The end of a segment

Well, there are some gaps, but you can see that we have hooked back up with Texas from the working years.  We apologize to Tennessee, Kansas, Arkansas and the northern states.

We'll catch you next year, as well as the Canadian provinces.

So, now we are in Texas, working our way west along the south.  We'll stop for longer stops in Arizona and southern California.   For any one who lives there ..... see y'all there.

On the mend

As homes are being repaired, the city of New Orleans is having the replacement houses built higher than on their pad.  But many homeowners are taking the initiative to repair AND elevate.

Scenes from Katrina

There is still a ton of damage left from Katrina.  The biggest issues is not insurance, but home ownership.  If a person can't prove they own their home (which may have been handed down from generations), the residents can't collect the insurance nor collect any government help.

From what we heard from the locals, Katrina hit so fast.  There had been 2 false alarms with other storms.  Katrina was heading for Florida and swerved at the last minute and picked up speed.

The top 2 pictures are of the nineth ward which got water up to, or over, the roofs.  The arrow on the top picture shows how roofs are collapsing in time.

The bottom picture shows a house in a middle income area.  The water was 6' high, as you can see by the watermark.

The American Plantation

The plantation houses that the "Americans" built were of the same design as those you find in Atlanta and other south eastern areas.  The main floor was the entertaining areas and the upstairs had the bedrooms.  This home is being lived in by it's current owners.  It had been one of the largest in Louisiana shortly after the civil war - 13,000 acres.

Creole Plantation

The Creole people painted their plantation houses bright colours.  They were built on stilts and the basements were used for storage.  The main (2nd) floor housed offices, dining and bedrooms.  Business was conducted in the bedrooms.  For 4 generations, this plantation was run by the women of the family and run very successfully.

The crop in this area is sugar cane.

Jean Lafitte held out here

Here is the Lafitte blacksmith shop.  Jean Lafitte posed as a respectable citizen in the late 1700's.  In reality, he and his cronies snuck through the bayous and his smuggling operations were based here.

This building is, in fact, the oldest one in the city.  Unfortunately, the owners attempted to make it look old by faking the plaster.  It kind of looks cheesy instead.

Another kind of street performance

This guy really isn't moving.  He held that pose until an unsuspecting tourist got too close and then he would jump and startle them.  He could hold that pose for the longest time.

Music on every streetcorner

We have seen SO many street musicians on the various streetcorners of streets that intersect Royal Ave.  The most common (if you want to put it that way) are the jazz groups and Creol/Cajun groups.  There is such talent that roams the streets.  I can't imagine what Mardi Gras is like.

Respect for water

We were told that, during Hurricane Katrina, the floodwaters ran over the gates between Lake Pontchartrain and this pleasant, quiet canal.  It flooded the campground and the neighbouring residential area by nineteen feet!!!
That makes the water 5 feet higher than our motorhome in this picture.

Farewell to Florida

Our last stop in Florida was Pensacola, home of the Blue Angels.  I love watching them.  BUT, they were in California.  By the time we get there, they will be in ..... FLORIDA  (sigh)

One of the best parts of being near the ocean

The end result

Yummy and Sweet - freshly knocked from the tree.

Picking Grapefruits can be different from oranges

35 year record COLD temperatures

Here are a couple of Palms that will be dead in about a week.  Most palms that weren't near the ocean or south of Tampa are dying because it was SO cold for SO long.

So Peaceful

Nothing like a winter Sunset

The wind died down ...

A look at the Shuttle model

Here is the model that shows what it looks like when the tower is open and the shuttle is exposed .... this occurs mere moments before launch.  At this time, only the top of the orange booster is visible, unlike THIS model.

First Stop back - a "Spacey" day

A BEAUTIFUL day in Florida.  It was the first after many days of cold.

This is the Shuttle Endeavor.  It is sitting on the launch pad, getting it's final prep work.

The "Crawler" that drags it out uses 150 gallons of fuel for each mile that it takes to take it out to the pad.

Launch is due for Sunday, Feb. 7 at 4:39 a.m. EST.

Christmas back in Canada