Most of you probably already know that we put our travels on hold temporarily last November and worked for a consulting engineering company (Professional Services Industries, a.k.a. PSI) in the New Orleans area for a period of about 6 months. PSI is a nationwide company with a hundred or so offices across the country and employing nearly 2,500 people. Their core business is geotechnical engineering, construction materials testing and inspection, and environmental consulting. We helped them out with a couple of large Corps of Engineers levee and shoreline restoration projects, in addition to a backlog of commercial and industrial projects that developed after Katrina. It was a great opportunity for both of us…the work was good, the people were friendly and fun, we were able to share a ride into the office in the morning, and fortunately, we (and our condo on wheels (the “C.O.W”) didn’t get hit by a tornado or hurricane. (While we were there, however, a twister ripped through a section of New Orleans, not too far from the downtown area, leaving a path of destruction in its wake). Our stay fell outside the hurricane season in the Gulf, which generally runs from May or June through November, though there is always the chance that a rogue storm could hit outside this time frame. One thing about RV-ing in the New Orleans area is that there are few places to stay long term because of a combination of an influx of temporary workers (mostly construction workers) to assist in the hurricane recovery, but also people displaced from their homes and staying in FEMA trailers…also, there are relatively few RV parks to begin with. We stayed at a park outside the small town of Hahnville right on the west bank of the Mississippi River, about a mile down the road from a lovely row of petrochemical plants and a nuclear generating station.One of the highlights with PSI was the annual Crawfish Boil…we weren’t brave enough to suck the crawfish heads, but managed to wolf down a few of the tasty mudbugs. In an act of incredible clumsiness, Marty managed to sprain his last good ankle playing volleyball with the gang. (Thanks for snapping those photos of me in agony, Connie!…that will definitely drum up a lot of interest for next year’s event..ha!)
Carnival season always begins on January 6th , with Mardi Gras (Fat Tuesday) falling on the day before Ash Wednesday as the prime event. Thanks Malay for showing us a great time during Mardi Gras. We rubbed shoulders with the masses at several of the big Mardi Gras parades including Endymion, Barkus (where dogs are dressed up in costumes), Zulu, and a couple of others we can’t remember the names of. The carnival members are collectively known as a “krewe” and spend a lot of their own money to be involved in the parades and to have the right to ride on the floats. The floats were unlike any others we had seen, very elaborate, and especially beautiful at night. And the amount of beads and other “loot” they throw from the floats is absolutely amazing – Debbie had so many beads, medallions, etc. around her neck one time she was literally walking around all hunched over before we freed her of some of her treasure. 
We spent Fat Tuesday hanging with Malay, Brittany Spears ( a.k.a. Megan) and K-Fed down on Bourbon Street with all the rest of the crazies and loved every minute of it. That is definitely something we’ll never forget. Oh, and the Hand Grenades and Hurricanes were refreshing as always!We seemed to always end up in the French Quarter (not flooded during Katrina because it is on the river’s natural levees or high ground) when we got the itch to do something, I guess because its one of those “one in a million” kind of places and always seemed to lure us back with the interesting shops, galleries, architecture, food and music (and hand grenades!) There is always something going on, and new places to explore. In addition, there is an incredible amount of history in the French Quarter.
When Deb’s parents came to visit in March, we went on a great historical walking tour of the quarter…it was free and narrated by a National Park Service ranger. The four of us also went on a carriage ride and took a river cruise on the steamboat Natchez, where they narrated a history of the waterfront area from the French Quarter down to the site where the Battle of New Orleans occurred during the War of 1812.In April they have the French Quarter festival, which is a great opportunity to sample a wide variety of New Orleans’ unique cuisine and listen to some fantastic local musicians….this one’s free! Then, two weeks later is the internationally renowned Jazz Fest, which runs for two consecutive weekends.
Our friend Dan flew down from Sacramento to partake in Jazz Fest with us…it was another great opportunity to chow down on some delicious food (fried soft shell crab Po’ Boys, alligator sauce piquant, and crawfish bread were some of our favorites) and world class music. Thanks to Sabrina on giving us the lowdown! We saw Van Morrison, Lucinda Williams, Doctor John, and JJ Grey and MoFro (who?), in addition to numerous others.
While Dan was visiting we also took an eco-swamp tour in the Atchafalaya River basin. There were only five of us on the boat we rode into the swamp, so we had the opportunity to have a lot of interesting discussions regarding the wildlife and preservation efforts with our guide…he was an especially strong opponent of the logging of cypress exclusively for mulch. We didn’t see any gators, but we did see a ton of birds, some snakes, beavers, and nutrias. Much of the old-growth bald cypress was logged years ago, but some of the massive trees remain and stand sentinel over a swamp that is absolutely teeming with life.
Other highlights of our visit to New Orleans included the city zoo which had a great exhibit on the Louisiana swamp, white tigers, and even a white alligator.
Also, there was the Barataria Basin Preserve (Nat’l Park Service) just south of the city, where we had the opportunity to see a lot of alligators in their natural environment.
The 22-mile long causeway across Lake Ponchartrain (I think the longest water crossing in the Americas if not the world, maybe) is an engineering feat and was a pleasure to ride across…we’re just glad we don’t have to drive it every day! Lastly, driving through the flooded portions of New Orleans was a sobering experience. Recovery seems to be extremely slow and the future of a good portion of the city seems to hang in the balance. The land is geologically subsiding and sea levels are rising, not a good combination to say the least (http://www7.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/0708/feature1/). The people we met in New Orleans, though, have a lot of pride in their city and local culture, rightfully so…and there’s little doubt in our mind that their resilience will play a large part in the future of this extremely fun and historic city.
