Louisiana & Texas!

I have always wanted to visit New Orleans, and this week, I finally got my wish! After a lovely visit with the step grandparents in Biloxi, Ben and I drove straight for the city of jazz. Though none of our Louisiana friends were in town, we had a great time walking the length of Bourbon Street, sipping Abita and taking in the local color. Gunk thoroughly enjoyed strolling down the city streets and dozing on the cool restaurant floors. As we headed out of town, we grabbed a couple of shrimp po'boys to munch on the drive to find a campsite outside the city limits. Our route took us over a thirty mile bridge across Lake Ponchitrain and past two campgrounds that were closed due to damage from the last hurricane. Though we were rather tired and verging on cranky, we persevered and drove straight into the heart of the swamp. Much to our dismay, the state campground was full upon arrival. Luckily, Lizard Creek, a privately owned site still had space. We set up camp and then set out to explore. They say the mosquitoes in Alaska are the state bird. Well, what the swamp bugs lacked in size, they more than made up for in ferocity and tenacity. All three members of this travel group came out with myriad mosquito created welts. Surely they couldn't have been the product of the lovely river complete with boat launch and fishing dock!? In any case, after a rough and humid night, we packed up and hit the road again. We were Texas bound, and nothing could stop us! Not even the impending thunderstorms threatening to overtake us. Before reaching Austin, we had to drive through miles upon miles of Louisiana swampland. Now, we have made every attempt to stay off the interstates, as one tends to find more interesting and authentic types of places on county roads and national highways. Southern Louisiana, however was necessarily an exception. We spent some time studying the road atlas, trying in vain to find an off interstate route through this marshy part of the country. It seems, however that one does not exist, or if it does, it involves intimate local knowledge of the area, and perhaps a boat, as many of the small towns in this region seem to not have roads leading in, out or even through them. How one gets to and from many of these far flung communities remains a mystery. I-10, main-dragness aside, was quite beautiful. It was raised above the swamp on giant concrete pillars, and the east and west lanes were two separate platforms. One was able to look down through the middle and out to the sides over miles of swamp trees and brackish inlets. As we left the swamp for the less porous Texas mainland it got hot. And humid. We stopped to stretch our legs and get a sticker and map at the Texas welcome center. Then, we drove on into the flat, nondescript land of oil rigs and cow farms. As we approached Austin, a MONSTER storm bore down on our little car. Driving westward, we watched the clouds grow massive, roiling and purple. Finally, twenty miles or so outside of the city, the heavens opened and it straight deluged, to the point we were beginning to worry the interstate would flood. We slowed to a creep, and hunkered in the car as thunder crashed all around us. Just as we got into town, the rain abated and the lightning stopped. The forecast, however, called for the storms to continue into the wee hours of the morning, so tired and somewhat jangled from the storm, we rolled up to an extremely comfortable hotel in north Austin, compliments of Pam (thanks!!). The morning dawned clear and humid, and we had the good fortune of meeting up with our friend David for a canyon hike through Bull Creek Greenbelt. It was beautiful and lush, not something I expected to find sitting in the middle of a south Texas city. The hike left us hungry and hot, so we went to the County Line bbq restaurant for some true Texas barbecue and a Lonestar beer. I ate pulled pork for the first time in fourteen years, and let me tell you, even though I could only manage about a third of what they served me, it was delicious! The restaurant itself was lovely. We ate on the patio, which was situated creekside, and watched the turtles lounge in the hot southern sunshine. After a successful bite, we dropped David at ACL, and took off for Abeline State Park, but more on that later!