We reluctantly finished our cruise up the Mississippi River, stopping in Greenville, Mississippi rather than Memphis. Just 200 mile short of our expected destination. The Duchess just did not have enough time to get to Memphis because of the flow of the water downstream hindering our progress and also because of the river height we couldn’t get under the final bridge. Anyway the cruise was fantastic and we were all bused to the airport, the Hotel or Graceland, Elvis’s home, where they were to start a tour. We went straight to the airport so we could fly to Minneapolis and then on to Fargo, North Dakota where we stayed with Randy and Nicole Midgarden. Philip did two hours on the bus and again vowed he would never do a bus tour and then onto a regional jet which did nothing for his headache. He was very glad when we reached Fargo.

We had a lovely evening with Randy and Nicole, enjoying the warmth inside as the snow fell outside. It certainly looks beautiful with a fresh coating of snow but is very mushy outside.

Tuesday morning (P- Judith mentioned it was a foggy morning again! Well she was correct this morning it wouldn’t wipe off the window!!) We drove up to Grand Forks and on to Minto where we met with Dexter Sitzer, Harriston Industries, before driving to Park River to see Joel Midgarden, Nicole’s dad whom we met years ago through Dobmac and became great friends with us over the years. We spent several hours with him, reminiscing about old times. While we were visiting with Joel, his other daughter, Barb also arrived to visit with him. It was great to catch up with her. It’s many years since we have seen each other, but we keep in touch via good old Facebook.

Back to Dexters for the night where we spent a lovely evening catching up, an early morning visit to Harriston before heading back down the highway to Grand Forks for a spot of shopping and then onto Fargo and back to Nicole and Randy’s.

(P- It was great to visit Harriston and revisit with the people we know there and also look at a Potato Planter that Harriston Manufacture that is based on our very own Dobmac Planter which has been a very successful product that has evolved with Dobmac over the years. Seeing one of my designs being used in the large USA potato industry gives me quite a rewarding feeling. Harriston has put the mechanism into the large American machines.)

Had a FaceTime chat with Joanne and the children, they only have one sleep to go before they start their trip to meet us in NYC. We arrive tomorrow, oh wait! We just got a message to say all flights into NYC tomorrow have been cancelled because of storms. That’s Joanne’s fault because she wanted snow when they arrived. Looks like they might get it!!!!! Our flights have been re scheduled for Friday. Three flights instead of two. We will still get there just before Joanne and Tristram arrive.

(P- I am starting to think Judith is having the odd memory lapse! She omitted to mention I went to buy a pair of walking shoes. I couldn’t find any to suit but guess what!! Judith did! The next store guess who found AND PURCHASED a very nice leather Handbag ( complete with a special Ipad zipper pocket) GUESS WHAT! The special “Ipad Pocket” was actually a concealed weapon pocket!! Fortunately the Hand gun holster is velcroed in and once removed the IPad fits. My guess is Judith will be one of the only Ladies in Tasmania with a concealed weapon handbag! I had trouble concealing my grin when we found out!

Philip also FORGOT to mention that he also bought some shoes and two t-shirts and two pair of trousers, but who is counting!!!!!!

Friday and Saturday

We have wandered our way up the mighty Mississippi River, visiting some lovely old town centres and beautiful old homes and museums. We have seen more than enough mansions, although every one has been very different and the history of each has been interesting. In Natchez we visited several homes and saw a wonderful costume display in the upstairs rooms of Magnolia Mansion. We wandered our way around the town looking at all the lovely old buildings. The weather was misty to start the day but warmed up to be quite steamy. Again the Azaleas were magnificent and gave a bright splash of colour to the day.

After 4.30 we sat out on the front deck of the Duchess and watched the crew cast off. One poor crewman had to don waders and wade out into the river to unhook the bow ropes from the moorings, because they were under the high water. Probably wouldn’t get away with this In Australia. It was very pleasant sitting on the rocking chairs on deck soaking up the afternoon sun.

Very few other travellers spend time out here.

