Pictures of the Week 2008-13
Hello All,
After bidding farewell to our friends in Florida we hooked up the rig and headed out. We followed the Florida Turnpike until we intercepted I-75 north and stayed on it until I-10, where we turned to the west. We spent the night in Marianna, FL and then continued on I-10 west to Bay St. Louis, MS, where we “hung our hats” for a week.
Bay St. Louis and the surrounding area took a major hit from hurricane Katrina in August 2005. In addition to wind in excess of 140 mph a 32 foot wave hit the area. The damage was devastating. Recovery is just starting after over two years. We estimate it will take a decade before total recovery is achieved, and some areas will never be the same.
Friends of ours had a 2700 square foot stilt house on the bay. This photo is what is left of it--so sad! They have decided not to rebuild in the area.
After bidding farewell to our friends in Florida we hooked up the rig and headed out. We followed the Florida Turnpike until we intercepted I-75 north and stayed on it until I-10, where we turned to the west. We spent the night in Marianna, FL and then continued on I-10 west to Bay St. Louis, MS, where we “hung our hats” for a week.
Bay St. Louis and the surrounding area took a major hit from hurricane Katrina in August 2005. In addition to wind in excess of 140 mph a 32 foot wave hit the area. The damage was devastating. Recovery is just starting after over two years. We estimate it will take a decade before total recovery is achieved, and some areas will never be the same.
Friends of ours had a 2700 square foot stilt house on the bay. This photo is what is left of it--so sad! They have decided not to rebuild in the area.
In our travels we take a lot
of photos of churches. We find the
diversity fascinating. These photos are
of churches in the area after Katrina.
This is about as diverse as it gets. You have to admire the spirit of
the folks.
This is a temporary St. Clare
Parish Church in a tent building. Looks
pretty nice doesn’t it.
The following photo is of the
temporary Lakeshore Baptist Church in a Quonset hut type building.
This is the steeple from the
original Lakeshore Baptist Church that was recovered from the destroyed
church. They have it mounted along the
road in front of the temporary church.
This is what is left of the St Johns Catholic
Church.
We did note that there were
volunteers from many states in various camps that were helping with the
rebuilding of the churches.
It is so sad in that so many people lost everything. FEMA was slow to respond to their needs and when they did they were screwed up!! Insurance companies are not paying off on policies people have had for years.
On a brighter note there is a local artist that is taking trees that were killed in the storm and turning them into sculptures. We saw a number of them in our travels along the beachfront highway.
It is so sad in that so many people lost everything. FEMA was slow to respond to their needs and when they did they were screwed up!! Insurance companies are not paying off on policies people have had for years.
On a brighter note there is a local artist that is taking trees that were killed in the storm and turning them into sculptures. We saw a number of them in our travels along the beachfront highway.
During our week stay in the
area we took a side trip to Mobile, AL to visit the Bellingrath Gardens and
Home. We were hoping to hit the garden
at the peak of the Azalea blooming season.
But, we were about two weeks too late.
There were still some lovely azalea bushes but most were beyond their
prime.
While touring the garden we
came across this Indigo snake. These
non-venomous snakes are fairly common in the South. They are one of the good snakes that keep
down rodent populations. However, they
can be a bit spooky because it is not uncommon for them to travel with their
head up in the air eight to ten inches, similar to a Cobra. This guy is a good specimen. Those posts are about six inches. If you stretch him out he would be about five
foot in length.
During our stay in the area we
also visited the Stennis Space Center.
Of the eleven NASA sites throughout the country this is the second
largest in area--only Kennedy Space Center in Florida is larger. Most of the two hundred square mile Space
Center is a buffer zone. The center was
established in 1963 to test the engines of the rockets that took Americans to
the moon. It is named after the late
Mississippi Senator John C. Stennis.
Stennis Space Center is America’s largest rocket propulsion testing complex. Today the center tests all space shuttle main engines as well as rocket engines for spacecraft of the future.
The Saturn V rocket, which safely transported the first men to the moon aboard the Apollo spacecraft, is the largest space vehicle ever built in the United States. It was capable of placing 280,000 pounds of payload into Earth’s orbit or sending 95,000 pounds of cargo to the moon. It towered 363 feet high from the engines to the top of the escape tower. The 7.5 million pounds of thrust in the first stage is equivalent to 160 million horsepower. Now you can understand why they have a buffer zone around the center!! The noise generated by these engines must be deafening!
This photo is of a Saturn V main engine. It is huge and the Saturn V had five of these engines pushing the first stage.
Stennis Space Center is America’s largest rocket propulsion testing complex. Today the center tests all space shuttle main engines as well as rocket engines for spacecraft of the future.
The Saturn V rocket, which safely transported the first men to the moon aboard the Apollo spacecraft, is the largest space vehicle ever built in the United States. It was capable of placing 280,000 pounds of payload into Earth’s orbit or sending 95,000 pounds of cargo to the moon. It towered 363 feet high from the engines to the top of the escape tower. The 7.5 million pounds of thrust in the first stage is equivalent to 160 million horsepower. Now you can understand why they have a buffer zone around the center!! The noise generated by these engines must be deafening!
This photo is of a Saturn V main engine. It is huge and the Saturn V had five of these engines pushing the first stage.
Until next time,
Dave & Barb
The Traveling Browns
Dave & Barb
The Traveling Browns