Jan 3rd - On the West Bank of New Orleans

Little Black Beauty

A plate full of kitens

Ah....I am a cat too!

Sunset on a restless sea

After the storm

New homes for Iron County?

Once again it has been a while since last I wrote.  We have covered a bit of territory since then.  We are continually on the move west, looking for warmer weather.  We thought we had finally found the typical warm winter weather of Florida until a few days ago and suddenly it turned cold again.  We wanted to once again  stop and visit with Richard's friends in Crystal River, Fl but found it was going to be 27 degrees that night so pushed north closer to the warm waters of the Gulf to try and keep warm.   We stopped that night (Dec 30th) in Steinhachee, Fl at a neat little RV park with about 10 spots for campers.  We stayed for two nights and were able to go for a much needed bike ride.  We were one of two campers using that park for those nights.  The neat aside for me was cats!  Yes, cats!  The owner of the park is a kind hearted man who feeds the feral cats that come to his door.  Missing my two cats, I was excited to see the furry critters.  I filled a paper plate with sardines; took my camera and went to a spot that I thought they might find with the wind blowing that wonderful scent of fish their way.   I didn't have long to wait before a brave little beauty came running over to grab a few bits.  Next came the next generation of kittens to climb directly onto the plate to eat!  I definitely got my kitty fix that night.

We traveled on from Steinhachee to the Fort Pickens State Park on a little spit of land out into the Gulf of Mexico.  We arrived in the middle of a storm which turned the waters of the Gulf into a wild cacophony of sound.  The weather was not conducive to bike riding but it was great for photo taking!  We made several trips to the beach from the campsite to take pictures of all the sea creatures that had been washed up onto the beach from the storm.  I have never seen so many Sea Nettles and other stinging sea life.  Richard has placed some of these photos on his blog site which is http://www.blueroadsandboondocking.blogspot.com/

We continued on to our site at the Bayou Segnette State Park which is just southwest of New Orleans, La.  We drove through the city a little north of the French Quarter and were able to see up close the horrific damage to the homes of the people in the Parrish near the French Quarter. We have all seen news coverage of Hurricane Katrina  but until you actually see and experience it up close it stays just a story on the news. 

We are safe, warm, dry in our camp site at the State Park for this night and will continue our trek westward tomorrow.    I am having trouble with uploading photos into my blog tonight so as Paul Harvey used to say - "The rest of the story.....tomorrow"  Goodnight all!

PS  "The Rest of the Story" - Got up early and was able to upload the rest of my pictures.