Advertisement
Published: July 16th 2005
Edit Blog Post
Wayne the bus at Land O Pines
This is the happy crew tucking in to our first meal aboard Wayne the defunct GMC bus. Sunday 10th July - Hurricane Dennis
Picked up a car from Love Field Airport and set off for Alexandria, Louisiana. Hurricane Dennis is due to hit Pensacola this afternoon and no-one knows what the impact will be on New Orleans. We have a hostel booked from 11th-15th and are proceeding optimistically.
Eastern Texas is really green, tons of pine trees.
Louisiana starts out that way. We stopped just over the border at the 'Greenwood Welcome Center' near Shreveport. Very helpful staff, free coffee, and info on all areas of louisiana, not just local.
Further down the I-49 we begin to see many more lakes, and some swamps. One thing the I-49 does not have in LA is a 'rest area' i.e. somewhere we can stop and eat our picnic. Eventually we exited at 'Lake End' hoping to find a comfortable shady spot. We drove for 15 mins and saw nothing but fields and private land. We ate by the roadside and returned to the I-49.
In Alexandria Deb and I went for a scout round in the car. Loads of fast food places. Turned in towards town centre. Lots of wooden houses/shacks. Downtown empty and unimpressive,
but it was Sunday pm. Lots of one-way roads. Found the posh bits. Left town on a different road and did a kind of old-fashioned letter-g route before finding our way back.
Boys had Popeye's 'Chicken and Biscuits' for tea. We had picnic leftovers. Dennis made landfall at Pensacola and continued NNW as expected. New Orleans should be no problem though the Mississippi may get higher in a few days.
Monday 11th July - Alexandria to New Orleans
Avoided the Interstate, hoping we might see a little more of the towns en route. In total I counted 3 pedestrians and two dead armadillos.
Most places were not much more than a church or three plus a closed service station. Bunkie was a notable exception. Even though it has a large Winn Dixie supermarket it also has a main street complete with a handful of small shops.
There was nowhere that shouted 'stop here and sit awhile'. After crawling across 5 miles of Baton Rouge past car sales, fast food, furniture stores etc we gave in. We stopped at a Starbuck's for coffee where Rory forced us into playing a board game called Cranium Capers.
We continued along the highway and at times it became a very long bridge through swamp country. Once again there was nowhere to stop, and plenty of reminders that the hard shoulder was for emergencies only. So no photos.
This alternated with large cultivated plains areas though we did not recognise the crops.
We picked up the I-10 about an hour from New Orleans and soon we were almost surrounded by water. We were crossing the edge of Lake Pontchartrain. Lots of biggish birds and strange trees. It seemed to continue for miles yet this only nipped the corner. There is a causeway straight across the centre of the lake. Maybe we try that later in the week.
Found the hostel without much fuss. One minute on the I-10, then zooming past the Superdome and other concrete/glass wonders, then crawling along neighbourhood streets full of crumbling wooden houses. The hostel is one such house. Our room is actually across the street in a two-storey place that was allegedly a school, then a hospital during the American Civil War. Plenty of wood and wrought iron balcony stuff. More recently it was apartments though the standard of fittings reminds
me of the tatty rooms in Ball's Park College.
Kitchen is sadly lacking in that it has a microwave and three electric crock-pots but no electric rings or stove. Strange. Managed to boil water in the microwave for the boys' pot noodles. We had (vegetarian) beans on toast, very sweet but we managed.
Above the kitchen are two gloomy sitting/reading rooms. No-one was in them.
Tuesday 12th July
Washed my three shirts and spread them to dry on the wrought iron balcony. Successfully made porage and toast in the kitchen. Shared a table with a Korean couple travelling after spending a year at college in New York. He informed us it is not rude for Asians to make a noise when eating, it is a sign of enjoyment, a compliment to the chef.
Walked all the way to the end of Jackson, expecting to find a river walkway. Fraid not, their is no river access there unless your enter the port area. There is a brand new WalMart but we ignored it for Today.
Carried on walking along Tchapitoulas towards the warehouse district. Very hot, nothing of great interest, lots of concrete, broken
glass, vacant lots. Almost reached the Mississippi River Bridge when the pavement started to disappear at the beginning of umpteen road intersections.
Lost Deb and Rory for a few mins. Owen and I had continued and stopped at the corner. They disappeared but re-appeared a block behind us further inland. We caught them up and dived into the Robert Fresh Market Cafe and Bakery for food, drink and air-con.
Continued on the quest for the French Quarter, pausing at the entrance to the Children's museum (more air-con). Just before Canal Street passed the Baptist Mission where the pavement was full of mental health cases locked out for the daytime. Crossed Canal and walked a while along Decatur. Bars, souvenirs and restaurants - all dishes containing fish or seafood which ruled us all out, never mind the 'dress code' requirements. Turned down Conti to the waterfront park. Watched the boats go by, said "hello, fine thanks" at least three times to the Cycling Parkie.
Found the aquarium and IMAX. Strolled around the Riverwalk shopping mall. More air-con. Back up Canal to St Charles Ave and hopped on a streetcar back to Jackson.
Rice cooked well in a
crockpot. Delightful with chickpeas and pasta sauce. Rory made another friend, Ira, who gave him some Hershey's chocolate.
Wednesday 13th to Friday 15th - Unfulfilled expectations
We have not done a great deal worth writing about. Several days going in and out of the warehouse, business and French quarters. A failed attempt to cook pasta in a slow-cooker. A few beers. Some tremendous, but short-lived downpours.
Conversations with Japanese, French, Argentinian and US travellers.
Bought a copy of the local rag, The Times Picayune. The London bombings are still headlining. Other subjects reflect the inequalities here in Louisiana - significant numbers of underprivileged children, many poor people badly affected by seasonal Summer power failures, corruption in City Hall.
Saturday 16th July - Going Up Country
We leave the hostel today, with our flight to NY re-arranged for Monday 18th. We are heading North of Lake Ponchartrain to the 'Land O Pines' campsite, on Million Dollar Road North of Covington, for two nights.
Our accommodation is a bus, Wayne GMC by name. It is rather old and embedded in the sandy ground. Owen at first refused to enter. Many of the lights
do not work but is has two air-con units and a TV (all working). It also retains steering wheel, gearstick etc. I could not have invented anything quite like it. A refreshing change from the homogenous strip malls, hoardings and TV ads.
Allegedly there camp has wireless internet but I cannot find a signal yet. I'll hunt around and try again. You need to see this bus ASAP.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.152s; Tpl: 0.024s; cc: 21; qc: 86; dbt: 0.0883s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.2mb