Swamp. Cane fields. Oil exploration businesses. Concrete highway. Lots of traffic in both directions. Cajun country with french place names. We joined the I-10 in Lafayette.
On big driving days it is difficult to eat healthily. We found some fruit at Walmart, but options for lunch are Burger King, Mc Donald's, KFC, Popeyes (a Louisiana fried chicken restaurant), Wendy's (a burger joint), Sonic (a drive in old-style fast food place). Prior to each exit there are signs that indicate which restaurants are available, and usually they are not far from the highway.
We've just passed 2000 miles for this road trip! We're on our way to Houston in Texas, our 13th state this visit.
I would have liked to write more about New Orleans, but there wasn't much down time, as I'm sure you can imagine. It really was fabulous to spend a few days there. I enjoyed the people and the food, the architecture and the history.
As we entered Texas the roads improved and the houses and businesses all looked a little more cared-for, and the temperature lifted.
In retrospect, choosing a hotel on the other side of the city when arriving in peak hour was not my finest decision, but Dom coped admirably with the traffic. The roads are impressively engineered, with the highway number and direction painted on the lane (only place I've seen this, but very helpful).
We found a room at a Westin on the west side of the city, and after dinner, slept soundly for the first time in days.
Ice skating in the shopping centre, Galleria Houston (the biggest I've ever seen!)
Houston is an impressive industrial town, with the outskirts home to behemoth oil refineries and an enormous football stadium. We didn't go into town as the ring highway kept us a 5 mile radius away.
On Friday morning we opted for breakfast at one of the biggest Starbucks I've seen (they say everything is bigger in Texas!) and set off for the Space Centre Houston.
Entry was impressive with several Talons and the Space Shuttle Endeavour atop its B747. The shuttle was still being prepared but it was a treat to see it up close anyway.
There were no lines for tickets, which was nice, so we spent a little while cruising the exhibits. We didn't have the time to do the 90 minute tour to the rocket park and the old mission control centre, but we may come back one day.
The Battleship Texas was on our list of things to see as well, but with limited time to get to Austin, we decided to leave it for next visit.
Traffic was heavy getting out of town as they're doing a lot of work on their highways, and perhaps just that there are a lot of cars in the USA. We took the 290 to Austin.
No comments:
Post a Comment