Blogs from Louisiana, United States, North America - page 78

We stayed in a state park a few miles south of New Orleans, where Echo (and I) saw our first wild armadillo. Apparently they're as abundantly like speed bumps as possums are in indiana, but still, we were both quite thrilled. We went into town, where the damage from Katrina is only a ruffle around the edges now, rather than the disaster it still was around this time last year...even though it happened in '05. We headed straight to the heart of the city, the French Quarter, where we walked around and took in the French architecture, street vendor mystics offering your future, and tourists enjoying their Cafe du Monde beignets and Bourbon Street beers. We had dinner in a jazz club, enjoying the performance while we ate. Then we walked around a bit more, ... read more

Well, have returned from New Orleans. It was a week of mixed emotions. We spent last Thursday and Friday volunteering for Habitat for Humanity. We were working in the lower 9th ward and I was amazed how much a bunch of novices like us got done. The amount of destruction which remains floored me considering it's been 18 months since Hurricane Katrina (or post-K as they put it). We saw house after house with the tell tale spraypaint on the front marking the date it had been searched and if any bodies had been found thus indicating that the owners had not yet returned. If you need a reality check, that's one. The house we were assigned had the foundation and flooring done and that was it. It was hot and humid. It rained most of ... read more

After Memphis we headed to New Orleans. We had heard mixed reports about how well advanced the city was in rebuilding after the cyclone and floods of 2005 but overall the information suggested that the tourist areas were back to normal so we decided to proceed. Our flight to New Orleans was one of those interesting experiences that will probably be remembered longer than the places we visited. We had to fly via Dallas, and the first part of the trip was uneventful. However there was plenty of bad weather to the west of Dallas that had played havoc with flights, and consequently the airport itself was fairly chaotic. Despite this our flight from Dallas to New Orleans headed out from the gate on time and all was looking good, until we got to the runway ... read more

Day 19 – Friday – New Orleans, Louisiana Ok this is a slightly ADULTS ONLY account and set of photos here (ie not for Paris & Jordan's eyes in particular!!!). So....N.O. is MUCH sleazier than we would have expected (why is it that people dont pre warn us of these things?!!!). Oh well, I suppose it makes it more of an adventure right?! Bourbon Street is a completely different spot from day time to night time. Day time it has a rocking feel - the pubs are still blaring out music etc - but night time really brings out the drunks/drug induced idiots and not to mention all the sex clubs! Jen tells us it's very similar to Amsterdam, and today we were informed by a tour guide that many of the pretty young girls ... read more

2007 TrekLyn C I left Abita Springs, LA on May 5th on my first leg of the 2007 Trek. After an amazing 15 miles I was parked behind Debbie and Bobby's house in preparation for a joint birthday party for my two youngest grandkids. Kid's birthday parties aren't what they used to be, just check out the water slide that the party goers enjoyed. Early morning on the 6th I set out for Texas, stayed over one night in Beaumont on my way to Houston to have some maintenance, warranty work and additional equipment installed on the motor home. Pulled into Stephen F. Austin State Park late Friday. Wal and I came here often, there are lots of deer, the occassional racoon and plenty of bird-watching opportunities. It's quite close to Bellville so I got to ... read more