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New Orleans. What a town. But man was it hard to leave. We got all packed up, paid our very reduced bill (down to $79 a night due to the AC issues and the family of ants we found. :) ), ate a very nice breakfast sandwich and was on the road by 9:30am. But boy, when we put all our luggage together, it sure looked like a lot. Here I am to put the pile in perspective. Anyway, we got all loaded up and hit the road. Followed the signs to I-10 west, but it never seemed to make it there. We ended up driving through the city for a good 45 minutes trying to get out of there! Finally on the interstate, and on our way. Took I-10 to I-310 to rt 90. While they were all interstates, they were very nice in that they went through the swamps and bayous. Jumped off onto rt 14, down to 330 then to 82 and followed that all the way out. Just swap all around us and nothing. I mean nothing else. The roads were straight and flat, 90+mph. Lots of dead critters, including a number of gators (no pics. Your welcome).
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Stopped in Grand Chienier for gas. It was the first gas in miles and Dennis was running low. Next, food. rode on to Cameron and the only place open was a Subway. On our travels looking for food, look what we came across. I wonder if that is the same trailer that was at Loudon a few years ago? Oh, right before we got there, there were some very nasty looking clouds ahead. Temps dropped from ~95 to ~80. I pulled over and asked of folks wanted to put on rain gear but everyone said nah. Not 500 yards later, the rain started. And I mean started. Pulled on the rain jacket and made our way on. Oh, at some point the low beam on my bike went out again, will fix that again in the morning. Anyway, nice lunch, then off to the first ferry of the day. Here is Dennis and Micky on there ferry and the view from there. We did have to wait quite a while for it, so that killed some time.
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Continued on along 82 and crossed over into Texas. Then up and over through Port Arthur. We had planned on taking 87 along the coast, but that road was closed so we had to keep on 73, then down 214 to 87. Flat flat flat. And straight. Along the water we did see a rig off in the distance. Oh, we knew we were in Texas when we saw all the refineries.
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| Kept on going along 87 until we got to the second ferry, this one into Galveston. There was quite the line here, so we sat for a while, even though there were 3 big ferries running. Here are the bikes on the ferry, and one of Dennis and Micky. And here are a bunch more from the ferry: | |
| We arrived in Galveston around 8pm. Found a hotel, unpacked, and went to the steakhouse next door (hey, we're in texas, right?). Dinner was great. Then it was back to the hotel room, plan the next day, type this up, and bed. Plan for tomorrow, up early, fix bikes lights once and for all, and hit the road early. Will slab it out on the interstate to get to the "Hill Country", then I will decide if i will split off from Micky and Dennis and head for Big Bend, or continue on with then to Zion. We'll see how I feel in the morning. |
| Ending mileage: | 71002 |
| Starting mileage: | 70597 |
| Miles for day: | 403 |
| Total: | 2774 |