A journey around the Deep South of the USA

Los Angeles, United States

Wed, 01 Aug 2018 02:40:00 -0700

Wednesday 1st August We have time on our hands this morning, we don’t have to leave the hotel until 1130, our United Airlines flight to Los Angels leaves at 2.45. We will have a 4 hour wait in LA before the Air New Zealand flight, which leaves at 9.30. We should arrive in Auckland at at 0515 on Friday (of coarse after crossing the International Date Line). We should arrive back in Brisbane by 11 o’clock. Unless anything changes, this will complete the blog. I hope you have enjoyed it as much a I have (sometimes) enjoyed writing it.......

Dallas, United States

Tue, 31 Jul 2018 02:40:00 -0500

Tuesday 31st July Our last day in the US. We leave this morning for Dallas/Fort Worth and the return of our car. The car has been very good and easy to drive, I would certainly consider one. The US has been an interesting visit, as always. From the manic freeways of Dallas to the potholed backroads of Mississippi, it has been great. The people are as friendly as anywhere and always willing to pass the time of day with you. Americans seem to have a real interest in you and where you live. They are extremely polite, especially the children. Obviously there are exceptions, there always are, but we found a nation of patriotic and friendly people, proving to us that the two can go together. We left Longview at 0845, the rain had arrived and as we drove towards the freeway, I did wonder what I had done to deserve this. It was a carbon copy of yesterday, the skies were black and the visibility minimal. Thankfully it only lasted for around 20 minutes and after 30, we were driving through cloudless skies once more. The roads were fast and we were well on time to deliver the car back by noon. A speed of 75mph seems to be the maximum here, but by watching the cars and trucks that overtook, you wouldn’t think so. Having said that, the State Troopers also seemed to be pulling in the odd racer! With the sun shining and well on time, we decided to pull into a rest area for a spell. Texas has by far the best roads and surly some of the best rest stops. These are not gas/ fuel stops, these are custom made public rest areas. There are clean, air conditioned toilets, with an attendant on hand. There are vending machines, picnic areas, dog walking parks and rambling paths through the local countryside to truly stretch your legs. These stops are nowhere near towns, but placed strategically along freeways, to actively invite motorists to have a rest. Well done Texas! Refreshed, we headed on towards Dallas and the part of the journey I was dreading. The freeway we needed took us through, or should I say over, the middle of downtown Dallas. What was going to complicate things, was the ongoing roadworks, which of coarse gave our Sat Nav a distinct disadvantage. To make things even worse this morning, the traffic was heavy and slow. This can sometimes be an advantage when looking for exits, but with sometimes six lanes to choose from and exits leaving right and left, its hard to know, where and when to be in a certain lane. Add to this, lane closures due to roadworks and it’s tough. At one stage we needed exit 133b, there were six lanes, we knew we had to exit right. We couldn’t be too far over to the right, because we would be going off too early on exit 133c. Yes to make things more complicated, exits seems to count down in reverse d, c, b, etc. We passed exit 133d, then 133c and then, no exit b, then exit 133a! Oh well, we have to keep driving and hope the Sat Nav gets on top of it. We have freeways passing over us and under us, what a nightmare. She says ‘take the exit 135 on the right, turn immediate left and then left again’, she was obviously sending us back the other way. We followed her instructions and found ourselves above the mayhem below, and sitting serenely at some traffic lights somewhere in suburban Dallas. After we obeyed the instructions fully however, we were back amongst it once more. The Sat Nav was now showing we had to be over on the left side of the freeway, in America of coarse, the fast lane. Not that it mattered at the moment, because ahead of us, the fire service were just arriving to an accident. The traffic was virtually stationary. As we crawled along, the six lanes on our side became one, ours! The time was now racing by, we had 30 minutes to get petrol and return the car, or pay at least another day’s hire. Up ahead however, was the body of a man under a car, the firefighters had just turned up and mayhem was all around. We were in the right place at the wrong time, for this unfortunate person, and were waived on our way. It really put it all into perspective. We now seem to be on our correct coarse, with no sign of the offending slip road. The road was now travelling fast and towards the airport. We should make it okay. We arrived at the petrol station. The rental car goes out full and has to be returned full. Like most garages in America, the pumps take a credit card. If you have cash, you must pay before receiving your petrol. I send Debbie off to get us $20 credit, she returns with the receipt and we still have no petrol, she returns to the attendant, comes back and we still have no petrol. I go to the attendant, explain again, this time we get our petrol. Twenty dollars worth, it’s not enough, the car is not quite full. Debbie returns to the attendant for another $5, it fills the car and leaves $2.50 credit. Do we get the credit or return the car now? It’s a ‘no brainer’, with the clock ticking towards noon. Stuff the $2.50. We get the car back with minutes to spare. What a morning it has been. Thank goodness the holiday is over and not beginning. We make our way to the car rental transit lounge and I phone the hotel for our pickup. On our way back to the hotel, we wonder what we are going to do until 3pm, check in time! On arrival, the receptionist recognises is from our arrival stay and tells us we can check in straight away, music to our ears. All is well in the world once more. In the evening, we walk up to the Aspen Creek Grill and treat ourselves to some Baby Back Pork Ribs and some IPA and reflect on the day. We obviously sleep well.

