OK, I finally have wifi again....we are at the Isle Of Capri having brunch. What a waste for me....six bucks and I had 1/2 pancake, two spoons of grits and some fruit. Next time I pass.
Remember to scroll down to where you left off and read UP! I know, its goofy, but that's the pia having no direct net access for days. *sigh*.

I will be updated sooner, hopefully when we get to Livingston. They have wifi I think.

hugs

dee

Monday December 4, 2006

We left the city of New Orleans around 9 a.m. We had a great time visiting with Tom and Sue, and I loved the French Quarter and of course Uptown. I would love to live there for 6 months or so…not summertime of course. The weather is again very odd for this time of year…it was freezing overnight and that rarely happens here.

We headed west on I10 then swing south to go to Avery Island, home of the Tabasco sauce plant. We stopped for lunch in a grocery store parking lot in New Iberia. Grandpa ate the leftover shrimp poboy, I ate the remaining chunk of the mufuletta sandwich and I made Paulie my special roast beef on white. It is very slow going on state road 90. This is the future I49 corridor, which should make the trip a lot easier. I thought Chicagoans drove nuts, these Cajun peoples are far, far worse! I think they drive like their music…fast and choppy and gets on one’s nerves. When we arrive at Avery, we paid our $1 entrance fee at the guards post across the bridge onto the island. We park and go in for the two cent tour. We actually got to see them bottling Japanese label Tabasco. It was interesting, but Paul and I wondered later if it was really worth the extra two hours of driving. We now know a whole bunch of useless facts about Tabasco sauce. We bought a jar of Tabasco Chili mix, a bottle of Tabasco A1 Steak Sauce for Zack and I finally broke down and bought myself a t-shirt. We took state route 14 heading west again to get to Lake Charles. This was a terrible road, very bumpy and congested for quite a few miles. Then it was turns and more turns. I made a few phone calls, first to set up an appointment with the fools at the Scooter store and then to the cruise line. I have called several times to see if my bringing the scooter would pose a problem. NCL told me that they couldn’t help, since we had booked with Vacations to Go, so I had to call them. Thank goodness it is all taken care of. Details. It’s always the details that kill ya. We decided to pass on the state park as it was 12 miles out of town so we called the Isle of Capri casino and got a spot in their RV parking area for ten bucks. Just electric but that’s all we really need. By the time we roll in it’s after five. There was an accident on this huge bridge over Lake Charles…a load of lumber was blocking the east bound lanes. What a mess. We finally pull into our reserved spot and let me tell ya…there is NO room for anything in these spaces. We are jammed in between a half million dollar Country Coach to the left and a nice 5th wheel rig to the right.

Both grandpa and I are hungry so we tell Paulie to step it up and we head over to the casino for some dinner. Of course, they have the all you can stuff yourself with buffet which is total waste of money for us, a sports type bar of place that has 15 buck hamburgers and then the top of the line steak house. Hmmmm…we finally find the sandwich market and Paulie and I split a cheeseburger. Grandpa settles for the most dried out looking piece of pizza I have ever seen. Both Paul and I try to talk him out of it to no avail. Stubborn old coot. By the way, he is not able to chew the crust…

I head back to the rig while the boys go throw some money away. I find very little to watch on TV…reruns and junk….Thank goodness for PBS….IL Divo in concert, am I lucky or what!!!!! Oooo, Ooooo that Spanish guy is sure a hunk.

I am really tired tonight. We should be in Livingston tomorrow. So far a very enjoyable trip overall.

Later…dee

Sunday December 3, 2006

We were up having coffee and reading the paper by ten. At least I got up and was semi-awake at ten. We decided to go back to the Garden District and the Uptown area just to tour around in the car and view the architecture. Again, the map we have sucks so Paul got another one out of the newspaper. Unfortunately he didn’t look at it closely and it has no street names, but accompanied an article in the paper about the levee system reconstruction. Gee, what a helpful guy he is.

