an RV adventure
From June 16 through August 1 2014 Wes, Jessie and Sarah Michael along with cousin Tessa went on an epic RV adventure to New Orleans and back!
This morning we read this temperature advisory.
And it was hot. The temperature was high but with the humidity it feels so much more. Sweat is constant. This show the chair I was stiitting in. Not only did my back wetten the fabric, I also left behind calf sweat!
Yummy.
Well today the Dew Point or humidity is as high as the temperature so they issue a warning if you go outside drink lots of water, stay in the shade etc. Let me put it to you this way. When you walk outside it feels like you are breathing water and you instantly start to sweat. So we decide today is a good day to "chill".
The girls spent time in pool this morning while I did laundry and cleaned the RV a bit. Then we went Kyaking on Lake Catherine (oh by the way this is all happening in Hot Springs, AR).
It proved too much for SM who was not feeling well before we left. Now she is asleep on the couch. Poor baby. :(. Tessa and I are on the way back to pool. Hope y'all are staying cool.
We only stayed one night in Vicksburg before heading north in to Arkansas.
Before leaving Vicksburg we drove into the historic downtown to check it out. It is your typical quaint downtown with beautiful brick buildings, some dilapidated, some in the process of being restored. We wandered into the Coca-Cola Museum.
We hadn't looked into it at all beforehand so we didn't know what to expect. However we learned a lot about the history of Coca-Cola and Vicksburg. It turns out when Coca-Cola was created in 1866 in Atlanta it was only available as a fountain drink. Some people in Vicksburg who were bottling soda water made the connection in their heads that Coca-Cola could be bottled in 1894. That's remarkable.
The museum was actually really interesting. They have loads of historical artifacts and memorabilia.
Tessa has never watched the TV show Duck Dynasty (unfamiliar?). Sarah Michael has enjoyed it. I find the characters mindlessly entertaining. Sarah Michael asked if West Monroe, Louisiana (the location of their Duck Commander store) was on our route. It can be! It will be! It was!
I was experimenting with a new GoPro location on the RV. It didn't end up being a great angle, but I ended up capturing visitors coming and going in the parking lot while we made our pilgrimage. So many people!
If you've seen the show this should look familiar.
The loading dock. Remember when the boys flooded it? So much fun.
If you only get one photo, however, this is the one you get. People line up to have their picture taken in front of the company's sign. I'm serious about the line. There's a lot of taking turns with cameras, too, as in "Can you take a picture of my family? Thank you, can I take a picture of your family for you?" So we did that and then the girls went inside while I stayed and became the photographer for several groups. People walked up, handed me their phone or camera like I worked there, and I was very happy. I love doing that.
Do they actually make duck calls here? The show would lead you to believe they do. But it seems to be mostly a gift shop inside. A big gift shop. And there are a lot of people.
These are what built the empire.
Then we headed north for Arkansas. It is a beautiful state.
The campground we're at is really nice, located on the Lake Catherine.
Family picture on the lake.
Beautiful fog hangs above the water.
Jessie loves history, and battlefields are special places to visit. Today we drove part of the tour road at the Vicksburg National Military Park.
During the Civil War the North won a key victory here at Vicksburg, gaining control of the Mississippi River.
A couple days ago we visited the National WWII Museum in New Orleans. I cannot comprehend the hell of battle, but I can better wrap my head around what happened 50 years ago than I can the Civil War 150 years ago. How did the generals coordinate with each other without radios and encrypted data links? Those were tough times.
The military park was pretty, filled with more than a thousand monuments. I wish there was more information explaining what happened and the tactics used. Maybe we would have got that in the visitors center, but we skipped that. We arrived at 3:45pm and the park closed at 5:00 so we went straight to the road tour, a 16 mile self-guided tour you drive in your car. We didn't get to see all of it, though, since the park closed.
For me not as satisfying the New Orleans' WWII museum, but this was still interesting.
At one stop along the tour I watched a wasp removing dirt from his hole in the ground. A second wasp landed next to the adjacent hole and left by the door a slightly smaller dead green bug. The green-bug-murdering wasp chased away the first wasp when they were both outside at the same time, and then after he had prepared his den the second wasp pulled his prey down below the surface. I could hear him talking down there too, it is surprising clear on the video. What's he saying?
Later, the dogs got interested in something too.
Today we left behind New Orleans.
When planning our journey north into Mississippi using my iPhone I thought it was a strange bug in Apple Maps that it had us going directly across Lake Pontchartrain. But then Google Maps had us doing the exact same thing. Wait a minute, is there a bridge all the way across the lake?
More than 23 miles long, the Lake Pontchartrain Causeway is amazing to behold. I wonder how hard it was to build?
Just before lunch we stopped in the small town of Kentwood, Louisiana and walked up to the Kentwood Historical and Cultural Museum. We rang the bell and waited to be let in.
I sure hope this is the right place.
"Y'all here to see the whole museum or just Britney?"
Oh yes, we're in the right place.
An unassuming community museum, proud of the heritage of its local people.
Kentwood doesn't have the dairy festival anymore. We didn't dig into the reason why.
Kentwood was known for logging, but now it is also known for something else. See it on the left side of the picture?
Fay, the woman who runs the museum, is so kind. We interrupted her making a meal for a friend who recently suffered a family loss, she has a big heart. This wasn't one of those museums where you pay your admission and guide yourself. No, Fay walked us through the entire collection, telling us stories about individual items and sharing about her personal history with the pop star. It was fun.
Wings used on stage during the Femme Fatale tour.
All of these items were gifted to the museum by a fan in England.
A Britney fan in Oregon created this miniature stage, complete with flashing lights.
These are the items from Britney's childhood bedroom.
Stars, they're just like us.
When our tour concluded we were given many items from past tours as gifts.
The museum is free with donations accepted. However if you want a photo of these wings it will set you back $3.
Worth it.
The museum is free with donations accepted. However if you want a photo of the wings it will set you back $3. Worth every penny.
