New Orleans to Florifda

Hi, Everyone- Its days later than my last post so I have lost track of what travel day this post is but I'll just try to recap and catch y'all up.

We left New Orleans heading for Florida. Leaving New Orleans during the day made it possible to see the devastation from Katrina. We didn't see the worst hit area but we saw lots of ghost town-like commercial area and destroyed apartment buildings and flattened homes. There were also many very expensive neighborhoods on Lake Ponchatrain that had been completely rebuilt. These were some of the houses you saw up on pilings that had been totally lifted off the pilings and destroyed. Apparently the rich are doing OK after Katrina. These were some amazng homes. Overall, Lots of help still needed before it will be a world class city again. Sad.

We wanted to drive the coast area for the views so it took us through Mississippi and Alabama. The neat part was how much of the road was all on elevated causeways, due to so much of the coast being bayou. We crossed the mighty Mississippi. Yep, Big River. I just I was a little surprized on how much industry there was on the river. It looked like Seattle's shipyards along with refinery and gas plants lining the shores too.

When we got to Florida we decided to take the coastal route down the gulf. The oil spill had not done any migrating over that way( hopefully it never will) but we decided to see the worlds most beautiful beaches in pristine shape. The ride was faboulous but it was very slow going. Like driving Alki for hours. Lots of the beach is privately owned and covered with grand condos and homes. Some of the largest condo buildings I have ever seen. It reminded me of the large Las Vegas casino/hotels plopped down right on the beach.

We got to a great little community around Seaside. This was one of the highlights of the northern part of the coast. I am not sure if you remember Ron talking to us about this planned community, and how we drove down to the sister development north of Ocean Shores. It was really beautiful set here in Florida. It was a perfect beach town. It had been here a bit longer so the plants and trees have grown up to give it beautiful Florida charactor. The nicest thing was how it is nestled in a series of small little communities that all try to copy some of the charm because it was so successful. Some were more successful than others and some concentrated more on mixed use development so there were great shopping and it looked like good varied dining opportunities. I loved the concept and could live there for sure. It is close enough to major cities too, which makes it good for those owners and renters. Quaint! Ron said his new firm is involved in one project there and we tried to find it bsaed on what Ron told us, but couldn't locate. I took quite a few picyures of tne homes. I thought Ron would like to see them.

We drove on down the beach. We caught the sunset at Destin, I think. We were out on the beach watching it set, but I had to fuss with getting my correct beach shoes on, so I ould walk in the sand and missed the sunset- Ron thought that was pretty funny.

The beaches were all they promised. Crystal white sand and emerald water. The sand is quartz so it just sparkles.

We kept driving looking for a place to stay that night and it was lots of older beachy places that looked like Ocean Shores and then large high end places with doorman. We decided to drive on down to Panama Beach- a larger beach town with lots of hotels and great beaches. It took us most of the day to get there and when we got there we were sure surprized! Apparently we had driven in to "Sturgis of the South" called THUNDER BEACH. OMG...There were thousands of Harleys and double-thousands of bikers ( thats because all of the bikers had a biker-chicks on the back.)

H-m-m-m-, I wonder how those black leather thongs and bras feel when its 100 degrees out. I tried to take some photos of all of the bikers outside the Hooters, but Ron wouldn't stop so I couldn't get any good biker photos, Damn! Big tents set up everywhere for the club partys and sponser events. At stop signs, you would stop and then the other side would go, but it would be a parade of a hundred bikes all two by two who would take their collective turn. And who would argue, right?

Oh, and Florida has no helmet law so the flowing hair was amazing all on its own... gray or blonde. I think all of ZZ Top passed us ten times or more, and Willie Nelson too. Well, not really...but it seemed like it. There were also issues with balance on those bikes too due to the top heavy girls on the back. They need to impose some safety standards on those girls. Yes, helmet laws and support bra laws needed! It was a great place to get a tattoo too. lots of bikes lined up there too.

Ron and I decided we would not stay in Panama Beach that night. It was only the opening night (Thursday) for the rally and we thought it might be a little hard to get out of town the next day, so we went into Panama City to bed down. Probably a good thing- becuase when a group of bikers says ...."Lets Party! What do you do? You party of course! " That quote is a thowback to the 70's and has a good story to go with it. I'll share with you all sometime.

