AZ Day 10

Have I been gone ten days already? Have I had thoroughly crappy weather for ten days? Yup. Today was another one. It rained off and on all day long. It has rained so much here, that all of the rivers are over their banks.


It was a good day for traveling. Today was a long haul – about 360 miles. I made pretty good time, though, as I kept my stops light and quick and stayed away from department stores. I left Pat and Eddie’s exactly at 10:00 and arrived in Madisonville, LA at 5:00. Again, I stayed on the Interstates, so nothing exciting happened on the trip. It was probably one of the most boring travel days so far. I really don’t like taking the Interstate because you miss so much of the heart of what America is – the small towns, the local attractions, the little things that make you want to jump out of the vehicle and take a picture.

I think it is Madi Gras time; I am not far from New Orleans. I am staying at the Fairview-Riverside State Park in Madisonville, LA. As I came through town, there were many vendors pushing carts full of hats, balloons, neon necklaces, and beads. People had their chairs out by the side of the road and I realized that a parade must be coming through soon. I wanted to set up camp first, to make sure I could even get a site. I contemplated going back into town to watch the parade, but it would have meant driving through all that traffic again, finding a parking space, then afterward, fighting traffic again and having to set up camp in the dark. I hate setting up camp in the dark. I decided to stay put and relax instead.

Street vendor in Madisonville:

I have another long driving day tomorrow with the worst part being driving through Houston, TX just before rush hour. I hope I can get my butt out of here at a decent hour in the morning so driving through Houston won’t be so bad. So far, I managed to bypass NYC, Baltimore, and Washington, D.C. Driving through Raleigh and Charlotte, NC and also Birmingham, AL were not bad at all. Atlanta, GA, on the other hand, was atrocious, and I drove through that at 3:00 in the afternoon. I don’t even want to try to imagine what rush-hour traffic is like in Atlanta.