We woke as we were mooring in Vicksburg, another very pretty town, built on a bluff above the river. (P-Judith woke and announced it was an extremely foggy morning – it was until I wiped the fog off the windows, the day improved miraculously after that!). We rode the Bus on the loop around town and then took it to the highest point where we hopped off and started our own walking tour of the area, (have to get some exercise somehow). Again there are many wonderful old buildings, and then there are some that would be a maintenance nightmare, with rotting weather boards, sinking verandahs, overgrown gardens etc. We stopped off at several small museums, the first being The Old Courthouse Museum. It was built in just 2 years between 1958 and 1960 for $100,000. It survived Union Shelling, during the Civil War and a direct hit from a tornado in 1953. Now it is filled with artefacts and memorabilia for all to enjoy.

Further down town we stopped in the Main Street at Abraham’s Department Store, continually owned by the one family for 90 years. It was very much an old style store, with old fashioned clothes. Philip found a pair of jeans he thought might fit and also a smart outfit with matching shoes and hat band. (Check out the photos).

Continuing up the street we stopped at the Beidenharn Coca Cola Museum. In this building Coca Cola was bottled for the first time, previously it had only been dispensed at Soda fountains.

After a walk back to the Duchess for lunch we took off again along the flood levee, looking at the murals along the concrete levee walls. Some great history depicted here.

It’s been another great day full of history. We are off again soon and tomorrow is a river cruising day.

( P- The history of the Slave trade, Plantation farming, Mississippi River and the Civil war has been fascinating. The “Warm Southern Welcome” into every shop and Museum, along with the awesome Southern Food has been a real highlight – I really do need to sample more food so the new jeans fit – only 2.04m waist measurement and a .9 m leg length – they must be for the Giant out of Jack and the Bean Stalk,)

Thursday, March 15

This morning we woke with trees outside our window. We had tied up for the morning alongside the levee just a short bus ride from St Francisville. Again as the river is so high, it’s not where they would normally dock but on the opposite side of the river. The mooring ropes were thrown round the trees to hold us in place as we spend the morning exploring this gorgeous little historical town.

Our first stop was an extra included because we have missed other stops. That is “The Myrtles Plantation”. We debated wether we would tour another Plantation home but we were very pleased that we did as it was quite different to Nottoway, more a home than a mansion. The Myrtles Plantation is a classic southern home and is said to be one of America’s most Haunted homes. As we toured the home we were regaled with ghost stories and tales of ghosts still visiting the site regularly. Believe it or not!!!!

After the tour we were offered coffee and dessert (at 10am) bread pudding, which was very very nice. Thankfully just a couple of mouthfuls. Once we were back on the bus we continued into the historic part of St Francisville. We hopped off the bus at the Grace Episcopal Church, which was built in 1863, this is one of the states oldest churches that still stands today. It’s sits in a gorgeous setting with large oak trees and beautiful Azaleas along the fence line and is a most peaceful and serene place for the old cemetery next door.

We wandered along the old streets admiring the old homes, courthouse and various other buildings until we reached “Grandmothers Buttons”. A very interesting store with a variety of vintage buttons, threads and jewellery, clothing, books and many other lovely gifts.

Further on we wandered through an Antique Store, the Small Methodist church, past the Market hall and the town hall before catching the bus back to the Boat for our noon departure. It was a beautiful day wandering the streets and absorbing some history.

After a delicious lunch we moved to the bow of the American Duchess to watch our departure. The gangway was winched in and the ropes loosened as we backed out into main channel and began to head upstream again. We enjoyed some time on our deck before Philip closed his eyes for 10 minutes, which turned into and hour and a half. Cruising life is so tough.

We went to a lecture about the river which was quite interesting. The river carries an average of 436,000 tons of sediment every day.

(P- the flow of the Mississippi is normally an average of 15,360,000 litres per second, it is currently double that at 30,720,000 litres per second – in lay terms one hell of a lot of water.

Yesterday for only the 12th time since 1927 the Army Engineer Corps opened a large flood gate at the Bonnet Carré spillway which diverts flood water via another watercourse to the Gulf of Mexico.

What Judith omitted to say was she assisted the proprietor of the “Grandmothers Button Store’s” retirement fund and depleted some of ours whilst she was “browsing” the beautiful store!!!)

