New Orleans to Florifda

Hi, Everyone- Its days later than my last post so I have lost track of what travel day this post is but I'll just try to recap and catch y'all up.

We left New Orleans heading for Florida. Leaving New Orleans during the day made it possible to see the devastation from Katrina. We didn't see the worst hit area but we saw lots of ghost town-like commercial area and destroyed apartment buildings and flattened homes. There were also many very expensive neighborhoods on Lake Ponchatrain that had been completely rebuilt. These were some of the houses you saw up on pilings that had been totally lifted off the pilings and destroyed. Apparently the rich are doing OK after Katrina. These were some amazng homes. Overall, Lots of help still needed before it will be a world class city again. Sad.

We wanted to drive the coast area for the views so it took us through Mississippi and Alabama. The neat part was how much of the road was all on elevated causeways, due to so much of the coast being bayou. We crossed the mighty Mississippi. Yep, Big River. I just I was a little surprized on how much industry there was on the river. It looked like Seattle's shipyards along with refinery and gas plants lining the shores too.

When we got to Florida we decided to take the coastal route down the gulf. The oil spill had not done any migrating over that way( hopefully it never will) but we decided to see the worlds most beautiful beaches in pristine shape. The ride was faboulous but it was very slow going. Like driving Alki for hours. Lots of the beach is privately owned and covered with grand condos and homes. Some of the largest condo buildings I have ever seen. It reminded me of the large Las Vegas casino/hotels plopped down right on the beach.

We got to a great little community around Seaside. This was one of the highlights of the northern part of the coast. I am not sure if you remember Ron talking to us about this planned community, and how we drove down to the sister development north of Ocean Shores. It was really beautiful set here in Florida. It was a perfect beach town. It had been here a bit longer so the plants and trees have grown up to give it beautiful Florida charactor. The nicest thing was how it is nestled in a series of small little communities that all try to copy some of the charm because it was so successful. Some were more successful than others and some concentrated more on mixed use development so there were great shopping and it looked like good varied dining opportunities. I loved the concept and could live there for sure. It is close enough to major cities too, which makes it good for those owners and renters. Quaint! Ron said his new firm is involved in one project there and we tried to find it bsaed on what Ron told us, but couldn't locate. I took quite a few picyures of tne homes. I thought Ron would like to see them.

We drove on down the beach. We caught the sunset at Destin, I think. We were out on the beach watching it set, but I had to fuss with getting my correct beach shoes on, so I ould walk in the sand and missed the sunset- Ron thought that was pretty funny.

The beaches were all they promised. Crystal white sand and emerald water. The sand is quartz so it just sparkles.

We kept driving looking for a place to stay that night and it was lots of older beachy places that looked like Ocean Shores and then large high end places with doorman. We decided to drive on down to Panama Beach- a larger beach town with lots of hotels and great beaches. It took us most of the day to get there and when we got there we were sure surprized! Apparently we had driven in to "Sturgis of the South" called THUNDER BEACH. OMG...There were thousands of Harleys and double-thousands of bikers ( thats because all of the bikers had a biker-chicks on the back.)

H-m-m-m-, I wonder how those black leather thongs and bras feel when its 100 degrees out. I tried to take some photos of all of the bikers outside the Hooters, but Ron wouldn't stop so I couldn't get any good biker photos, Damn! Big tents set up everywhere for the club partys and sponser events. At stop signs, you would stop and then the other side would go, but it would be a parade of a hundred bikes all two by two who would take their collective turn. And who would argue, right?

Oh, and Florida has no helmet law so the flowing hair was amazing all on its own... gray or blonde. I think all of ZZ Top passed us ten times or more, and Willie Nelson too. Well, not really...but it seemed like it. There were also issues with balance on those bikes too due to the top heavy girls on the back. They need to impose some safety standards on those girls. Yes, helmet laws and support bra laws needed! It was a great place to get a tattoo too. lots of bikes lined up there too.

Ron and I decided we would not stay in Panama Beach that night. It was only the opening night (Thursday) for the rally and we thought it might be a little hard to get out of town the next day, so we went into Panama City to bed down. Probably a good thing- becuase when a group of bikers says ...."Lets Party! What do you do? You party of course! " That quote is a thowback to the 70's and has a good story to go with it. I'll share with you all sometime.

The next day we drove into Tampa and went to Ikea for the big shopping trip for Grandma's house make over. We got our cart mostly loaded up and then they called the store closed. Crap, we forgot we had moved into Eastern Standard time. That became a problem. We decided to stay the night and come back with a clear head the next day. Since Ikea does not open up until 11:00 the next day, we drove on over to clearwater (The beach area of Tampa) and spent the night. The next morning we went direct to the beach for some R & R. We swam in the Gulf and Ron scouted us out a hotdog vendor on the beach for lunch before we headed back to Ikea. We rented one of the beach cabanas which was totally cool.

Ikea went smooth because we had the night to think and plan better and we managed to get it all in our car. Barely. You have to love Ikea. We got a whole condo of furniture in our car. WEll, not a whole condo, but 2 bar stools, two living room chairs, a floor lamp, a chandelier lamp, lots of decorating stuff, a wall unit/divider. Well, you get the drift. The car was packed with the precision of an engineer. Thanks to Dad. He did an amazing job. Especially since all of our travel stuff was still in the car too. I held a lamp and sat on decorator pillows snd propped my feet on our cooler from there to Grandma's house- a three hour trip we made in two!

Then we were officially in the NO Commmunication Zone. Gram's town has no internet to pick up anywhere. Her house had no TV,no cable, no radio, no anything. So its probably a little like hell would be for Ron. As it turned out, the next week would be a little piece of hell for all of us. I'll catch you all up on the home makeover on my next post.