Wednesday, June 29, 2016

Day 1: The Villages, FL to New Orleans, LA


First day out and surprisingly I made it all the way to my old stomping grounds, New Orleans, Louisiana, home of Tulane University, the first chapter of my college career.   I am in the French Quarter, sitting in Pat O'Brien's, eating crawfish etoufee (a favorite dish of mine that I have not the opportunity to enjoy for 30 years or so) and waiting for a rather nasty thunderstorm to blow through.  Pat O’Briens is a rather old bar (1700’s or so) that has since added a restaurant, no doubt from space that another establishment left behind in the wake of Hurricane Katrina a decade or so ago.   I am sitting in front of the center fountain, which brings back teenage memories of my older brother and I climbing onto and thus into (they have since put flower pots along the edge to stop others from attempting this maneuver).  As you might guess, this short-sighted and drunkenly executed plan resulted in our not too surprising removal from the bar (sorry Mom, Allison and Jason for shattering the image of your son/father).   I am almost finished with dinner, and no mention of our shenanigans has been made, so apparently I am in the clear J



Today’s trip covered 596 miles, a new one-day record for me, and even more unique as it was all on interstate, a path less traveled for me.   I am hoping this personal record stands for a significant period of time as interstates are in no way exciting.  My plan is to get through the United States in short order, and get into the mountains of Central and South America so I can start experiencing what I had envisioned for this trip.  Tomorrow I am heading out to Houston, just 348 miles.  

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