Trip Report: Florida to Illinois and Back DAY 4 & 5: Flea Markets, Antiques, and the trip back home About This Page:

[LizardCop]

First time for a trip report, let’s see how this goes. Besides, it’s good practice for our December trip.



Who: Me (53), DW Jan (41), and a stop in New Orleans to pick up our middle DS Eric (30)



Where: From Shalimar, Florida to O’Fallon, Illinois via New Orleans, Louisiana



When: Leave Shalimar on 8/4/04 and returning 8/8/04.



Why: To visit my mother, sister and sisters family. We hadn’t been there since Thanksgiving. Besides, we needed a break from home…



Trip Plan: Leave Shalimar as soon as DW got home from work and drive to Slidell, LA to stop for the night. Get up Thursday morning, drop into New Orleans and pick p DS, then drive straight to O’Fallon, IL. Spend Friday and the better part of Saturday visiting with my mom, sister, and sisters family. Leave sometime Saturday afternoon, early evening and dive until we decided to get a room and stop for the night. Then get up Sunday morning and drive to New Orleans to drop off DS and then drive home.



What Really Happened: DW got home around 4:00 PM, but we didn’t get out of the house until around 7:30 PM. This wasn’t a big problem as it is only about 3.5 hours driving time to Slidell, LA. The weather wasn't too bad, a little overcast but no rain.



We got on the road, U. S. 98 to the Garcon Point Toll Bridge, then onto I-10 and westbound. We saw a lot of law enforcement on the interstate. Not a problem though, we weren’t in a hurry and I had the cruise control set at 75 (speed limit 70 and I don’t know of any agency that stops for 5 over on a major roadway). We cleared Florida and were almost though Alabama.



About 5 or 6 miles from the Alabama-Mississippi border, DW was napping and I was cruising along. I saw a marked patrol vehicle (COP) pull into the center turn-around and stop. The vehicle in front of me and the one beside me didn’t see him until we were almost on top of him, he was still setting in the median. Both vehicles braked, and I had to brake to keep from smacking the one in front of me. Keep in mind, we’re still only doing 75. Anyway, we get by him and continue, I looked in the rear view mirror and didn’t see the cop pull out after any of us. (anyone figured out where this is going yet???)



3 or 4 miles down the road, I’m behind a truck in the right lane and a vehicle is slowly catching up to us in the left lane. I’m slowly creeping up on the vehicle in front of me. Decision time, do I accelerate and change to the left lane (remember I’m doing 75 in a 70) or do I tap the brake to disengage the cruise control and wait for the vehicle in the left lane to pass us.



[Break in report]



A little more about me. I’m a cop. Well, actually, I’m a deputy sheriff in Florida. My primary job function is to work traffic. I write tickets, work traffic crashes, and I am one of the people called out to investigate a traffic crash with a fatality involved. I see on a daily basis what happens when people get in a rush, don’t use good judgement, or just don’t look.



[Back to report]



So, as this vehicle that’s creeping up on us gets 4 to 5 car lengths from me, I tap the brake to disengage the cruise control so I can slow and let them pass before I change lanes. About the time I tap the brake, the blue lights come on.



So, I turn on the right turn signal, slow down and pull off the right side of the road. DW wakes and I tell her we’re being pulled over. I turn on the inside lights (it’s dark outside now) and get my wallet from the pouch in the drivers door.



Now, in most departments, there is a sticker of some type used by officers in that agency to identify the vehicle as being owned by an employee of that agency. In my agency it’s a small sheriff star, similar to the badge we wear. On our 2000 Blazer, it’s attached to the bottom left corner of the rear window. As the deputy approaches the rear of the vehicle, I notice him looking at that star, flash his light towards the passenger cab, back at the star and then approaches the drivers side of the vehicle.



A pleasant greeting and the request for my drivers license, which I hand him. He asks if I know why he stopped me, I tell him no. I said I had the cruise set at 75, but other than that I had no clue. He stated I was “following the vehicle in front of me pretty close”, then asks if I saw him in the median back there. I told him I did, and the reason I got that close to the vehicle in front of me was that they didn’t see him until the last minute and hit their brakes. He then commented on my driving “a little fast”. Then he asks if I’m a cop, I respond yes and he asks for my ID. I get it out and hand it to him. Unlike a number of law enforcement officers I know, I don’t intentionally let them know I’m a cop when I get stopped, and I’ve been given tickets in the past (long past now). I tend to get a little embarrassed about being stopped for traffic offenses, mostly because it’s what I do for a living and I feel I should be obey the laws just as the “regular” people should. Because of this, I keep my department ID in a different area of my wallet and do not carry a badge in my wallet.



