Day 39 - Still in New Orleans

We're on our third day in New Orleans and are still having fun. Last night we went out to a jazz club and thoroughly enjoyed the music. It wasn't the old style jazz music we had expected, but we enjoyed it all the same.

We took a trip up and down the Mississippi River on a steam-powered paddle wheel boat. Lots of fun dodging rain and then to get soaked on the way to the boat ride, only to get wetter in the ride. Interesting sights along the riverside what with hurricane damage and then the tug boats and barges and ships anchored in the river. Very interesting paint scheme on this freighter...

Did a little shopping and nosing around a couple of art galleries today. We also stopped in a voodoo shop, and Sheila met another new friend.

It had rained last night, and just when it looked like the clouds were starting to clear, we wound up with light rain during the day. Didn't stop us from having some more fun. Of course, we had to buy an umbrella, and damned if I know where we're going to put it in the Vette when we leave. Every cubic inch of trunk space in that car has been assigned.

They were having a football game in town today, so lots of fans in all the bars and lots of cheering for the Saints and Jets. So many different football jerseys on the streets. Most of the hotel parking lots were filled, but the Vette was safely hidden out of view and parked in a safe place. This view of the hotel parking lot was taken this morning. The Vette is off to the left and can't be seen in the photo, but last night, the entire parking lot was completely filled. Glad we didn't need to leave the parking lot last night.

Plan to leave for Alabama tomorrow morning and will arrive in Newnan, GA, on Tuesday. Will be nice to get back on the road again. K

Picture of me next to Mummy. See what happens to someone who doesn't buy premium skincare products from the Dead Sea in the Mall of America. Continue to have a ball. S

Day 38 - New Orleans, Day 2

Ah yes, New Orleans hasn't changed much since the last time we were here - I just haven't had to be assisted back to the hotel from Bourbon Street yet. Took a walk around the waterfront today, and The Woman managed to find a couple of places to do some shopping.

We found our way to the Waterfront Mall and had a late lunch at some place called The Crazy Lobster. Good food and I tried the soft shell crab po boy sandwich, and it was great. First time I have ever had a Coors Light beer in a plastic bottle though. Then on to the Mall.

Had a long walk, and needless to say, I needed the exercise after spending so much time behind the wheel of the Vette. Not too hot today, but it was humid. Was looking forward to having lunch with Brad and Angelina and the kids, but they had a last minute change in their plans and couldn't meet us at McDonalds. Looking forward to eating at the same place we ate last night, and then Sheila wants to go out for some jazz music after we eat.

By the way, the Joan of Arc statue here in New Orleans was presented by France about 20 years ago. Locally, they call the statue "Joni on a Pony". K

I love New Orleans, so many interesting things to see and do. Tonight plan to go back to Irenes' restaurant for dinner, then to a jazz club. Did a little shopping, Chico's was having a sale, had to check it out. Didn't spend much today, feel as though I'm finished, did I say that????

Walked thru the artists area, did find some nice things, Ken says they will fit in the vette. So humid today, my hair curled and frizzed nicely, came back to the hotel and dried it out, the beauty of curly hair and humidity.

Had my beignet at Cafe du Monde this morning just as good as ever, coffee good too. S

Day 37 - Lake Charles to New Orleans

Today, we arrived in New Orleans, LA, and are staying at the Hotel Provincial, just a block from Bourbon Street. We were tired when we arrived, so decided to relax for a while and then take a bus tour of New Orleans. Saw the French Quarter, which wasn't badly damaged during the hurricane, and then traveled to the areas most damaged by the hurricane. You can't imagine the amount of damage to this city. Still a lot of homes that are uninhabitable, but things are getting better.

The federal government and insurance companies have been so lax in responding, but the people are strong and will survive. We saw some of the project homes that Brad Pitt has been working to get completed and built, and they are very modern in design, with solar panels on the roofs, and, of course, they are all on raised reinforced piers.

We had had torrential rain during the night before we left Lake Charles, but fortunately, no rain during the drive. Interstate 10 coming into Louisiana was limited to 60 mph for quite a few miles. These stretches of highway were actually bridges that lasted for miles over swamplands and water. According to the GPS, we finally hit 0 feet above sea level. With parts of New Orleans actually below seal level, we plan to keep an eye on the weather forecasts... K

Our night in Lake Charles was something. No restaurants just fast food chains, if you haven't had a taco salad at Taco Bell, don't rush in. We were told we had tickets for a free drink at happy hour so thought that might lighten the day. Arrived at the club house to find one patron sitting at the bar eating Nachos and Lethal Weapon 2 on the TV. He offered to have the sound turned down but we declined. Remember when Mel Gibson was young, handsome, married to wife number 1 and hadn't been arrested for a DUI? Place was as cheerful as a wake, all they needed was the Banshee wailers.