The next day we drove into Tampa and went to Ikea for the big shopping trip for Grandma's house make over. We got our cart mostly loaded up and then they called the store closed. Crap, we forgot we had moved into Eastern Standard time. That became a problem. We decided to stay the night and come back with a clear head the next day. Since Ikea does not open up until 11:00 the next day, we drove on over to clearwater (The beach area of Tampa) and spent the night. The next morning we went direct to the beach for some R & R. We swam in the Gulf and Ron scouted us out a hotdog vendor on the beach for lunch before we headed back to Ikea. We rented one of the beach cabanas which was totally cool.

Ikea went smooth because we had the night to think and plan better and we managed to get it all in our car. Barely. You have to love Ikea. We got a whole condo of furniture in our car. WEll, not a whole condo, but 2 bar stools, two living room chairs, a floor lamp, a chandelier lamp, lots of decorating stuff, a wall unit/divider. Well, you get the drift. The car was packed with the precision of an engineer. Thanks to Dad. He did an amazing job. Especially since all of our travel stuff was still in the car too. I held a lamp and sat on decorator pillows snd propped my feet on our cooler from there to Grandma's house- a three hour trip we made in two!

Then we were officially in the NO Commmunication Zone. Gram's town has no internet to pick up anywhere. Her house had no TV,no cable, no radio, no anything. So its probably a little like hell would be for Ron. As it turned out, the next week would be a little piece of hell for all of us. I'll catch you all up on the home makeover on my next post.

French Quarter

We got in late on Monady evening and found out that the New Orleans Jazz Festival was the weekend before and the weekend after our visit. It runs over two consecutive weekends, so we were right in the lull of the middle. The city was all geared up for it however which made it fun. Our hotel ended up to be old but clean. A little funky, but the location was good( a block off bourbon) and the feel was very French Quarter. We walked around and had a lot of fun. Wow, can this place party! You'll have to ask Ron about the "Gentleman's Clubs" and the superb advertising they offered, including wild girls swinging out of club windows onto Bourbon Street and lap dances where there were not even laps involved. And all you had to do was be walking down the street. Sin lives in New Orleans to be sure.

Ron had some good cookin, to include red beans and rice, shrimp creole, jambalaya , gumbo and dessert of something like bread pudding which I have forgotten what it was called. I had a muffalatta sandwitch. That is like an Italian Grinder with olive and marinated sweet pepper tapanade on it. ( more or less). Traditional and good. Ron had a couple drinks and I had one to go, ( so as to keep my wits about me as we continued along bourbon street. ) Maybe I should have had none, because we were victims of a "street artist" posing as a cop. I was "fined" for drinking outside of the "open beverage" area, by a cop who was a dead ringer for a yound Eric Estrada in CHIPS. It was $20.00 and we got a hat out of it. It was all in good fun, but I have to admit, I was a little freaked until I caught on that it was a joke. I guess I'm not too sharp. Ron just wanted to give him the $20.00 and move on...there were more ladies to be admired, I guess. :)

The French Quarter was beautiful and at night it had a mysterious quality. like nefarious happenings could be around every corner or in every doorway. Just a little dark and forboding. The music was great, comnmg out of every door and club. We saw a classic jazz group with as lead who thought he was Louis Armstrong. They were good and it was entertaining. I didn't get good night shots, but I got a few of our hotel and the next morning we went out and did the French Quarter by day. It showed its beautiful side then. What georgoeus old buildings with the most beautiful iron work and building details I have ever seen. Really old and unlike San Franisco where the old is so beautifully restored, these still have the qualities of old tired ladies. Ron and I still need to do some research on the history of New Orleans, since there were some Spanish-French markers and such we couldn't really place in time very well. I hope you enjoy the pictures, although I am sure they will not do it justice.

Ron finished his tour of New Orleans cuisine with some street music and an Andouille Sausage Po'Boy Its on the road to Florida now...which route to be determined.

Houston to New Orleans

We left Houston after lunch and drove on to New Orleans. It was about a six hour drive. We stopped in the "Welcome to Louisiana" Tourist Info station and we asked about lodging n the French Quarter. They had some coupons good at a couple of the historic hotels. We were a little worried about staying at a French Quarter hotel that was that cheap, since all of the ones we had been calling along the road were pretty pricey, but we went for it anyway. Look out New Orleans,,,here we come!

