Islandview Casino And Resort Gulfport

... another LaQuinta in Biloxi. I have been very impressed with the updates and cleanliess of the locations we have stayed.

Alex continues to enjoy hotel life. The world is his playground...or his resting place. The girls steal the show everywhere we go. I trimmed their faces before leaving Brownsville to keep them neat and pretty. Poodles must always look their best.

... Biloxi, Mississippi - Las Vegas of the Deep South - where we park at the Hard Rock Casino. Gamble all night at the Hard Rock and the Beaux something or other which have been rebuilt since Katrina (I believe the Beaux may have survived the storm having been built specifically to survive such calamity). The rest of the area still shows the affects/devastation from the hurricane - many casinos no longer exist - lots of bare foundations.

... Lloyd and Steph are friends of ours from Chicago where Dan and Lloyd worked together at PSINet and Lloyd was in our wedding. They have two beautiful little girls - Marissa (4, almost 5 going on 30) and Nicelle (1 and 1/2). Lloyd is the BEST cook and did not disappoint on this trip. We have a long standing disagreement on which seafood cooking method is better - Lloyd prefers the "boil" while I swear by steaming. But I gotta tell you - I was ...

A nice and early departure from Mississippi, heading towards the wide open spaces of Texas. passed the "Cross" along the way- what a sight. Tonight's stay in a small town just outside of Dallas. Long day, lot's of traffic towards the end. and 10 hours of travelling.

Today we left Gulfport, Florida for Las Vegas, and made the conscious decision to spend the first night in Gulfport, Mississippi, how apropos. Jose Luis is doing 100% of the driving, he is a master at commanding the U-haul. Tango and Cassis are taking up the majority of the front seat, stretched out and slumbering soundly with every bump of the truck's tires ...

... all the M's of the McDonalds signs are torn down...how is anyone supposed to have their usual hamburger? Terrible weather consequences! On the other side from Houston onwards the scenery has started becoming much greener and humid...with plenty of swamps to be found. To entertain us we have Cajun Music on the Radio and some sort of French dialect to go with it, while they announce the "Poo Parts Bakery" in New Orleans ...

... asked a couple of guys in the car next to us and they told us that it was now open and just ahead of us. Sure enough less than half a mile further along we crossed the brand-spanking new bridge which provided us with beautiful views of the bay and the remains of the old bridge.

The road from Ocean Springs to Gautier looked remarkably familiar. We think it may have been the one the Top Gear team used on their jaunt from Florida to New Orleans. If you never saw that episode of Top ...

... Board meeting, and I got an email this morning about the cat killer, and decided to call you and find out what was going on and what we could do to help," Tara explained, "that's why I didn't have time to talk to you!" Unfortunately, HSSM can't help, but at least I found out that Jason lied about he and Tara being good friends and calling her to ask for help before he "poisoned" them... This morning, Chris is at the Toyota dealership up the road waiting for the ...

... I guess it is a form of desensitization, and I want to try and be careful not to upset anyone who isn't as desensitized as I am now. It's a strange place to be in, like when Chris first taught me to "see" light. I was cognizant of being able to see light and of my previous inability to see it before. It was very "Flowers for Algernon." The same is true here... I never could understand how my friend Carolyn could know so many stories about so much abuse and neglect and cruelty. How ...

... astonished to see the mould on the walls and the overall chaos of furniture, food, clothes, papers, books, computers, a refrigerator and photos all mixed together in a muddy mess. It was hard to distinguish one room from another, and my protective boots had to trample through it all just to begin the clean-up. Mould had already spread all over the walls and roof, as the water line was at least twelve feet high. The spirits rise and motivation of the ten ...