Painting a bathroom in Biloxi

No photos today as who wants to see a small peach bathroom?

Today's assignment (and our last here for a while at least) in Biloxi was to finish a bathroom which had been started by another group, but never finished. When we got to the house we learned that the floor had been done, so all we had to do was paint and put up towel bars, etc. We painted the ceiling, crown moldings, woodwork and walls in about 5 hours and got the towel bars, etc. back up! So we feel that our stay here in biloxi was worthwhile. And as luck would have it, the house in which we were working was only a couple of blocks from the Greek restaurant, so we had wonderful gyros there today for lunch! Are you jealous, Elaine?

Tomorrow we hit the road again and we're anxious to get started. As we've been to New Orleans a couple of times we will go north of Lake Ponchatraine-maybe explore Baton Rouge before heading into Texas-new territory for both of us. Tomorrow's blog will be from we know not where...

Day 5

Bright and early this morning we showed up at Back Bay Mission and sure enough there was work to do. Back in Feb. when we were here we (along with Elaine and Gerald's able guidance and assistance) built a porch on a Katrina damaged home that had already been rehabbed by Back Bay. But the porch was still waiting for a ceiling-a finishing touch that the owner desired, but Back Bay hadn't had time to get to. So we were sent to install a ceiling! The temperature was 93+ in the hot sun, but we got it done and now it is finished-unless Mrs. Massie wants it painted-but we won't do it this trip! Tomorrow we're going to finish a bathroom that was gutted by another group who weren't able to finish the project. We have to paint and lay a floor so that should be doable in a day! Now we must play-a swim is in order...

USS Alabama, USS Drum and Battleship Park

Since we had some time to use exploring, we decided to spend our 3rd day driving the 50 or so miles back to Mobile so Hank could take his tour of the USS Alabama, the submarine, the USS Drum and Naval planes from WW II vintage to Vietnam era! Everyone else in the area decided to go to the same site today-got caught in a traffic jam getting into Mobile-finally got through the tunnel and when we got to Battleship Park we were in another traffic jam, but we eventually made it. Compared to the destroyer class ship that Hank was on when he was in the Navy, this battleship was huge-had 2500 crewman/sailors/marines in WWII between 1942-45. We toured the ship extensively and still saw nowhere near all of it. Upon getting inside the ship in varous locations, we were both struck by the familiar smell of the ship! Now, Hank was discharged from the Navy 9/5/67 and that smell on board came back to both of us immediately! It was mostly air conditioned, but on deck the temperatures hovered around 95 and very humid-we got tired very quickly. Before we ran out of energy altogether, we went through the aircraft pavilion which houses at least a dozen different types of aircraft from WWII to Vietnam war vintage planes. ( Ben, we have many photos of all the different planes for you to see when we get to NH). Hank took a ride on the flight simulator-said it was good, but not as good as the space flight take off simulator at Kennedy Space Ctr. Then we boarded the USS Drum-WWII vintage submarine. Once inside, I knew that it was too claustrophic for me-I could never have served on a sub! It was incredibly interesting-as long as I knew it was above ground! This whole experience couldn't be duplicated and we were both so glad we decided to go back for the tour!
Back in our Redneck Campground it is cool in our camper and we're looking forward to looking for a Greek Restaurant that we enjoyed when in Biloxi in Feb. We drove past the house where we built the porch on our last trip here-it looks great and the owner-a dear black lady whose name escapes me at the moment-was sitting on her porch when we drove by and we waved, but am sure she didn't recognize us! We were heading to LeBakery where we enjoyed raspberry turnovers-to nearly die for! Must visit that place again before we leave Biloxi...

Panama City, FL to Biloxi, MS

After a good night's sleep we were ready to get to this vacation business in good form. After a walk around Pine Lake Campground to watch the ducks taking their morning ablutions, we headed west on rte 90 along the northwestern FL Gulf. We came upon Camp Helen-a Florida State Park so we stopped to check it out. There was a nature trail which led us down to the very white sand beach past Lake Powell-a dune lake-then we waded into the beautiful blue-green water which had to be nearly 90 degrees! The photos were taken on that small excursion. The dunes are so beautiful and the sand is pure white and so fine-almost like confectioners sugar! It didn't even stick to our feet, but it sure was hot! The timber remains are part of what was a pier previous to Hurricane Katrina!

Even with no schedule, it is taking us a long time to get out of Florida and there are many adventures calling us! So, we drove along coast through Destin and Ft. Walton Beach-very commercial, but interesting, none-the-less! Finally made it to Pensacola where we got on I-110 to get on I-10 and get to Alabama! By the time we got to Mobile, AL, Hank figured we were probably too late in the day for a stop to tour the USS Alabama. We drove on into Mississippi and found a MS Redneck Campground just outside Biloxi, MS. As Hank has been here numerous times, and I've been here a couple of times, it feels like familiar territory. We've decided to spend a "few" nights here so we can volunteer at Back Bay Mission on Monday. Hank has made contact with the Const. Supv. there and he has some Punch Lists for us to work on next week. So, we'll just have to find amusements in the area for the next 2 days!

On the road at last...

Got underway at 9:30 this morning-only 1 wrong turn which took us via a circutous path through Tampa until we could find the Veterans Expressway-finally. Eventually we got to US rte. 98 which we took along the Big Bend-beautiful scenery! The coastline along the big bend area is SOOOOO different that what we're used to in SW Fl. We could see Katrina's aftermath in lots of areas with lots of broken trees and lots of new housing on stilts. The housing is no where near as pretentious as that on Casey Key! We had to revise our plans to spend the 1st night out from Ft. Walton Beach to 30 miles North of Panama City. We used our Passport America in a friendly little campground in the pine trees. It is very quiet here and we're eagerly anticipating a good night's sleep. Didn't find anything spectacular for the photo of the day so what you see is what you get!

Decidng what needs to go with us remains a daunting challenge. Not having a concrete destination and schedule may be more fun, but makes these decisions more complex. There are lists of lists being checked and double checked! Today it was finding and organizing the necessary paperwork which must be included and I think I have that conquered!
But I have 2 more days to add or subtract-and I always second guess...

Packing up...