We made it down to the French Quarter a couple of times. Please see some pictures and videos taken down there. Also went up near Lake Pontchartrain on Canal Street for a dear Seattle friend, who used to live there during his childhood. If you see some videos verbally referring to Tom, those are them. Weather was pretty good about 75% of the time in and around New Orleans, we got a little rain in a couple of days. We always check out a Googled local itinerary before we get to an area to get some suggestions of things to see. Thank you Nadine for that suggestion! This one suggested we go see Magazine Street, and Garden District. So we did! Beautiful old buildings, and very culture oriented. And we were in the French Quarter, down on Bourbon Street, at least three times. All on different days, different times, the place is INSANE with activity! Tremendous fun. Please see photos and some videos down there.

All of our itinerary readings also suggested visiting Lafayette cemetery, which, as I recall, is on Magazine Street, and really near the garden district. Maybe even inside the garden district. Actually, it turns out, cemetery number one no longer accepts tours of any kind, and we never found cemetery number two. But we drove by cemetery number one on the scooters, And clearly, there are some very old marked graves there. Some with huge 6 to 10 foot headstones on them, draped in aged weathering.

We left on March 17, happy Saint Paddy's day! All of our planned legs back to Washington State now are under 300 miles, and at about 270, this one landed us just west of Beaumont, Texas, where we set down on the afternoon of the 17th at about three in the afternoon. Park this time is lovely, really wide open, called Grand Pines RV resort. Very economical too-- They suggested we pay for a monthly stay even though we're only planning on being here for 2 1/2 weeks. And they know that. But the two week rate plus 2 or three extra days was at least $100 more than the discounted one month rate. OK! We met a very precocious eight year old fellow named Maddox as soon as we got set down, before even anything was set up inside. He pretty much insisted on showing us the park, including the fenced dog park, which was only around 100 yards from our spot. I haven't yet, but I bet I'll take some pictures from there.

I'm composing these keystrokes on Tuesday morning, March 19, 2024. It's just a little after noon, and I had a blowout in my rear tire on the scooter today! As luck and good karma would have it, I was at a reasonably low speed, and I weaved back-and-forth for only about 100 feet before I got it under control and pulled over on the side of the road. I was only about a mile from our RV spot, but I called 911, and a State Trooper was soon at my side and gave me a ride back to the rig. Yay, Officer Pierre!! I then called AAA, and I have motorcycle coverage, so they will tow the bike to a local spot which says they can put a new tire on the rim in about two days. Of course I'll replace both of them. I'm still waiting for the tow truck right now, so that's as far as I can compose this. I rode Gloria's scooter out to my disabled bike, since it's a mile away on a pretty deserted road, and would otherwise be unattended, waiting for the tow.

It's now April 3, and we leave tomorrow for Burnet, Texas. Yeah, from what I see, there's only one T at the end of that town name. We'll be there from April 4 through April 11, and the solar eclipse will happen on April 8. Been shooting for this for well over a year, and now it looks like the weather is going to be pretty crappy. We'll still get dark in the afternoon, as there's no escaping that, but it looks like it's gonna be cloudy or rainy most of the time, for a huge area that includes south central Texas, and us. Well, let's see. We spent the last two weeks near Beaumont, Texas, which is about 80 miles east of Houston. Another little town to the south is Port Arthur, and I've ridden down there a number of times to make grocery and supply runs. You know, ice cream, hooch, chips, turkey breasts to cook, milk, bread, the usual necessities! We've done pretty well. Please see lots of pictures and a few videos I took around the area. It's been pretty lovely most of the time. Probably only four days of rain, and mostly around 70°. Today it's supposed to be about 80°, and I hope to take one more ride today since this will be the last day to ride in this area.

Nothing is very close by at our RV park. We've stayed at Grand Pines Texas RV park, and it is about 17 miles up to Beaumont, or 17 miles down to Port Arthur. The road for riding is spectacular, (except for the tire blowout two weeks ago!), and the road down to Port Arthur has a nice, wide shoulder to pull off onto to let traffic go by, much lovelier than the road up to Beaumont. Both are fair, and each leg is about 19 miles each way, but since Port Arthur is a lesser destination for most folks, I usually go that way -- Less traffic. Please see a couple of videos I took while stopped alongside Highway 365 down to Port Arthur, and I might've taken one along highway 124 up to Beaumont, I forget.

We'll pack up the bikes this afternoon, April 3rd, and be on the road tomorrow. The drive up to Burnet is only about 270 miles, so hopefully we'll have plenty of time in between to find a Costco along the way to restock up on water bottles, Gatorade, Diet Coke, and paper towels! We've already heard from our next stop's proprietor, who sounds like a delightful fellow on the phone, and is only charging $50 per night during the eclipse, which sounds incredibly honest. Offhandedly, he told me on the phone that even charging $75, he thought it was gouging. I talked to several folks who wanted well over $1000 for a seven day stay, and when I looked at their website for their usual charges, it was typically $40-$50 per night. Kudos to Chris at Scenic Hills RV park! The website doesn't make the grounds look terribly exotic, mostly dirt and grass, but for $50 per night, and the total eclipse path. Sounds wonderful to me -- On to more Adventure!!