We were quite impressed with the uptown area. Beautiful mansions. Truly unbelievable palaces to be honest. The uptown area is where all the universities are….Tulane, Loyola and St. Xaiver. The garden district is historically signigicant as if I recall it was the former high society area of old New Orleans money was centered. I was quite surprised as the homes there were not opulent or over adorned. Lots of lush, but overgrown landscapes. Most of these old homes have been converted to condos and apartments. Not a parking spot to be found…anywhere. We circled around a bit and then headed back towards the river. We wanted to check out the steam boats, perhaps taking a tour. We parked just outside the JAX building, the former Jackson brewery. It is now shops and restaurants but I thought they still operated a small micro-brewery. Nope. No beer. We walked across the street and came upon what the sign said was the only operating micro-brewery in New Orleans. We went inside to check it out. I ordered the sampler which was four approximately 3 ounces glasses of the house drafts. A dark German type; a Pilsner; a reddish brew called the Stallion and then the special which due to the holiday tasted like it had nutmeg in it somehow. I relished them all. Grandpa ordered the Black Forest dark brew and Paulie shared my samples even though I wasn’t in the sharing mood. Who shares beer for heaven’s sake? Certainly not moi.

After this we go back in the car, paid the outrageous parking fee ($8 for not quite two hours…a real rip off but what choice does one have?) We were just outside the French Quarter so we decided to find a place to eat. First we had to find a parking spot. Lo and behold we find a handicapped FREE spot just off Royal Street. We stroll down Royal which is the art gallery and antique shoppe street in the FQ. We saw some street musicians and all of a sudden the streets began filling up with people in Saints jerseys. The football game has ended and the FQ invasion of the drunkards had begun. No restaurants to be found on Royal. We get to Bourbon and make a hasty exit. It smells like vomit and beer. Jeez. How disgusting. We make our way up to Toulouse and find a bar & café that looks inviting. I must say inviting because we were hungry, tired and the sun had set and it was getting quite chilly. Grandpa had the house sampler (gumbo, red beans with rice, and either jambalaya or the et-to-fey (Sp…My dictionary doesn’t do Cajun and Creole). Paul and I split a hot beef poboy that had the most delicious gravy. I ate about three bits of beef but chowed down the fresh French bread covered in that marvelous gravy. Talk about being stuffed. Bread grows in my stomach, and I know this…so what do I stuff my face with? Yep, bread. Paul finished up, paid the bill and went off to get the car. By this time the streets were filling up very quickly with the tourists and more of the football folks. We headed back to the rig, all tired from our unexpected walk through the French Quarter. We will be heading into west Louisiana towards Cajun country tomorrow. We plan on touring the Tabasco plant on Avery Island and then head to the Sam Houston Jones state park to stay the night. We will then head towards Livingston, Texas on Tuesday.

Later…dee

Saturday December 2, 2006

We slept in this morning. Paulie was up first and took a walk to an interesting little Chinese grocery store several doors away from the RV Park. He picked up the newspaper and a breakfast sandwich. I didn’t get my bum outta bed until almost 11. Tom and Sue called and said they would pick us up around three, and take us to the lake house for a pontoon boat ride. We stopped for crawfish and shrimp at a local place near the lake house and by the time we got to the house, the sun was sinking into the lake quite quickly. So…we just looked around at the lake house property and then dove into the food. I am very picky about my food, if it looks nasty, I don’t eat it. Well, I had to quickly decide if I was gonna be squeamish or starve. The shrimp still had the heads on. So Gross. So Disgusting. So Vile. Sue showed me how to rip their buggy eyed heads off and peel ‘em. They tasted wonderful. Unbelieveably fresh, just caught today. The crawfish are another story. They really ARE bugs. Mudbugs. They remind me of the monster in the Alien movies. I grabbed one and again Sue guided me thru the process of ripping off the bug eyed head, pull some of the shell off and just crack the tail and pull out the meat. There would be NO sucking of the stuff in the heads to pass these virgin lips like Tommy. There is approximately one one-hundredth of an ounce of meat in a mudbug. I am not making this up. The little sliver I managed to get out of the shell was as big as my ring finger fingernail. It was ok…one was enough. I now can say I ate a bug. Of course, dear readers… you know that alcohol was involved in this…NO WAY would I eat this stuff sober yanno. I am not nuts, honest.

Tom and Sue’s lake house is quite beautiful. Just what you’d imagine a getaway cabin to look like. It is bigger than the house we live in…furnished in that rustic look that is so popular now. After dinner we just sat around and talked…it was almost ten by the time we were back on the road and on the way home. Another great day in NO.

