The two RV Gypsies
drove briefly through the state of Mississippi, then on to Alabama
and Louisiana
- a small part of 3 states in
one day |
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Below: Scenery in Mississippi
taken from the window of the moving RV. |
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Below: Lee Duquette made
lunch in the RV at a rest stop on the way to Alabama. |
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Below: The entry to Styx
River Resort in Robertsdale, Alabama (Baldwin County). |
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Below: Styx
River Resort was nice, but the indoor pool and hot tub were closed. Very
disappointing. |
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Below: The RV of the two RV Gypsies "AWO'
in its new, temporary home
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Below: Karen Duquette loves
the smell of lilacs. It is her favorite flower. |
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Below: A train traveling
on the bridge adjacent to the bridge the two RV Gypsies were traveling
on. |
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Below: Getting ready to
enter a tunnel in Mobile, Alabama |
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Below:
Photos taken through the front windshield of the moving RV. |
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Below: Exiting the tunnel |
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Below: Buildings in Mobile,
Alabama just outside of the tunnel. |
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Below:
A large flock of birds photographed through the tinted windshield of the
moving RV. |
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| Below: A 3-story round house that was for sale
at a reduced price. It looked very Unique. so Karen Duquette snapped
a quick photo as they drove past it in their RV! Karen would have like to
have seen the inside, but there just is not always a place to stop and park
the 40-foot RV. And even if they could stop, they can not just go inside
other people's houses. The house had quite a bit of land too. |
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Below: Bellingrath Gardens, Theodore,
Alabama - a 65-acre estate - 20 miles
southwest of Mobile.
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The two RV Gypsies really enjoyed Bellingrath
Gardens, especially since they finally had a day of nice weather. However,
they were disappointed that there were not any signs naming the flowers/plants
or giving any information about them. Many other gardens previously visited
by the two RV Gypsies have provided this type of information, but most
do not.
Any flower knowledge out there?????? If so, please
email the two RV Gypsies and be sure to mention the page the flowers are
located on. It would be much appreciated. |
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| Below: Various views of a portion of the Gulf
of Mexico upon which the two RV Gypsies took a 45 minute cruise. |
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Below: The two RV Gypsies
really liked the tangled web of limbs in this tree. Karen Duquette likes
to photograph still-life. |
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Below: The Southern Bell
River Cruiser |
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Below: The American Flag
flying from the stern of the boat. |
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| Below: Seagulls flew all around the boat during
the entire trip, hoping to get some of popcorn. They were very noisy. |
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Below: Happy faces on the
two RV Gypsies enjoying life. |
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Below: View from The
Southern Bell River Cruiser |
Below: An osprey nest |
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Below: Different views
of Mirror Lake |
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Mobile, Alabama
Battleship Memorial Park |
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| Battleship Memorial Park is one of the top
attractions in Mobile, Alabama. Located on Mobile Bay, the USS Alabama Battleship
Memorial Park honors the USS Alabama (BB-60) and the brave men who served
aboard the ship. Battleship Memorial Park also features an extensive collection
of military aircraft spanning several decades of aviation history, from
World War II to Iraqi Freedom. At Battleship Memorial Park the two RV Gypsies walked
the deck of the mighty battleship, saw a World War II submarine, viewed
cockpits of combat aircraft, see tanks, a Vietnam River Patrol Boat, and
a plane like the one flown by the Tuskegee Airmen. The two RV Gypsies met
and talked with a POW veteran while there. He was fascinating, and Karen
thanked him for his service. |
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At right: A memorial for the dogs that
served in the war.
Dogs were serving human beings before recorded history, especially in
the role of protector and war dog. In 2006 the Alabama War Dogs Memorial
Foundation, a non-profit organization was formed to formally
recognize and pay tribute to military working dogs (war dogs) and their
Alabama handlers by erecting a monument in their honor and telling their
story. |
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Please notice the condition
of all the flags. This is not the proper way to honor our military service
people. To find flags in this condition at a place that honors military
service people is embarrassing to our country. Karen searched the internet
for a way to send photos to the Mayor of Alabama or congressmen etc. As
veterans and citizens of the USA, we find this totally unacceptable. It
has been noted that this has been corrected, but we do not have the new
photos to confirm it. |
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| This is a multi-sided memorial built by Veterans. |
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WOW! Look
at the size of this plane. |
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| Battleship
USS Alabama |
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Displacing more than 44,500 tons,
the USS ALABAMA measures 680 feet from stem to stern, half as long as the
Empire State Building is tall. Armed with nine 16-inch guns in three turrets
and 20 5-inch .38-caliber guns in 10 twin mounts, her main batteries could
fire shells as heavy as a small car accurately for a distance of more than
20 miles.
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| Her steel side armor was a foot
thick above the waterline, tapering to one half inch at the bottom. Her
four propellers, each weighing more than 18 tons, could drive her through
the seas at up to 28 knots, more than 32 miles per hour. Loaded with 7,000
tons of fuel oil, her range was about 15,000 nautical miles. The USS ALABAMA
was built to fight. |
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| Vietnam War gun trucks;
a makeshift solution to supply convoy protection. The Black
Widow; was one of such gun trucks and was in one of the most common
configuration used; it was based on 5 ton M54 cargo truck with
simple armor plates added to the cab and large box made of armor steel
plates placed inside the cargo bed. Three M2HB .50 cal machine guns on
pintle mounts were installed inside that box. |
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