Wednesday 15th

Overnight we tied up to the jetty at Baton Rouge, the capital of Louisiana. We woke to a lovely day with clear skies and little wind. After breakfast we caught the Hop on Hop Off shuttle for a lap of the city centre, listening to the commentary and deciding where we wanted to go back to. Once we had done the loop we hopped off one bus and onto another to do the tour out to Nottoway Plantation. This is one of the largest antebellum plantation houses in the south and was built by John Randolph in 1858. In these early years the Plantation covered 6200 acres and the owner at the time had 155 African American slaves to work the sugarcane.

Nottoway sits 200 feet behind the Mississippi River Levee. We were originally suppose to stop here on the boat but with the river so high our landing jetty was totally covered by water, so we bussed from Baton Rouge. The home is surrounded by oaks, magnolias, pecan and olive trees. Our guide, dressed in period costume gave us a great commentary about the history of the house and its inhabitants. Many of the rooms still have the original furniture and decor. It is a very well preserved example of a Plantation home.

After returning to Baton Rouge and our Boat, we grabbed a quick lunch and then headed back out to catch the Hop On Hop Off bus again to the State Capital Building where we took the elevator to the 27th floor (P-Would you believe the lift had an operator to press the buttons! Long time since I have seen that – Oh that’s rite It’s a government building – some things are the same around the world!!) for a wonderful view over the river and the city. After descending we decided to walk back to the boat. It was a lovely afternoon and we really enjoyed the walk. The city centre is full of government buildings and banks, very few shops, just a few cafes, supermarkets and bars. We made our way through a few blocks and then walked down to the levee bank along the bank back to the boat.

Another very interesting day.

Tuesday March 13

Today is a cruising day as we start to head up river towards Baton Rouge. After a lovely breakfast served in the dining room we went back to our cabin and sat out on our deck for a while to catch up on our blog and enjoy the scenery. The river traffic is many and varied, from tugs to barges, cruise ships to cargo ships. At one stage we were 4 vessels wide. Barges parked along the bank, our Boat, a cargo ship heading down river and a barge under tow heading up river. And still room to spare.

Later in the morning we went down to a talk about the stops we will be making and how the hop on hop off buses will be running.

Some info about the river.

The Mississippi River drains 46% of the United States, from the Rockies to the Appalachian Mountains and from Canada to the Gulf of Mexico and is 2320 mile long. In this area the river water is silty.

The barges on the river carry 1500 ton each and each tow can vary from 1 barge to 20 barges all connected together. This removes an enormous amount of traffic from the roads. As 1 barge equals 58 large semi truck loads. That means that a tow with 15 barges equals 870 large semis. Pretty impressive really.

The American Duchess, our boat, is 375 feet in length, and the beam is 105 feet. The paddle wheel is 27 feet tall and 36 feet wide. With the smoke stacks up it is 90 feet tall ( they hydraulically fold to pass under low bridges).

Last night we left New Orleans and sailed through a very industrial port area and the further from the city we have gone the more rural it has become. In some ways it’s good that the river is so high because it means we can see over the levee bank to the fields beyond. Cotton, corn, tobacco and grain are among the crops. Also some of the homes along the way, many of which we can only see the roofs as the ground is so much lower over the levee bank. Factories of all shapes and sizes. In one place the water was within feet of the top of the levee.

It’s quite amazing to see some huge homes on the other side of the levee.

4 pm and we are sitting on our deck and the sun is streaming down, a cloudless sky and the river passing by. What more could we want.!!!!

(P- noted in a shop window in the Big Easy – For a lady to go shopping with her husband is similar to her husband going hunting with the Game Warden!)

Monday March 12

The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn….Sorry I mean Philip and Judith

Welcome to our new home for the next week. Yep that’s right, we will be cruising down the river, or rather up the mighty Mississippi River for the next week on the American Steam Boat Company’s American Duchess Paddle Steamer. (Philip was surfing the net trying to find a “something / somewhere different” place to visit for a week prior to meeting Joanne, Tristram and family in NYC. Once he found this river adventure there was no stopping him!)

We are on the first trip of the season and the river is very high. The river is predicted to reach a peak tomorrow of 17 feet. Because of the height of the river some of our stops have been changed and some shore excursions altered, but this doesn’t really worry us as we haven’t done any of them anyway. I’m sure that it will still be a great trip.

The Paddle steamer is beautiful. We were welcomed on board with a glass of champagne and some great jazz music. Then up to our suite on the third floor. Our room is lovely with a spacious balcony and seperate bedroom and living room. There are 2 restaurants on board and a lovely show lounge. Dinner was awesome with high quality food and fine service.