Ribs after!

Ribs before!

Longview, United States

Sun, 29 Jul 2018 02:40:00 -0500

Sunday 29th July Today we head off for the penultimate leg of our sojourn, to a town /city called Longview Texas. Why was it selected by us? Because it was only a few hours from Dallas, where our hire car has to be returned by noon on Tuesday. I don’t think Longview holds anything we want to see or do, although the hotel is close to a huge walking and biking track across the road. Weather permitting we will obviously give it a go. The weather at the moment is rather dull, but I am hopeful that our four hour or so journey, will be dry...... After gathering all of our belongings, scattered all over the house, we packed the car and said our goodbyes to Donna. She came to her door with her arm plastered from wrist to elbow. We wondered why we hadn’t seen her and it was now evident. She had at some stage over the weekend, broken her wrist. She told us she was waiting for an appointment with a bone specialist, because and quote, ‘I had this set in a public emergency hospital, I can’t trust that they have done this right’! It really made me wonder! Was this because she truly didn’t trust the system, yet used it, because private medicine doesn’t do accident and emergency. Or is she going to a private doctor, because she pays her medical insurance and so she will use it whatever. Either way, I found it a little troubling. Private or not, she still had to wait until August 18th for an appointment! We set off at 10am and headed for a place called Hope, about a 1hour 45 minute journey. We would stop for a toilet break and fuel the car. It was just pretty boring freeway driving, although very busy considering it was a Sunday. When we filled the car ($17 for 7 gallons, unbelievable), we looked up at the sky, it was as black as the ‘Hobbs of Hell’. With our fingers crossed that it wasn’t going to follow us, we set off for the 2 hour journey to Longview. We had only been travelling for 20 minutes, when the wind really started buffeting the car and small branches began to blow from the trees. It was around midday and it was beginning to look like night. It wasn’t much later, that the heavens opened. It became the kind of driving conditions where the wipers were on full speed and still couldn’t clear the screen fast enough. The thunder was so loud and the lightning forks seemed to strike the road ahead. Was it going to be safer to stop at the side of the road and risk being hit, or was it better to keep going? We had an added problem, in that, we had to make a lot of turnoffs. We were no longer following the same freeway! We decide to carry on for a while anyway. We had a big articulated truck ahead of us and I was able to follow his rear lights. We were now doing around 40 mph on a 75mph limit road. I must say, the driving was only possible, because of the thought and consideration of fellow drivers. Everyone knew how difficult it was and drove accordingly. Some drove with their hazard lights on, which gave good visibility in a bad situation. The truck in front of me, thankfully was going our way and I was able to join the next highway by following his tail lights. Without him, I don’t want to think about it. I had obviously seen rain like this and driven through it in Australia many times, but never for this long, this bad and on the ‘wrong side’ of the road! We had been driving now for 30 minutes or more, the rain hadn’t eased one bit. The roads now had the added hazard of large puddles, making it even more hazardous. We decided, because we were now passing some shops, to pull into one of their carparks and some relative safety. I looked at the clock, it was 1pm, the sky said 1am. It was black and it still kept delivering rain, like I had never witnessed for so long, now over an hour! I really do take my hat off to the tremendous infrastructure, that allows this amount of rain drain safely. We sat for around 10 minutes, wondered if it had eased a little, decided it had, and headed back out onto the highway. It hadn’t, oh no, it was terrible. I placed myself behind a car that was driving with its hazard lights on. The wipers were at full speed, the rain wouldn’t relent and we hadn’t spoken to each other for some 30 minutes, there was just nothing to say, but so much to think about. It must have been around 90 minutes before the first signs of a break appeared. In the distance there was this layer of brighter sky, for the first time I was able to turn the wipers back to normal, I felt my arms relax for the first time, but it was a ‘fools paradise’. The rain sheeted down once more, the arms became tense and the wipers were incapable of doing their job. Thankfully the worst was now coming to an end, there were some periods with no rain, the nightmare was finally ending. How chirpy the conversation was now between us. If relaxation was a commodity, it could have been harvested, all was good in the world. The rest of our journey was a piece of cake. We arrived at our hotel in Longview at around 3pm and relaxed. The guy at reception said ‘what rain’, but he would have been made aware of it on the ‘news’, later on that evening. He was more interested in why we had an Australian passport, yet spoke with an English accent. Australians rejoice, not all Americans think we speak the same! Monday 30th July Longview We went over the road from the hotel and had a Mexican meal last night. It was a pleasant experience and different. Don’t ask me what we had, but besides the rice and the beans, there were burritos, enchiladas and tamales, oh and a couple of Bud’s. There was still a threat of rain this morning, as we headed off towards the Paul Boorman Trail. This was a concrete path through a wooded corridor some 3 miles in length. As we walked towards the entrance it started to rain, not really enough to cause too much discomfort, but enough to make your t-shirt wet. The path was marked for pedestrians and cyclists, but mainly attracted joggers. The rain began to ease off after awhile and the sun broke through, causing the humidity to rise dramatically. America really has got it right with their shared pathways. Pedestrians are instructed to walk on the right. When cyclists approach from behind, they just shout ‘on your left’! This gives you the ability to move over if you have to, or just know someone is approaching. It’s just so simple, sensible and safe for everyone. There weren’t too many people around and there were lots of squirrels and birdlife. We walked the full length of the trail and near the end came across a dog park. What made this amusing, were a number of brightly coloured pillar hydrants, obviously placed there for the dogs interest. There were also slides, tunnels and other amusements for the dogs to play with. The rain didn’t return and our total walk for today touched on 12 kilometres. This really was our last full day in the US, before moving on to Dallas tomorrow, to return the car and our stay at the airport hotel.