The tourist stop was on a beautiful lake with lovely grounds. Upon further inspection you could see lots of signs it wasn't your usual rest stop. The garbage cans were all elevated off the ground and there were grassy areas by the lake that you could not take your pets. Big signs saying " Danger- Alligators" and the like. The rest stop worker said that the garbage cans were elavated to keep the "critters" from being encouraged to come out of the swamp and snack. The critters being alligators. I can see her point...nothing says welcome to New Orleans like being attacked by an alligator.

The road we traveled was pretty much the same all the way, once we got into the gulf area it was all bayou. The freeway was all causeway elevated over the swamp, It was pretty cool at first, but after hours of it, it got old too. You could see shacks amongst the swamp occasionally- maybe the were old fishing shacks or maybe someone actually lived out on the swamp, I don't know, but it seemed kind of surreal. There were also those big fan boats buzzing around amongst the swamp too. I suppose all those things meant alligators too, but unlike Alligator Alley in Florida, where the freeway is close to the ground, we were well elavated on pilings so no visible gators.

WE crossed the Mississippi River. That is one BIG river, let me tell you. Very packed with industrial stuff and just wide and huge. This was were it poured out into the gulf so it was a cool high bridge so ships could trabvel under. I tried to take photos but they are pretty bad, you can't really see anything. There was no where to pull over so they are all out my car window. Coming into New Orleans was kind of the same, but over Lake Ponchatrain. It too is a huge lake. It feels like one of the Great Lakes, since you can not see one side from the other, but I guess in termsof sixe, its not even close, but as big a lake as I have ever seen outside of the Great Lakes. Swampy edges however.

We got into New Orleans at duska nd it was dark by the time we got into the French Quarter and to our hotel. I'll post the French Quarter next.

Dallas to Houston

HI,
Today is Wednesday and I haven't had a chance to post anything since we left Laura and John in Dallas, so it seems like we have done a lot, so this might have to go in more than one post.

This one will be Leaving Dallas and visiting Houston. It was a about a 7 hour drive and we timed it so we ould be there around lunch. The day went as planned and we picked a Starbucks on Montrose Street as the destination on our GPS because we recognized it as the street that Ron's new firm is located on. It ended up being only about three blocks away, so we walked up and just checked out the neighborhood. It was a funky neighborhood with lots of charm, so I think Ron will like working there. Houston was a neat city to drive through. We left after lunch for New Orleans. I'll post a seperate one for New Orleans.

Day 5 & 6

Hi Family & Friends,
We left Colorado Springs and headed south. We had a choice of a couple different routes and we choose to linger a day longer in the southwest to avoid heading directly into the tornado area that has been on the news so much these last couple days. That means we won't see Kansas city but it did mean we would see Laura & John in Dallas. It was a good choice.

The weather instantly changed once we got 30 nminutes south of Colorado Springs, but we heard today that Peublo and some of the towns that were nice when we went through now have snow, so I guess we got out just in time.

So, we headed south out of the Rockies into Mesa terrain. The land started getting hotter and flatter. We sure welcomed the heat. We had a 12 hour driving day ahead of us that took us through Santa Fe and Albequerque. We did drive through both cities, actually on a quest for a New Mexico Starbucks mug, but we didn't do too much tourist stuff. The land got flatter and warmer and we had a nice picnic lunch in the hot sun. We drove on historic Route 66 for some of it, and that was a fun side note. We made it as far as Amarillo, Texas for the night. Ron says Amarillo Texas is a nice place to keep driving through but not so nice to stay. I guess I agree, but we had a decent place to stay and I was sure ready for the driving to be done for the day.

Today we got up and eased our way to Dallas via Fort Worth. It wasn't too hard of a drive, 6 hours, but the terrain didn't give us many photo ops. Lots of Flat, Flat,Flat, Straight, straight roads. We drove through The Red River Valley, of song fame, and the newly plowed land was as red as any land I've ever seen. The red river was a shallow river with lots of red sand banks.

The best part of the day was seeing Laura and John, and the kids, Simon and Oliver. We all went out to dinner and had Tex-Mex, Salvadorean food. It was good too. I guess this restaurant is a favorite of Tim & Janice's when they are here visiting too. They live in a nice walking neighborhood,and it was a nice walk to the restaurant.

We didn't stsy too long, since we have an early start planned tomorrow (Houston and New Orleans) and with a busy family, they had lots to do besides entertain us. It was nice to see their awesome house and see the kids. Simon spent dinner working on the puzzle sheet the waiter gave him and Oliver spent dinner eating the bean dip with Gusto. ( Picture included). It made the trip here really awesome. I hope we are back this way again some time.