The swamp tour and Jazz Festival

Our agenda for the day was venture out into the swamp/delta/bayou area of New Orleans and then return to New Orleans for one last night. Both adventures proved to be worth the time, and provided one last look at the culture and energy of the area.

We decided to take the slower of the two tours traveling down the waterways at a pace slower and quieter than the air boats. Our guide was a native to the bayou and actually lived in a area where he could get home faster on boat than by car. We were not disappointed with the narrated parts of the tour. We saw numerous alligators from his small pet on board, to large 8 foot ones out amongst the swamps. They will come up to the boat for the customary treat including several who jump up to get the raw chicken that the guide brings with him. We were able to see other birds, turtles, and fish as we slowly moved through the other canals.

We returned to New Orleans in time to find a huge Jazz festival was scheduled for New Orleans all weekend including numerous free concerts along the waterfront of the Mississippi. We enjoyed the festivities including dinner on a balcony overlooking the riverfront and open market. We left early enough to miss the second wave of tourist who enjoyed the music and the party. We did watch a group of protesters, who missed the Governors meeting, out in the street wanting the education funding reinstated for colleges. The camera came, the protesters yelled, the cameras left, and so did the protesters.

Enough excitement for the day. We got back on the free ferry with the rest of the old folks and families with children, and headed back to the camp to leave the real party people in New Orleans.

New Orleans City Tour and a GREAT Dinner

We journeyed back to New Orleans for a second day via the free ferry. There is a completely different ambiance to the city, streets, and shops during the day. The crowded streets, loud music and local entertainment was much more subdued, and the city was back to work for another day. We decided to take a "city tour" that included the French Quarter, Garden City, one of the older cemetery's, and the neighborhood adjacent to the breached levy.

We started our adventure eating at the famous "Mom's" restaurant in the down town area. We treated ourselves to a po boy sandwich and crayfish etouffee. The original owners had several sons in the Marines during World War II and the restaurant became a hang out for Marines on leave. It was referred to a second "tuns tavern". One wall was dedicated to the Marines that visited the establishment.

The French Quarter is one of the largest attractions in New Orleans. The shops are located on the street level and residential homes, condos, apartments, and hotels occupy the upper floors. The architecture reflects the Spanish and French influence during the time when the territory was under their control. Canal street is one of the main drags. The other one is a mile east.

We drove out to the construction site where the major repairs and upgrades for the levy's that failed continues. Even after five years major engineering and building continues. While hurricane Katrina did not directly hit New Orleans, the floods that followed did tremendous damage. Initially the levy's held, but because of poor construction that did not meet required standards, water was able to go under the levy wall and consequently flood adjacent homes. Eventually the levy's broke in weak areas. Insurance has refused to pay some home owners, and now houses sit empty as the owners have moved away. Others have built new homes on elevated foundations hoping that the new construction will not fail .

Our final stop was one of the oldest cemetery's in New Orleans. The uniqueness of most of the cemetery's is that most people are buried above the ground. The city is for the most part at or below sea level making the burying someone six feet under a wet proposition. Most are "buried" above the ground in vaults, mausoleums, and large crypts. Some of the burial places are the size of a small house. Two of the more interesting are a large memorial to Jefferson Davis whose body was moved after burial to Charleston and an expensive structure whose rich owner, upon death was denied his final resting place by his surviving wife who found he had been unfaithful and buried him in a common grave in Mississippi so he could be closer to his old flame. His wife now rests in peace by herself in his tomb.

We ended our busy day ordering a great meal, and a view of the Mississippi. We are looking forward to another day of sight seeing on a swamp tour tomorrow.

Moving on to Louisiana

Another early morning for a long and scenic drive. While we decided that marathon drives would be the exception, we decided to get up early and try to beat the Houston rush hour traffic. After preparing the motorhome, filling the tank, and finding Starbucks, we hit the road at about 7am. There was no traffic except in a couple of construction zones, and the one serious accident we have seen (on the other side of the road). Sunrise was a great treat, especially for Sue.