Homewood Siutes Longview.

The dog park, complete with hydrants

A little relief along the trail

Grace Creek ran along the Paul Boorman Trail

The trail.

Our little Mexican

Little Rock, United States

Wed, 25 Jul 2018 02:40:00 -0500

This morning we head for Little Rock Arkansas, obviously famous as the birthplace of Bill Clinton. It was a pretty uneventful journey for scenery. We left at around 9.30 and stopped after an hour or so in a place called Monticello. The journey there was quite picturesque, with country roads passing through small towns. Shortly after leaving however, we started going through the massive pine forested areas which were mile after mile of straight roads and trees. We had programmed the Sat Nav to the nearest Little Rock Walmart and she delivered. It was not however without its moments. After driving for a week or so in the laid back south, the freeway system of LR was not so slow. Nobody took any notice whatsoever of the 65mph speed limit and there were also some subtle differences in the way roads were laid out. Quite often, we actually worried about which way we were heading when joining and leaving the freeways. No matter where we were going in Little Rock we seemed to be on a freeway. We eventually however arrived at our home stay. Donna, the host, who lived with her husband in the house on the other side of the small garden, greeted us. She was a pleasant lady, about our age. Her husband, only known as ‘WB’ was nice enough although seemed a bit eccentric. They both spoke with that same honed ‘southern’ drawl. The place in which we were to stay, was something else again. It was the original 1880 ‘Carriage House’ converted to our home for four nights. It was built as a two story barn and in the dinning area, it still has the original brick floor, where the horse and carriage were kept. There were two bedrooms upstairs and everything was so well thought out and so comfortable. We arrived at the height of the afternoon heat, but once inside the house, it was cool and so well appointed. Everything had been thought of, there was everything we could possibly want or need for our stay. Thursday 26th Little Rock Arkansas. We were up and out for a walk at around 7am. The local streets provided quite a bit of early shade from the huge trees that lined the neighbourhood. There were some really grand places we passed trying to familiarise ourselves with the area. We could see the tall buildings of the city centre in the distance and everything was walkable. Apparently it was 30 minute walk to the city centre and riverfront. We returned to the house for breakfast and to plan our day. We headed in to Downtown at around 10am, although a warm day, it was easy to find a shady side of the street. Within 30 minutes we were heading down the River District of Little Rock. This was another redevelopment of old warehouses and seedy dock areas, as carried out all over the world. It looked as if the place would buzz at night, there were many bars and plenty of outside dining. We headed along the Riverfront Park and made a decision to visit the Clinton Presidential Centre. Neither of us being a great fan of Bill Clinton, we weren’t to sure of what to expect. Although the Centre was a homage to Clinton and all his political achievements, the tour we took was amazingly informative and had no partisan bent whatsoever. The guy who took us on the 80 minute tour was good value. He talked about the early years of US government and gave some really interesting and informative facts about the flag, the Presidential Seal and political system. We sat in the Cabinet Room around the ‘Oval’ table where he took us through who sits where and why. We went to the Oval Office where the President sits behind his desk in the White House. These were exact replicas of the real rooms and they seemed so small . Like everywhere these days, no photos could be taken in the Oval Office, because somebody had the rights to take photos of you, behind the desk and then sell them to you. It was a first class tour and for $8, tremendous value. There were good views of the Arkansas River and Downtown Little Rock from the huge windows. It was set, looking out on an old railway bridge, which had been converted to a pedestrian bridge joining South and North LR. We returned along the River Walk, which apparently stretches for some 20 miles and on to Pinnacle Mountain. There is so much more to explore here and most of it free. Museums, Government Buildings and