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The Mississippi River is a main “highway” through a significant part of the mid part of the USA. The amount of river traffic is huge, hundreds of 1500 tonne barges, tugs and reasonable size freighters ply this immense waterway. We love different types of adventures, I am not sure if it’s quite the adventure of Tom Sawer or Huckelberry Finn but we sure are enjoying the sights, history and hospitality as we share a part of Tom and Huck’s river.

This morning after breakfast we walked down to the mighty Mississippi River again and around Jackson Square then back to the Hotel to catch a Highlights of New Orleans tour. Carol is our tour guide and she turned out to be quite a character.

New Orleans is 300 years old this year.

Our tour takes us on an adventure through a city filled with history and culture, we drive through the Garden district with its magnificent old homes, through the Mardi Gras route and past St Louis Cathedral. We explore and lunch at the French Quarter (a local delicacy -Oysters Creole) and visit City Park, a stop at St Louis Cemetery #3 and learn why the tombs are above ground and so large.

Things we learnt while we were on the tour. New Orleans is actually 90-110 Miles from the mouth of the Mississippi River. The river here is between 250 to 500 feet deep and is 1/2 mile wide. All streets in New Orleans, rather than running north south, east and west follow the course of the river. The French Quarter actually has Spanish architecture. The original French buildings were burnt down in fires and when the area was rebuilt the Spanish were here so it was rebuilt in a Spanish style. 5000 people live in the French Quarter, 10 million visit each year. New Orleans has 60” rain each year. We drove past Tulare University, a beautiful complex and I’m very glad my kids didn’t go there with fees of $51,000 per year not including food and board. It has a student enrolment of 9000.

During the afternoon we stopped at City Park and Morning Call Cafe for the world famous Beignets. Carole had talked these up all tour so we were looking forward to tasting them. Off the bus and into the cafe and people are lined up and waiting for their serves. We found a table and were served coffee and Beignets. Well first impressions, interesting. Coffee was average, so Philip said and the “World Famous” Beignets were deep fried dough balls dusted with icing sugar. Three each. Philip tried his and left 2 1/2. I tried mine and ate one. Dry, doughy and no taste. Others raved about theirs up and ate them all very quickly.

The cemetery was interesting with all the family crypts above ground. The ground is so marshy that bodies cannot be buried so they built family tombs. A body is placed in a casket inside the tomb and the tomb is sealed for 1 year and 1 day. Then it’s opened and the casket is emptied of its bones and the bones are pushed to the back of the tomb and the casket awaits its next body. This continues for many many many years. As each person is buried their name is added to the front or sides of the tomb as on a normal headstone.

After a couple more very relaxing days in Sun City, we left Tony and Judy’s at 5.15 am to start our flights to New Orleans, via Houston, arriving at 4pm. Taxied to the Roosevelt Astoria where we checked in to our Hotel. After depositing our luggage in our room we walked down to Bourbon Street, the heart of New Orleans oldest neighbourhood, in the French Quarter. This area is well known for its bars and strip clubs, neither of which we entered. Just walking down the street is an assault on the senses. The noise, the smell and the sights are almost too much to take in. Bands were playing in all the bars, which were open to the street, people were crowded onto balconies, drinking and smoking, and it wouldn’t matter what you wore you would fit right in, from smart suits and ties and classy dresses to the briefest shorts and tops and the tightest trousers. ( P- Fashion tip of the day — NEVER wear tights as outer wear if you exceed about size 10!!! – wow was there some scarey sights!!!!) All shapes and sizes and everyone thought they looked great. Families, singles, couples, bachelorette parties and bucks parties. Everyone was here and all fitted in.

We walked along for several blocks taking in the atmosphere before turning and heading down towards the river. It’s much quieter here and we were able to enjoy more of the architecture of the buildings, some with quite a history. It would be great to take a walking tour of this area to learn some of that history but not tonight.

We stopped at New Orleans Creole Cookery Seafood restaurant for dinner and had a wonderful meal. I had Napoleon Crab Cakes, which just melted in my mouth and Philip had Red Fish Ponchatrain, which was fish with crab, potatoes and beans. Both meals were very tasty. After dinner we wandered back along Bourbon Street and then back to the hotel. It’s been a long day and we are both ready for an early night and we are looking forward to tomorrow’s new adventures !

