We rolled into Naulins just ahead of sleet and rain that shut down many roads in the area.  Next two days were sunny and cool.  After seeing a film about Hurricane Katrina the first day, we headed into the city.  We rode a double decker bus around town to get the lay of the land and had a great lunch both days.  We also heard some great Dixieland music being performed in the streets.  We toured a cemetery and walked the French quarter and we did sample the famous beignets.  Yummy!  I also had some great jambalaya.  Hot!  Ed stuck with the po boys.  Then we left NOLA a day before the worst snow event they've seen in 10 years.  Seems we picked the coldest winter the south has had in many years to make our trek.  Oh well, it makes for good stories to tell.  Claudia      

2014 begins with our journey out of Florida.  We left Key West and spent a couple of days just north of Miami and enjoyed two beautiful days at the beach there.  Then we spent a few days in the Palm Bay area, just south of Melbourne, and had a great visit with old friends Ric and Charlotte.  We got to enjoy the Pats game at their beautiful home and Ric made us some great  pizza.  We also met up for dinner with Bill and Anne, friends from camp.  It was great catching up and comparing notes about life on the road.  On to Daytona after that where we had a blast driving the car and riding the bikes on the beach. We also had a nice picnic lunch out of the back of the car.  It was a little too chilly to get into the water though.  Next time.  Since we had reservations for New Orleans for the 24th, we had a few extra days to kill.  We stopped at Lake City, and as it turned out the car had mechanical issues so we were able to get that straightened out.  After that we spent a couple of days in Pensacola, crossing a time zone on the way.  It was nice to gain an hour that day.  We had to spend a morning at the Ford dealership getting some work done on the RV while we were there.  We also spent a great day at the Naval Aviation Museum, the home of the Blue Angels.  Although they are not flying this time of year, the museum was a great take.  Ed played in the simulators and I bought some things in the gift shop.  Time well spent.  We are finally getting a taste of the arctic blast the rest of the country is dealing with.  The nights have really been cold.  I never thought I would see these temps in Florida, but that's Mother Nature for you.  We're looking forward to southern Texas in a week or so.  Claudia

We had a great time welcoming in the New Year at Key West.  The campground wasn't exactly what we expected but it gave us a place to stop within a relatively short bus or cab ride to Key West.  The sites were extremely close to each other but we had a better spot than most.  Jim & Nancy couldn't put out their awning or get their slide out all the way out.  Even so, we took a trolley tour through the town to get a perspective of the history and to see some of the sights including the southernmost tip of the continental United States.  New Year’s eve was a blast.  We’ve never been in such a large mob like that before.  I’m not saying we’d do it again but it was great to do once. With so many people in one place it got kind of scary at times.  We spent our last day by returning to Key West to watch the sunset out on the sunset pier with Jim & Nancy.  It was our last time together before we parted company the next morning and headed off in different directions.  We enjoyed a gorgeous sunset, some delicious appetizers and a final drink together.  It was a perfect ending to a wonderful visit to Key West.  Ed