Old Houses are aplenty, many with guided tours. Friday 27th July Little Rock We heard our first rain during the night and have awoken to a dull but warm morning. There was obviously a bit more rain than we realised as the shoes we had left outside the back door were soaking wet. We headed off towards the Capital Building this morning, it looked interesting and it would give us our bit of exercise for the day. In 1889 Arkansas built its new Capital Building, to replace the original built in 1842. The plot was apparently already occupied by the State Penitentiary, so with 200 ready workers available, they leveled the penitentiary and built the new building. The opulence of this place is amazing. There are marble floors, fluted columns and walls and staircases of Alabama Stone. In 1900 the projected cost was 1 million dollars, but it finally came in at 2.2 million. Now where have we we seen that before. When we arrived, we had to go through security, which was quite frankly ‘not much’ and were told we could take photos of anything and go up to the fourth floor. The place was so huge and opulent that we asked someone else where we could go. She told us we could go anywhere, enter any room that was open and just enjoy ourselves. It was quite spooky in a way, as we seemed to be the only tourists there. There was the occasional secretary walking with a bundle of papers in no particular hurry and the odd cleaner. We walked the marble halls and elegant offices with luxurious furnishings. We even tried the toilets, which gave the impression of walking into someone’s private office. We walked up as many floors as we could. On the fourth we could gaze at the Rotunda, the chandelier and the four murals set in the four corners of the roof. Apparently the cupola on top of the rotunda is covered in gold leaf and the chandelier weighs more than 4000 pounds, is 12 feet in diameter and 18 feet high. On the second floor, were four large 10 foot tall bronze doors. These have to be polished by hand once a week to keep their lustre. Apparently these were bought in New York for $10,000 in 1910 and are now worth $250,000. Visitors are now unable to enter via these doors, I guess they can’t handle the fingerprints! The four Heerwagen Murals depict, Education, Justice, War and Religion. The building obviously houses the Senate and House Representatives and has a portrait of Bill Clinton, a state governor of four terms. The grounds obviously matched the grandeur of the building and we also found a memorial to the Fallen Firefighters of Arkansas. By the time we returned to the house, we had found we had walked 12 kilometres, two more than yesterday. The weather forecast this evening was warning of some rain for the weekend, so perhaps it’s a good thing to have got our walking in now. Saturday 28th July Well the plan today was to head to Pinnacle Mountain. The weather this morning may dictate another choice. Although only dull at the moment, the weather forecast on the television is saying some heavy rain ids due by 10am. We will have to wait and see! We didn’t let the threat of rain deter us and it was a good job we didn’t. We headed off up to Pinnacle Mountain, around a 40 minute drive. There was the odd spit of rain along the way, but nothing to make the roads wet. We did however arrive with the rumble of thunder in the sky. The overcast day obviously deterred many, because there were only around six cars in the carpark. Pinnacle Mountain offers numerous hikes and wildlife, and lookouts across both Little Rock and surrounding countryside. We took a 2 mile hike with some thunder still rumbling, but didn’t get wet. It was an easy first mile, all down hill, but what goes down, has to come up. Coming back added the sweat and toil feature. We met a couple at one of the lookouts and exchanged the usual for the US. Where you from and where are you heading. The lady gave the usual vision of her travelling the world, especially England and Australia (as you would expect). We gave the usual reasons for visiting the US, including the diversification, the infrastructure and the people. She then gave some sage advice. ‘Why it’s awesome that you like the people, but make sure you look out for the crazies!’ Yep, point taken lady! As we returned to the house, the rain came down a little heavier on the freeway. This helped to rid the car of the dust we picked up on our cross country jaunt in Greenville. Tomorrow we leave for Longview, the last stop before Dallas and Home.

