Oh, there was this side trip...

Before leaving Alabama, we had been in touch with the Tammany Trace Habitat for Humanity volunteer coordinator about working in Louisiana on some Habitat builds (or re-builds following Hurricane Katrina). As everyone knows, New Orleans was hard hit by Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Well, there are many other communities in that area that also have suffered. We ended up in the Mandeville/Covington, LA area working through an organization called CARE-R-Vanners with the local Habitat for Humanity team on numerous houses in various stages of construction. The "modular site" was the most impressive build since there were 24 houses being finished all in one area. We spent two weeks working for Habitat. We stayed at Fontainebleu State Park in Mandeville which is in the area known as "The Northshore" - across Lake Ponchartrain from New Orleans. This park actually was covered with 23 feet of water when Katrina came across the Lake. Our site was half-price since we were working for Habitat - $8 a night! We trimmed out houses, hung blinds, laid vinyl tile in a laundry room, hung bi-fold doors on closets, laid sod, raked...whatever was needed. It was a labor-intensive two weeks but we were glad to have done something for the "cause". Volunteering is a wonderful way to give back. We took time to attend two very different houses of worship while in Mandeville - Life Church, and First Baptist of Mandeville. Both were full of very kind and welcoming fellow believers. One of the interesting parts of this adventure of full-timing is that as we travel we visit many different churches along the way - all of whom worship our God and His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. We met many people who were from the area and were continuing to volunteer with Habitat for the sake of their community. Some were working on the houses because they themselves were to get a house ("sweat-equity" is required to obtain a Habitat home). Some were working just to give back. It was quite uplifting to work with many of these folks, all of whom had a story as a result of what they had endured through Katrina. We took one day to drive "The Causeway" across the Lake to New Orleans, seeing first hand the devastation that is still quite evident. We rode our bikes up "The Trace", Louisiana's first and only "rails to trails" pathway which starts in Slidell, LA and ends in Covington, LA. We stopped off at the open-air market in Mandeville to partake of pralines and boiled crawfish, shrimp gumbo, Snoballs, and samples of exotic teas. One night, we celebrated Buddy's birthday (belatedly) by going to a seafood buffet...oh, my...so many different dishes. Buddy made quite a dent in the boiled shrimp and crawfish.
This was a wonderful side trip for us. We hope to do more volunteering as we are able. There are all kinds of opportunities waiting.
The Road Runners
Buddy & Elaine
1st Thess. 5:18
PTL!

Rollin' On - Headed west!

One tragedy marred our otherwise quiet time in Florida. My nephew, Todd Ray, died suddenly while on a vacation in Hawaii with his mom and a good friend. His heart gave out while he was snokeling in the Pacific. His mom had to deal with all the necessary paperwork to have his body shipped back to their home in Joliet, Illinois. Once the funeral plans were finalized, we left the RV at the campground there in Florida and drove straight through to Joliet, Illinos for the wake and other services. His dad, Marshall, my brother had passed away in 2005 following a lengthy illness so this was a double blow and loss. Todd was only 26 years old.

April 9th, 2007 found us rolling out of Stagecoach RV Park as we began 2007's latest travel adventure. We stopped off in Thomasville, GA again this year to visit my good friend Sylvia for a few days. We enjoyed catching up, just sitting and talking.
From Thomasville we headed to Blountstown, FL, staying at an out-of-the-way Passport America park near Fountain, FL. The plan was to visit the Pioneer Village at Blountstown but it was not open so we rode down to Panama City Beach, turned right and drove Hwy 98 along the coast all the way to Grayton Beach State Park. We had packed a lunch so we stopped there and enjoyed the view of glistening white sand beaches as we ate. A few days in this scenic part of Florida and it was time to start heading west again.

We are members of Escapees, a organization for people "who enjoy the RV lifestyle" - especially full-timers. There are some wonderful Escapees parks available to members and we wanted to see the one in Summerdale, Alabama so that was our next stop. Rainbow Plantation is a beautiful park off the beaten path in the middle of farm country in Alabama (close to the coast). We rode into Foley, Alabama and enjoyed a meal at Lambert's Cafe, "home of the throwed rolls". What a great place that is to eat! The fun comes when the wait staff actually throws your rolls to you as you sit at your table or booth. This is a tradition of the restaurant and folks come from miles around to experience a truly unique dining opportunity. The wait staff returns to your table over and over to offer you servings of various side dishes common to the South - fried okra, black-eyed peas seasoned with Vidalia onions, tomatoes and macaroni, thin sliced fried potatoes with onions. And the "throwed rolls" - yum! Big, warm yeast rolls with plenty of butter. All this on top of your entree. Boy oh Boy, it was time to leave that place! Too much good food for our own good!

The Road Runners
Buddy & Elaine
1st Thess. 5:18
PTL!

On The Road Again - 2007!!

The adventure continues. We spent the winter at Stagecoach RV Park near St. Augustine, FL which allowed us to catch up/visit with family and friends, take care of doctor visits, vet visits for the dogs, etc..in short all the necessary things you have to do to in this world. Holidays were spent with family celebrating over some delicious meals. In January we took Buddy's mom down to Okeechobee to visit her sister Vera, taking the new motor home out for the first time.

When we got back from our trip in September of 2006 we had no idea we would be trading the 5th wheel and truck for a 2003 Allegro Bay motor home. Just 2 days later, the deal was done.

Then we had to locate and purchase a "toad", a 2003 CR-V Honda. Within a week we were moved in and enjoying the new motor home and driving the little Honda around. It took awhile but we finally had the motor home set up and ready for the trip back out to Colorado.

The Road Runners
Buddy & Elaine
1st Thess. 5:18
PTL!