Yogi Bear's Jellystone Park, Love Bugs & A Leaky Window

Today we headed south from St. Joseph to Robert, Louisiana. We would be staying at Yogi Bear's Jellystone Park.

Here was our pull-thru site.

The park had ponds where you could paddleboat.

It had Yogi Bear who allowed Marlon to sniff his underarm.

It had 2 pools as well as a fountain area for kids or kids at heart.

Jellystone, as well as Shiloh, was also well-attended by the wonderful Love Bug.

The front of your car or rv will be plastered in love bugs if you drive during the day in Louisiana or Florida during May or September.

These bugs are mating by the force of the female (the bigger of the two) and travel hooked together. Their splat on your car will ruin your paint if not removed within a couple of days.

Our second day at Jellystone provided us with a huge downpour of rain for about 30 minutes and allowed us to note the RV's leaky window by the passenger seat first hand.

Luckily for us, Dixie RV Super Stores (largest RV dealer in Louisiana) was just 12 miles away. They made room in their schedule for us to come in and have our "loose window" diagnosed. After 3 hours at the service center, our window was fixed. We hope.

After delaying our day-trip to New Orleans one day because of a leaky window, we were ready to head for The Big Easy.

For more pictures of Jellystone or Dixie RV, go to http://public.fotki.com/Marlonfleenor/1/2007/september/jellystone-campgrou/ and http://public.fotki.com/Marlonfleenor/1/2007/september/dixie-rv-supercente/ .

To be continued...

St. Joseph, Louisiana

The day after visiting Vicksburg, Mississippi we decided to explore the town closest to our RV Park. That town would be St. Joseph, Louisiana, located in the Tensas Parish.

In Louisiana, counties are referred to as Parishes. Parishes come from Louisiana's heavily Catholic heritage. Catholic dioceses are divided into parishes.

St. Joseph was, well, a small town.

To see a few more pictures of St. Joseph, Louisiana, go to http://public.fotki.com/Marlonfleenor/1/2007/september/exploring-st-joseph-la/ .

To be continued...

Vicksburg-Famous for #2 Coca-Cola, Around Town

Besides being the site of the end of The Civil War, Vicksburg is also famous because Joseph Biedenharn first bottled Coca-Cola here in 1894.

Joseph Biedenharn began bottling Coca-Cola at his Biedenharn Candy Company in Vicksburg eight years after its 1886 invention in Atlanta, Georgia.

So we decided to visit the first Coca-Cola bottling plant located in Downtown Vicksburg on the cobble-stoned Washington Street.

Here is a representation of the town of Vicksburg when Coca-Cola was first bottled.

This was the original set-up required to provide carbonation to the bottled-beverage. It consisted of a carbonator and a gas generator.

The Museum exhibited a vast array of Coca-Cola memorabilia ranging from old bottle designs to advertising posters to bottling equipment.

Tarzan and Jane (Johnny Weismuller & Maureen O'Sullivan) appeared on this 1934 Coca-Cola tray.

The museum even had an old-fashioned toilet with elevated tank and pull chain to flush.

After using the facilities, Marlon attempted to make a phone call the old-fashioned way.

This is an advertisement from the 1940's as a wife anticipated the return of her GI husband from war.

Just a few blocks away, you can find the Vicksburg levee.

This levee wall details the various flood levels of the Mississippi throughout the years.

We walked through a Riverfront Art Park just across the street from the levee.

Here we are standing on the banks of The Mighty Mississippi River.

As we were leaving Vicksburg and the State of Mississippi, we stopped by the Mississippi Visitor's Center (kind of backward, we know).

Here Doug stands viewing the bridge which spans the Mississippi River and connects Mississippi to Louisiana.

For more pictures of the Biedenharn Coca-Cola Museum and Vicksburg, go to http://public.fotki.com/Marlonfleenor/1/2007/september/vicksburg-mississip/ .

To be continued...