A nice welcome

The old carriage room floor

The fire in the lounge

Our bedroom

The sitting room

The kitchen entrance

The lounge area

Along the Arkansas River

The Riverwalk

Along the Riverwalk

The Pedestrian Bridge

View from the Clinton Building

The Cabinet Room

The Seal of the President

The Firefighters Memorial

Inside the Capital Building

The Rotunda

The bronze doors

He Governor’s Office

The Capital Building

The Capital Building Arkansa.

The view from Pinnacle Mountain

Pinnacle Mountain

A welcome sign.

Bedroom

Kitchen

A place to keep warm

Original floor

Lounge

Kitchen

Lounge/Diner

The library

The ‘Centre’

The Clinton Presidential Limousine

Flag of the President

Sitting around the Oval Table in the Cabinet Office

In the Cabinet Room.

Greenville, United States

Sun, 22 Jul 2018 02:40:00 -0500

Natchez, United States

Wed, 18 Jul 2018 02:40:00 -0500

Baton Rouge, United States

Sun, 15 Jul 2018 02:40:00 -0500

Saturday 14th July We leave for Baton Rouge this morning. It is around a four hour drive, but we will have to include a fuel stop and Walmart (restock and toilet) stop. It looks like another warm day. Bossier/Shreveport has been a very interesting stay. The standout, has to be the people, they are so friendly. Everyone wishes you a good day, people want know why you are here and they are so polite. We are told that Baton Rouge is a far bigger city, but with the same small town atmosphere. We look forward to it. We headed off at around 9.30 and planned to stop in Natchitoches, after about a 90 minute drive. This part was basically just freeway driving. After arriving in the state of Louisiana from Texas, the standard of roads really do drop. Louisiana is so obviously the poorer of the two states. After leaving Natchitoches, we headed towards Alexandria, one of the bigger cities. We didn’t so much as pass through this city, but pass over it, on another set of roads resembling the rings that signify the Olympic Games. To get away from the freeway and to find more scenic roads, we headed towards Marysville. We left National Highway 49 and joined State Highway 1. We went from a fast 75mph to a 55 or 35 mph road, dependant on small towns we passed. It was a far more interesting drive. We passed through little towns with some beautiful houses, others with more humble abodes and acres and acres of crop fields. There were either fields of Broad Beans (or the like) or sugar cane. We passed over the Atchafalaya River at Simmesport and over the Mighty Mississippi, after passing through New Roads. We then followed the river past Port Hudson and arrived at Baton Rouge as the clock passed 3pm. It seemed strange to pass ‘Port’ this, or ‘Port’ that, so far inland from he coast, but these of coarse were the old trading ports along the Mississippi. We arrived in Baton Rouge on another huge looping freeway and didn’t see much of the city before arriving at our hotel. We would see it all tomorrow though. Our hotel, the Embassy Suites was like ‘chalk and cheese’ compared to Bossier City. Eight floors, over 200 rooms and a large two roomed suite seemed like heaven. There was a managers reception at 5.30, where drinks were free until 7.30, a true happy hour indeed. Plenty of snacks were available and after the long drive, a few glasses of wine and the food, there was only one place to head and that was bed! Sunday 15th July Baton Rouge. At around 5.30 the sun streamed through the bedroom window. Breakfast was calling early this morning, due to only snacking the previous night. We were down there by 7.30. The spread was very good and we could have no complaints. What are we going to do today? We are not sure yet, but it will probably be having a look at downtown, after working out the way to get there and where to park. Our hotel is around 4 miles from DT, so it’s not really walkable, especially along a freeway! Total panic set in, as we set off towards our parking spot (lot). Our wonderful and close friend on the Sat Nav wouldn’t talk. The map, thank goodneess showed us where we were going, but it’s not so easy as being able to listen as well. My mind wondered forward until the day we have to return the car and negotiate the spaghetti of roads leading to the airport! When we had left the freeway and found somewhere to stop, it became obvious that I had mistakenly turned the volume to mute. Her dulcet tones were back, my love affair could proceed, what would I do without her. We parked at the beautifully named Cow Pasture Lot. It was close to the Mississippi Levee and bike/walking path. The lot was obviously there for the use of patrons to the LSU Tigers American Football Stadium. We were parked nearby the huge football stadium belonging to the LSU (Lousiana State University). Apparently the LSU is famous for ‘majoring’ in Agriculture and Farming, which explained the huge Veterinary School and the fields of horses nearby. The LSU is also famed for being the first university in the US to admit a woman student. The old university building is located downtown in Baton Rouge, this new complex out of town is immense. We walked the levee into Baton Rouge (5 kilometres). Quite frankly the distance was nothing, the heat was something else, or maybe it was the humidity, it was draining nevertheless. The levee was a good 10-15 meters above the river and was obviously built after the last major flood. The whole length of the Mississippi has flooded cities, towns and houses over the years. The more famous and recent of these of coarse, the flooding of New Orleans from Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and the consequent devastation and loss of life. There was 80% of the city flooded in up to 15 feet of water and a loss of nearly 1500 lives. As we came closer to downtown, we passed under the huge bridge joining Baron Rouge to Port Allen on the other side of the river. The bridge is cantilever, called the Horace Wilkinson Bridge, named after three local legislators. The bridge is 53 meters high enabling quite large vessels to pass underneath, it also carries six lanes of traffic, quite impressive when you think it was completed over 50 years ago. The Mississippi still remains a major artery for shipping and trade in this part of America. We then passed USS Kidd, launched in 1943 and now a museum. It gained 12 battle stars