We made it back safe and sound...
Home Sweet Home!!
Sunday, July 22, 2007
Saturday, July 21, 2007
the twentieth day
Drove from New Orleans to Atlanta. Rented an in-hotel movie and just hung out. As much as we all said we didn't want this trip to end, we are all a little anxious to get home.
Thursday, July 19, 2007
the nineteenth day
Today we are in New Orleans and this morning we walked from the hotel down Canal St. to the riverfront where we went to the Aquarium of the Americas (just recently re-opened after Katrina) and through the Riverwalk (which is like a long, long strip mall) and had a quick lunch.
To continue with the theme, it started raining during lunch, and us without umbrellas, again ... we quickly walked back to the hotel, only about a mile from where we were, to change our drenched shirts before we headed out to our swamp tour.
We drove out to a remote area for the start of the swamp tour, and along the way we saw a lot of Katrina damage still around, pretty incredible. The bayou we spent most of our time on was 18 feet higher during Katrina. All the houses which are being rebuilt near the canals, bayous and rivers now have to be built up on stilts, at least 12 feet off the ground. Anyway, the swamp tour was fun, we saw lots of alligators, including a pretty young one, and a bunch of BIG spiders.
After the swamp tour we headed back to New Orleans and a stroll down Bourbon Street to find some dinner and see the sights. After noticing the expression on my son's face after walking by some of the "adult" establishments I had to put my hand in front of his eyes !! Definitely not a place for kids, but it was good to see that area rebuilt quickly. Other areas in the French Quarter are still works in progress, especially the ground floors of most of the hotels, including ours.
Tomorrow we head to Atlanta, and then the next day we head home ... its hard to believe this long trip is already almost over. 5900 miles so far and only 3 more states to find on license plates: North Dakota, Vermont and Rhode Island. Hopefully we'll get those in the last 2 days, personally I am betting we won't find ND -- but you never know, we thought Hawaii (once) and Alaska (3 times) were going to be the hardest ...
To continue with the theme, it started raining during lunch, and us without umbrellas, again ... we quickly walked back to the hotel, only about a mile from where we were, to change our drenched shirts before we headed out to our swamp tour.
We drove out to a remote area for the start of the swamp tour, and along the way we saw a lot of Katrina damage still around, pretty incredible. The bayou we spent most of our time on was 18 feet higher during Katrina. All the houses which are being rebuilt near the canals, bayous and rivers now have to be built up on stilts, at least 12 feet off the ground. Anyway, the swamp tour was fun, we saw lots of alligators, including a pretty young one, and a bunch of BIG spiders.
After the swamp tour we headed back to New Orleans and a stroll down Bourbon Street to find some dinner and see the sights. After noticing the expression on my son's face after walking by some of the "adult" establishments I had to put my hand in front of his eyes !! Definitely not a place for kids, but it was good to see that area rebuilt quickly. Other areas in the French Quarter are still works in progress, especially the ground floors of most of the hotels, including ours.
Tomorrow we head to Atlanta, and then the next day we head home ... its hard to believe this long trip is already almost over. 5900 miles so far and only 3 more states to find on license plates: North Dakota, Vermont and Rhode Island. Hopefully we'll get those in the last 2 days, personally I am betting we won't find ND -- but you never know, we thought Hawaii (once) and Alaska (3 times) were going to be the hardest ...
the eighteenth day
Not much happened today. We spent most of the day driving from San Antonio, Tx, to New Orleans, La. The highlight of the day was having dinner with Mindy's long time friend Jackie who lives in N.O. and finally meeting her beautiful family (forgot to bring the camera along).
Tuesday, July 17, 2007
the seventeenth day
Well, we all seem to be back on track today. We spent the day at the San Antonio Riverwalk including taking a boat tour...
visiting the Alamo...
Luckily we were close enough to walk to these places. Unfortunately it rained about once an hour, with a complete downpour while we were at the Alamo. Needless to say we looked like drowned rats after a while.
But we didn't let that get us down. We just walked back to the hotel, changed into dry clothes, and headed back out to the Tower of the America's with umbrella's and rain coats...
then back to the Riverwalk for dinner.
visiting the Alamo...
Luckily we were close enough to walk to these places. Unfortunately it rained about once an hour, with a complete downpour while we were at the Alamo. Needless to say we looked like drowned rats after a while.
But we didn't let that get us down. We just walked back to the hotel, changed into dry clothes, and headed back out to the Tower of the America's with umbrella's and rain coats...
then back to the Riverwalk for dinner.
Monday, July 16, 2007
the sixteenth day
Well, we were supposed to be on the road by 9am this morning for an 8 hour drive (and a timezone change) to San Antonio ... however, as of 11:45am we haven't been able to leave our hotel room yet. I am not sure "authentic Mexican" food for dinner last night was such a good idea. :-(
We finally made it to San Antonio at 9:30pm local time (CST), after leaving El Paso at 12:20pm MST ... and yes, we had to make several unplanned stops. Hopefully tomorrow will be a better day, it couldn't be much worse.
We finally made it to San Antonio at 9:30pm local time (CST), after leaving El Paso at 12:20pm MST ... and yes, we had to make several unplanned stops. Hopefully tomorrow will be a better day, it couldn't be much worse.
the fifteenth day
Today we spent the morning at the Sonora Desert Museum. We got their pretty early, but it was still really hot. We toured the outdoor exhibits, its more like a zoo than a museum, saw some animals and lizards. Then did a quick tour of the indoor exhibits so that we could get on the road. We had a 5 hour drive to El Paso ahead of us.
Once we landed in El Paso we checked into the hotel and then went to an authentic Mexican restaurant (recommended by the hotel), and it was really good. We are only a couple miles from the Mexican border, in fact during the drive on Rt. 10 we could see into Mexico at one point.
Once we landed in El Paso we checked into the hotel and then went to an authentic Mexican restaurant (recommended by the hotel), and it was really good. We are only a couple miles from the Mexican border, in fact during the drive on Rt. 10 we could see into Mexico at one point.
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