NOLA!

After we left the Cajun region, we drove towards Baton Rouge and New Orleans.  The highway is mostly a causeway, driving above the waters of the bayou.  It’s pretty amazing to see.  Louisiana is indeed filled with watery channels in these parts.

We were hoping to visit a bit of Baton Rouge but Roadie was still making some worrisome noises, so we opted to visit another Midas shop in that city.  At least we got to see some of the city from the highway, including some very nice homes on a waterfront.

Roadie’s problems were not so big this time and after a quick lunch at Wendy’s, we were ready to continue our journey to the Big Easy, New Orleans.  Again, we found ourselves driving over bayou until we got to a huge lake that looks like a sea, Lake Pontchartrain.

Our campsite was in the east of the city, where some of Katrina’s devastation is still visible.  But worse, it seemed rather run down and derelict as we drove into the gated RV park.  We had the busy road on one side and the train tracks on the other.  Not the best scenario, but the park was actually very well kept and offered all the amenities including a shuttle to the French Quarter.  We found out the next day that the garbage and destroyed buildings around us were as a result of a tornado that had hit on February 7^th.  That area was still trying to clean up the mess.

The first night, we enjoyed the hot tub and a great shower.  I tried to sleep but the noise of motorcycles racing was really hard to overcome.  Luckily I had packed some earplugs and managed to drift off eventually.  It seems the locals like to race their vehicles every Wednesday night, in spite of complaints by the local merchants.

The next morning, we drove into town to visit the National WW2 Museum.  Leon and I enjoyed looking at the exhibits and were very impressed by the building as a whole.  I don’t take pictures of these museums because Leon covers all that very well in his own website.  After our visit, we stopped at a retired surfers’ bar for a leisurely lunch.