12/18 In New Orleans

 

Not an especially noteworthy photo but the picture of where we live when we're in New Orleans; I borrowed it from Google Maps. Sunday I spent most of the day on QuickBooks and have finally caught up with our bookkeeping after being many months behind. 

Sunday evening Melanie laid on a fine dinner for six (Julian & Julie, John & Lois), preceded by Champagne, provided by Julian to celebrate John & Lois' October wedding, and concluded with a grapefruit pie (by Lois) and a split of Sauterne (Julian). In between we had another of Melanie's fine dinners - curried chicken, rice, spinach, three chutneys, etc, etc. And no, I am not a foodie but since today I am in colonoscopy prep mode, no food, I need to survive on the memory of last night's dinner.

Monday was a 'no food' day for me - pre-procedure. We did drive around to several stores in the afternoon, searching for presents, found none, but rounded out our selection of seasonings and Cajun dishes - the seasons seasonings. We also did some more truck packing - I hope we have enough room for all the stuff we want to take to Arizona. 

Tuesday, at least the morning portion, is either a blur or a blank. My colonoscopy went well, no issues, and Melanie had laser surgery in her right eye to deal with some glaucoma. That procedure went well also. We came home and, after I had a belated  breakfast, we took a long nap. Now, Tuesday evening, both Melanie and I are feeling much better. Julian and Julie exercised their culinary skills and prepared a delicious shrimp creole for dinner. after which Melanie continued to pack while I shut down my laptop. I'll have to exist with my Chromebook and phone until we get to Green Valley. 

 ?How can you tell you belong in Nova Scotia? Answer: When you spend more time reading the CTV Maritime News than you spend reading local news in the States, such articles as Driver facing charges after waving a bat at another driver in Halifax. Now, having had my morning cuppa and the sun breaking the horizon, or anyway the glow is over the live oak trees on St. Charles Avenue, Melanie is baking cookies and I'm going for a walk. Later we went to Martin Wine Cellar where we had lunch on their deck. Then we dropped off The Truck to get all its rubber hoses replaced - apparently it should be done every 60 to 70,000 miles and we're over 150K. Home to continue packing.

It feels like we're slowing down, packing is mostly done, the fridge is on in the Casita and Melanie has started to fill it. We'll get the truck back this afternoon, finish packing it and hook up to the trailer so we'll be ready to boogie in the morning. It's a good thing I dried some of my bread starter because I used all the live stuff in my last loaf. I'd have sworn I kept out a cupful, I'll restart from the dry stuff once we get to AZ.  

Please note that you may access our blog at any time by copying this link - https://travelsbycaml.blogspot.com/ - and pasting it in your browser. The same link works all the time.

And all of a sudden it is Saturday morning and we are in a state park in eastern Texas outside of Lumberton. We left New Orleans yesterday morning around 8:00 and had a slow drive of several hundred miles which was delayed by traffic accidents, stops for gas, and lunch, and Walmart. We averaged about 40 miles an hour for the day, well below our usual 55 mile an hour average. After a dinner of bread and cheese, we weren't very hungry because we had eaten a lot of Costco's beef jerky along the way, we either listened to an audiobook or read a real one before going to sleep around 9:00.

This morning we are going to drive another 200 MI to round top Texas, home of Mitchell (a cousin of Melanie's) and Rhonda. We've not seen them for a while. Sunday we expect to be our longest day on the road (400+ miles) so I am going to wrap up this week's blog Saturday evening and send it out while we still have internet.

Here we are, Saturday evening, in Round Top Texas, having just had a delicious dinner of local barbecued beef ribs and brisket, a Nouveau Beaujolais, some desserts from Zabars, and lots of good local political conversation. So though we get here only occasionally it is always a treat and I gather that loxs and bagels are on the menu for breakfast tomorrow morning in spite of the fact that we want to get an early start on a long day to Stockton, Texas. 

Thank you one and all for being here with us. I hope you enjoy reading about our doings but understand if it's a bit much. Best wishes for a happy holiday season and if you are so inclined, a very merry Christmas.

Love to all.