March 9 - Oak Ridge COE, Benton TX

Weather as we are leaving the Gulf is colder (50 degrees) and windy. 

Will try to catch some of the consolation wrestlebacks later today and watch the finals tonight when we arrive at our campground. 

Arrived at Live Oak Ridge Core of Emgimeers Campground. Set up the StarLink in among the trees hoping there was enough open space to catch some satellite beams 😁. 

Watched the 3rd and 5th place and finals of the BigTens. Great wrestling with competition for Penn State. They won the championship handily with  Nebraska 2nd. Notice I was having an 814 Cider while watching. 

Was able to take a walk around the campground before it got too dark. Really nice campground. We enjoy staying in Core of Engineer campgrounds because they are clean, have hookups and with our America the Beautiful Senior Pass, cost is half … $12/night. 

Monday night we’ll stay in another Core of Engineers Campground in Coleman, TX. 

March 6-7-8 - Along the Gulf at Freeport

After a long day of driving along Southern Texas, we found our campground for the next 3 nights, San Luis Pass Campground. It’s on the Gulf, breezy but warm. We wanted an electric spot so we could watch the EIWA and Big Ten Wrestling Championships. 

We passed rice fields driving along the cost, as well as Crawdads fields. Very flat and wet. 

Once we got set up at the campground, Bill searched the TV for FloWrestling. Realized that we needed a Roku stick so off we drove to Freeport to find a Best Buy. Finally got the Roku set up and FloWrestling downloaded so we could have a day of wrestling. 

In between sessions, we took a walk along the beach area. Found a blue crab out of his element so Bill helped him back to water. 

Sea gulls and egrets love the lagoon that runs buy the campground. 

A nice sunset for our first night here. 

Woke up Saturday to a foggy day on the coast. 

In between wrestling sessions, we were able to take about a 3.5 mile walk on the beach. Even Banjo wet along, which is rare. 

Several cranes came to catch their dinner. 

We were amazed at how close these houses are to the Gulf. Looks like they tried to put concrete around as a barrier but the same is seeping away.  Wow. Wonder how much longer that house will be there. 

Wildflowers beginning to bloom

A pelican out our front door when we got back. 

Continued watching the BigTens. Penn State’s Luke Lilidahl led off the evening with a win over Ramos. Then PSU lost a couple in the lighter weights, Beau Bartlett and Shane Van Ness. Another surprising loss to me was Josh Barr. Definitely some excellent competition for PSU. We’ll see what happens tomorrow. 

Tomorrow we leave the Gulf and head north. 

Marc 5 - Creole, LA - Rutherford Beach

Last light we had winds, thunderstorms and lots of rain. Luckily, no tornadoes touched down near us., although there were some northwest of us. 

When we woke up, lots of puddles around us but there was bright blue skies and sun was shining brightly. 

We plan to stay in Creole, Louisiana at Rutherford Beach. 

Along Route I-10, we crossed over the Atchafalaya Basin. Cypress trees shot out of the water.

We stopped at the Atchafalaya Welcome Center to learn more about the swamp. It’s the largest swamp or basin in the US. 

We saw these crawdads beds as we were driving to the Gulf of Mexico 

Once we got to our destination, Rutherford Beach dispersed camping near Creole, PA, this is our view. 

Sunset was pretty and could see it right out or RV. 

March 4 - Cosy Rosy and the Shed - Mississippi

Decided to drive south to Pascagoula, Mississippi to stay at Cosy Rosy’s and have the Shed BBQ. We had stopped here in January when Drew and Erin visited us at Gulf Shores. Best BBQ then and now, plus some Mississippi Delta culture. 

Walking around the campground we saw this sign. Looked for alligators but didn’t see any. 

Dinner time was a combo of ribs and brisket. Yummy and enough for another meal. 

When we were at Terry and Sandy’s, the weather person talked about storms coming across the south. Luckily we made it here before the winds got too strong. Winds are supposed to diminish late tonight. Hopefully we can be on our way to Creole, Louisiana tomorrow. 

March 3 - Oak Mountain State Park-Pelham AL

When we drove to Gulf Shores in January , we stayed at Oak Mountain State Park. Since we liked it, we decided to stay there again. Lots more campers than when we were here before  

We hiked the Light Trail again for about 2 miles. We had blue skies and temps in the 60s so we put away our coats hoping we wouldn’t need them for awhile. We had a view of their lake. 

We watched the weather to learn more about the storms coming across the south. We decided to try to get an early start tomorrow to our next destination, Ocean Springs. We plan to stay at a Harvest Host, Cosy Rosy’s which is next door to the Shed, the best BBQ we’ve ever had. 

March 1 -2 - Countermine’s Campground

Last night’s stay at Loves Truckstop Campground wasn’t as noisy as we anticipated. It’s newly constructed with 8 camping spots with full hookup. We would stay here again since Draper Mercantile isn’t an option anymore. 

On the road early. As we were close to Bristol Tennessee, an eagle flew very close to our RV. Thank heaven it changed direction quickly so we didn’t hit it!

Arrived at Terry and Sandy Countermine’s place around noon and parked in their driveway. 

It’s been great catching up. Lunch was at Main Street Cafe. Delicious food and fun staff. Then Terry and Sandy took us to their newly renovated Theater for a tour. Beautiful venue for movies and music. 

This is our view from the RV. 

Visited Terry and Sandy’s church to hear Terry’s Praise band and listen to Pastor Mike’s message about listening to hear God. 

Sandy is a quilter as well as a knitter so we had a lot to catch up our projects. I love the Tree of Live one she did. 

 A hike at Persimmon Ridge was relaxing. Lenny and Banjo had good smells with Abby and Sadie. 

A couple games of Left Right Center where Sandy won 3, Peg 2 and Terry and Bill won ZIP. Lots of laughter. 

Tomorrow we leave to drive farther south to Oat Mountain State Park. We stayed here on our way to Gulf Shores and enjoyed hiking there. Temps are supposed to be in the 60s. 

Feb 28 - Seeking warmer weather

Since Blue Belle (RV) is new, there was a lot that had to be done to get ready for the long trip. The one slide had to be recalibrated so off to General Rv in E-town to get that warranty work done. Then Bill wanted to get valves on the tires so he can monitor them as we travel down the road. 

This is a picture I took as I followed Bill to E-town 

Of course there’s lots to be done inside but we’ll do a lot of that as we decide where we need to move things to make life easier. We have so much more storage space. We even had a couple cabinets that aren’t filled!!

Anyway,  we got everything accomplished and we are on the road. Tonight we’ll spend the night in a Loves parking lot where they have hookups.