Back in The Big Easy!

OK. So I'm old and too pooped to post last night. But here it is Friday morning and I'll bring everyone up to date...

Yesterday morning we left Columbus, GA and almost immediately entered sweet home Alabama. We visited Auburn, home of football power Auburn University. This was on our list of towns to see. A very pretty place, a very impressive school. Then we began the LONG trek across AL in a crisscross way so it was a looonngg trip.

Probably the most memorable part of the Thursday journey was arriving in Biloxi, MS and traveling from there right along the Gulf Coast through Gulfport, Pass Christian and Waveland. We have never visited this area and certainly had not seen the landscape since Katrina came through. Wow. Using the stories on TV as our frame of reference, it is utterly incredible how much was wiped off the map. Some hotels and homes (very fancy ones) have been repaired or rebuilt and have that true Gulf look. The casinos, of course, are alive and well. But there remain so many house lots right along the shore sporting a curb cut, a driveway, and maybe steps to nothingness. Now I know there is much debate over whether those homes should be there in the first place and, moreover, whether they should be rebuilt. That controversy aside, it is shocking how much damage was done.

The beaches here are white and tropical. Also empty. The time of year or the oil spill? Don't know. We cannot see any evidence of oil driving through. And don't even get me started on the  interesting plants!!!

The very BEST part of our day was our arrival in New Orleans, just in time to see the Saints victorious once again. Having left NO the day after their post Superbowl victory parade, it was fun to back for the beginning of their next season! We joined Katie at a bar to watch it all on a BIG screen. It was great to see so many friends we had met in the past. You can't beat the welcome NOLA offers!!!

So today is Friday and the old farts slept in while the young one had to go to work. There is some beautiful poetic justice in that....We will be relaxing today and trying to make contact with some people down here who are attempting to help us reach the big goal.....two years of disaster work.
Will post again with any news...