and was nicknamed ‘The Pirate of the Pacific’, which explains the scull and crossbones flying from its mast. It was named after Rear Admiral Isaac C Kidd, who died on the bridge of USS Arizona at Pearl Harbour. We would have visited, but for our recent visit to USS North Carolina in Wilmington a few years ago. We carried on along the levee, with downtown now on our right. We then walked through the streets of Baton Rouge, being Sunday, quite deserted. The city centre had a southern charm to it. Tree lined with Crepe Myrtle’s and abutted by wrought ironed balconied buildings, the streets had that southern feel. The humidity and green lawned areas added to the atmosphere. We passed the ‘Art Deco’ Capital Building, the seat of government for Lousiana. It obviously has its history and certainly has some interesting carving and decoration. We passed through the city centre, but only the odd tourist or vagrant could be seen out in the very hot midday sun. Even the museums were closed until after 1pm or Monday. It was however a nice stroll and was very interesting. We had that constant thought however that we had over 5 kilometres to walk back to the car. The walk, plus the circumnavigation of the city would ensure we completed 12 k’s for the day. By now, the compensation was taking our forethought, cold beer, air conditioning and feet up for the afternoon. I think we had done the grand tour by ‘Shanksy’s Pony and doing nothing this afternoon would not be a waste. We went down to the ‘Happy Hour’ (actually 2) in the evening, where tonight’s food was cheese and fruit. After three very large beakers of Cabernet, we decided sleep would be a good reward enough this evening and had no inclination to venture out for anything more substantial. Monday 16th July Baton Rouge If anyone is wondering what Baton Rouge actually means (except those who obviously did French at school). It’s translation is Red Stick and was apparently named by early French explorers who found an old Cypress Tree stripped of its bark and showing a red colour. It became such a landmark, they named to place Baton Rouge, so now you know. Today we will visit the LSU Botanical Gardens which apparently has some nice walks through some Bayous and a good feel for the Louisiana countryside. The gardens were pretty easy to find, but we didn’t expect to find them amongst the urban sprawl which is Baton Rouge. Nestled between the freeway to New Orleans and the south side of BR is around 200 acres of woodland and gardens. I had been reading on Trip Advisor that it was impossible to get lost amongst the trails of the botanic gardens, but we managed it. All was going well, we were learning about and seeing how, to recognise some of North America’s native trees, when we wondered where we were. There was no panic, were walking past some beehives and camellia beds and we thought we would start our return. We walked in what we thought was the general direction, but nothing was familiar. We walked in the opposite direction and nothing was familiar. The only thing that became familiar was the beehives and camellias which we had now passed a number times. Our only salvation ironically was the noise from the freeway, the very noise that had annoyed us when we arrived. The very noise we felt that spoilt the serenity of the woodland, now proved our salvation. We were able to keep the noise of the freeway to our left and we must find home, and we did. Now sitting in the car, with aircon running and looking at the map through the windscreen (sorry windshield) in front of us, on the big board, it was easy to see how we went wrong. It wouldn’t have mattered which way we had walked, we would have been correct. Our mistake was to keep turning back and thinking we were going the wrong way. Lesson learnt. I have an iPhone with a compass, a map and numerous aids. All I should have done was take note at the beginning. Basic Boy Scout actions! The other lesson we learnt today. You can plan to have a drive down by the Mississippi, but because of the levee, the view is that of a large grassed bank. The Mighty Mississippi rolls on the other side! Duh! Again, when we arrived back at the hotel, the afternoon was taken up with relaxation and watching that old Jack Nicholson movie, ‘The Shinning’. The two hour long cult epic, must have lasted four. Adverts must have competed with the movie to get maximum air time. By the time the credits were rolling, it was time to go down for another managers reception, another bottle of wine and tonight, some very moorish nachos. Tuesday 17th July Our last day in Baton Rouge. The hotel has been really great and the comfort extraordinarily good. We thought we may have a drive out this morning and see what we may find. Tomorrow we leave for Natchez Mississippi. We found a place called the Bluebonnet Swamp Nature Centre, which had $3 entry and had a few Louisiana snakes, lizards and amphibians on display. There were some walks that took in local bayous and it was nice to walk through the densely forested areas, where huge trees grew out of almost permanently submerge roots. Bayous are basically areas of flooded streams. The word bayou apparently derives from the corruption of the word for stream from the local Choctaw Indian language and the Cajun settlers. The early British explorers took the two words and came up with the word bayou, something only found in these parts. On our walk through the tracks we came across some huge black grasshopper/crickets. Debbie went and asked the guy in the exhibition building why they were so dopey and slow. He told her that this was the breeding season and once the male had mated he died and they were in fact in their death throws. The female (of coarse) survives, but in a dormant state until she lays her eggs and then the cycle starts over again. Louisiana has some very diverse animal populations ranging through otter, deer, muskrat, raccoon, possums, turtles, alligators, skunks, beavers, armadillo, coyotes, bobcats and wild black bears. It is also unfortunately too common, to see lots of this wildlife as roadkill. This was to be our last night at this hotel and indeed Baton Rouge and the State of Louisiana. The hotel has proved to be first class and the staff so friendly for such a huge place. One more free supper, before we have to start paying again!