It’s been a lovely few days just relaxing and catching up with friends, overcoming jet lag, (Philip mainly) and doing some exploring. We have done some big walks around the complex here. After 5pm you are able to walk through the golf courses and these are lovely to walk on. We have stopped and chatted to some of the residents here and of course they are interested in where we are from, why we are here and where we are heading to. Evening walks are so nice as the sun sets, there is no wind and the temperature is lovely. (P- wow this is sounding romantic almost!!)

Two nights ago we attended a street party next door to Tony and Judy’s, for St Patrick’s Day. The lady of the house decorates for every holiday and she had gone all out for St Patrick’s day. We all had to look the part with something green and as you can see from the photos we chose appropriate attire. (All supplied by the neighbour). All the main rooms in the house were decorated with the green theme. It must have cost a fortune buying all the decorations, and she had boxes of decorations stored in the garage for all other holidays. It was good meeting so many others who were all interested in our travels etc. Also in the garage, much to Philips interest was a Delorean car. Never heard of it before but it is an Irish car. What’s more it is made from stainless steel. All you need to do to polish it is rub with steel wool.

Thursday 8th

After breakfast Philip and I decided to go for a drive, so packing the camera, hats and water we headed for the hills. After negotiating the traffic in Palm Dessert, (the Indian Wells Tennis Tournament is on), we drove up into the hills. Had some great views back over Palm Desert. The hills are extremely barren and rocky not a blade of grass around. It’s amazing to see what a difference some water makes. There are many gated communities around this area and most of them have a golf course or two. Where we are staying has two. In the Palm Valley area there are 124 golf courses, all beautifully green with lovely lakes. It makes for a very pretty a township area.

We continued to climb up into the hills, climbing to 6000 feet and into the snow line, not that there was much snow left, if there was it was just a few patches. We drove through several Indian Reservations before descending back down to the I10 freeway back to Palm Springs. On the return trip we stopped at an Outlet Centre to stretch our legs and get some lunch. Oh a bit of shopping as well!!!

Just after we got back Judy was heading to aqua aerobics so I went with her as her guest. It was a great hour of easy exercise. I was the youngest there by quite a bit😜. The oldest lady there was 87 and she kept up with all the rest of us. (P- Tony and I exercised our jaws catching up on old times) It was a beautiful pool facility with a huge pool indoors and another outside with a spa alongside and also an indoor spa, which we used after our exercise class. Then back home on the golf cart. This is just one of 3 pool complexes in this community.

Later in the afternoon Philip and I went for a walk, initially just down the street but then onto the golf course golf cart road. It was a magnificent evening no breeze at all and very pleasant walking. We spent several hours sitting outside enjoying a wine and some pleasant conversation before sharing dinner.

Friday 9th We were up and on the road by 8.30 this morning heading towards Pomona on the outskirts of Los Angeles to have a look at a Quilt and Craft show and a Home and Gardens show. They were both good little exhibitions and at each we found some good ideas. Of course, I had to make a couple of purchases at the Quilt show, no fabric just a pattern and some novelties. (P- Please note there were no complaints from me re the purchase so I expect the same when I go ( antique farm machinery) toy shopping!!!)

Later Philip and I took the golf cart up to the supermarket (P- I know how Fred Flintstone feels now after driving one of those!) to get a few things and we did a lap of the complex. Another enjoyable evening was spent outside enjoying a wine before dinner. It’s been a very relaxing few days

We are in Melbourne waiting for our flight to the USA. We are heading off for 8 weeks of travelling, 5 of them with Joanne and Tristram and their children. To see all our adventures stay tuned to this blog and follow the places we visit, the things we eat and the fun we will have both before the family arrives and after they join us.

Ahead of us now is the 14 hour flight to Los Angeles and then a drive out through Los Angeles to Palm Desert where will will be staying with friends. A lot of research into what aircraft model, Dr and Specialist appointments and more drugs and I am hoping Philip travels well! It’s impossible to keep him home and he is always saying ” I can feel unwell just as well away from home as being home” . We have a very slow itinerary so plenty of rest time is allowed and have chosen many unvisited places for our exciting Journey.