Round Trip to Louisiana Excursion

Monday morning, 4 a.m., the clock goes off.  Most everything was already packed and loaded on Sweet Thang for a trip to LA to visit my folks.  I got up, got dressed, fed the dog, finished loading a couple of items onto the bike and pushed her out of the garage at 4:30 a.m.  I was dressed in a T-shirt, jeans, riding overpants, sweater, rainliner and summer jacket.  It was in the upper 40s but would warm up as I went South.  About 2 miles from the house I wished that I had put on another shirt with all that I had.  It was rather cool.

My trip today would take me about 600 miles from Seymour, TN to Marrero, LA where my 93 year old Mom lives and the same area where my Brother, sister-in-law Patsy, and my son Shane resided.  My last trip down was in February for my Mom's birthday.  Before you say anything about the time between visits, let me explain that my wife is unable to travel and to make a trip like this a lot of things have to fall in line.  Now for the rest of the story.

First stop after leaving the house was Raccoon Mtn. at Chattanooga, TN for some petrol and a cup of coffee.  Made good time with very little traffic and no fog.








Since the sun was to my back, no sunrise pics, just the changing of the sky as I rode South.





Traffic was very light most of the way down.  I guess everyone was trying to get over the weekend of football and took the day off.











I made a fuel stop for Sweet Thang and me at Livingston, AL.  Now imagine an Indian Restaurant in redneck country.  It was called Taste of India.  Being the daring type, I decided to try it out and it was very good.  Owner was from Punjab which is in the North of India.  May have to stop there again on one of my trips.

Not too far after lunch I crossed over into the Great State of Mississippi all the while listening to the sounds of the wind and the engine.  Sweet Thang was doing some real purring heading down to Gumbo Land.

This was the price of gas at one of my gas stops.  Most of the gasoline purchased was less than $2.00 per gal.

Just South of Slidell, LA I hit the 12 mile I-10 bridge crossing Lake Ponchatrain.

Traffic started picking up at this point as people from Miss. Gulf Coast and from Hattiesburg, MS area was heading into N.O.  The traffic going out of N.O. was just starting to pick up at this point.

Looking West you can see the old US Hwy. 11 bridge and the railroad bridge. 

After crossing the lake the land stays flat all the way into N.O. except for the overpasses.  This is a marshy area between the City of N.O. and the lake.

In the distance is the City of N.O.'s skyline taken from atop the Industrial Canal Bridge of I-10.

I took the Elysian Fields off ramp, rode down Elysian Fields and made a right turn onto West Esplanade.  This is one of the buildings at that intersection which is part of the French Quarter.

Decatur and West Esplanade, making a left turn to go down Decatur St.  Now we will be in the heart of the French Quarter.

The west end of the U.S. Mint in N.O.  A lot of people may not know but at one time the U.S. had mints in Washington, D.C., Philadelphia, PA, New Orleans, LA, Denver, CO, and San Francisco, CA.  The Mint in N.O. is now a museum. 

Looking down Decatur St. towards Canal St.  Lots of wrought iron decorated buildings and narrow streets.  They call it the French Qtr. but it is really more Spanish than French as the Spanish discovered it, established it but lost it twice to the French as war payments.  We then bought it from the French when they needed money to fight the Spanish again.

Cafe du Monde, one of the most known places in the City of New Orleans.  Hot Cafe au lait and Beginets.  Never wear black to that place as everyone will know that you have been eating Beginets (you'll have white powdered sugar all over your including your nose if you happen to inhale just before you bite).

Cafe Masparas, a great place to get a sandwich or other food.  A local and a tourist hangout.

Looking at a streetcar on Canal St.

We've crossed Canal St. and are heading for the Crescent City Connection, the name of the bridge that crosses the Miss. River.  Office buildings, bank buildings, hotels, etc.

Multistory Regions Bank Bldg. along with a couple of others and a big puffy white cloud against a very blue sky.

Crossing the Crescent City Connection over the Miss. River to the Westbank or as the locals say, the Bestbank.  The Miss. River splits part of the metro N.O. area, including Orleans, Jefferson, and St. Bernard Parishes.  I lived on the Westbank and the other part of my Parish was the Eastbank (Metairie, Kenner, Harahan, etc.).