We went east on I-10 most of the day, breaking our pattern of staying off the freeway. It is difficult to navigate the swamps and bayous of east Texas and Louisiana. We were treated to one of the most beautiful Welcome Center at the border. The drive was beautiful with the rivers, swamps, and assorted living shelters scattered among the landscape. The upside of all the water is big bridges!

We arrived at "the busiest state park in the Louisiana" at 4pm after 422 miles and 8 1/2 hours of driving. Bayou Segnette State Park is located just about 14 miles from New Orleans via a bridge and a free ferry. It is immediately adjacent to a flood levy on a canal connected to the Mississippi River. The park is huge with all the amenities.

After we set up we decided to take a quick trip to the French Quarter to see what was happening. The answer is "everything". We stayed until ten and decided we had enough excitement for one day and retreated home to visit another day.

We have also committed to taking our GPS with us instead of depending on directions from the park brochure that probably mean something to the native New Orleaners, but put us through an area that was not on the tourist guide. Still we got there, got home, and slept well. Even the thunder storm and down pour didn't matter. We were home and comfortably sleeping.

A trip to the "Hill Country", LBJ's Ranch and San Antonio at night

We had heard so much about the wild flowers in the Hill Country of Texas we decided to take a long ride north of us, with a visit to the LBJ Ranch, Fredricksburg, and a night time visit to San Antonio for one more look at the River Walk (and Mall). We started early (8:30am) and returned home at early this morning (12:30am) traveling 356 miles. It was a fun filled day that included a variety of events. Today we a resting before heading for New Orleans tomorrow morning.

As we began our trip through the Hill Country we are treated to the spring wild flowers that have been abundant this year as the weather in the winter provided the rain and coolness that makes the flowers bloom all over the country side. The open fields, highway shoulders and medians were covered with an array of colorful flowers amongst the grass. We headed north towards our first stop, Johnson City, the homestead of President Johnson's family. We walked around the the grounds of the homes where his father was born and family lived which has been set aside as a part of the National Parks system.

Fourteen miles down the road we stopped at the LBJ Ranch and Texas White House. The ranch originally was several thousand acres. The Johnsons donated 269 acres to the National Park System and the later additional property was bought resulting in the approximately 700 acres. It is still a working ranch with land being leased to cattle ranchers on the 2,000 acres of property manage by descendants of the Johnson's. The 6000 foot paved airstrip is still maintained although not used. It was built for the president to land Airforce 1 at the Texas White House, but it was not long enough so he would land in Austin and then take the smaller Gulf Stream Jet to finish the trip. He dubbed the smaller jet "Airforce 1/2". The self guided tour with it's complementary CD was informative and well worth the trip.

We continued on to Fredricksburg Texas. It is a small German settlement west of Johnson City. The city was founded in the 1840's and still maintains it's culture though many of the older buildings have been transformed into touristy shops. Next to Texan, English, and Spanish, German is the fourth most spoken language in Texas.

We finish our last leg of the trip in downtown San Antonio with the express purpose of taking the River Boat tour at night. Of course, the boat departs from a huge mall. I do not need to say anything more.

We parked in a garage on a main street and walked down to the river walk. It was a lot easier to find the way to the mall than the way back to the parking garage (one of a million garages in town). The police officers on the street knew exactly where it was. We headed down the road and successfully arrived home early this morning with another great adventure completed.

We decided to stay an extra day here in Columbus and get some rest and chores done before we head out. Not counting the miles on the car, we have completed 2,200 miles. Everyone of them has been a great adventure.

A wonderful 3 day weekend!

We shared in our last blog about the great time we spent in San Antonio with Sue's cousin and Shelia. Saturday and Sunday we were in Houston with friends (Tom and Kathy Kilburg)that we "grew up" with in Tukwila during Steve's first 17 years of police work. I may have mentioned how interesting it is to be separated from good friends for a length of time, and then pickup right were you left when you get together.

Saturday we enjoyed a quiet day of visiting on the large estate that he works as coordinating the staff and workers that work on the projects at property as well as completing projects. It is a beautiful home situated on a small private lake shared with 5 other properties. We were able to walk around the property enjoying the beautiful azaleas, the baby ducks in the lake, and the multitude of birds.

