We made a brief stop in Crockett, TX (so named because Davey Crockett passed through there on his way to the Alamo), but Al was unable to find any documentation on his family tree search. We then headed to Westwego, LA which is on the other side of the river from New Orleans. We camped at the Bayou Seguette State Park, which is a quiet spot in the suburbs with good sites for big rigs, but more importantly it was just a short drive to N.O.
A timeshare in the French Quarter was our final destination, but we had to find a parking space for the RV (w/ electricity for the fridge). For $9 a night, it ended up costing about half what parking in N.O. cost us!!! Our timeshare was on Ursaline St., just a half block from Bourbon St. It was very quaint with high ceilings. old wood floors, and kitchen cabinet doors that were falling off, but it served our purposes just fine. We got a lot of walking in on our travels around the city (the biggest day was 20,000 steps). Our great location which was also about four blocks from Jackson Square made it easy to get around and not have to get the truck out of the expensive parking lot.
Of course we visited the great tourist spots…O’Brien’s for hurricanes and piano music, Cafe Du Monde for beignets, French Quarter/Bourbon Street. and Riverwalk. The weather was cold and rainy, but we did get a couple of days of nice warmer weather. An unexpected benefit was that Mardi Gras parades started the week we were there. The parades start 2 weeks before Ash Wednesday, and they take place in 5 or 6 locations. There must have been 35-40 on the schedules. It was Karen’s first Mardi Gras and we both got into the spirit. We were able to see several of the early parades (the best ones happen after we left) and collect more beads than we ever expected. Karen’s favorite was the D’etat because of the irreverant float themes. There were so many beads that we gave up trying to catch any more. What a happening.
Al wanted to visit the National WW II Museum New Orleans, so we found our way there and ended up spending the better part of the day. Did you know that a man named Higgins invented the Higgins boats (landing craft on D-Day), and we met a docent who was a WW II vet who had history with the man and the boats. The museum gives an overall very well organized story of both arenas of the war. This is one of the highlights (if you like military museums) of the trip. There is a restaurant just down the street called the Dirty Dog. It’s a locals place with a piano and guitar decorated with beads glued all over, but they have the greatest barbecue.
We also drove down to the Ninth Ward area to see what it looked like. There were definate signs of life with people living in houses and businesses open, but there were a lot of empty lots with foundation blocks still sitting in place. Many of the buildings still had the FEMA markings on the side, and there were still FEMA trailers next to structures. It was hard to see how it could have been flooded, but you can’t see the levees from where we were.
Our timeshare came to an end, we packed up our beads (don’t know what we’re going to do with them — maybe a party) and we drove north to Vicksburg and Jackson, MS, but Al struck out on his document search, so we went to Mobile, AL. We 
had been there before, but only for a day. On this visit we found it to be a city we really enjoyed. It helped that Al finally had some success in his search, but we also found interesting dining spots, and drove all the way around the bay and took the ferry back to Mobile. Another day, we went to the US Alabama Battleship Park where you can tour the entire boat. They have done a great job of setting it up as a museum and you get a real feel for what it must have been like to have served on the ship. As we were exiting the ship, we witnessed hundreds of Boy Scouts and their chaperones with their bedrolls going on board to spend the night!!
We are now up in what Karen calls the lumber truck capitol of Alabama. It seems to be a main business in rural parts of the state. It also seems a lot of Al’s ancestors lived in many of these small towns, so he is hitting the local records departments and libraries and gathering new information. We have a few more small towns to visit before we head to Georgia for the RV Rally 2008. More to follow.