The next question is the one I always hate when I’m stopped, “what do you do in your department?” Of course, I have to tell him I’m a traffic cop. Well, the conversation went on for a while, with retirement and drug interdiction on the interstate as the main topics. He then tells me that he stopped the wrong “dark blue SUV” and he was sorry for delaying me. He handed me my license and let me go.



So now we're back on our way westbound and soon left Alabama. The rest of the drive to Slidell was uneventful, but we still saw LOTS of law enforcement, especially in the Biloxi-Gulfport, Mississippi area. This area is always full of law enforcement, so if you have to drive I-10 through there be careful.



We get to Slidell, and decide to stay at The Days Inn on Gause Boulevard. The rate wasn’t too bad, but the building was OLD!!! We ended upstairs towards the back and the balcony floor would sag a little when you walked on it. Oh well, we were just planning on sleeping and hitting the road in the morning. They had a Denny’s in the same building and we were hungry. Besides, they gave a 10% discount if we ate there for having a room there also. Anyway, we were seated, and after sitting there for 15 minutes without getting any service, and realizing that we were table #4 to be waited on, (the one waitress was on break) we decided to walk to McDonalds next door. Much better atmosphere. We got our food, went back to the room, ate and crashed.



NEXT: DAY 2 – Long drive

[Colexis Mom]

Great start Bill How nice of him to not give you a ticket! Can't wait for more

[tammyr]

Great story, can't wait to hear the rest.

[luvnwdwgal]

You're doing great for a trip report "newbie"! Looking forward to more!!

[loobyoxlip]

Good beginning. I think your WDW TR should be great if this is any comparison

[LizardCop]

Day 2 – Long Drive

Well, up at 5:30 AM and, after a short stop at McDonalds for road food, we’re on the road again. I-10 into New Orleans, with everyone else going to work is not my idea of a good time, but I’ve been in worse. There is a little fog, and it’s cloudy, but no rain yet.



We drop into “uptown” and get DS.

Now, this child (30) is a good kid, always has been. He is my youngest from a previous marriage. He works on an off-shore drilling ship in the Gulf of Mexico. He is an intelligent person with a free spirit, into body piercing, tattoos, and hair coloring. Hair coloring is the only one of them that has no rhyme or reason, he thinks out the tattoos and piercing before he does them. One of the fun things about Eric is we never know what color his hair will be next. This trip, it’s a nice looking green. We’ve seen it every color under the rainbow at one time or another.

With DS loaded in the car, and DW in the back seat with her computer, we’re off on westbound I-10 at 7:00 AM. Only 11 – 12 hours of driving left today.

We run I-10 to I-55 then turn north. If you’ve never drive on this road, or through this section of Louisiana, it’s interesting. Most of the roads are elevated off the ground. Why, you ask… Because the ground is swamp…Once you leave Metarie westbound, you are on an elevated roadway until you meet I-55. There are very few exits and no place to turn around, with the exception of “build-in” turn-arounds between the elevated road that are blocked by concrete barriers. These barriers are removed when those turn-arounds are needed.

Headed north on I-55 is the same type of roadway.



Here’s a picture of where they are installing one of those turnarounds on I-55.



Driving in Mississippi…



Nissan has a plant in Mississippi, between the 116 and the 118 mile parkers on I-55. This isn’t a great pic, but you can see how large the plant is…



Remember earlier when I said it was overcast, but no rain yet? Well, about the 125 mile marker in Mississippi we ran into some rain. Mostly light, but there were a couple of areas where it was really heavy. But, we were out of most of it in 50 miles or so. When it lightened up, we stopped for lunch and gas at Vaiden, Mississippi.