New Orleans is wonderful, staying in the French Quarter in a lovely place. Today plan to walk about the city, stop by Cafe du Monde for a beignet and chickory coffee, see the artists wares. Ken wants to go to the River Walk, kind of a mall so will do that too. I think he wants a po'boy sandwich.
Last night had dinner at Irene's, tried to get into Stellas but couldn't be seated until 10 PM too late for us. Irenes' was delicious, had to sit in the piano bar for an hour before a table available, but such a nice place and piano music was very good. Then into dining room, very little space but made such nice aquaintances at the tables adjoining us. Ken had pasta, I had fish, then split a praline desert, way too delicious!! Ken wants to go back tonight! S

Day 36 - San Antonio to Lake Charles, LA

Day 36, so many changes. When we started our trip, I wore pressed, nice clothes to travel with and coordinating jewelry. When I went to the rest room I took my purse, freshened up my makeup, brushed my hair, and applied fresh lipstick.

The second week of our travels, I wore travel clothes, didn't change my jewelry, and when I went to the rest room took my purse, fluffed my hair with my hand, and applied fresh lipstick.

The third week of our travels my travel clothes were clean but wrinkled, when I went to the rest room took my purse, thought my hair looked ok and put on fresh lipstick.

Week four travel clothes were worn twice before washing, when I went to the rest room I didn't take my purse and didn't look in the mirror. Now we're on week 6, my travel clothes don't match but are clean, no plaids and checks yet. When I go to the restroom cannot take my purse because it's full of things that don't fit in the back of the Vette. Today I had a bunch of bananas, a half drunk coke, maps, a triple A book, 5 paperback books, some vintage lipstick, a crumpled wallet, a pair of sunglasses with only one leg, postcards, all in one purse, shutting optional and impossible.

I plan to turn over a new leaf tomorrow, we're going into New Orleans, I plan on ironing shorts and a matching top but sometimes plans don't work out the way I think.

Ken was up at 6 am this morning and at 6:30 was doing an "all hands on deck." Since I was the only person in the room and working hard on my "beauty sleep", guess that was me. I got up and moving. I wore a pair of clean brown/blue/white shorts and a lime green shirt, mmmm, guess I don't make Vogue this month.

Today we drove to Lake Charles, La, still in central time zone. Very pretty area, again hot and humid. On checking into the motel we put on bathing suits and went for a swim, wonderful pool could really swim the length, both Ken and I had a ball. S

Landscape changed again today. Mostly flat land with lots of green fields and trees. Hit Houston, and managed to get hit with torrential rain again. Those Texans do not slow down for rain like the guy from New Hampshire driving the Corvette! Those dark rain clouds followed us from Houston all the way to Lake Charles, Louisiana, but only rained on us in Houston.

We have now hit construction on every day of our travels. We have driven as high as 7600 feet above sea level to a low of 26 feet today as we entered Louisiana. Averaged 28.4 mpg today with most of the driving at 65 to 70 mph. Sure miss those 80 mph days in Texas. Looking at the on-board computer in the Vette, we have now averaged 58.4 mph for the entire trip. Average mpg is approximately 29 mpg overall. Love this Vette for its handling, capabilities, gas mileage, and the fact that we attract so many smiles and comments on our travels. We have met so many nice people on this trip. At the motel last night, we met a guy whose wife was from Kearney, Nebraska, and who had a sister from Bellevue, Nebraska. What a small world. We beat he and his wife to both places by one week during our trip.

Continuing to have fun with my "Cowgirl". We have had so much fun on this trip. Neither of us ever expected we would have so much fun together and still be speaking at the end of 36 days on the road.

We will be talking about this trip for years. Even though we have only posted a few photos every night, we will be boring our friends and family with tons of photos that we have actually taken. Amazing how many photos have been taken at 65 - 80 mph (or 100 kph for those of you that haven't figured out that our actual speed in Canada was only 62 mph).

Many of you who have been following our blog didn't catch the fact that the photo of the speedometer taken in Canada was in Metric, not English. Now is the time to confess, I guess. There was the time in northwestern Nebraska that I passed a truck, only to realize it was traveling so slow because there were two other trucks ahead of it. The Vette, being the sports car that it is, gave me no indication when I passed those trucks and checked the GPS later, I had passed them at 102 mph. It felt like 75 mph.


Tomorrow, on to New Orleans for a couple of days, and then Monday we will leave for Georgia. We plan to arrive at my sister Vicki's home on Tuesday afternoon. Will spend several days with her and hope to see my brother while we're there too. Then on to Savannah, GA, on Monday. K

Day 36 - Still in San Antonio

Another day to sleep in before heading out for downtown San Antonio to visit the market (Mercado), and we took advantage of the extra rest. The next couple of days will be on the road and we wanted to rest up a little extra.

Sheila began hearing "The Voices" again and they were saying "If you come and spend, the people will prosper and flourish." And so The Woman who hears "The Voices" went out and spent and the people, yea they did prosper and flourish, and yea the dry spell of not shopping for The Woman was broken into many many pieces and she rejoiced and so did the people.

As you can see, Sheila managed to do a little shopping at the first store we saw and I sat on the bench for a little while during the first shopping spree. That is a picture of me after waiting for a little while when the shopping spell was being broken. The woman waiting next to me had been there for a while too.

Some tall Dude tried to point out several places to spend pesos and dollars, and I went off in search of a belt (leather, not liquid). And yea, he did entice The Woman to do additional shopping while I stepped into a small shop to look at belts. And The Woman was in her glory and enjoyed her day very much. Oh yeah, I did get a new belt and we had lunch too. K

So now Kens in the biblical mode huh? I really didn't do much shopping. The mercado was nice I felt as though I was back in Mexico. All stores had pretty much the same things but slight alteration in price, about 30 cents. I did get some Mexican vanilla and a few Christmas ornaments. I did find a beautiful sterling silver bracelet with a nice piece of tiger eye in one of the nicer galleries. I told the clerk I'd think about it. Over lunch I mentioned it to Ken and he said he thought I should get it, well who am I to argue. I went back to the gallery and it was still there, so now I'm the proud owner of this lovely piece.

We found a Wal Mart and had the car greased and the oil changed. We did some food shopping, carrots,celery, bananas, grapes, yogurt and diet drinks enough to fill the cooler and keep us going on our long rides. Oh I did get a new pair of jeans too, now all set for fall in the South.

When we got back to the motel grabbed bathing suits and hit the pool, temp 95 at 5PM
Tomorrow will start out early and probably stop in Houston for the night. Then the next day push on to New Orleans, but we'll see how it goes.

I've really enjoyed San Antonio glad, we had this chance to stop. S

Day 35 - San Antonio, Day 1

What's this? A wee bit of the old sod? Joe Kelly, EAT YOUR HEART OUT!


Our Nephew Matt, the Fighter Pilot:




Well, here we are in San Antonio, TX. We hit the sack early last night and slept soundly for almost 12 hours each. The traveling is catching up to us, it seems. About noon time, we finally ventured out into daylight and headed for downtown San Antonio.







It looks like San Antonio could be a fun city. Certainly plenty of places for Sheila to go shopping. Found the River Walk with no problems and fortunately, it was cool today and a nice breeze was blowing to keep things comfortable. Took a tour of River Walk on one of the boats and it took about 30 - 45 minutes and we enjoyed the tour. Lots of places to eat and shop in certain areas of the river, but they are doing a lot of repairs on the canal walkways. Thought we would get away from construction for a day or two, but it was not to be.



Seems easy to get around the Alamo and River Walk areas, with plenty of street signs. Also buses/streetcars to take you from place to place too. The Alamo was a lot smaller than I thought it would be, but nicely maintained. After hearing about the Alamo for all these years, nice to finally see it in person.

When we were on the River Walk, we were surprised to see Durty Nelly's Irish Pub on the walkway. Sheila and I had visited the original pub in Ireland a little over 12 years ago. Didn't stop for a "taste", but we did stop at Pat O'Brian's later in the afternoon for a bite to eat and a little liquid refreshment. We will probably visit Pat O'Brian's in New Orleans when we land there next weekend.

Plan to be here in San Antonio until Thursday morning when we will head for New Orleans. Should arrive in New Orleans on or about Friday evening. We were able to meet our nephew Matt for dinner tonight. Matt is in fighter pilot training here and is the main reason we wanted to visit San Antonio. Matt found us with no problems at all so out to dinner down the road from the motel a piece. What a nice kid and so proud of being a fighter pilot. We know he will be one of the best. Matt just became a 1st Lieutenant, so is also proud of that accomplishment. So glad we were able to see him, even if for only a couple of hours. K

New update on my cowgirl hat. Brought the hat in from the car and now it's resumed it's pre-melt state. Still will not purchase cowgirl boots. Our nephew Matt just got here, he's so grown up now and so handsome, boy time flies. So nice to see Matt and be able to spend some time with him. If all goes as expected he'll graduate in May then go back to Washington DC.

Loved going to downtown San Antonio, very pretty city. Loved the boat ride down the San Antonio river, informative, did you know Texas was once an independent country and as such can fly the Texas flag without flying the American flag next to it?

The Alamo was kind of what I expected, very well preserved. They have a list of all the heroes that died during the siege. So many were from England, Ireland, Wales, Scotland as well as all over the US. Davy Crockett is listed as David Crockett and didn't look anything like Fess Parker - so much for the Disney interpretation.

No shopping today, some looking. Ken and I had lunch at Pat O'Briens. Ken said he had the best hamburger in a long time, he also had a hurricane. I had iced tea as was very thirsty, as well as a salad with chicken. We shared the bread pudding for dessert, ummmmm good!!!

Tomorrow plan to go back downtown and go to the market area would like to find a Western store, Ken would like a belt and perhaps another shirt. I just enjoy shopping, looking. More to follow. S

Day 34 - Midland to Where are we???

What a difference a day makes... Left Bob and Ginger's home this morning headed for San Antonio, TX. Midland was about 78 degrees with wind, so was comfortable. Getting to San Antonio was a challenge, especially when you have AAA maps and a GPS that Sheila swears "is on the sauce!".

Fortunately, Bob had given us some road advise and we managed to ignore the GPS's "yapping" and actually made it to roads that both AAA and the GPS agreed with. Thanks Bob!

The wind was pretty brisk on the ride to San Antonio, but the speed limit, for the most part, was 70 mph, even on 2-lane highways. Saw landscapes that varied from flatlands with scrub brush to farm lands with cattle, sheep, and lots of goats, to rolling hills with lots of green fields. We still see the red rock formations sticking out of the ground occasionally. Not a straight road for miles and miles, as we had traveled getting to Midland.

Managed to get to San Antonio about 4:30 PM this afternoon, after stopping for gas about 30 miles away and almost ripping out the bottom of the Vette on the gas station underground storage tank fill connectors that were painted the same color as the parking lot. Quite a noise, and not one I wanted to hear. Felt better, but not much better, when I saw a Sheriff's car pull over another connector in the same parking lot and he scraped the bottom of a big Ford Victoria cruiser. Got to find a brand name gas station from now on!!!

For the most part, the drive was fine, but we did hit rain several times about 70 miles from San Antonio. The roads are heavily traveled here, and the rain pools in the lanes and made driving difficult and scary in a couple of places. Even with new tires, the fear of hydro-planning was foremost in my mind.

Surprised to see the gas mileage drop from 28+ mpg at 80 mph on Saturday to 26.5 mpg today running at 70 mph. The rolling hills shouldn't have caused the difference, but need to keep an eye on things for the next stretch of our trip. Checked the distance we've traveled since we left Salem, NH, when we pulled into our motel this evening, and we have driven a few miles short of 5800 miles - And we're still speaking! K

My cowgirl hat has gone from ravishing to ravaged. I left it in the car when we went into Bob and Gingers, the car was in the sun, locked, temp about 96 degrees. In the sun it exceeded 100 degrees. The glue in the crown of the hat melted, and was stuck to one of Ken's cleaning cloths for the vette. This means now I don't have to go shopping for cowgirl boots, as the hat is now something for the old gray mare.

Speaking of shopping I haven't done any in 6 days, Ken thinks I've joined a support group, but actually just biding my time. Tomorrow to go to the Alaimo, and perhaps the mercado, a shopping area. I've decided to start some Christmas shopping. Ken has said, he doesn't want an Alamo T shirt, and if given one, will not wear it. Why do men always tell you what they don't want and never what they do want? I read that in the mercado you can bargain about the prices, ah, once again the moth to the flame. More to follow.

Temp in San Antonio on arrival was 95 degrees. The motel is very nice and has an even nicer pool. We checked into the room and into bathing suits for some nice exercise and swimming. Felt so much better after our swim.

Ordered pizza and salad to be delivered to the room, Two hours later, a bag of celery sticks, a banana, grapes and some corn nuts Ken called to check on the status. Was informed the delivery person left a long time ago, must have the same GPS system w have. Food finally arrived after the first bite Ken and I said ,"it's amazing what you'll eat when you're starved." After the third bite I was done, Ken too, kept hoping the food would taste better, never happened. S