Chapter 1 - The Day Has Come

Welcome to the Crabby and Chipper Travels blog!!!

Before we start sharing our adventure, I want to take a moment to explain the simple meaning behind our blog name.  Generally speaking, Corp has a crabbier disposition and I have a more chipper disposition.  Put it together and Crabby and Chipper Travels was born.

Now off to the fun stuff!  Our adventure began on December 1, 2021, after we spent over six months researching vehicles, scooters, best routes, and everything in between.  Our motto is and will always be "prepare for the worst...hope for the best".     

Major purchases included a 2014 Toyota 4Runner and 2011 Yahama Zuma scooter.  We decided on the 4Runner because the parts are the same no matter where you purchase them in the world.  For months, we had daily deliveries from Amazon with all the things we thought we might need.  It will be fun to see how many of those things we actually use. 

Our crazy rig setup with scooter, bikes, and cargo rack

On December 1, after tearful goodbyes, we left home.  Destination - Pensacola, FL.  Why Pensacola, FL?  Not sure.  Just decided that was going to be our first place.  Florida was a test trip to see if we were prepared for our upcoming road trip to Mexico after Christmas.

This is Charlie's first big road trip and he did great throughout the whole trip. 

Charlie resting comfortably in his bed in the truck

We booked hotels along the way using hotels.com and the dog friendly filter.  We usually narrowed down to one or two hotels and then would drive by each before booking.  We booked our preferred hotel on site through their app.  It worked really well.  We definitely recommend it.

In Memphis, TN, we drove by Graceland.  We didn't go in because we thought they wouldn't allow dogs.  We were wrong.  They do allow dogs.  We missed out by not asking.  We will not make that mistake again.  We walked down Beale St. and enjoyed some gator gumbo.  It was pretty tasty.

Beale Street - Home of Rock -n- Roll in Memphis, TN

Butterfly Wings mural was stunning and beautiful

Who can't resist a photo with a of huge Christmas tree?

When we went back to the truck after exploring, we discovered one of our bike seats was stolen.  Jerks!  Not a great lasting impression of Memphis and don't plan to return.

Nothing exciting to report in Jackson, MS.  Next stop New Orleans, LA.  We spent only a few hours there.  Corp didn't for the "herding of cattle" like feel to the place.

Charlie trying out his new backpack

I was happy to get some beignets at Cafe DuMonde...yummy!

The street art in New Orleans is always great!

The street performer playing "Sarah Smiles" by Hall and Oates was awesome!

Nothing exciting to report in Ocean Springs, MS.  Nice walking beach and marina.  

Can't believe this is the first beach we have seen in almost two years

We stopped for roadside lunch in Downtown Mobile, AL.  It was super clean and had lots of historic buildings.  Mobile would be a great long weekend getaway.  It's been added to our bucket list.

We were excited to arrive at our AirBNB cottage in Pensacola on December 4.    

"The greatest adventure is what lies ahead"...more posts to come soon!