Spring trip 2017: New Orleans

We left Salt Lake City on Sunday 4/2, two days ahead of schedule. I like to have flexibility in our schedule when determining the day's travel miles and stop when the weather is not in our favor. We saw severe weather and snow in the forecast for Denver on 4/4 and decided we wanted to get past Denver on Monday. I  had a reservation in New Orleans on 4/12 so we had plenty of time to get there.  We spent 1 night in Wyoming at the Laramie KOA; it was okay for an overnight. It rained overnight in Laramie and snowed at 8000 ft. outside of Cheyenne that had us driving on slushy roads in the morning leading into Cheyenne. The 1st time driving the big rig on snowy roads; road got better south of Cheyenne. We made it past Denver and stopped to overnight in Oakley, Kansas at High Plains Camping, well below the elevation for snow from the approaching storm. Originally planning a slower pace and 3 days to get to Kansas we pushed it and made it in 2 days; Mike was feeling good driving the extra mileage. We arrived in Hutchinson, KA on Tuesday(4/4). Our camping spot was at the Kansas State Fairground. Lots of sites, available on a 1st come 1st serve basis, all have full hook-up but no concrete pads. All sites are on grass but the internal roads are paved. After previous rain and the heavy rain when we arrived the ground was pretty soaked, no chance we would be able to put our jacks down with the soft ground/mud. Not having our jacks down and no slides out wasn't a problem since we didn't plan on being at our site a lot and only here for 2 nights. The next day things dried out and when we needed to leave we had no issues leaving our site. This was not the quickest or most direct route to New Orleans but we are glad we worked the stop into our plans; it was great to visit and reminisce with old friends we haven't seen in a long time. 

Thursday 4/6:  I found an RV park in Ardmore, OK called By The Lake RV Resort. It's only been open since August of 2016. With not much in the area this was a find and I would highly recommend this RV park for and overnight or an extended stay.

By The Lake RV Park, Ardmore, OK

Friday 4/7: After navigating the roads and awful construction in the Dallas area we finally passed the Louisiana state line. We spent 1 night at the Shreveport/Bossier KOA. Very nice gravel site with lots of trees. We don't usually do KOA's; they tend to be very family oriented and have lots of kids. There was a KOA in Charleston on our trip close to friends we were going to visit so we  committed to stay there and it was expensive. I chose to purchase a KOA membership for the year that would reduce the nightly rate 10%.  A big savings in Charleston, so I started looking at other KOA's on our route to continue to benefit from the membership fee ($40/year). I will break even on the cost of the membership and probably will even do better.

With our reservation in New Orleans not until 4/12 we had to find a place to stay for 4 nights. I found Lakeside RV Park, about 73 miles outside of New Orleans. They have a few long pull-through sites with partial views of the Lake. It was the perfect place to settle for 4 nights and a chance to unwind. Mike could use it after all the long days of driving.
There was a paved walk around 1/2 of the lake and lots of grass for our fur kids. Caught this cool shot in the early morning of the mist over the lake.

Our site #88

Looking down our row

2 resident swans, Boudreaux & Thibodeaux!

4/12-4/15/2017: New Orleans

I made reservations early and was able to get a site at the popular French Quarter RV Resort. Pricey but as close as you can get to downtown New Orleans and the French Quarter.
All sites are back-in and spacing is close but there is some grass between the sites. The advantage of staying here is the easy walk to all the action in the French Quarter and Bourbon Street.

Clubhouse/Pool area

Our site #27

I-10 freeway in the background/ Billboard middle of the park.

Two almost three full days here was enough for us. We did a lot of walking and had plenty of time to take in the French Quarter scene but after 5pm it gets really loud and crazy with a high proportion of intoxicated people walking the streets, especially Bourbon St .

Bourbon St.

Royal Street, where most of the shops are, was quieter.

We didn't miss out on the Beignets at Café Du Monde on Decatur St.

I loved the Sazerac's at the bar in the Musical Legends Park, it is my new favorite drink and there was always live jazz music. We went here every day for our happy hour.

Sazerac

Jazz at the Musical legends Park

There were always amateur musicians playing on the streets during the day to sell their CD's and for tips.

I enjoyed many of them and was really moved by a female jazz clarinetist and her band that would play on Royal Street everyday around 10:30am; she was good and could hit those high notes. I'm glad we came here and it's a check off  my list of places to visit. I enjoyed walking around in the morning and in the early evening but we decided to not go back into the quarter at night for the jazz bars. With all the music during the day I didn't feel the need to stay out late and pay the cover or meet the drink requirements per set for a jazz bar. I saw enough of the crowd scene at 6pm to know its a totally different scene after dark. New Orleans is a place to visit once but not someplace I feel the need to go again.

Statue along the Mississippi River

Jackson's Square

New Orleans Riverfront

Lots of charm

What's next-
Florida: a week in Navarre then to Orlando and Disneyworld "Where Dreams Come True".