Day 4 - Mission: New Orleans Siteseeing

This morning we got in touch with the St. Bernard State Park and found our campground. It is a beautiful campground, the only downfall is the distance out there.

On our way out, we drove through some of the still destroyed parts of St. Bernard, Louisiana.

Many houses have been rebuilt, but many still sit condemned. "Snack & Nap & Random Facts", aka Colby, learned that 80% of this parish was underwater due to Hurricane Katrina.

We headed back to the French Quarter, making our first stop at Central Grocery for the original Muffuletta.

If you love olives, like I do, you will love these sandwiches. But their size is tremendous, so you could share one with four people, or like we did, share half between two people.

Then walking through the streets of the French Quarter, I began a photography project involving the unusual doors of New Orleans (more about that later).

On our way, we passed Lafitte's Blacksmith Shop - the oldest continually occupied bar in the US.

A very cool place that looks like the local pirate bar. Continuing our walk - we were on a mission for the best Fried Chicken, and the locals recommended the Praline Connection on Frenchmen.

We also sampled Zapp's potato chips - Cajun Dill,

and a "Snowball" - the Louisiana snow-cone, which hit the spot on this humid day.

Our next stop was the Garden District in New Orleans.

A community of old southern mansions from the 1800's, known for the beautiful foliage and gardens throughout. Beautiful & ornate it truly is.

Finally, we set off on the Canal Street Ferry for Algiers, with views of Downtown & the Natchez Steamboat.

Driving through this historic town, on our way to the Aurora Congregation meeting.

This group of new friends were so warm, hospitable, and friendly - we only wish we could be in town longer to get to know them all more closely. Thank you for making us feel so welcome.

Afterwards, we headed back into the French Quarter for dinner at the Chartres House Cafe where Colby had the Crawfish Etouffee and I had the Chicken Gumbo.

Finishing the night off with another round of Beignets & Cafe au Lait at Cafe du Monde. Sleep well we did.

Day 3 - Mission: New Orleans, LA

Leaving Dallas was much like leaving any big city - you soon end up in the country. The only thing of note to report on the road out of Texas was driving through the town of Marshall. (I was incorrectly told at the gas station that this was the same town as "We Are Marshall". Thanks for clarifying that Heather! That Marshall is in West Virginia.)

The drive into Louisiana quickly turned to lush yet swamp-like trees. Making our way south through the state, we drove over the 18+ mile long Atchafalya Swamp Bridge.

Shortly thereafter crossing the Mississippi into Baton Rouge.

After our update of Day 2 at the closest Starbucks, we headed off again for New Orleans - more specifically - the French Quarter.

It was 9:00 pm when we finally arrived. Let me just tell you, it is insane there and forget trying to cross the pedestrian loaded Bourbon St. in a car. No one stops, they just cross and act like they don't know you are there.

Being tired from the 9 hour drive in, I was stressed and Hyde - errr I mean Colby was starving. This was our first time into New Orleans and we really only knew of food places that were open during daytime hours, and of course Cafe du Monde. Walking around on a Wednesday night, we stumbled upon the Corner Oyster House.

I had the Red Beans & Rice with Andouille Sausage and Colby had the Gumbolaya - yes, Gumbo & Jambalaya in one dish. (By the way, this Gumbolaya turned out to be the best dish we found.)

Before heading out to our campground, we stopped at Cafe du Monde for Beignets and Cafe au Lait.

OH MY GOODNESS! I am not a doughnut girl, but these little lovelies were delicious. And who would have thought that the Starbucks addict would like chicory coffee?

You haven't seen the last of us Cafe du Monde - we will definitely be back.

Ok, now for the ridiculous part of the trip. Remember we said even the bad experiences would be recounted. This is the first big one, but it turned out alright.

Our campground was a 30 minute trip out to St. Bernard State Park - through the most heavily damaged by Hurricane Katrina part of town. (More about that later)

When we pulled up to St. Bernard State Park, the gate was locked. Seriously. LOCKED! Boy were we mad. In all of our camping experience, we have never been locked out of a place before. I left the campground office a small piece of my mind on their answering machine. Mind you it was now after 12:00 am, so we did the only thing we could think of. We drove to a truck stop. Yes, a TRUCK STOP! You will all have to forgive me for not having the desire to take a picture of the truck stop, it was not a proud moment for us.

Fortunately, this all worked out in the end. We apparently just needed the gate combination, which they will gladly provide if you just call them and let them know. (So, we learned something new....CALL AHEAD!)

