Day 7 & Day 8

Arkansas is home to some of my favorite people! Thank you Uncle David for showing us such a wonderful time here.

We spent much of Friday touring around back roads on our way to Harrison to see my uncle. Boy has it been hot here! He took us up to Branson Missouri to see the Dixie Stampede. What a great show! It was so much fun and the animals were amazing. Pretty cool how its set like the civil war and you don't get silverware to eat with. FUN! We also went to Ripley's believe it or not which was full of weird stuff and some a little too weird.

The next day we went to this beautiful little place on the river that is one of Uncle D's favorite swimming holes. Very great place with beautiful scenery and a perfect swimming hole. Could have spent the whole day there! Hope to go back again soon.

Driving down Hwy 7 we went through the Ozarks and a bunch of little towns called things like Booger Holler which has a population of 7 including one hound dog! Hilarious!! Such beautiful country...just need to do away with these storms.

Lunch was in Russellville with my very hard to understand cousin...love ya Isaac! He is such a funny guy and so enjoyable to be around. Becca only remembered him as "the guy who is hard to understand". So glad she got to meet him again and we were all glad to meet Shelly. Great lunch and great company! They were giving me a hard time about not wanting to go on the interstate because of these crazy storms. Shelly was telling me that you only need to watch for tornado's when the hail comes...Ill be darned if we didn't take a round about way down a turny scenic road to avoid the interstate and a warning came on the radio that there were 60 mile an hour winds and hail the size of dimes ON THE INTERSTATE where we would have been if I had not taken the scenic route.!! See who's right now?? LOL

We stayed in Texarkana last nite and are now off to Shreveport to see the US rose garden testing garden. Over 1000 types of roses you can walk through...should be fun in the 109 temp we saw yesterday. :-) Then airport and HOME!

By the way Im looking forward to clear blue skies!

Signing off - Traveling Mama

Day 6 Space Museum and Hellen Keller

Another fun day in Alabama. This state was definately worth coming out here. The storms have started to give me this anxiety issue though. "Storm" means a very different thing out here. Maybe its the red color on the radar or the absolute black color of the sky or the thinking that a tornado could come from the sky at anytime and I would have to jump in a ditch with who knows how many types of bugs. Thankfully mom has her phone and is my little weather tracker in the back seat. We are kinda like storm chasers...only we run from them and find any way to go around the cells instead of going toward them. Anyone who chooses to live in this area is crazy and should have their head checked!

We started our day at the US Space Museum in Huntsville. Cool place. They have some life size rockets and lots of demos. Cool place but maybe not worth the $40 to get in per person! :-) We also saw an Imax 3d movie that I almost fell asleep in. Oh well!

On our way west to Hellen Kellers house we went through an area that was hit by the tornado that hit Tuscolusca in April. HOW SCARY. Some of the houses were still just a bunch of twisted boards and some were being rebuilt. Did I mention about those clouds and storms?

Hellen Kellers house was great. I did not remember all the details about her and her life and it was very interesting to sit near the water pump where she learned her first word.

We spent the rest of the day trying to get around a few thunder cells that had a ton or red on them and were causing me to panic. Everyone thinks I am insane...but I saw those houses that were hit in April.

Now in Arkansas for the night just over the Mississppi. What a river! So full right now and so BIG.

Signing off - Traveling Mama

Day 5 Northern Alabama

So much rich history and important lessons here in Alabama. I never thought I would be so profoundly touched by the civil rights movement and the individuals involved in the fight for freedom.

Our first stop today was Rickwood field in Birmingham. The oldest ballpark in America. This was definitely an off the map place. Its a self guided tour. The ballpark is completely open for you to walk around in. You can go on the field and in the dugouts. Not another person was there. It was however in an area hit very hard by poverty. Hard to see so many in the "projects" especially when it was 98 degrees outside today and those places do not have air.

We continued onto the Civil Rights Institute. AMAZING. I had no idea about some of the happenings in the 1950's and 60's there in Birmingham. Extremely cool museum and very touching. The people involved in the "freedom fight" were so strong and brave. Upon leaving the museum we went across the street to where the 16th street church was bombed and 4 young girls killed. As we were looking around we were approached by a man who began telling us the story of what happened in those times. He was present. He grew up there and was 6 when that happened. Very touching and amazing stories he had to tell. He even gave us a demonstration of what the protesters sang when they came. Priceless experience.

Leaving Birmingham we made a stop at the Noccalula Falls in Gadsen. They drop 90 feet. Very cool! We got to ride a little train through the park...we did not make the hike down to the bottom of the falls as it was 97 degrees and SUPER humid. Oh well...we saw them anyway.

Tonight we are in Huntsville almost to Tennessee. We are set to see the US Space Museum tomorrow morning. Almost all the rooms were booked...so we are in a suite in the Holiday Inn. Nice break from the smaller hotel rooms and a cool pool.

Signing off - Traveling Mama

Day 4 - Northern Alabama

What a beautiful area and NO rain today. Just a few floating thunderheads, but no rain. Great day. We left southern Alabama and started our journey north. Montgomery brought us to the Rosa Parks museum. What a humbling stop. We stood on the corner where Rosa first caught the bus that she refused to give her seat to a white person, starting the end to segregation as it was known. Amazing experience and very educational. Hot there though with this bug issue. The photo is outside the restaurant we were recommended to eat at...we did not eat there.