On Sunday we attended Church with the Kilburgs in a Large Presbyterian Church. The church has around 7000 members and we attend one of the 7 services on Easter. The service was wonderful, traditional, and a great blessing to us. We returned to the house and spent the afternoon continuing our visit, and having dinner with their daughter, her husband and three kids.

This was one of those very special times with family, friends and fellowship. We are off on another adventure this morning and will be spending the lions share of the day traveling through the "hill country" of Texas with lots to share tomorrow.

I found my birthday present this weekend. I know it was meant for me. It was a Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren. Sues said I just need to save my change and I can get it. The owner of the estate owns one.

San Antonio, Family, The Alamo, and another wonderful Day.

San Antonio is just a short 2 hour drive west of our location and the home of Sue's cousin Jim. We arrived shortly after noon and headed into town for a whirl wind tour of downtown. It started with a history lesson at an IMAX theater regarding the Battle at the Alamo. The theater is in the middle of a huge mall and only a block or two from the actual site of the remaining buildings. This experience also provided us with a new personal record of the shortest time we have spent in a shopping mall (not including the movie) and the fewest stores visited (a souvenir shop).



We walked to the Alamo and through the mission, and barracks which have been converted into a museum. After exploring the grounds we walked over to a water taxi and took a tour of the old and the new business district on the San Antonio River. The restaurants were busy with tourist and locals sitting outside the "River Walk" enjoying the warm evening temperature, and many anticipating the Women's Basketball Final Four this weekend.




Our stay was concluded with a wonderful evening with an elk burger dinner at a beautiful home in the King William Historic District hosted by a good friend of Sue's cousin. We sat out on the second level front porch and watched a horse drawn carriage slowly drive down the road carrying a young couple out for a slow tour of the neighborhood on a warm spring evening. Life doesn't get much better.

We left to head home after a full day of adventure and reminiscing the past. The trip seemed shorter until we turned off the main highway. "Hillary" our beloved GPS decided to malfunction and over shot our turnoff to the RV Park. We realized that we had only driven to the park once before, and things began looking much different in the dark. We had no one to call, and the scenery began looking the same. Yes, momentarily it looked like we were......lost. The idea of a motel started sounding good as it was 1:00am (way after our normal day ends). We retraced our steps and found the the GPS was 6 miles off course. Actually, we were too. We finally found the road we needed to turn on to, and happily got home. Just another adventure.

Chore & Relax Day - and a travel day

Wednesday was a chore day which include several projects including the installation of tire pressure gauges for the coach and the tow car. I needed some additional parts which I was unable to find locally so I just installed the gauges on the car, and the two inside duals of the coach. We finished a couple other minor things and prepared for our visit week over the Easter Week End which includes Sue's cousin in San Antonio and good friends from Tukwila who Steve worked with in the police department for 17 years. We have a tour with Sue's cousin of the San Antonio planned and then a visit in Houston with our friends as well as Church on Easter Sunday.

The monitoring system provided us, and hundreds of drivers great entertainment in a construction zone some where on a freeway about a half hour into our trip. The device timed it self out about the same time that a car passing us yelled that we had a flat tire on the car. We quickly pulled over on the wide shoulder and confirmed the tire was flat. Traffic was moving about five miles an hour because of the construction so we did what anyone would do. We took the monitoring device off the tire, got the compressor hose hooked up to the coach, and filled the tire, Sue rolled the coach forward as I checked to make sure there was not a nail in the tire and I reconnected a different monitoring device to the tire. I was able to monitor the tire for the rest of the trip with no further problems.

We have chosen to stay off of the main highways as often as possible. Our reward is driving through small towns. Today we drove through Robinson Texas and found that they even have their own school district.

We also found another place that causes one to wonder. Paradise Texas has a sign as you leave that reminds you that you are leaving Paradise. Paradise also have a cemetery . Is that possibly purgatory?

We arrive at the Colorado Thousand Trails and again found a large preserve with lots of room between sites. We are right above the river with a view from our coach. There is a large herd of deer that roams the campsites, lots of open space, and a great series of walking paths. Not to mention a Hot Tub. We will be here Tuesday and then on we go.

Even in the little challenges of the day, it has been a great experience and we truly look forward to this week of reconnecting with family and friends, as well as seeing this part of our country.