Cerrillos, New Mexico

May 27, 2014

I am so glad that we discovered this quaint little town, Cerrillos, NM.  It was a nice scenic drive into the dessert and through many small villages.  Cerrillos is an artist community with many adorable shops and eateries.  It was not mentioned in the tourist brochures but was actually our favorite stop while in Santa Fe.  

Santa Fe

May 26, 2014

You feel like you are in another country when in Santa Fe.  I could go on and on about how wonderful this town is!  We love it so much that we have already decided we would come back someday.  There is so much history here and I am so glad that we could spend a week here.  

Crawdaddy's

Here we are in Shreveport, LA after spending 8 hours and 470 miles traveling from Mobile, AL.  It is exciting to travel to new areas, seeing and experiencing new things.  We saw our first ever rice patties, as well as speed boats traveling down the middle of the interstate.  Yep, that is what I said.  The land is so wet and swampy that the roads are suspended like a bridge over the water.  It looks like two bridges side by side with waterways in the middle.  It's just weird because it feels like you are on a regular freeway with boats traveling down the middle.  

It was a good day of travel with no U-turns.  Thankfully, we purchased a Good Sam travel Atlas.  We cannot depend on our GPS alone.  There is nothing more dependable than a good old map.  I love the Atlas because the roads are highlighted that are safe for RV travel.  Plus, it marks camp sites and Pilot Flying J Travel Centers.  This along with my Gas Buddy App and a few snacks, we are good to go.  :-)

Crawdaddy's Kitchen!  It was rated #2 on Trip Advisor so thought we would give it a try.  This is our way of trying crawdaddys.  LOL!  We were a little nervous about eating what we grew up calling "Crayfish" in Michigan, the little crab like creatures we used to catch in the creek growing up.  They are kindly referred to in Louisianna as "Mud Bugs".  Now, doesn't that sound appealing?  Being cautious, went on the conservative side and shared a bowl of Crawfish Etouffee for our appetizer.  It was so good and with just the right amount of kick.  As we watched platters of crawfish going to most tables, we were a little ashamed at ourselves for not trying it.  Next time!     

 

Sugar Ants & Comet

Sugar ants and comet?  Oh my!  You are saying....what?  That's what I am saying....sugar ants and comet, oh my!  Apparently, there is a problem with sugar ants at Meaher State Park, Alabama.  These little ants will do anything to get into your RV and cause havoc.  Plus, they love me.  All bugs love me.  They leap off tables to land and feast on me.  So when the park ranger mentioned that we need to watch out for these little ants, we listened.  Since we did not have any ant spray, he suggested pouring comet on any part of our rig that was touching ground.  Good thing, we have comet cleanser and it worked!  We didn't see one ant in our RV. It worked so well that I considered sprinkling some on me.  :-)

Fair Hope

Fair Hope, Alabama is adorable!  What a cute, quaint, artsy, beautiful cultural town by the water.  I thought my town of Franklin, TN was the best but this little city may have us beat.  We enjoyed walking around town, visiting the wonderful shops and put in many miles walking down to the pier and back.

What a wonderful lunch we had at Panini Petes!  This quaint little restaurant has been featured on the Food Network.  He makes his own mozzarella cheese, as well as all the breads for the paninis.  It was a great break after a long afternoon of walking through this beautiful city.  It's my #1 favorite city right now.  I could live here.  :-)

Bike Butt & Beach

Friday 5/2  Bike butt & beach


Oh yeah....I was expecting it, the dreaded bike butt.  Ouch!  It was an effort to get back on that seat and pedal away.  We managed to make it 11 miles and really enjoyed the Cotton Bayou and Catman Road trails.  There weren't any alligators to see but we really enjoyed traveling on the gorgeous wooded paths.

We found our way to the beach where Dave practiced with Eli on casting into the surf, so that he would be comfortable when they fish on the pier.  Did they catch any fish?  Nope.  Not this time.  They didn't have any bait on the line.  I'm waiting for the fresh fish dinner they promised me.  I know once they get their lessons from their guide, we'll be eating fresh caught fish every night. 

Florida Critters

Thursday 5/1

What a great way to start the day!  Back Country Trail connects to our park and has more than 11 miles of beautiful paved trails for biking or walking.  We decided to try the Rosemary Dunes trail.  There was a yellow caution tape covering the path which was covered with water.  Dave and Eli went through the water anyway.  I was a little reluctant but finally joined them.  I am so glad we continued on as we were able to meet Lefty, the resident alligator as he was sunbathing on the trail.  We traveled about 9.5 miles and was a great ride with sandy, tropical "old Florida" kind of views.

Yesterday, the Gulf Shores Pier was closed due to the rain and flooding.  So we decided to check and see if it was open and it was.  Yay!  We paid $2.00 a person to walk out on it and spent almost 2 hours just watching people fishing and taking in the gorgeous views of the ocean and shoreline.

 
We ended the evening by taking flash lights out to the flooded areas in our park and discovered some very interesting creatures.  We saw several "crawdaddys", as well as frogs, polywogs and a snake.  It was crazy fun and doesn't take much to entertain us.  You are probably wondering why I went?  Well....because it was my idea.  LOL!