Nov 11 Houston, Texas

Today, we drove from New Orleans to Houston, TX, and the weather that greeted us there can be seen moving into the city in this picture. The humidity was 90 percent, the temperature about 80 degrees, and the air was so heavy it seemed hard to breathe. We stayed in a town called Katy just west of Houston, and there we experienced one of the most incredible rain and thunderstorms I've ever been in. I'm sure the sound was amplified because of being in the RV, but it was truly awesome. The power went out during the night, and in the morning when we stepped out onto the lawn around the RV, there were crawdads there! When they reared back on their tails and waved their little claws at us, they surprised both me and the dogs--pretty creepy! We definitely didn't get a favorable impression of Houston!

Nov 10--New Orleans Cemetery

This cemetery is one of the oldest in the city and was just a couple of blocks away from where we were staying. Because the water table is so close to the ground surface, all of New Orleans buries their dead above ground in vaults. Some of these vaults were underwater during Katrina, so they need a bit of cleaning and look are looking even a little more worn because of that.

The vault with all the triple-X's on it is where it is believed the original New Orleans Voodoo Queen, Marie Laveau, is buried, and people still come to ask her for help in getting their wishes granted. The triple-X is apparently part of the request process. You can read more about it here: http://www.hauntedneworleanstours.com/marielaveau/marielaveaustomb/

Also found a tomb draped in gauzy decorations for the Day of the Dead celebration, and another one that had been finger-painted and decorated by friends and family.

Nov 8-10 New Orleans

We high-balled it across the Florida Panhandle in one day to get to New Orleans. Hwy I-10 was a great highway on that stretch. Found an awesome RV park three blocks from the French Quarter. Here's a pic of Tip in their salt-water pool. Of course, we tried the Cajun food, had coffee and biegnets at Cafe DuMonde, and listed to some great music. The rather blurry picture of me is when I was playing the washboard with the Cajun band that we had a great time listening and dancing to. Hopefully, the two little videos I took will upload okay--one of a Dixieland band and the other of the Cajun band with Tip playing washboard (here's a pic of the blood blister he got from working the washboard). What a fun evening!!!

Nov 3-7 St. Augustine, FL

We took a horse-driven carriage ride through the oldest city in North America, toured the Spanish fort, and had a sip of water from the Fountain of Youth (we're looking much better now!)

Nov 3 St. Augustine, FL

We were lucky enough to find a wonderful RV park a 5-minute walk from the beach. There was also a fabulous seafood restaurant right there, so we walked over for dinner every night. It was so comfortable, we stayed until Friday so Tip could get out for a couple of golf rounds. He played the Royal St. Augustine Country Club and the King and the Bear at the World Golf Village (for those of you who care about golf). Here are some shots of the beach--I put my foot into the Atlantic Ocean just so I could say I did. Also, some pictures of the campground--really pretty, private, and quiet. A week later, we're still sweeping sand out of the RV, but it was worth it :-)

Nov 2 Savannah, GA

Some shots of the beautiful historic old-town Savannah: