New Orleans?

We took a two hour bus trip through New Orleans and it was a trip through history. There is no way I could put what was narrated to me into words and do it justice. Besides it was a bus (van) trip and there was only one spot we stopped at. the rest was continuous travel and picture taking advantages were not the best. Beside my SD card got full. You know, like running out of film in the old days.

There is a lot of rebuilding going on in "Naw Orleans". Down town that is. but in several of the wards the devastation of Katrina is most visible. There has been a new concrete dike built off one of the water ways. The dike is about ten feet above sea level where one can see the barges navigating the river. The walls of the dike are about eighteen inches thick and built to handle a category 3 hurricane. When we were there we noticed some young people sitting on the top of the dike enjoying themselves. We went over a bridge, pass them to get to what is know as the 9Th ward and took a down hill ride into the ward, Seventeen feet below sea level. People are not returning to the 9Th Ward.

There are buildings throughout the area that have dates and numbers painted on their walls that denote they have been checked for occupants and bodies following the flooding. Some are being lived in again since the people have no where else to live. There are homes that have been destroyed by fire. Since the owners did not have flood insurance it is said they burned the homes to collect fire insurance. These reminders, still standing after five years past Katrina.



There are brand new homes, about 100 yards from the dike, that were built by Brad Pitt for people who would return. Great designs. Energy efficient since all of them have solar panels on the roofs. There was one that was built on a boat keel so the owners could float away if there was another flood. Of course I didn't notice any steering means on the home. Maybe it will be the Noah's Ark of the 9Th Ward.



All new construction has to be on stilts now. We saw such construction on stilts as high as 10 feet and as low as one foot. And then there are the empty lots. Homes that were swept away and nothing left but foundations. Mud holes. Grass plots. And the grass is required, by city ordinance, to be cut. Even if you no longer live there but own the property.

Of course there are always monuments. This one is a monument to the levels of the flood. It hit a level. Stoped. Something else happened. And it roses to the next level. Then the next and then the next. Remember the 9Th ward is seventeen feet below sea level

Mardi Gras - Fin

It's all about the children.


Contrary to the breast bearing and drunkenness you see on TV it is really about the children. The beads that are thrown from the floats are thrown in the direction of the kids. Toys are handed over the side of the floats directly into the hands of a child or parent for the little ones. Hands are upraised and out stretched to capture the trinkets as they fly through the air. But it's all for the kids. Standing on ladders, or shoulders so they can have a better vantage point of the procession.

Mardi Gras 2010 - part 1

It's more than just New Orleans. The Original Mardi Gras was started in Mobile Alabama, so I've been told, and it has expanded along the Gulf Coast from Florida to Louisiana, maybe further. Our goal was to make it to New Orleans. We did and it was well worth the journey.

The weather was unseasonable seasonable. That is it was cold but after all it is winter down here to. We had frost warnings, schooling closings, snow warnings and just plain bone chilling, damp cold weather.

We stayed at the Abita Springs Campground. It's on the north side of Lake Pontchartrain and it took us awhile to recognize what the weather and news people were talking about when they referenced the "North Shore".

Since we don't haul a tow we rent a car for the purpose of traveling and sight seeing in the areas we visit. We choose Those rental dates around the best weather we can find. With all the cold the best we could find was rainless dates.

From Abita to New Orleans we had to travel the Lake Ponchartrain Causeway. A three dollar toll on a twenty-six mile bridge. Our first trip was one of exploration. It was to learn the lay of the land. Where the streets for the parades are and where we would be parking. Of course when we went to our first parade we were nowhere near were we had explored. But what it did do was give us a better understanding of how the city was laid out and how to get around.

Parking for the parades is nightmare. It is a must to get there early, and drive around and around until one can find an unposted space, an empty space that is not a driveway or within fifteen feet of a fire plug or corner. A spot that you don't have to pay a minimum of twenty dollars for. The closer one gets to St Charles and Bourbon Streets the higher the prices. Park in the wrong place and you will get a ticket 9big cost) or get towed (big cost) or both. Double big cost.

We have Microsoft Streets and Trips and print out maps from that. This allows us access to street maps of a readable pocket size that allowed us to not only find the parade routes but when we parked it helped in finding the car when we returned. Still got lost once.

There is still a lot of Hurricane Katrina residue in New Orleans. Empty lots. Broken streets and sidewalks. The area has huge trees whose roots are breaking up some of the sidewalks and you wonder what they are doing to the foundation of the existing homes. I have been told that the new building codes requires one to build their home on stilts.

All through New Orleans and the Gulf area Saints fever is ramped. The people are proud of their Saints and the black and gold is constantly in your eyesight. And the people that we met were courteous and helpful. It is a city that is not only rebuilding it's superstructure but also it's image. When they had the parade for the Superbowl Champs there was no busting of windows or burning of cars. It was a mass of happy people enjoying the moment and their team.






More on the parade on the next entry.

Now I know

After much research and asking many people we found out what the sound that is so beautiful to our ears comes from. We tried crickets, tree frogs, cicadas. We listened to the sounds of many on the web. Heard some that were close but as we repeatedly listened we realized some of the sounds were not quite it.

And then we heard it. We knew it as soon as we did for there is no other sound like it that we have ever heard.

Listen for yourself. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spring_Peeper#Vocalization

And if you can, try to listen only once. We could not

And we still have not seen them.

It's snowy time down south

The temperatures down south have been about twenty degrees below normal. So I've been told. And I've got the pictures to prove it. Even though it's much better than what we ran away from back east, as mentioned before, the rotten weather has followed us.

Our heat pump has been running every night and sometimes during the day. There is also a chill in the air even if the temp reaches the fifties. My guess is either the humidity, the wind or both. Our night have been in the low low thirties and even in the mid to upper twenties. Cold weather warnings are on the TV every night.

Not expecting to be in too much cold weather I did not save any long sleeve shirts. DUMB. But I did pack away about six sweaters. SMART. No not really, I just like to wear sweaters.

The hottest time we had was during the Super Bowl when most of the motorhomers gathered together in the family center to watch it. It was tailgating indoors with pot luck platters and BYOB a plenty. There was no one there that cheered for Indy. And the mini-crowded was stadium loud for the Who Dat's.

Back to the Silence - Part ll

About thirty minutes before sundown the noise makers come out again and start their chirping. This time I'm ready. I put on some warm clothing a jacket and with flashlight in hand I go outside into the chilly air, yea it's cold down here, sit and wait.

The darkness came. With it comes the sounds. I had seated myself facing the direction I felt I've heard the sounds coming from. Wrong direction this night. They were ninety degrees on my right and about forty degrees further on the same side were others. They would call back and forth to each other making that music that can be pleasing or displeasing to ears.

Focusing on the closest sound I turned on the light and slowly swept the area to see what I could spot. Nothing. Not only nothing the durn thing shut up. The sound at about 140 degrees also shut up. Nothing. Not one more peep as I sat there, back into darkness listening for their sounds and feeling the chill air reaching me. After about 30 minutes I could no longer take it so inside I went. I wasn't inside ten minutes and they started chirping again. Laughing at me. Teasing me.

I still don't know what they are.