Later…dee

Friday December 1, 2006

I think I have my dates goofed up on my previous postings. Now ask me if I care. We awoke to a very frigid New Orleans. Crap. Normal temps are in the mid 70’s with lows in like the 50’s. Today the HIGH will be fifty. With a very cold and biting wind. Better than being at home I say. I don’t like ice and snow anymore. Oh well, we are up and out the door, heading to Café Du Monde in the French Quarter. Of course, we take the Canal Street exit off I10 and I TELL the driver to stay on Canal. An arrow points straight ahead and says in ENGLISH, Canal Street ahead. The driver makes a right. Me, playing navigator, tries to read the map upside down since the map is one of the guide book things and I am desperately trying to figure out where the heck we need to go. After several U-turns, the driver runs right through a frickn’ red light. We make it through alive. We finally ask some guy and he says to go right and stay on this street. We go through what seems to be the financial district before we stumble onto Bourbon Street. What a sh*t-hole. Strip clubs line Bourbon street. I thought this was a place to hear music and have a drink. Ugh, the place is so gross. We continue on and get to another cross street which I recognize so we turn in, and finally we are in the real French Quarter. We find out later that after Hurricane Katrina, that disgusting Larry Flint came in and bought up Bourbon street for pennies on the dollar to destitute property owners. What a shame. Bourbon Street is now Hustler filth alley.

We find a parking spot just off Decatur Street, and see the Café across the way. The wind off the river is really nippy. We get into the Café and it is not unlike my expectations, very quaint. There are only either Chinese or Vietnamese waitresses who can barely speak English. We each order beignets and I got the café aulait, the boys ordering hot cocoa. The coffee is a dark roast that is very rich. Half coffee and half hot milk is perfect. Best café auliat I have ever had. Obviously I am biased by my surroundings. We have NINE beingnets in front of us. Gee I hope they reheat well. They are hot and loaded in huge mountains of powdered sugar. I immediately fell in love with Café Du Monde. I will be back. Just now, I can checkmark this place on my list of “wanna go to’s” and “wanna go back to’s.” Paul and grandpa seemed to enjoy them also, at least they didn’t complain. After we finished, we went up to view the Mississippi. We are below the levee and I would assume under sea level? We walk up the rampart, and all of a sudden my head is just spinning and my ears are screaming in pain. The air pressure is not normal here and I am frantic to get away. We walked a bit down Decatur. Lots of really neat shops and café’s, including the French Quarter Grocery, home of the original Muffaletta sandwich. The smell from the grocery was incredible. We continued walking for a couple of blocks to the visitors center and check out tours. Grandpa and I just cannot walk to do tours or sightseeing. My head was pounding from the air pressure and grandpa’s legs were giving out. We found the French Market but just were outta gas to do any kind of shopping. Paul walked back to the car and grandpa and I sat freezing in a quaint little park off the market waiting. Paul had gotten a call from his friend Tom, and we headed to Gretna to see them. I wanted to stop at the rig first to get cleaned up…I had nasty bed head this morning and just stuck a baseball cap on my head. They have a beautiful home. Right now son Tommy and his wife and two kids are living with them until February when they transfer to Houston. We talked all afternoon, and then Sue made a wonderful dinner of Italian type chicken with breadcrumbs and diced tomatoes, sautéed broccoli and noodles. We talked around the table until about 9:30 pm. I felt really kinda stupid keeping my baseball hat on the entire day, but by then my bed head had turned into a couple of greasy tufts of thin stragles so no way would I take the hat off. Let Tom and Sue think I am a weirdo, I wouldn’t let anyone see my hair like this. Poor Pepe was prolly doing the “I gotta go potty” dance back at the rig so we said our goodnights and went home. We pretty much just went to bed when we got back. A good day…very disappointing for both me and grandpa. It is soooooo frustrating not to be able to walk more than a block. Both he and I are in the dumper…we had looked forward to doing some sightseeing here. He’s almost 90, so he’s got reason…me, who knows?

Later,

dee

Thursday November 30, 2006

The rig was packed and ready to hit the road about 9:30 a.m. It is starting to drizzle again. The cold front is pushing south and we are running just ahead of it. Paul had run over to a small donut shop and brought us a couple of deep fried grease nuggets. Why does deep fried grease taste so good?