Running the elevated Westbank Expressway.  This will take me across the Intracoastal Waterway to the Ames Blvd. down ramp and then down Ames Blvd. to Belle Terre to Robin to Ironwood to Mama's house.

About 11hrs. 45mins. after starting I pulled up to Mom's and that's not doing a lot of fooling around.  This pic was shot the next morning as my son Shane and I were leaving for Denham Springs, LA.  Sweet Thang is resting beneath the carport for the day.  Two strokes and 93 years young, she just keeps on ticking.

Tuesday morning son Shane and I headed for Denham Springs, LA to visit mother-in-law, granddaughters and great granddaughters along with some of the group artists.  This particular view is I-10 heading West out of N.O. with the I-310 crossing overhead.

A view from I-10 looking toward Lake Ponchatrain.  This part of the highway crosses the Bonne Carrie Spillway.  It is used when the MS River gets too high and they open the floodgates letting the river water go into the lake.

A small spit of land between Lake Ponchatrain and Lake Maurapa is called Manchac.  A very good restaurant is here along with a lot of fishing boats and houses.  Some people live here year around while a few use it as a weekend getaway.  It is located on I-55 North of I-10.

Then we arrived in Denham Springs, LA.  This area was heavily flooded several weeks back from rains that overflowed numerous rivers from southern MS down to Lake Ponchatrain.  Nearly all of Denham Springs was flooded along with several other small towns and even part of Baton Rouge.  Piles of household belongings, clothes, etc., placed near the street for trash pick-up.

This reminded me of Harvey, LA where I lived when Katrina hit.  Same scenes, same odors, and same mold and mildew smell.  Lots and lots of hurt as some places had over 13 ft. of water in the houses.

I'm sure the man in this picture was standing in the ditch and hopefully got out before the trash truck came along.

My mother-in-law and granddaughter's places did not flood.  When we arrived at my mother-in-law's house I immediately had to go to the back yard to take a picture of Plastic City.  The kids love all of the things they can play with.

And the swing never goes to high for them.

We went downtown Denham Springs which mostly flooded.  It is a small old historic section with lots of antique shops and art galleries.

Later we went to the LSU Campus to pick up my youngest granddaughter, Celeste, who was out of class for a few hours.  

LSU has some beautiful old Souther Oaks all around its campus.

Since the university is very old so are some of the buildings which are still very beautiful.

The LSU Campus Bell Tower.

And my lovely granddaughter walking to the car from her class to have lunch with her Fabulous Wonderful Pawpaw and her Father.

Here we are at Taste of Louisiana Rest. with son, art friends and on the left my mother-in-law, Dot, and Celeste.  Great bunch of folks.

After lunch we went to Dot's house where Granddaughter Alexis and my 3 little sugar lumps met us.  This is Mila, the baby of the threesome.  They are all adorable but this tot is so sweeeet.  She hardly makes a sound and is at the stage of trying to crawl.  She will have to put on some growth speed to catch the other two and come out with boxing gloves on.

My oldest Granddaughter, Alexis.  A great young mother of 3 who earned her BS Degree from LSU all while being a mother, a wife and a college student.  Go Girl!  We're all proud of her, Geno her husband and those 3 babies.

I know this article is turning into a family album but since I don't get to see them very often, so be it.  Here's Shane and Zara who has found a way to ring the chimes without being held up by her Great Grandmother.  It was a stick, wait, let me correct that, it was more like a club but it got the chimes to moving and making the noise she wanted.

Zara on the left and Eva on the right acorn hunting in the back yard.












The beginning acorns came from a park in a town about 40 miles away and then grew to acorns from Memaw's back yard along with a few unknown tiny yellow wild flowers.  She was going to plant them in her garden at her house.

Zara posing for a pic before she started raking leaves.  That's Alexis on her back playing with Mila and Shane looking on.

Notice Memaw holding the acorn bag and Eva is off on a different hunt for something.  Eva is a real talker, I mean a real talker and it is in adult style with a wee little child voice.  Eva is 3 yrs. old.

Did I mention that Eva is also a model?  Sort of a retro loose Mardi Gras style.

She can also be very chic with her modern styled semi-glasses.












My mother-in-law, Dot Guell.  Artist in Residence, sometimes art instructor, and loved by everyone that knows her, especially Children, Grandchildren and Great Grandchildren.  All love to go over to Memaw's house.  Did I mention that she is 94?