Leaving the city we were on our way to a scenic drive in the mountains of Northeastern Alabama. How beautiful. I could live in this area...except for the snakes and humidity. Beautiful and woodsy. The road I had planned to take apparently turns to a dirt road after a few miles. I should have gotten the 4wd rental car! We had to take a numerous amounts of small "rough" roads back to civilization, but boy was it beautiful! Some of the houses we expected to hear banjos playing in the distance...no stops and keep the doors locked! But seriously everyone has been so kind and fun to listen to here. Just about 20 miles from Georgia tonight. Heading to Birmingham tomorrow and then off to the west side of Alabama for one more nite. Such a beautiful state!

Signing off - Traveling Mama

Day 3 with Internet

Southern storms. They sure are powerful. The first storm attacked us at Mardi Gras world. What a cool place! You can experience all the floats and such without being in the crowds. Tons of neat floats that are huge and you can even watch the artists working on next years floats. Upon leaving New Orleans for the day we planned to take hwy 90 over to Mississippi and drive along the coast. We found out near Biloxi that the ocean had been overtaking Hwy 90 for most of the morning. There was a ton of sand and water all over the road and some portions were closed. Scary to drive in but Biloxi was beautiful. So many big southern houses...all on stilts for obvious reasons. We were able to see the new bridge that was constructed after hurricane Katrina. Interesting to see some of the destruction is still there after so many years.

Alabama came next with more storms and more scary rain. In Mobile there is a cool tunnel that goes underneath the bay that we got to drive through. Pretty neat to be under the ocean in a car. We left Mobile on a small scenic highway to try and make our destination for the night along the Florida border. While stopped for gas I noticed that the black cloud above us was making some weird swirling motions and sucking other clouds into in. No one else in the car wanted to believe me, but it was there....we kept driving for a few miles only to meet a wall of water shooting out of the clouds that was creating an instant river on the road. I was done. We turned around in the middle of the road and found a hotel for the night. A quaint little cabin room in a small town. We were directed towards a local restaurant where we sat next to the best "Alabama" family ever. The 10 year old boy was priceless. All the following quotes were overhead coming from him in a thick southern accent.

"Listen Ya ll...this here's how rednecks do it."

"I don't wanna work out here with you women. I need to work in the back with the men."

"Have Ya ll tried that Fiji water? It comes from the center of the earth. Drips right off a glacier."

Funny little guy. Definately a small town in Alabama. So far the best state.

Signing off - Traveling Mama

day 3 Alabama

Bay Minette Alabama..."listen Yall, this here's how rednecks do it" fom a little boy in our restaurant. Much more to post, but no internet....stay tuned tomorrow

Day 3 - New Orleans

OMG!! When it rains here it really rains. It means business when it comes out of the sky. We left Lake Charles this morning and took a round about way to New Orleans via a bunch of Scenic Byways. So much better to go this way through small towns and sugar cane fields than the interstate. It took a really long time, but it was worth it. We missed the plantation by about 15 minutes so we will have to catch one at the end of the trip. Coming into New Orleans I was already nervous with all the traffic and freeways and then....IT OPENED UP AND DUMPED half of the ocean on us I think. Im told we were crossing the Mississippi river but it felt like we were swimming across it. I dont like driving in the rain anyway and this was more than rain.

Our hotel is in the French Quarter on a bunch of alleys they call streets that are one way. YIKES. Our hotel looks out over the Mississippi river and is on Royal street...just one up from Bourbon street. When we went walking it was shooting rain out of the sky at us but it felt like being in the shower it is so warm. Lots to see here. Burbon street gets a bit crazy at night especially down by the Voodoo shop where mom and I purchased some Voodoo dolls...look out everyone.

We went down to the Mississippi river and Becca almost took an involuntary swim...good thing Chris was holding onto her! Its super full and muddy. Becca thinks it looks like an ocean but brown.

We have now settled back into our hotel and are preparing for a tour of the lower ninth ward and Mardi Gras world tomorrow morning. Fun city...even thought it rain the whole time. We enjoyed the outdoor shower.

Signing off - Traveling Mama

Day 1 Houston to Lake Charles, LA

Greetings from Lake Charles! Not too much to share tonight. We landed in Houston and promplty got lost leaving the airport. Apparently Houston has some fancy roads that are toll, but you cant stop to pay, you have to have a special pass. So we decided to go north and around these silly roads. We saw a lot of nice farm areas, but took a 2 hour detour around Texas. Does that mean we can check Texas off? Anyway, we finally made it to Lake Charles here on the Gulf of Mexico. We learned right away that there are fire ants everywhere. Becca and Mom got into a nest and each have about 4 bites. They sure did jump around alot. Not a super exciting or pretty town, but we got to do some swimming in the pool and had dinner at some local shack called Steamboat Bills. Chris has some Gumbo, mom had some jumbo prawns and I had a Po-Boy. YUMMY. The pool felt like a bath tub it was so warm....no hot tub, obviously they dont need one.

We are staying right next to a HUGE old cemetary. They are selling plots with granite headstones for $125. So...this is the only picture I have to show you from today. Yes...we went and toured around the cemetary. Now to relax and get ready for New Orleans tomorrow!!

Signing off - Traveling Mama

Prep for Trip # 2 Deep South 2011

Hello All - Our bags are packed and we are in final preparations to leave in the morning. This year we get to have some company with us. Chris is joining us along with Mom. Cant wait! The deep south is sure to be very different from last year and super hot. Oh well, its part of the experience, right? Stay tuned for more great photos and stories of our travel.

Signing off - Traveling Mama