wifi and we were there for 5 nights.

So, since we are so far behind in our posts, I am going to jump to the present and add the posts for Philadelphia and Washingtion DC later.

This time last week, we were in Virginia. We spent two days in the Jamestown/Williamsburg area. Then we drove an hour and spent two days in the Virginia Beach/Norfolk area. While there, we were watching closely the weather updates on Hurricane Ida in the Gulf Coast/Pensacola region because we were wanting to head that way. As we traveled to Charlotte, North Carolina after Virginia, the blue skies turned gray and the rain began. We received one day & night of incredible rain and then "traded places" with the storm. As we continued to head south, the storm continued heading north. And by the time we reached Atlanta, Georgia it was over.

We spent one quick night outside Atlanta, Georgia and then moved on to spend two nights in Pensacola, Florida in a RV park right on the water. Yesterday we arrived here at New Orleans and tomorrow we will drive all day to San Antonio, Texas.

So there, we are up to date! ~ Lord willing, we will have good internet connections from here on out. ~ Thanks for following along with us!

Florida ~ Part 2

We spent the day touring the Naval Air Museum at NAS Pensacola ~ home of the Blue Angels!
This was a sort of home-coming for me. Having a father who was a Navy pilot, Naval Air Stations are a part of my heritage and growing up experience! This one especially, since I had lived on this base for several years and my Dad was a Blue Angel during that time. And as the Lord would have it, we just so happened to be visiting during the weekend that the Blue Angels were having their airshow! ~ very cool!

We had a great time poking around the Naval Air Museum and then finally ending up on the beach in Pensacola. It was so beautiful!

Water tower on base

The Naval Aviation Museum on base at NAS Pensacola is probably
THE BEST one on this planet!! ~ It just so happened that the day we went, the
Air Station was hosting their annual air show!

They had 3 different cockpits of an A-4, F-11 and and F-4 that you could actually get in!

Nick the Flying Ace!

They had these 4 Blue Angels hanging in formation from the ceiling!

There were airplanes everywhere!

! This was Nick's favorite! I think it's a F-18

After the air museum we headed over to Gulf Breeze and Pensacola Beach

Doesn't the name "Gulf Breeze" just sound delicous?!

Isn't this cool; they painted the water tower to look like a giant beach ball!

The sand in Pensacola is so white it looks like snow!

Nick looking for sea shells ~
The water was warm!

The sand dunes were amazing
Nicolas running from the camera - ha, I caught you!

We had a nice time at the beach!

Beautiful!

Penasola, Florida

The parade of colors followed us down along the East Coast. Where the leaves and colors were beginning to fall and fade in the New England states, it was still in full force in the more Southern states, even through much of Georgia. However, the minute we crossed into Alabama the change was evident. We had exchanged the beautiful dense wooded roadsides for more open spaces and trees with Spanish Moss hanging down. And once we entered Florida we were decidedly in a different part of the country for sure with palm and banana trees and much warmer temperatures!

This was a homecoming for me of sorts. I was born in Milton, Florida and had lived several years in Pensacola, Florida. We were able to drive to Milton and even found my old Elementary school just off the base in Pensacola. ~ Sunshine, warm temperatures, sand between my toes and gentle breezes blowing are in my blood!

Northern Florida is close to the borders of Alabama and Georgia and has a real "southern" accent reflected in the culture and food found here! We had a wonderful meal of fried Mullet and boiled Red Shrimp served with of course, a side of hush puppies, all washed down with delicious Sweet Tea!

We crossed through all these states in 2 days!

Georgia still had a East Coast feel, but also had cotton fields in places.

We saw trees with Spanish Moss hanging down along the highway!

Florida is my home state!

Our RV park was right on the water.

Northern Florida's waterways have a swampy look and feel to them.

Nicolas was enjoying the thrill of riding his bike on the narrow dock
while being careful not to end up in the water! ~

"See Mom, piece of cake! What are you so worried about?!"

This was the school I attended while in the 1st - 3rd grades!

I was born in Milton, Florida! My father was stationed at Whitening Field NAS.
We didn't live here long. I don't even know the address, or even if the house is
still there. But I just wanted to go and look around a bit and get a picture with the sign
saying "Milton".

Charlotte, North Carolina

We headed to Charlotte, NC next after visit with Caleb & Kristin in Virginia. We were able to see our good friends Danny & Annette Mastrogianni and their son Jesse. ~ We also made a trip to The Billy Graham Library while in Charlotte. It is a wonderful tribute to him and heralds the work he has done through out the years. ~ His dear wife Ruth is buried there and he will join her there when the Lord calls him home. He just celebrated his 91st birthday Nov. 7th!

Our welcome sign to North Carolina

We saw cotton fields along the Highway while leaving Virginia.

The cotton fields were so cool! It looked like snow from a distance!

Sonny the bird seemed to really like Vasili!

Sonny was such a funny bird! He was really active and friendly!

These are our good friends, Danny & Annette
We met them while we lived in New York.
They moved to North Carolina a little over 3 yrs ago.

My friend Annette and me!

Nick and Jesse

We went to the Billy Graham Library in Charlotte, NC.

The Billy Graham Library is in the shape of a barn, because he grew up on a farm.
Can you see the large cross window on the side of the barn? ~ It's
there so that everyone has to enter through the door at the "foot of the cross"!

This is the actual house that Billy grew up in! His father built it himself!
We were told that it has been relocated and moved - brick by brick - twice!
We were able to go inside and look around!

"Bessie" the cow greets you as you begin your tour of the Library.

Billy preached the Good News of Salvation through Jesus to the nations of the world!

Jesus says, "I AM the Way the Truth and the Life.
No man comes to the Father, except through me!" ~ John 14:6

Virginia Beach, Virginia

After visiting Jamestown and Williamsburg, Virginia, we drove an hour to Virginia Beach and stayed for 2 nights. We were able to visit with Jennifer's nephew Caleb and his wife Kristin and their beautiful little girl Camilla. Caleb and Kristin are both in the Navy and are stationed at Norfolk, VA. ~ We had a wonderful time hanging out with them and meeting their puppy, McKenzie! Camilla had just turned 1 in October and had just begun to walk. ~ Nicolas had so much fun playing with her and the puppy!!

Caleb and Kristin

Uncle Vasili with Cami

Nick having a blast playing with McKenzie!

We took a walk along the boardwalk of Virginia Beach. ~ 4 days later this beach was getting pounded by the storm from Hurricane Ida!

A beautiful day at Virginia Beach

Here's Nicolas along the beach.

Vasili & Nicolas in front of King Neptune!

Caleb, Kristin and Camilla came over to have a BBQ with us at the RV park. Nick had a good time with Cami!