Contined in next message

[LizardCop]

Contined from previous message

Back on the road again, here’s a few pics of the trip road through Mississippi flatland and crossing into Arkansas. Traffic wasn’t too bad…




Note the dark skies…

Traveling through Arkansas, I got a picture of our Goofy antenna hanger



BTW, for those who remember me asking about finding a new one (now that they don’t make them anymore) I did get one for DW on e-bay. They’re not cheap anymore, we bought the original one for $7.00, the one on e-bay was $35 including shipping. DW’s worth it, and the new one is put in a safe place for now…

The further north we got, the better the weather got. Here’s what it looked like in Missouri



Another stop for gas in Benton, Missouri and we’re back on the road again, stopping at the Perryville exit, just south of St. Louis, for a Taco Bell dinner.

We jumped off on I-255 and skirted south and east of St. Louis into Illinois and then went east on I-64. Here’s a pic of St. Louis from I-255.



You can see the ARCH in this one.

We got to my sisters house around 6:30 PM and that was the end of the trip for today.

NEXT: Day 3, the St. Louis Zoo

[luvnwdwgal]

Thanks for the update Bill!! I SO want one of those antenna hangers!

[WEDway Guy]

Bill,
Your trip is taking you right to my old stomping grounds. I lived in Belleville for about 10 years (adolescent years). I moved away from there about 10 years ago. I remember that view of the Arch from I-255 very well. I was back to visit family recently and was amazed how much things had developed on the Illinois side of the bridge.

I can't wait to hear about Forest Park and the zoo. No better, free zoo in the country...in my opinion. Keep up the great report.

[LizardCop]

Day 3, the St. Louis Zoo



Awake at 5:30 AM (my normal time) I tip-toed downstairs to check the weather and watch the birds and squirrels in my sisters back yard. DW and I stayed at my sisters, DS stayed with his grandmother. Later this afternoon, when they get off work, my neice and her husband will be coming over for dinner and staying the night also, they leave on vacation Saturday morning.



Now, the original plan here was to be up and out of my sisters house between 7:00 and 7:30, go to mom’s house to pick up DS, and head for the zoo. We would tour the zoo and leave around noon’ish to meet sister and mom for lunch. Mom had a doctor appointment around 10 (my sister goes with her), so that would give everyone time to do what they needed/wanted to and get together .



The St. Louis Zoo (http://www.stlzoo.org) is a free zoo and opens at 8:00 AM this time of the year. Of course, it cost $8.00 per day to park, and my sister said if we got there early enough we could get free street side parking. I had to remind her that we have to pay $10 to $15 per person to see the zoo’s by us, so $8 a day for parking was no problem…



DW and I were ready and I called mom at 7:30 to let her know we were heading that way to pick up DS. When we got to her house, DS was in the shower. My phone call had woke him up. Oh well… We got out of there just after 8’ish and stopped by Hardee’s for coffee and food.



Onto I-64 and west bound, we were flowing with the work traffic into St. Louis. Traveling west into St. Louis, there are a few interstate roads that merge into one so the can cross the big bridge near the Arch into the city. Of course, they all branch in different directions as soon as you clear the Mississippi River and enter the city. Fortunately, the signs are well placed and let you get into the proper lane well in advance. Most of the traffic was using the other interstate roads, so once we cleared the branch-off’s we had smooth sailing. Got off the exit, followed the signs and paid the $8 to park in the south parking lot. We got into the park between 9:30 and 10:00.







This is a large zoo, and we knew we wouldn’t be able to see it all, so we had a couple of area we HAD to hit. We’re all reptile lovers, so that was mandatory. We also love big cats and sea lions… Fortunately, by entering the south entrance, we hang a right and there was Historic Hill, where the Reptile and Primate houses are, as well as the bird area…



Inside the south entrance…





We saw a couple of “American” alligators, but they had the Chinese Alligators put up… All the Aldabra Tortoise’s were out;







These guys (and gals) love the mud…



Then we went inside the reptile building…



Prehensile-Tailed Skink





Asian Water Dragons





Leaf Tailed Gecko





Pit Viper





American Alligator





This is a Rhinoceros Iguana, a big fellow. It must have been feeding time, and he knew where they fed from. He was banging on and stalking around the door…





We finished here and moved into the Primate House (monkees). I didn’t get any good pictures there, and it seemed as though they didn’t have many “species” in there. Keep in mind, we normally go to the Audobon Zoo in New Orleans, where they emphasize different animals… It’s been 3 or 4 years since we’ve been here.