Ms. Zara has emptied the cardboard box with all of the toys like a badger going after prey in a hold.  Then she needs a little hug by Pawpaw to ease her momentary pain.  To keep from confusing the kids, Shane is their Pawpaw and I'm their Pawpaw Jack.  We'll sort it out as they grow older.

Plastic City after dark with Zara posing in front of the house.

Zara riding her motorcycle.  Remember, what happens in Plastic City after dark stays in Plastic City.

After our Denham Springs run we returned to Marrero.  Thursday afternoon I got a shot of my sister-in-law, Patsy, along with my brother Raymond.

And here's the immediate family, Patsy, Ray, and Mom.  Thanks Patsy for cooking the evening meals and for helping Mom with shopping.

Saturday morning just before 5 a.m. I was trying to take a selfie of Mom and I before I left but was having trouble getting a picture of her with her eyes open.  She insisted on getting up before I left.  Mom's are that way.

At 5 a.m. I pulled out from Mom's heading back to TN.  It has been a good trip to see family and some friends.  A lot of friends I use to work with I was unable to see due to time constraints, but maybe next trip we can get together.  Here's looking toward the Crescent City Connection Bridge shortly after 5 a.m. on a bouncing motorcycle.

Trying to capture the city skyline but with the flash and focus delay it was a bust.

Now riding beneath the bridge structure.  Should have removed these but what the heck, sometimes you just have to give it a shot.  Remember, I'm doing 50 miles per hour in 3 lanes of traffic so stopping and really focusing is out of the picture, permanently.  Or if I am lucky, just the jail.

At 7 a.m. I stopped at a Stuckey's in Hattiesburg, MS for gas, a cup of coffee and a biscuit.  Sweet Thang sure dresses up that store front.  Now it's Red, White and Blue.

I-59 passes through Laurel, MS and along side the roadway is the beginnings of a chicken processing plant.  Early thins morning, no odor in my direction.  There are usually a few stray white chicken feathers floating in the air.






At Meridian, MS I usually stop in at a Pilot Truck Stop to gas up and get another cup of coffee.  This morning I met a fellow biker, a retired Marine Corps Master Gunnery Sargent that spent 36 years in the Corps.  He had a misfortune happen to him up the highway in Tuscaloosa, AL when he stopped at a Shell Sta. for gas, went inside and came back out to find his military leather jacket and his pack on top of the bike trunk missing.  Inside his jacket was his wallet with $800.  Master Gunny was from Jackson Hole, Wyoming and was on his way back from a Marine Corps Reunion in Cherry Point, NC.

Back on the road again, riding through the Great State of Alabama and the Roll Tide boys.

Crossing the Tenn-Tom River which will take you all the way down through Mobile, AL to the Gulf of Mexico.

Stop for gas and lunch.  A taste of the Colonel.  Won't stand up to a match with Popeye's.

Coming into the metropolitan City of Birmingham, AL from the West.  Notice two other happy bikers out for a spin on such a beautiful day.

Above Birmingham you start to see the mountains better and you can notice a few trees in the woods there starting to change their color.

 As I passed these two happy riders I couldn't help but take their picture.

Coming into the corner of NW GA you can see the mountains near Chattanooga loom into view.

That was smoke from a fire on the side of the mountain, not mountain mist.

Nearing the junction of I-59 and I-24 just outside of Chattanooga, TN.  A very welcoming site.

I love this stretch of highway running along the TN River in Chattanooga.  I wanted to catch a pic of a speeding cabin cruisier headed toward the city but couldn't get on-coming traffic to clear for the shot. 

I stopped to pic up dinner in Knoxville at Arby's on Chapman Hwy. then continued my ride where I too this pic cresting the hill before Seymour, TN.  It was about 7 p.m. Eastern Std. Time.  The ride back took a little over 11.5 hours which wasn't bad considering I bucked a hard wind all the way back.  It took it's toll on my gas mileage also.  No rain, pretty weather, blue sky and sunshine.  Other than the wind, a perfect ride.  And, I returned safe.  That's what counts.

Total mileage last week was 1264 and Sweet Thang performed perfectly  She's a real Lady.  Now to change her oil, clean her up and give her a little break by riding Mr. Red Bug some.  So until the next adventure, I wish you great happiness, lots of memories, safe journeys, and may God Bless you and yours.