Gretna, La. and Midway, Fl.

June 17th
We passed into Louisiana about 8:10 a.m.  But couldn't take a picture of the sign because we were on the freeway. We were up early and ate breakfast at the hotel this morning and we were on the road by about 7:45.

At 9:30 in the morning it was 91 degrees but the humidity is much higher than at home, so it feels warmer to us.

We passed through the Atchafalaya National Heritage Area it is a wetlands area that has beautiful waterways and plant life.

Trees grow in the water here much more so than home.

Lake Pontchartrain near New Orleans is huge.  It has a road (Interstate 10) that goes over it on the southern end. That is the freeway we traveled on. It also has a line of electrical transmission lines that went across the lake. I don't know if it is cheaper or better to do it that way rather than go around or not. It is beautiful though.

Michael has been turned back around and has been traveling the right direction for the last day or so.

When we got to New Orleans, we visited Bourbon street. Everyone told us we should. It's interesting, I am glad we didn't go at night. Here are some pictures from Bourbon street.

Some signs with NOLA on the signs

Had to take pictures where NOLA was in the name

This is for our granddaughters.  Incredible shoes.  Probably not too comfortable.

Hanging the beads.

We found a couple of souvenirs we couldn't resist purchasing.
Tried to find some t-shirts with I  Love NOLA, but could not find any.

We had some Fried Pickles and Benieut bites here.

We saw a couple cemeteries from the freeway.  They were just like the ones you see in the movies or on TV.  Everything is above ground.  I tried to take a picture as we were traveling on the freeway, so sorry about poor quality.

After exploring New Orleans, we went to meet Brother and Sister Paulsen at their apartment. They are serving a mission here in Gretna. They will be returning home next month.   We visited for a while, and then we went to dinner. We had Chinese food at a a restaurant near their apartment. Both Michael and I ordered sweet and sour chicken. The plates were huge and very full. The food was nummy, but one plate probably could have fed three of us. We took the leftovers home and left them for the Paulsens to enjoy since we really had no way to keep them. 

After dinner they drove us down to the Mississippi River and we watched the sun set there. It was so cool to watch the barges and ships on the river. It made me even more excited for our upcoming cruise. 




















We hadn't even realized that we had driven across the Mississippi on the way to their place.  After the sun set, Bro. Paulsen took us back across the river to St. Charles street.  The buildings on this street were so beautiful. They reminded us of the plantation style. Everything is built in this style and even though it is businesses (like McDonalds and a grocery store), they look like well kept homes.

Unfortunately it was dark, and we were riding in the back seat, so we did not get pictures. They showed us the chapel (called Uptown Chapel) where they teach institute classes each week. They also showed us the chapel where they attend church and teach another institute class during the week.

After the sightseeing, we returned to their apartment and we went to bed.  This morning, Michael is traveling the wrong direction again.

This morning we woke early. We gathered things up and said farewell to our friends and hit the road by about 7:30. As we left, it started to rain. It was coming down pretty hard by the time we reached I-90. It quickly went into a causeway that goes out across water. We think it was a lake.

After we got across the causeway, the rain slowed down and stopped. 

We have been in 4 states today. We started out in Louisiana. The next state was Mississippi and then Alabama. 

Again these were taken from a moving car, but you have to get pictures, right?  When we arrived in Florida, we stopped at their welcome center. 

We got brochures for the areas we will be visiting so we can see what there is to do in each place.  We have also been in two time zones.  We will be in the eastern time zone for the next 2-3 weeks.

We arrived at our motel about 3:45 this afternoon.   We are catching up on our bookkeeping and blog.