From the Primate House we wandered to the Red Rocks Area. Here they have the Camels, Giraffes, Large Cats, Zebras, and other wildbeasts.



These 2 are NOT native to anything here.





This is DS and me, taken by DW. I feel confident you can tell which one is whom… (psssst. Look at the hair, or lack of)



NEXT: Day 3, St. Louis Zoo: Part 2 The Big Cats and the rest of the Day

[luvnwdwgal]

Nice update Bill! I love zoos, although I'd have to say that the reptiles are my least favorites. We live just about half way in between 2 zoos, each only about an hour away, one in Toledo and the other in Cleveland, and I can't get my DH to go to either one. His excuse is "we've been there already". Looking forward to your next installment!

[GoofyMom]

Great TR so far, Bill! Thanks for including that photo with you and your DS. It's nice to put a face with your name. (And a colour to your DS's hair - speaking as a Mom of a DD who went Fuschia this past winter)

[LizardCop]

Day 3, St. Louis Zoo: Part 2 The Big Cats and the rest of the Day

Now, to the big cats…

Cheetah


This was a hard shot, it is down in a “pit” below us and the have fencing between us and it. Fortunately, I was able to zoom in and get a focus lock on the cat instead of the fence.

Here is another hard one, and I didn’t think I was going to get it. A Snow Leopard playing just inside the fence…


The tigers were hiding back in the shadows and I couldn’t get any good shots of them, but here is a Jaguer that was pacing the fence line;


A few more of the critters we saw, this is a Takin;


This weird look critter is a Okapi. It looks like a cross between a wilderbeast, zebra, and giraffe…


This Kangaroo was hiding just over the wall, and was a little surprised when I peeked over to take a picture…


Griaffes…


On to the birds… My favorite, and the only one I took pictures of, is the Eagle. This one is in a large cage, but with the wires set like they are, it was hard to get a good picture. When no one was looking, I leaned over and set the lens against the wireand took a couple of pictures. Here they are;


Then we moved on to the fun animals, Ground Hogs, Seals and Polar Bears…

Ground Hogs


Seals Playing



Polar Bears


It was getting close to noon, so we stopped at one of the gift shops. DW bough a nice t-shirt for the 2 year old next door and DS found a couple of things he liked. My sister called and let us know they were done at the doctor and were at her house, so we headed back to the parking lot and left.

We got back to my sisters and decided to go to Applebees for lunch. It was a toss up between there and Denny’s, Denny’s lost…

Now, this is a relatively new Applebees, 3 years ago it was prime farmland, cornfields to be exact. And the road was a 2 lane with no shoulders. Now, it’s a 4 lane and the corn fields are now housing developments and shopping centers. It’s off N. Green Mountain Road, for those familiar with the area. We followed my sister over, she had mom in the car with her. She hates the main roads, and there’s no way I could have found my way back with the constant turning she did to get to the restaurant. Anyway, we get there and enjoyed a wonderful meal. I followed sister back to her house and we lounged away the afternoon.

Well, I say we lounged, but not literally. Sister had to go pick up her daughter from work and bring her home. My nephew has been home all summer and he was packing to go back to college, and the living room looked like a bomb went off. We helped him pack, and helped prepare dinner, as we could. And we did lounge a little. I did get a chance to sit outside and enjoy the weather and critters.

Speaking of weather, it was GREAT. The temps were in the upper 50’s/low 60’s at night and into the low to mid 70’s during the day, low humidity. Remember, I’m from northwest Florida, where it had been in the mid to upper 90’s with humidity in to 200% range, heat indices upwards of 105-110+F… This was like…heaven!!!

Anyway, BIL got home and we ate dinner. My niece made this really great spinach lasagna dish, it as really good!! Come to find out, it was a recipe my sister got from our aunt, mom’s sister. And now, we have it too. We’ll be trying it this weekend!!! After dinner and the clean-up, the males helped BIL and nephew load their cars with everything that nephew was taking back to college with him. Sister couldn’t believe we got it all in, and had room left over!

We spent the rest of the evening watching TV and chatting.

DAY 4: Flea Markets, Antiques, and the start back home

[luvnwdwgal]

Thanks for all the animal pics Bill! Glad you're enjoying the weather!

[Figmentlvr427]

Those pictures are so great!! I don't remember the last time I went to a zoo. (besides AK park) Looks like you had a great time.