Biloxi Red, Yellow and Oranges (no Blues here!)

Breakfast with the kids (Melody and Family) consisted of freshly squeezed organic orange juice, scrumptious steel cut oats and a yummy organic fruit salad. Truly, when I feed my body well, I am lovingly feeding my mind and soul. It was a wonderful albeit quick visit to begin our sunshiny Florida morning.

An exciting addition to our new family was made as well! An Android Smartphone that was no longer needed by Erez became an inexpensive purchase that will hopefully prove to be a useful tool in our travels. Currently, we own a basic Net10 flip phone — no bells and whistles here, and for the most part, we’ve been quite happy with its efficiency and cheap 10 cents per minute calls, no contract, no fees. Sadly however, the pay-as-you-go SIM card will not transfer over to the newly acquired smartphone. Bah humbug. So for now, until further research is done, we’ll use our ‘Desire’ Droid for Wi-fi access and the Net10 for basic calls and text messages. I wish that a phone company would come up with a phone plan that encompassed all of North America. It’s difficult to swallow paying 2 separate plans, for both the US and Canada, especially when 1 of those accounts will be ‘inactive’ for 6 months. We maintain our Canadian phone during our travels, year round. One telephone service contract is enough, thank you very much!

After leaving our eastbound friends to head west towards Louisiana, the next decision was an attempt to find inexpensive accommodation before our planned ‘high priced’ day (tomorrow) in the French Quarter. We discovered an RV park right in the heart of downtown New Orleans that appealed to us with our 1 day stay in the city called the French Quarter RV Resort. By far, this will be one of the most expensive RV parks we’ve stayed at during our travels, but because they honour a ½ price discount for Passport America members, the fee is affordable, and well worth the convenience of being smack dab in the bosom of New Orleans. The touted beauty of this RV Resort lay in the security features offered, with gated 24 hour video and foot security. Needed, I think, with the city projects on the outskirts of the French Quarter. Big shiny objects like an Airstream trailer might attract unwanted visitors. And thus, I like to play it safe. slaDE~ was comfortable with staying just outside of the heart in a Walmart parking lot, boondocking for the night before checking in to the Resort. However, I didn’t feel as secure in such surroundings.

With this in mind, I was scouring the map for a relatively close-to-New Orleans pitstop for the night. And Biloxi, Mississippi had our name all over it. On the Gulf of Mexico and the Mississippi Sound, Biloxi is a noted deep-sea fishing and tourist centre which seemingly thrives with big name Casinos by the waterfront (Katrina and the tanking economy devastated this once opulent metropolitan centre). Upon closer inspection, it certainly appeared to be a really cool part of the world that neither of us had visited. And with a few quick phone calls, we found that the Grand Casino could offer us complimentary parking for the evening with 24 hour security as a bonus. Sweet!

After parking Airabella, with the sun barely skirting the horizon, I managed to catch some truly gorgeous sunset shots on the still Gulf waters from the man-made beach’s edge. You be the judge …. tell me what you think of the photos!

As with any Casino, many offer perks when joining as a club member. The 2 for 1 seafood buffet sounded like a divine treat. Crab legs out the ying-yang and lots of decent food made for a perfect ending to a great day!

We HIGHLY recommend the Grand Casino as a wonderful spot to boondock whilst visiting the Biloxi coastal area. Several nights stay here plus the option to unhitch ones trailer is allowed.

Casino camping (a form of boondocking, where no camp services are provided) is an wonderful option when looking for free overnight parking. The RVTravel.com newsletter pledges: “Forget about shopping centers or interstate rest areas — you’re apt to get a middle-of-the-night knock on the door asking you to move. Even many Wal-Marts have posted “No Overnight Parking” signs. Some truck stops are okay, but they’re noisy. Casinos, on the other hand, are hospitable to campers.” However, calling the Casino in advance and checking in with security is a common courtesy and preference. Our boondocking experience thus far in our Airstream travels has been, for the most part, positive and safe. Our Airstream is well insulated from noisy truck stops, so we don’t mind staying there. Wal-marts are good in that security cameras usually scan the parking lots 24-7, but finding businesses with Overnight Privileges is few and far between.