06/05/13 – 06/06/13 – First Day in Louisiana (and then to Texas)!
Link to First Day’s Facebook Pictures
Link to New Orleans to Dallas Facebook Pictures
So the first day on the road was a success. Managed to make it all the way to New Orleans. Our plan was to camp at a state park called Bayou Segnette State Park. We tried calling 4-5 times while on the road, to make reservations, but the phone just kept ringing and ringing. We weren’t going to make it to the park until RIGHT before the gate closed at 9pm, but we decided to try our luck anyway. When we pulled up, the park ranger was in the process of closing the gates, but she let us in to camp. “Just go to the front office tomorrow and tell them you camped last night, and you can just pay then”. I then asked her how much it was a night, since the website said it ranged anywhere from $12 – $24, depending on the quality of the campsite. She said it was $36. Wow! We had picked up one of those traveler’s books at a rest area, which had a hotel in a nearby town (30 miles away), Slidell, for $38 with tax. Since we were already at the park, we decided to camp.
We cooked some dinner – a lazy man’s Mountain Meal (a Coleman version – on sale at WalMart for $3). It was pretty delicious, after surviving on bananas and granola bars for the first half of the day. Finally, something warm. I went in the tent and fell asleep shortly after, making sure to leave the rain-fly off and windows zipped down to get any/all cool air that there was. It was so humid that I’m sure we both fell asleep sweating. I woke up in the middle of the night because I was having a weird dream and it was becoming more and more real. Then I realized – the water was actually dripping all over me, down from the mesh roof. I was getting rained on! Molly said I woke up and just sort of screamed “Ahh!”. I got out, put the rainfly on, and went back to sleep.
We set our alarm to wake us up at 6:15am, so we could quickly pack up our tent/supplies and leave before the front office opened up at 7am. 😉 So that was nice – we drove into New Orleans and found a $6 parking spot. We explored the city on foot – Bourbon Street, the French Quarter, the French Market, and some historical landmarks, such as one HUGE church.
It was nice, but I definitely wouldn’t want to live in/around New Orleans, or Louisiana for that matter. It is WAY WAY WAY WAY too humid. We were both covered in a thin layer of sweat and grease until we got back to the car and cooled down in the A/C.
Now we’re back on the road – actually somewhere in Louisiana… Opelousas, to be exact. Ever heard of it? Me neither. Molly is about to start driving, but I figured we would update y’all with the free wi-fi at this truck stop. And one more thing – people from Louisiana have some DEEP accents! Unlike anything I’ve ever heard before.
Update: Made it to Texas!
We stopped at the first Texas visitor’s center to get some coupon books and take this picture!
A little while later, we started getting REALLY hungry and wanted to grab dinner..but it was around 9pm and all the local restaurants were closing. So we pulled over on the side of the interstate, fired up the Whisperlite, and made a freeze-dried meal. A warm meal really does go a long way. It was funny, though, because a guy actually pulled over to see if we were broken down. I guess we had gotten too comfortable (especially Molly!).
We have finally made it to Dallas for the night, and rented a cheap hotel for $45. We both just took our first hot showers of the trip, and I for one can say I feel much better to be CLEAN.
2 thoughts on “06/05/13 – 06/06/13 – First Day in Louisiana (and then to Texas)!”
Thanks for sharing your adventure! We miss you at ACDD. We take turns talking Amy down from the ledge. Today’s piece of advice from an old, white woman: don’t camp on army bases. Apparently, it’s frowned upon. And…trying to rationalize your stay by saying you didn’t see any signs that said “no camping” only makes the folks with guns even more unhappy. Looking forward to more updates.
Hey Peg-meister. Please keep Amy alive. We’ve been pretty lucky at dipping out of campsites before they find us/make us pay. Lol, rebels, I know. Hope biopsies cultures are getting processed currently back at ACDD. PS. I hate accutane and Humira.