Oak Alley Plantation and a cemetery in Houma, LA

It's called Oak Alley for a reason: the oak trees were purposely planted between the mansion and the Mississippi River so that they would grow and form a tunnel that would draw the cool air from the river toward the front of the house. Anyway, it all looks very southern. I included the pix of a cemetery in Houma because everyone (I think) is buried in crypts because the water table is so high - bayous and bridges everywhere. This all looks very southern too. Speaking of southern, the phrase "southern hospitality" is really true. Everyone we met was really friendly and helpful, usually with a story or two to tell.

We got caught in a severe thunderstorm and flash flood in Lafayette, LA

We didn't think too much about this storm at first, but it got really bad, really fast. Ed was pumping gas when it hit in earnest and the rain and wind were so heavy he had to abandon the pump. He got soaked and his shoes were filled with water, it was sort of funny, then again, it wasn't. As you can see the water was near the headlights on the smaller cars and actually was making waves. We thought we wouldn't make it back to our hotel because we had to cross the river, which Ed feared doing. But we pressed on and the river area was actually better and much less flooded. Happy ending.

Avery Island, Louisiana

Avery Island is where McIlhenny Tabasco sauce is made; we took a tour of the factory and Mac made off with some custom size bottles of his very own. The next shot is of a tree covered with Spanish Moss, lots of that down here. The third pic is of a snowy egret and the last is a rather comical looking bird of unknown type.

Louisiana Bayou Wildlife

The sign in the first pic is literally the first thing we saw when we entered Louisiana, it was at a rest stop just over the state line. The second shot is of a happy turtle, the third is one of the many alligators we saw in the wild. The fourth is of a very inquisitive insect on the truck window and the last two are more gators, obviously.

We're still in Louisiana

We're in southern Louisiana, in a city called Houma, about an hour from New Orleans. Have a really nice suite in a Marriott, the problem is that the wireless connection is terrible, it keeps disconnecting. So, no pix for now. We've been doing some plantation tours, interesting, but the weather has been brutal. Hot and humid and in the high 90's. Will be moving on tomorrow to New Orleans but we've been hearing conflicting reports about the place. Some people have been saying not to go, it's too dangerous since Katrina. Others say it's fine. We're going to drive through tomorrow and see how it feels. If anyone out there has been there since Katrina and has an opinion, please let us know. Otherwise that's it for now. Will be back with pix when we get a better connection somewhere else.

We visited a miniature horse farm - run by nuns!

This farm was in a small town called Brenham in TX. It's official name was the Monastery of St. Clare. The St. Clare nuns were the originators of the farm, but unfortunately, there were only three nuns left: one in her 80's and two in their 90's. Obviously, there were others there to run the place, an older man to oversee things on the farm, and some other lay people to do other things. The overseer was saying that these living nuns are just about the last of the order, no young people are entering the convent anymore.

On to the pix: the second shot is of a one day old foal, so big! Next is me petting some horses (they let us roam free with them); next shot is of Ed, just prior to getting a nip on the leg from a particularly agressive male (they're little, but they're still horses); next two pix are of particularly pretty "children"; and, finally, a couple hugging (actually, I think they were cleaning each other up).

This Texas lizard smiles for the camera

I snapped this guy on the grounds of a working farm at the Lyndon B. Johnson Nat'l Park. He really looks like he's smiling!

San Antonio, TX

We only spent an afternoon in San Antonio. The first shot is of the Alamo (no photography allowed inside). We were surpirised that it was in the middle of downtown. I included the second shot to try and give some idea of the location. I think a Ripleys Believe It or Not or a wax museum was across the street. Weird.
The following two shots were taken at the Riverwalk, a restored area with lots of shops and outdoor restaurants. We took one of the water taxi tours along the river, which is not man-made (you can see one of the taxis in the third pic). Very strict precautions are in place to control the flow of water and prevent flooding. That's about all we managed to do in the time we had. Back soon with more stuff.

