Alabama!

     We are just cruising along these southern states and missing so much but we're thankful for each experience we do get! I'd found reviews online stating that the Camping World in Robertsdale, AL allowed overnight parking AND had free hookups for Good Sam Members. We headed there but tried not to get to optimistic. We were pleasantly surprised to find them very welcoming and yes, with a free water and electric site for us! 

They have at least 6 sites!

We parked the site closest to the dump station and the hose reached so essentially we had full hookups! We did laundry, showers, and cleaned 😍.

     And then, we need to do something to experience Alabama, so we headed to Alligator Alley! It was pricey but in the end we decided it was worth it.

They had a few pigs too!

The babies!

This place was very clean with fun signs everywhere.

More small ones.

Swimming closer so we could feed them.

Names of all the ones in that pen.

It was astounding how many there was!

And we all got to hold a 3 year old!

It was pretty cool!

Out in the swamp is where they keep the nuisance alligators" that they pick up when people complain about one in their yard. We were able to walk through on a boardwalk and see hundreds of them!

You just never knew when one would pop up!

During mating season they have fights and some die from it every year. We were wishing we could see a fight :). 

These huge Cypress trees were a site to behold.

It took Emily the whole way through the swamp to work up her courage to hold one but she did it!

     Visiting a gator ranch was Eldon's idea and we all had a blast!

Mississippi!

     Our drive through Louisiana and Mississippi was highly enjoyable. It was impressive how the road was built up over swamps for miles at a time. We loved driving along the coast for a ways. Traffic was more intense and most drivers certainly don't drive the Texas way 😁.

    Our overnight stop was a the Golden Nugget Casino in Biloxi, MS. The large parking lot in the back easily accommodated our large rig along with 15 or so others. Obviously no hook-ups but it's a safe place to park free. 

     We had decided that we need to experience some real southern food. A Bubba Gump's was inside the casino so we headed in for supper. It's been a while since we've watched Forrest Gump but it was still fun to see quotes from the movie plastered all over.

"Now Mama always said there's only so much fortune a man really needs, and the rest is just for showing off."

"You may be an idiot, but try not to be stupid."

Blue meant we were doing good.

And if we flipped it to red, it signaled the waitress to stop.

Seafood platter. Michael loved the fried shrimp. The catrish, hushpuppies, coleslaw, and fried mac an cheese were good too. Makayla liked the hushpuppies best.

Fish tacos! These were Eldon's favorite. They were good!

And a bucket of french fries because Emily and Ethan aren't fans of new food. YET.

Shrimp Gumbo. It was to spicy for Michael but Makayla, Eldon and I loved it. It was my favorite by far.

Eldon requested that we all enjoy our meal but at the end of night still prefer a burger because $$$ 😂.

After supper we went for a walk.

Another long bridge. Many are either drawbridges or peak in the middle to allow for the passage of barges and ships.

     I love to find free things so Tuesday morning we pulled in the Mississippi Sandhill Crane National Refuge. Big rig parking was not in abundance but the place was nearly empty so we made do. The refuge features a lovely exhibit room that contains information about the Mississippi Sandhill Cranes as well as other birds and animals in the area. The children appreciated the description of birds and a button to push and hear their call. They showed us a short video describing the diminishment of the wet pine savanna and how the refuge has restored 3% of it. In the 1970's only 30 MSC's were living in the wild but today there is around 100, all here at the refuge. Eldon and I were able to spot a few with binocular.

Such beautiful birds!

Emily loved this exhibit of the mount of a nest.

Walking the 3/4 mile nature trail.

Spanish Moss is so intriguing.

It was humid and the birds were going crazy. We felt like we were in a rain forest!

Massive pine cones!

And another!

The wet pine savannah. 

Pitcher plants that eat flies and insects were in abundance.

These huge, old trees are gorgeous!

Holly Beach, Louisiana

     After much debate on which route to travel from Texas to Pennsylvania, we chose the longer and completely impractical one. But, we had the time and our map has most of the southeastern states missing so...... 

     I began searching for boondocking along the way and was excited when Holly Beach popped up. It sounded too good to be true but was definitely worth checking out. As we neared the Gulf of Mexico our eyes were astounded by the massive ships in port and the incredible engineering of the bridges. Eventually our gps led us straight to Holly Beach. Eldon was cautious about pulling in the sand and got out and walked to several locations. We soon found a spot that worked great and he backed down a street to get situated perfectly. Several people got stuck while we were there but we had no problems, thanks to his scouting.

    "The Gulf is not dirty. The water is very sanitary, it's just brown from all the silt. If a north wind blows for a few days, cold water moves in and it becomes much more clear, because cold water can't hold silt." -A very friendly fisherman who was thrilled to chat with us and answer our many questions

Running from the waves because it was to cold to get wet (it didn't work)

     This ended up being a perfect spot. Our plan was to stay 1 night we ended up there for 5. Until the last (and only sunny-all-day) day, it was basically deserted. Some of our other plans further in our trip fell through so we had some extra time. Eldon and I were dealing with sinus/allergy issues yet so a few days to simply rest was welcomed.

     There is several places it's very possible to park with a big rig. Obviously you will want to be wary of the sand and stay as close to the streets as possible. We backed in so that we wouldn't need to turn around.

Shells by the millions!

Blowing bubbles

     Sand. It's a beach, so it's everywhere. And it's not the dry sand of Arizona, but the damp kind that sticks to everything. However, we were very particular about going out and staying out for a long time then rinsing in the shower and changing into our "clean clothes". By doing this we managed to keep the sand in our rig to a bare minimum, which is fairly necessary in order for me to relax 😂.

     Speaking of damp, did I mention how everything was just wet?! I hung clothes out to dry and they stayed wet until the sun came out 3 days later! The floor felt sticky, the dishes didn't dry themselves, ect. After being in Arizona, this was an odd feeling!

A wall of shells.

     Shells. Literally millions. I only remember being at 2 other beaches and they were nothing like this. Our fisherman friend said this is one best beaches in the US for having a huge variety of shells. The sheer number was amazing but all the different kinds made it awesome!

The town of Cameron is mostly vacation homes.

Totally typical. The 3 youngest in bare feet and in the water while Makayla and Eldon stay back - in boots.

Our camper having a great time on the beach.

There was lots of pelicans to watch.

It is SO satisfying to watch the waves break!

     Mosquitos. Most days were fairly breezy and 50-60 but there was still boatloads of these pests! I cannot imagine how it would be in the summer. 

Fun with shells

     So this was a new state to add to our map and what a great experience! I should add too, that another reason we chose to stay was how much the children loved it. The air was to chilly to ever really swim but collecting shells and playing in the sand kept them busy for hours. We've decided that beaches should be higher on our list of places to go!