Weekly Update 4

Time seems to be flying by. I have now been on the road for one month. REMEMBER IF YOU WANT TO SEE PEEPS PICTURES: http://web.mac.com/estellas

I love: Seeing new things especially native wildflowers and unique regional sites, hearing new sounds – birds are so different in different parts of the country, and learning about the places I am in (I read all the local papers).

I don’t like: Drivers who pass on the right, big tracker trailers going 75 miles per hour and lugging stuff in and out of the car.


Now the update:

April 18, 2007: I left Galveston TX and took the free ferry across the bay to make my way to Louisiana. I bought gas for the cheapest this trip ($2.63) in Beaumont, Texas and then said goodbye to that huge state. Drivers in LA are the fastest and craziest I have encountered! I stopped in Baton Rouge and saw the historic state house (beautiful!) and of course – the Mississippi River. I called a few friends in Seattle and sang Old Man River to them! There is a great walk along the river and it was a beautiful day. I finished the day by arriving at my friend’s house in Ponchatoula, LA, on the north shore of Lake Pontchartrain between Baton Rouge and New Orleans.

April 19,2007: Marie and I have known each other since third grade and had not seen each other in 28 years so we caught up a lot! I got a tour of the area and saw the destruction from Hurricane Katrina. We had a great LA lunch by the lake and talked and talked and talked.

April 20,2007: I bid my friend goodbye and headed east and north. I drove the state road between Gulfport and Biloxi, Mississippi. It was very emotionally to see the devastation from the hurricane. I will write more in a separate entry. I ended up the day in La Grange, Georgia. I ate dinner at a real southern buffet: fried chicken, fried okra and fried catfish!

April 21,2007: I arrive in Huntersville, NC just north of Charlotte to visit with a friend from graduate school days. She has two sons (twins) about to graduate high school that are heavily involved with soccer. I had the chance to attend a tournament with them. It was great fun to watch them and meet NC folks.

April 22, 2007: This was the second day of the tournament – the boys’ team made to the finals but lost. We had another beautiful day and I got to try Bojangles’ famous chicken’n biscuits – a southern tradition. Luckily we got to walk and exercise too or I would be pretty heavy by now!

I will be here a few more days and then move on. I expect to be in New Jersey in a week and off the road for a while. I will keep updating you all. Thanks for reading!