Fredericksburg, TX and the LBJ Ranch

As I mentioned in an earlier post, Fredericksburg TX is of German origin. In that first shot Ed is standing in front of one of the many biergartens on Main St. In the second shot he is enjoying one of our favorites, The Sampler, at the Fredericksburg Brewery. In the third photo Mac plays cowboy at the "Cowboy Orchard," the house we rented. The fourth pic is of President Johnson's ranch (also known at the time as the Texas Whitehouse). The ranch and LBJ's boyhood home were in Stonewall, only a short drive from Fredericksburg. In the following photo Mac poses with LBJ. Mac became quite an admirer of the former president when he learned how much he had done for the country with regard to the environment, civil rights, health care, and consumer protection, among other things. It's too bad he's only remembered for Viet Nam. Finally, I had to include the last picture to let everyone know that when you are in Texas, they never let you forget it. That is a tissue box. It lets you know where you are. I've never seen so many "lone stars' and outlines of a state in my life! But the people are really nice and nobody ran us out of town for being New Yorkers. I guess that's all that counts.

Right now we're in Lake Charles, Louisiana

This is an okay town although not much to do here if you're not into gambling. There are riverboat casinos on the lake, but not much else. We had planned to leave today and head for Lafayette, LA, but it turns out that they had a train derailment with a hydrochloric acid leak there yesterday. Thousands evacuated. Sooooo, I guess that takes care of that. We're going out now to try and find something to do, I'll be back later to post pix of Fredericksburg and San Antonio.

Carlsbad Caverns, New Mexico

I don't like to use the word 'awesome' but this place really was. We decided we wouldn't be wimps so we hiked down to the bottom of the caverns rather than take the elevator. Not so kind to the knees (Ed's) and back (mine). It was a mile and a quarter with a decline of over 800 feet and dark and slippery in spots. It was worth it though. It was sort of like descending into Dante's circles of hell. And the electricity was out due to the high winds so they were on emergency generators. I could just imagine how black it would have been down there without the few lights that were on. Oh, we took the elevator back up.

White Sands Nat'l Monument in a windstorm

The day we visited White Sands was one of the windiest days we had encountered while in New Mexico. And sand and wind are not a nice mix. Every time we got out of the car it was like being blasted by thousands of tiny needles (note the bandannas and my hair). Poor Ed climbed to the top of a dune and really got pummeled. By the way, the sand at the monument contains gypsum, making it very white. It's considered the whitest place on earth when viewed from space. Nice, but we kept expecting to see the ocean, which, naturally, wasn't there.

We are still in Fredericksburg, TX. Going to San Antonio today, will report.

Pistachios! On a tree!

When we were in Alamogordo, NM (to see White Sands Nat'l Monument, pix on that to follow) we came across a pistachio farm. It turns out that the Alamogordo area is one of only three spots in North America that can grow pistachios; the other two are southern CA and southern AZ. The nuts in the picture are immature and the red color fades as they ripen. Maybe that's why some pistachios are dyed red. Anyway, they had a store on the premises with all things pistachio: bread, cookies, candy, multi-flavored nuts, etc. I was in hog heaven!

We're in Fredericksburg, Texas

Fredericksburg is a small town of German origin that's about an hour and a half north of San Antionio. It's a nice town too. Those italics are intentional because what we've seen so far in Texas is not so nice. We passed thru Odessa and Midland (home of our not-so-esteemed president) and wound up staying in a town called Big Spring that was beyond description other than to say it looked and felt like a bombed out city of WWII.
We just rented a guesthouse here (called Cowboy Orchard!) for a week so that we can tour San Antonio when we like and still have a place to come back to that's more like a home than a hotel or motel room.
Still have lots of pix to post of the nat'l parks we've been to. Will be back shortly.
PS: I have to say that I was a little skittish about Texas, but so far everyone has been very friendly.

The wonderful world of Roswell, NM

I know, there are a lot of pictures here but I got carried away. When we first pulled into town it was the usual strip malls and fast food places and Targets, just like anywhere else. Until we found downtown. Those are the pictures you see above. The second pic is of an "alien"shop; the third is of a music store. Fourth is a soda machine, fifth is a streetlight (very cool). The sixth is another alien shop, the seventh is a sign for alien beer (really!). Eighth and ninth, Walmart and McDonalds signs. The next 3 shots are more alien shops, and finally, some alien footprints. What a place! In one of the alien shops we were in the owner actually looked like an alien. I swear. Ed will vouch for this. This "person" was very knowledgable about all things UFO and at one point stopped talking and pulled a "space air" canister from his pocket and sprayed it in his mouth! Actually, it might have been breath spray, but you never know.