DAY 4

Didn't get as early a start today waiting until about 8:15 to see what the weather would do. With tornado warnings behind us and flood warnings ahead we left Lake Charles and headed east once more. We almost immediately came to a grinding halt do to the interstate being closed with a Haz-Mat incident. Two hours later we started to make some time eventually stopping for lunch in Baton Rouge after a long drive through the Bayou on a raised portion of the interstate. During one of our discussions earlier in the trip about choice of eating places and types of food Jan had mentioned that he liked Chinese food but didn't care for Chinese buffets, same as my wife. Well...when we got into Baton Rouge we happened upon a buffet that looked normal from the outside but very Chinese from the inside, Jan found enough to eat.

We then continued the ninety or so miles into New Orleans for a little sight seeing. JB had expressed (70 or 80 times) a passing desire to visit the D-Day Museum and after driving around some areas where I was wondering about how quick I could get my gun out we found the museum. This was thanks to a USPS letter carrier who also gave us the info on how his great great grandfather fought for the south in the civil war.

The museum was well worth the effort to find it but our time there was limited since they closed a five. After that a quick drive around town to see a little of the lingering devastation was followed by photo ops on Bourbon Street in the heart of the French Quarter, no signs of Katrina on Bourbon street just the usual night club hawkers, hookers and tourists from Ohio.

We decided to stay north of New Orleans in the town of Covington. This meant that we drove the bridge across Lake Pontchartrain. The bride is about 24 miles long and when your in the middle you don't see land in any direction. We only drove about 260 miles today with all the traffic and delays but spent as many hours in the saddle. I'm posting this after a few beers and a trip to Appleby's for dinner before calling it a night. Tomorrow should find us on more two lane roads along the gulf coast