Embassy Suites, Baton Rouge

The ‘Musicians’ downtown Batob Rouge

Baton Rouge

Capital Building zBR

St Joseph Cathedral

You know who

USS Kidd

Horace Wilkinson Bridge spans the Mississippi

HW Bridge

Blues indeed!

Some stadium! That of the LSU.

Local Resident

A typical Bayou

The Southern Black Grasshopper

Passing over the Mississippi

Trev Harman, can you, or one of your ‘Old Salts’ answer this for me. I know a Union Flag becomes a Union Jack when flown from the Jack Staff, but do you know the significance of this on a USS Ship, the stars without the stripes. I could google it but I am worried after what Terry Craven came up with lol!

Beautiful Coleus

The Black Swamp walk

The Botanical Gardens

A big black bug

In the gardens

The hotel Lobby.

Bossier City, United States

Sat, 14 Jul 2018 08:42:45 -0500

Bossier City, United States

Thu, 12 Jul 2018 02:40:00 -0500

Thursday 12th July. Did we really only leave on the 10th, it seems like a week ago already and here we are heading to Bossier City, just across the river from Shreveport, Louisiana. We first all have to pick up our hire car from the Dallas/Fort Worth Airport Car Hire Centre. From memory, this facility is so large it resembles a small airport. It has all the car hire companies under one roof and one massive underground car park. When you leave after picking up your car, you hit the concrete and steel freeway system of Dallas/Fort Worth and hope the Sat Nav can keep up with your input, and you, with its instructions. At least hitting a freeway straight away prevents the other headache, driving on the right. 1200 July 12th. As we navigate the freeways of Downtown Dallas, I wonder if I have spoken too soon. We picked up the car without a hitch and even found we had all the insurances in our package, a real bonus. The car, a Kia Rio, could do with a clean outside, but everything else is okay. There are a few dents in the roof which I point out to the dispatcher, other than that, it was a nice car. I set up the Sat Nav and then headed out onto the mayhem of the Dallas road network. The lady on the Sat Nav was doing her best, but found it hard to keep up with the ever changing network of over passes, underpasses, road works, slip roads, off ramps and lane closures. Unfortunately, the route we were taking passed through and over the huge edifices of central Dallas. Although the scenery was awesome, the need to have maximum concentration nullified the experience for me. The only thing I could do was, follow the instructions to this best of my ability and when I got it wrong, allow our friend on the Sat Nav to direct us back on coarse. As we left the tall buildings behind us, the numerous freeways reduce to a couple and life again becomes a little less fractious. Trees begin to replace concrete and we settle back to the three hour drive ahead of us. We ponder that how thankful we were that the car came with a tank of petrol and we didn’t have to find a ‘gas station’. As we drive, I realise that Google Maps was a little ambitious with its three hour drive prediction. However we were also hampered by two long traffic holdups and the need to call into a Walmart at a place called Tyler along the way. Our three hour journey turned into five as we arrived at our destination, the Quality Inn, Bossier City. This was to be our most down market stay of our road trip, but was good value for what we had paid ($80A\£45) per night, including breakfast. It had a good size room, microwave, fridge, aircon and decent wifi. The motel was laid out in the classic one up, one down style, where your parking spot was outside your room. As time was getting late, we needed to head on out. A strange town in Louisiana, was not the place we wanted to be wondering an unknown neighbourhood in the dark! We walked for a while and found several eating options, however we would leave further exploration until tomorrow. We settled on a brewery (strangely enough), The Flying Heart and got a very friendly welcome as we found a table. The waitress came over, told us she ‘just loved’ our accent and asked for our order. It was however never going to be that easy. ‘I know this is a strange question’ she drawled, ‘ but you have any ID to by your alcohol?’ We needed physical ID in Louisiana to by alcohol, wether in a bar, restaurant or supermarket! We had none, nevertheless she said she would keep our table whilst we took the shortish walk back to the hotel, to grab our driving licences. On our return and after seeing they were Australian, we went through the usual remark, ‘I can’t tell the difference between an English or an Australian accent’. I always think to myself, just tell that to an Australian! We then settled into some IPA, some chicken wings and salad, with sausage and other dressings. We also had the occasional waiter wanting to know what London or Sydney were like and how they found the Queen the most awesome person in the world. We were in bed by 9.30 and looking forward to a day of exploration tomorrow. Friday 13th July. As soon as I saw the date this morning, I was pleased to realise we wouldn’t be driving anywhere today. Today was a day for exploring the twin cities of Bossier and Shreveport, separated by the Red River. Our room was at the stairs end of the open air veranda, serving the various rooms on the first floor. It turned out to be a good place for guests to stand and smoke, but smoking was not necessarily the problem. It was those who had to talk on their mobile phones. They couldn’t see us, but we could them. We couldn’t understand them, Hispanic or Black Louisianaians, had an accent completely alien to us, but the way people talk on a mobile with their hands, is always an amusing event. Breakfast was fine and everything was available. The black guy with the dreadlocks and phone was there, also a family of five with three kids, whose fingers were in most things were there, plus a few others. The day was beginning to warm up and we would have to see what lay ahead. We set off through the Bossier City side of the Red River, down by the new ‘outlet’ shops and precinct and headed over the old steel bridge that seperated Bossier, from the much bigger city of Shreveport. As we crossed the bridge, the age, or should I say lack of paint, showed the rust. The better example funnily enough, seemed to be the railway bridge that crossed the river further down. Catfish is a major Southern dish. Looking down from the bridge it could be seen why. A catfish was feeding at the riverbank and it must have been a good yard long, there would certainly be a few fillets in it. Ironically now, they are fish farmed. The old cheap meal for the poor people of the Deep South had become a must have, when touring these parts and nice it is too. Deep fried of coarse, like everything here. We walked the downtown area of Shreveport, where the French influence was very abundant. Wrought iron verandahs and typically French facades dominated the older part by the river. The rest of the city was much like any other, however there were signs that in the evening the place changed dramatically. Shreveport grew in importance for the export of oil. Now, because it is no longer viable, much of the dock area had fallen into disuse. Like most large cities in the world, where old industries no longer survive, the areas have been redeveloped to attract tourism and business, Shreveport is no different. Besides the numerous outlet shops that attract people (goodness knows why), Shreveport has also built casinos. Many places in the American Deep South, now make a lot of money from gambling. I guess the State Governments must have inducements for them to come here. The old paddle steamers make splendid looking casinos, whilst the gaudy facades of other’s seem to cheapen the obvious history of the city. In the evening, we returned to the Bossier side, by the river, and had dinner at Joe’s Crab Shack. It was a little more expensive than most places and in our opinion, maybe not worth the price. Although the menu was varied, most of what was on offer had a large element of deep fried about it. The crab cakes were delicious, the shrimps (prawns), fish etc were no big deal. The last thing you needed to see alongside the menu, were the number of calories you were about to consume. Walking back my digestive system reminded me often of that very fact.

