Another travel day, but this time a short one, so a slow start was in order. At about 9 am, Mrs T and I left the Tadpoles in bed and went off to the beach for a quick paddle and some photographs. When I say that the Tadpoles were in bed, I mean that one of them was, the other, the big one, was all set to go stalking his Dutch Delight again but we made him stay in the trailer to look after his sister; has there ever been a face so long, I wonder?
At the beach, even at that hour, there were a few people sunbathing. Certainly it was marginally cooler (only 29C) and the wind wasn't up yet, so I guess it was ideal for them. Oh, and neither was there any rain in sight, that arrives late afternoon. Paddling completed and photographs taken, it was back to Towed Haul for microwaved pancakes and strawberry jam, a camper's breakfast if ever there was one. Packing up and hitching was hot work, although we are getting more efficient now, and we were ready for the off before midday; New Orleans was calling. I did have to check out the low tyre pressure warning I'd been getting on the Toadmobile and ended up putting a bit of air in one of the tyres; we certainly didn't want a blow out on the motorway. I'd asked the Tadpoles if they'd like to take the scenic coast road via Pensacola or take the freeway; “Scenic Route!” they cried. By the time we'd reached the gates of the park they had both fired up their DVD players and were otherwise engaged, so I set course for the freeway.
The outside temperature gauge on the toadmobile read 36C as we climbed away from the coast and then west on the I10 towards Mobile, Alabama, and I wondered what we ever did before cool air was available in cars as it would have been unbearable without it. Again, I locked it up at about 60 mph and let the miles go by. The speed limit on the I10 is 70 mph and most heavy lorries do at least that speed, if not more, so my sedate 60 mph meant that they were overtaking me all the time. Even without the trailer, a big “Semi” (as it's known here) passing you sucks the car in a bit as you deal with the bow wave of air. With a 7,000lb trailer, the effect is exaggerated somewhat and I spent the next few hours routinely being sucked into the vortex created by the slipstreams from Semis, which if nothing else is good for keeping you awake. We passed from Florida into Alabama, from Alabama into Mississippi and from Mississippi into Louisiana, all in the space of 250 miles; four states in one (short) day was pretty good!
Arriving at the campground, our first ever fully commercial campground,we were disappointed in what we found. Firstly, the much vaunted free shuttle bus into New Orleans wasn't running as they'd lost their driver (perhaps he's still wandering around New Orleans with a bus load of tourists?). Naturally I volunteered for the task but the woman behind the desk didn't like that idea one little bit, the spoilsport. Then the actual site was a bit chintzy, lined up just a few feet from two other trailers and with a sewer connection that was way too high for our low running mansion on wheels. Finally there was the other campers, the scourge of the commercial trailer park, those people who occupy a site for many months and turn it into a scrapyard or junk heap; this campground had many of those. We've only ever stayed at State or Provincial parks where the golden rule is that you can't stay more than a few weeks at a time, but here in the land of profit, campground owners are happy to take season long bookings as it's money in the bank for them, but I don't think they care that they end up with a squatters camp. Hey Ho. On the plus side, there was a pool and a few diversions for the Tadpoles and, reports from the Bath House were favourable, quite possibly because I think it was quite new. I should temper any criticism of the site with the fact that it was pretty much wiped out by Hurricane Katrina and six years later, things are just getting back to normal.
Supper this fine evening was one of Mrs T's own concoctions that I must say went down very well, especially the third helping. The rain stayed away (and we had the awning out!) but the temperature stayed well above 30C into the night and the humidity was at 100%. As with everywhere around here, we were close the water and the Tadpoles became more than a little worried at the “Do Not Feed The Gators” sign and the notice in the camp rules about not leaving garbage outside because it attracts alligators. They both double checked the lock on the door of the trailer although I feel it would have had to have been a particularly dextrous, and hungry, alligator that foiled an Airstream door.
The next day is set aside for a Plantation House visit and a swamp tour; I've told the Tadpoles that I can't find any anti-gator spray so they're now very worried.
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