Imagine my personal hell today.  We were driving for three hours from Alabama through Mississippi to Louisiana with nothing but sports news on the radio.  We could not change the station AND we could not turn off the radio.  AAARRRRGGHH!  Finally, we got into range of some different stations, but not soon enough!
Now that we are driving a motorhome we have started to notice things about the ones we see on the road.  One interesting phenomenon is how many RVs have color coordinated tow vehicles.  We have even seen some that are painted with the same swirls and decorations as the RVs that are pulling them. 
As we pulled into the Lafayette KOA RV Park tonight we noticed the unusual speed limit sign above.  This is a lovely park for all ages on a lake stocked with fish and home to many ducks.  Dudley loves chasing the ducks even more than chasing squirrels.
For dinner we walked to Billy's Homemade Boudin and Cracklins to see what in the world they were selling.  They graciously let us taste some of their offerings and we bought two Boudin Balls and two Boudin Balls with Pepperjack Cheese.  The filling, which can also be inside a sausage, is a concoction of pork, liver, rice, garlic, onions and a little too much pepper for me.  Gary ended up eating three of them.  I managed one.  We also tried Cracklins which were fried pig skin, I think.  Very oily but tasty.

Son, David spent the day showing us around the Mobile area. We had some great seafood and saw the town of Foley where he lives and works.  We stopped for a Starbuck's break.  David knows what I like. 
We are staying at Johnny's Lakeside RV Park which has a big waterpark with a lazy river in the center.
The highlight of the day was an art festival in Fairhope, AL which was one of the best I've seen.  It was so big that we didn't get to see the whole thing but did end up buying a few things that we liked.  Fairhope is a lovely little southern town with an artistic flair.
One thing I love about the south is how friendly everyone is.  We sat down for a snack at a communal picnic table with a middle-aged lady and her dog.  Strangely enough, she offered us some of her fried green tomatoes as she couldn't eat them all, and even stranger, we accepted.  It seemed perfectly normal.
After that we went back to Foley to one of the best outlet malls I've seen, a Tanger Mall with a Chico's outlet and several other more upscale stores.  Then grocery shopping at the Piggly Wiggly, which advertises that it sells everything at 10% above their cost.  We stocked up to hit the road tomorrow.  We are aiming for Scott, LA in the afternoon and then we will tackle Texas once again.

Finally, we're on the road home.  With the Bays Bus functioning well and sunny skies we will be out of Florida sometime tomorrow morning.  Dove Rest is a very non-descript RV park in Marianna, FL.  It is the first one we have found that only took cash or checks.  Nothing very interesting to report except that the change of time zone really sneaked up on us.  We parked tonight just over the line and didn't know we had gained an hour until we turned on the TV.  We have two more chances to have this happen again.

Disappointed.  We got up this morning and made the Bays Bus (credit for the name to Nancy AND to Linda Emroch Leithner who had suggested BaysBus a while back.  I don't know why I didn't decide to use it then!!)

ready for travel to sister, Janis in Jacksonville.  One hitch, the slide that holds the dining booth and the sofa would not retract.  One end of it was trying to but the other end didn't move.  So we called Holiday Rambler and they weren't able to help us do it ourselves..  We are now waiting for the RV repair service to arrive.  We hope they will be able to help us retract the slide and we will just keep it retracted as we make our way back to Oregon.  We will lose a bit of space but we can have the repair made at home and won't have to check into a hotel while someone fixes it here.  It just means that I won't see Janis until November when we gather in Jacksonville for her birthday.  Hopefully tomorrow we can start west.  We are on somewhat of a deadline for Brian, Aei and Evan to arrive in Portland from Bangkok.
UPDATE:  The slide is fixed.  The rubber gasket around it had glued itself to the body of the RV in the Florida heat.  The repairman was able to break it free and put lubricant all around so it won't happen again.

Last night we ate St. Patrick's Day dinner at Bonifay near Nancy and Ken's house where they had some truly wretched live music to celebrate the day.  The dinner was very nice, though. 

Nancy decided that we should call the RV The Bays Bus and she wanted to make sure she got credit for it.  Thanks, Sister.  Lately Gary and I have been referring to it as the world's largest dog crate since part of the reason for getting it was to travel with Dudley and Baby.

Tonight we had to say goodbye to sister and husband, which was very sad.  It is hard to believe that a whole month has gone by so fast.  We celebrated at the Magical Meat Boutique again, a British Pub in Mt. Dora which has authentic pub fare.  Gary had fish and chips, sausage roll and Scotch egg.  He was very happy.  He finished with Trifle while N. and K. tried, and didn't really like, Spotted Dick.  I know, I know.  Look it up.

This was a quiet day, which was good for Gary because he has a bit of a chest cold.  I took Baby for nail clipping at a nearby veterinarian after she tried to bite me when I was doing it.  Gary and I did some paperwork and then returned some left-handed golf clubs he had borrowed while waiting for the new ones he ordered.  Then we had a quick lunch out and returned to the bus for a nap.  I started researching RV parks for our trip west, which will start at the end of this week.
We had dinner at the Hurricane Dockside Grill which is pictured above.  It sits next to a cypress grove and if you look carefully at the second picture you can see a small alligator swimming near the water lilies.
I learned two things today, one is that motorcyclists don't have to wear helmets here (!!!) and the other is that Spanish moss is not a parasite on the trees here but is an epiphyte which just benefits from the minerals that trees naturally leach.  It does not harm the tree.  Also, it is not really a moss but is a flowering air plant.

I was too tired last night to write, so this one is for Sunday, March 15.  We had a normal morning, eating breakfast on the bus and doing a bit of housecleaning and laundry.  Then we went with Ken and Nancy to the Markets of Marion, a huge flea market and marketplace that Nancy and I have visited before.  Gary and I each bought a hat, I picked up another jar of a fantastic honey-based skin cream, a surprise present for grandson, Evan and a few holiday gifts.  Those of you who know me well know that I carry a list of friends and family for whom I purchase birthday and holiday gifts in my wallet.  As I buy these presents I write them on the list so I won't forget what I have bought when the occasions arise.  This usually saves me from dealing with parking and crowds around the holidays.
After we checked on the dogs we met again for The Villages production of "Les Miserables".  It was an amateur production somewhat adapted for the venue but not bad.  They had brought in a couple of trained singers but most of them were residents of the town.  The man who played and sang Javert's part was excellent and he was a local realtor.  Cossette and Fantine were a little too old to be believable, but I guess you work with what is available.  I enjoyed it and Gary was a good sport.