We got back on I55 once again heading straight south. We stopped at the Louisiana Welcome Center and picked up a bunch of tourist brochures. I would love to go on the Vampire and Cemetery Tour, but it is a walking tour and its after dark, too deadly for moi. Walking is still difficult and forget walking in the freakin’ dark…since I have no balance I have to use my EYES so darkness renders me totally unbalanced…no rude comments please.

I55 into NO is very interesting. About 20 or so miles out of the city, there are bayous along the highway, shrimp boats and houses on stilts. Very interesting. We plan on doing a swamp and bayou tour. I better remember the bug spray or I won’t come out alive, sucked dry no doubt.

We arrived in New Orleans just ahead of the super thunderstorms that are making up the cold front down here. The wind was blowing pretty hard and the traffic on the NO freeways just whizzed by us. I think Paulie was stressed. I cannot describe just how terrible it still is down here as we passed on I10. All the residential areas we passed still had half the houses in repair or disrepair. Roofs missing, windows boarded up. FEMA trailers still stand in a lot of front yards. We passed a strip mall that was still just a pile of rubble. Some homes look like they have been rebuilt already…their insurance must have been good. There are still piles of rubble everywhere, on street corners and even on roofs. Very sad. This was probably not a very attractive area, most likely a poorer area and it just looks like jumbled up shambles.

We finally find Chef Menteur Hwy and get off to find the park. Hmmm, it’s a parking lot with hookups. There is a pool, and a hot tub. I truly doubt if I’d set foot in either one, even if I was dying of the heat and humidity. There are mostly work campers here. It looks like a lot of electric company trucks are here. I suppose if the work is here, staying in a campground is not such a bad deal. At least you go to bed in YOUR bed every night, and can cook a meal. About six blocks from here is the quarry and the main barge landing on the Mississippi. Not the most picturesque place we’ve ever stayed by a long shot, but NOT as bad as my favorite place in Southern Illinois. We are about 5 miles from the French Quarter. First thing tomorrow morning I am shagging male asses outta bed and we are going to the Café du Monde for beignets and café au lait. It IS open 24 hours so I may just steal out in the middle of the night and treat myself.

The rain finally caught up with us at around 5:30 p.m. It was really heavy and came down in torrents blown to and fro by a strong wind. Paul stupidly made himself and grandpa fish sticks for dinner and stunk up the entire rig. No windows can be opened due to the torrential rain, and he makes fish sticks…in the toaster oven. Jeez. Now it smells like Arthur Treachers in here for heaven’s sake. I am lighting candles all over the place. Putz.

Well, that’s about all that’s going on here. It is supposed to rain tomorrow so I am not sure what is on the agenda except for the beignets .

More later

Dee

Wednesday November 29, 2006

After a nice sleep-in, we decided to go to Vicksburg to once again visit the Battleground Museum and Cemetery there. Grandpa had changed his mind and decided he now wanted to go, so we thought we could see things we missed on our first visit over two years ago. We again purchased the CD tour which is very interesting and puts the battle into perspective as you drive through the huge battlegrounds. The Siege of Vicksburg is told from both sides, Confederate and Federal. The townspeople fled to caves they had carved into the hillsides along the Mississippi. The most beautiful monument in the park is that of Illinois. It is a domed structure of marble and inside its circular interior are the names of each Illinois soldier to serve in this historical campaign. I have put up a new album of a few photos at http://www.yahoopictures.com. We didn’t get out of the car so the pictures are just basic…but the day was beautiful and 77 degrees.

We stopped at Cracker Barrel for a late lunch, early dinner thing. Of all the regional foods we could have sampled, the men choose CB. Jeez. Whoosies, both of ‘em…all that BBQ just waiting to be sampled and we eat at a place we can eat at any damm time.

We will head for New Orleans tomorrow. It is about 245 miles from here so it will be a nice easy day. We found a place to park the RV in the French Quarter…it only costs $80 per day. I think not. Instead, we will be staying at a place called Judes Camp for a mere $30.00. I sure hope it’s in a good part of town, or is there such a thing anymore in New Orleans?

Later

Dee