Casino Land

In the Flying Heart Brewery, Bossier City

Did John Grisham work here?

Well, we are in Delhi Street

The car for the next 19 days.

Paddle steamer casino, with new one behind.

The Methodist Hall, Shreevport

The road bridge over the Red River

The railway bridge

The sidewalk in Bossier

A good use of a blank wall

Dallas/Fort Worth Car Hire facility.

Dallas, United States

Wed, 11 Jul 2018 02:40:00 -0500

Los Angeles, United States

Tue, 10 Jul 2018 02:40:00 -0700

Air New Zealand, what an enigma. From total frustration, to complete contentment. Let me try and explain. We had decided to fly for the first time in Premium Economy Class after securing a really good deal. We had also purchased a new suitcase, a little larger than our previous one. All of our belongings now fitted comfortably into ‘one’ case. When we arrived at the check in desk, or should I say, self service desk(s), we were very happy with our progress through all the modern technology now accompanying self check in, until it came to the bag. Our lonely bag weighed 26.9 kilograms. The ticket machine then delivered a tag, which it asked us to attach, marked ‘heavy’. Fair enough we thought, there has to be a weight at which it becomes heavy! We were then told that our excess baggage would cost us $200. I called the assistant over and asked her what this was all about. Yes, she said, can you take some items out and make it lighter? Absolutely ‘gob smacked’ I tried to explain, that as we were flying Premium Economy, between us we were allowed four bags, all weighing 23 kilograms, making a total of 92 kilos! That was beside the point, she explained, because our 1 bag was 3.9 kilograms too heavy! Fortunately, she said she would wave the charge because we had booked a Premium Economy ticket. Unbelievable! Some 50 kilograms short of our allowance, but in line for a $200 excess charge. Well, Air New Zealand will have to pull a big rabbit out of the hat to prevent me from whinging about, what I felt was a very petty and a silly baggage policy! I don’t normally fall to the comfort of alcohol before 10 am, but I would make this ‘another’ exception. To say I was angry and frustrated, would’ve been an understatement. This company will have to deliver something special to appease me. It was very nice to board the aeroplane early and even better to see the seats we had booked. The cabin was in a 2-4-2 across layout, but those seats were large and comfortable. The leg room was amazing, the amenities fist class and the meal a real stunner. Okay the first leg of our journey to Auckland was only 3 hours, but our next leg to Los Angeles would make the 12 hours much more bearable. Well done Air New Zealand, I forgive you for your baggage pettiness! Auckland Airport We arrived in a shower of rain. Our walk from the arrival gate to our next departure gate was forever! We had nearly four hours to kill here and the Steinlager being advertised by the All Blacks Ruby Team, looked like a way to while away a few more hours. Whilst siting and watching the world go by, I also pondered the propensity of the colour black in this country. A swift scan of of the passengers showed a large proportion were happy in black shirts, trousers, skirts and coats. Running an eye along the racks of sports clothes and leisure wear for sale, also revealed the majority of items came in black. The National Rugby team of coarse play in black, their name being the ‘All Blacks’. The cricket team play in all black, but strangely enough are called the ‘Silver Ferns’, an enigma indeed. I think possibly the Nation is rather in love with black. As I ponder ‘the New Black’, the plane is ready to board for the middle and longest leg of our trip, to Los Angeles. Again we have two majestic seats by the window and we look forward with a little more pleasure than usual, to the 12 hours ahead of us. Air New Zealand Flight 02. When we finally took off, we were running nearly an hour late. Of coarse the Captain gave the usual spiel, about how he hoped to make up the time in the air. It did cross my mind that we were contributing to that possibility, by being 50 kilograms lighter than we might have been! At the time writing, he hasn’t made up any time at all, but slipped back even later than our forecasted arrival time. We left Brisbane at 12 noon, arrived in Auckland at around 5, left at 10pm and are now at 12 midday, but it’s still the 10th of July. The same day we left! Jet lag takes on a whole new meaning on this journey. The International Dateline and forever flying into the sun makes the disorientation something to only accept, but not try and explain. To make things even more complicated, we had dinner shortly after takeoff at around 11pm and we are about to be served breakfast. The time is now 1pm local and we arrive at around 3pm! Our next flight leaves LA at 5.55pm. We need to collect our overweight bag, run the gauntlet of US Border Security (not something to be enjoyed when tired) and find terminal 7 to check in once more, for the final 3 hour flight.

Brisbane

Tue, 10 Jul 2018 02:40:00 +1000

Oh plenty to say, but no time and little wifi. I will update on the longer leg to LA. Sorry

Leaving Brisbane

Great food

Even more wine!

Arrive Auckland