Day 2 - Mission: Dallas, TX

Up at 7am and after saying goodbye to our gracious hosts, Jim & Lavonne, we set out for the 10 hour drive to Dallas, TX.

You might be wondering what it was that I meant in my cliffhanger in Day 1 (Jennifer & Colby caught on camera committing a California misdemeanor!) Let me start by saying that we really did nothing illegal. It is actually encouraged if you are on the right side of the fence. So, just outside of Amarillo we made a stop here.

This is Cadillac Ranch. If you haven't heard of this or seen it in a movie, yes those are actual classic Caddies planted nose down in a Texas pasture! Ten to be more specific.

Back to the California misdemeanor. These are customized by visitors which it is encouraged by the artist. What would be illegal in California, like I said, is completely legal in Texas, as long as you are on the right side of the fence. It is art - not graffiti. We did not bring our own can of spray paint, but found two slightly used ones in the field and tag we did.

And voila! Here it is:

The C2CDD (Coast to Coast with the Douglas Duo) 2010 tag.

And you know how they say taggers get addicted?

Colby couldn't stop...

That was our fun in Amarillo - highly recommended by the Douglas Duo with two enthusiastic thumbs up!

Back on the road again, on our way to Dallas. We were told the drive would be boring and ugly - let me just tell you, we were told wrong. At least in our opinion, it was beautiful ranch land teeming with blooming wild flower and quaint old country towns like this one.

We even saw Camels in a pasture!

Arriving in Dallas, we met old friends, Julie, Brandon, the enormous Dutch & Kitty, who were so hospitable. They fed us great food & wine, gave us a comfy bed, and sent us on our way in the morning with snacks.

Thanks guys! It was great to see you and hang out for the night.

So, for tomorrow - off to New Orleans, LA. The cliffhanger: Nighttime in New Orleans - Beignet's & Po-boy's, here we come!

Day 1 - Mission: Albuquerque, NM

Maybe leaving at 3am wasn't the best idea, but we wanted to be able to see something in Albuquerque before it was too late.

Exhausted but excited, head out we did for a 12 hour drive. Our route, 241 north, 91 east, 15 north, 40 east (much of Historical Route 66 is along this stretch of road). Making great time was essential, with as few stops as possible. Fuel stops in Barstow, CA & Hollbrook, AZ and eating homemade sandwiches along the way got us into Albuquerque in just 11 1/2 hours. Some of the sites we saw or passed from 40 east: Meteorite Crater, the Petrified Forest, and an awesome lightening storm around Grant, NM.

Visiting the winner of the "Choose Your Own Adventure" for New Mexico (sorry, Albuquerque Aquarium), we arrived in Old Town Albuquerque - founded in 1700s.

Our first stop, recommended by Uncle Bob & Craig Ferguson, "The Rattlesnake Museum".

Then met up with our Albuquerque tour guides, Justin & Gretchen, setting off for an adventure southwest style. "Frontier" for our DD&D dinner. And yes, this one was a dive (which is not a bad thing)! Dinner was under $10 for both of us. I had the Green Chile Stew & Colby had the Carne Adovado Burrito, and we shared their famous Cinnamon Roll.

A quick tour of the University of New Mexico campus & we were off to the tip top of Sandia Peak. The "World's Longest Tram" took us to the summit at 10,378'.

THANKS again Justin & Gretchen for showing us around! And Justin's parents were kind enough to offer their guest room for the night, way out in the "country". What a great group of new friends we have made! Thanks Rex for recommending and setting this one up!

After a great night of sleep, today we are en route to Dallas, in Amarillo at this very moment. So tune in tomorrow and watch for the exciting adventures we have been on already today. Here's your cliffhanger: Jennifer & Colby caught on camera committing a California misdemeanor!

BonVoyage!

We are officially on our way now. It's been a frantic couple of weeks and we apologize again for the lack of posts but be prepared for the flood of pictures and stories coming your way! We will do our best to confer with each other about our posts so as not to be to redundant, though each of our posts will be unique to the writer. At times we may write about the events from our own perspective in our own writing style.

So here we are on the 15 Freeway heading to the 40 Freeway racing to beat the sun to the Eastern horizon, a hopeless endeavor but exciting none the less. We have all our gear, some food and water and a big comfy bed all in tow with us. A mini home with four wheels and a V6 to boot. (I once promised myself I would never live in a mobile home, I guess I never saw it coming)
The plan for today is to get to Albuquerque (spell that five times fast) New Mexico before 5:30 to meet some friends of friends (aren't we all friends...really?) at the Rattlesnake Museum and walk around Old Town (thank you for voting). Well that's all for now, Colby.

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