Its late here in New Orleans and we’re going to be getting up early tomorrow. As a result, I am cutting a few corners tonight. Pictures won’t be popup this time around, instead you get to browse them rather primitively here. Also, I am posting all of the new journals at once.
Day 4 (Thursday, December 04, 2003)
We woke up late, around 11:30, showered, and went to Homer’s, an excellent restaurant near the Little Rock airport with Brennan and her step-dad Paul. Next we hung out at Brennan’s house while Brennan went to the dentist, then she returned and took us to Pinnacle Mountain, if mountain is the correct term, where we took many pictures. There were many hawks circling, which was weird, because there were so many hawks. Pictures will happen here at some point. Soon we will be going to a choir concert. Last night we saw the construction of William Jefferson Clinton Library.
Day 5 (Friday, December 05, 2003)
We got up, said goodbye to Brennan and the hecka-tight city of Little Rawk. Hit the road running at 8:24.
Outside of Little Rock Ryan and I see the sun coming through the clouds in rays, absolutely awesome.
10:50 am — 143.7 miles: We cross a bridge from Louisiana into Mississippi. We didn’t even know that we had been in Louisiana already. The speed limits are ranging from 45-55, on US highways — not interstates right now. Everything is feeling more “Southern” in a stereotypical sense.
10:54 am — 148.0 miles: We realize we are off track. Working on a solution.
10:58 am — 150.9 miles: We figure out where we are. Highways 65 and 82 were the same road for a while, then they split up and instead of staying on highway 65 like I, Ryan, should have, we took off on highway 82, and crossed into Mississippi earlier than expected. Now we are trudging our way through Greenville, Mississippi on our way to Leland, Mississippi, where we will head South on US Highway 61 to Jackson, Mississippi where we will meet up with our originally planned path. It looks like we just added at least an hour to out arrival time in New Orleans. Way to go, Ryan!
12:38 pm — 242.4 miles: We arrive at I-20, back on track, headed towards Jackson, Mississippi. We had some PBJ sandwiches I made at Brennan’s house before we left.
1:10pm — 281.2 miles: We get onto I-55 South, and see a sign that says “New Orleans.”
2:30 pm – 371.5 miles: Entered Louisiana.
9:55 pm – 495.4 miles: We get the car’s oil changed and get in contact with Kat at Tulane, who decides she needs to study, so we head out to experience New Orleans on our own. We drive around and finally find a parking spot in the French Quarter. The parallel parking is tight, but with Scott’s excellent direction and Ryan’s amazing driving skills, we managed. We walked to Bourbon Street and strolled up and down several times enjoying the sights, sounds, and ambience of the place. The entire street is a big party, with what seems like hundreds of clubs and stores all vying for the attention of the wandering masses. We didn’t make it in to any of the clubs while the cover charges were still waived, so now we are wandering the city again, wondering what we will do tomorrow (stay here and explore, or head to Pensacola, where my cousin Kevin might be).
10:45 — On our drive back to where we are staying, we stopped at a restaurant for a very late dinner. We decided we simply could leave New Orleans without trying Cajun food. And boy did we luck out, we found a restaurant called, Copland’s. Ryan had Shrimp Creole and Scott had Blacked Cajun Chicken; it was scrumptious. Now we have to contemplate where we are going next. We can see Ryan’s cousin in Pensacola, just a three hour small excursion, stay in New Orleans another night, or simply go onto Arlington, TX (just outside of Dallas). We plan on getting up early and contacting Ryan’s cousin to see what his schedule is, and we will decide from there.
