$$$ Are Flying Out Of Our Wallet

Austin, TX (rainy, cold, 42 degrees)

We enjoy our fulltiming lifestyle and sharing some of the beautiful places we visit. RV maintenance is another part of it and the most challenging and expensive. John is very handy and can handle some of this and we also  budget for maintenance and emergencies. This time it was more than expected. It's important in Florida to schedule maintenance appointments way in advance. One place we have received good service is Cummins in Ocala Florida. 

We have a big adventure ahead of us (Alaska) and made an appointment to have a checkup with them four months ago. Filters, oils, and a grease job were completed. All went well until at checkout. We were told the exhaust manifold was leaking and they did not have time to fix it.  Our schedule did not have a lot of wiggle room and the soonest they could get us in was late February.  Good grief.  We called several surrounding Cummins locations and finally got an appointment with one in Kenner Louisiana. The only snag was we could not stay in the rig and the refrigerator had to be turned off. Oh, and it was close to Mardi Gras. Trying to find a reasonable hotel was not easy but luckily we snagged a nice room at the nearby Navy Base.  We gave all our food away at Betty's RV Park and headed back for the service appointment. 

They ordered our parts ahead of time and were very efficient and helpful to us upon arrival. The manifold was to take two days but soon they told us the exhaust needed a major repair and parts would have to be ordered.  Now we were getting very close to Mardi Gras and the price tag just doubled. After four days we were able to pick it up and scooted out of town just prior to the big crazy event. 

WW II Museum (photo from website)

During our waiting time we did visit the World War II museum in New Orleans. What an amazing museum. It took most of the day to just see the highlights. If you go be sure to pay extra ($5) to see the movie narrated by Tom Hanks. It's 4-D and took five years to complete. It's a huge museum and it takes you through each of the conflicts in a timeline as you walk through it. There are lots of testimonials you can listen to which were fascinating. 

We also visited the site of the Battle of New Orleans in Chalmette. The ranger spent a lot of time with us explaining all that had occurred at this historic site. Be sure to watch the movie. It is well done. One of the great benefits of fulltiming is visiting the places which were important to the history of our country. 

We left New Orleans and all seemed to be going well until the fuel filter light went off. We arrived late in the evening and John went out in the rain and cold to see if he could change it. The filter was hard to remove and the filter wrench he was using suddenly cut the filter and diesel fuel poured all over him. Good grief. It took forever to get him and the ground cleaned up. 

The next day we left and John even got out of the motorhome a couple of times and walked around to be sure all was OK. We arrived at the state park in Austin Texas and as we backed into the site we found the jeep, kayaks, and the inside and outside of the back of the motorhome covered in thick oil. What a mess. Oh, and again it was sleeting and so cold. We called a local mobile mechanic and he recommend calling Cummins in the morning in Austin. It took us two days to get in and  all that time to wash the jeep and motorhome. We had to stop at Walmart to get some special stuff to get the oil off and other stuff to try and remove the diesel fuel from Johns clothes from the previous day.  What a mess.

John was worried that another expensive repair was ahead of us and we had a deadline to meet in Albuquerque for doctors appointments. Luckily it turned out to be an easy fix. They found a bolt was not tightened down on the turbo which caused the big leak. The even better news was the Cummins in Kenner picked up the cost of the repair without us even having to ask. So, we are back on the road heading to Albuquerque with fingers crossed.  

Getting Caught in Betty's Web

Abbeville, LA (54 degrees, chilly, overcast)

We spent a few days in New Orleans and had such a great time. I lived here for a couple years in the 80's and it's my first time back. It's a busy, dirty city with a great vibe, wonderful food, and  music playing everywhere. We stayed across the Mississippi River at Bayou Segnette State Park. It's a very pretty campground, reasonably priced and has what we call the "it factor". You can drive about 15 minutes to a ferry which takes you across the river for $2/person (exact change only) and walk easily into the French Quarter and all the major attractions. Parking at the ferry ranges from $5-20 depending on what's going on in the city. It's easy and less expensive then trying to drive into the city and find parking especially during this time with all the parades and festivities for Mardi Gras.

We signed up for two walking tour with a company called Free Walking Tours by Foot. They were highly recommended by Trip Advisor. The first tour we took was a French Quarter Tour and our guide did a great job. She took us all over the area with frequent stops to tell us some interesting history about a building or person. 

The next day we signed up for a French Quarter Culinary History Tour and it was excellent. This is not a tour where you have food but rather it informs you about the many cuisines and influences of this area. We had a wonderful tour of the famous Antoine Restaurant and we walked by many famous restaurants and cafes.  Kayla is a delightful Cajun women who weaves stories of her childhood and the wonderful food she grew up with and now cooks for her friends and family. 

You pay what you think is appropriate or what you can afford. It's a rather interesting business concept and both tours had about 20 or so people. We wove in and out of the French Quarter and afterwards she sent us an email of all her favorite restaurants.  It was a lot of fun and lasted about 2 1/2 hours. 

Food is such an important part of New Orleans and the people here love telling you about their favorite restaurant. This is certainly not a time to be on diet and we had some fun indulging in some great food and cocktails too. We stopped and had a Cafe Au Lait and beignets at the famous Cafe Du Monde and a delicious lunch at K Paul's Louisiana Kitchen. 

John enjoyed his hurricane Pat O'Briens

One of the early parades to celebrate Mardi Gras strolled down Royal Street n the afternoon. It was the Krew of Cork who of coarse celebrate all things involving wine. It was a walking parade rather than the elaborate floats and tons of fun. Lots of beads and doubloons (small commemorative coins) were thrown. Some of the costumes were very elaborate and many had wine corks sewn in the clothing or hats.

Even the dog is wearing beads

We are now in Abbeville a couple hours west of New Orleans at Betty's RV Park. This is a must stop on your bucket list and most of our friends have stayed here. Betty is legendary and in her small RV park she manages to carefully fill it to it's capacity. She has it down to a science. Be ready to  hit the ground running. She packs in all kinds of activities and dining out experiences. We pulled in and had just enough time to plug in our coach before we headed out to a fun bar to hear a local band. Each evening is spent on her patio or screened in porch for happy hour. Everyone is expected to be there and the appetizers were delicious. You won't need to go out for dinner. Lots of laughs are shared and she does such a great job of including everyone and making you feel so welcome. Most of the folks here have been coming for years. We made our reservations well in advance. One evening was spent watching the exciting Super Bowl game with tons of food and beverages.

One day we all drove out to a small town for a local parade in Scott. After we set up for a  good place to watch the parade along the road we all walked over to Billy's  Boudin and Cracklins. You stand in line for quite awhile and we asked everyone what they were going to order. By the time we got to the counter it only seemed appropriate to try a little bit of everything. We had different kinds of boudin,  a yummy rice and sausage  combination rolled into a ball and then battered and fried or you could have it stuffed into  an egg roll. We also tried spicy cracklings and a crayfish pie. I have never tired any of these delectables and rate them all delicious. 

The parade was lots of fun and we all came back with bags of beads. They were very generous and we all danced and waved our hands frantically trying to get some more beads. 

We reluctantly now need to leave to have a repair done at Cummings. The saying here is you will be back many times because you will get caught up in her web.  We will certainly be back.