Month: September 2019

The day began with a stroll around the City Park Sculpture Gardens admiring the amazing artworks and their pretty setting. There were lots of fantastic modern sculptures of all different styles, many nestled under gorgeous mossy spreading trees. Then, after relaxing with a cuppa tea for Georgie and a reasonable coffee for Rod, we shuffled around the art gallery soaking up the varied pieces on display.

Following that we indulged in some ‘wildlife spotting’ in Walmart, but were very disappointed in the normalcy of the customers we encountered. So we resigned ourselves to just concentrating on shopping.

We explored the the French Quarter and trickled Mary car slowly down the very famous Bourbon Street and many of the surrounding streets as well, watching the crowds and the goings-on, knowing then that we were truly in the ‘Big Easy’.

As the evening began we ubered back into the French Quarter again and visited Frenchmen Street to indulge in a crazy music venue crawl. Six different establishments with six different genres of music to enjoy, starting with a loud rock band whose vocalist’s voice was reminiscent of Joe Cocker, then on to some great traditional trumpet and vocals jazz just a couple of doors down. After that we found a brilliant band that really hit the spot with the harmonica howling out the blues, then next door the Washboard Chaz band played some fantastic acoustic jazz, much like the sounds of Captain Matchbox Whoopee Band. Then it was up to a loft to listen to more jazz with slide trombones and a saxophone, and finally on to another jazz band with tuba further up the street. Everything was just a few steps away from each other and they all were throbbing with great music. It was a blast!

We will definitely be doing that again! There were lots of venues on the other side of the street we never got to. Probably tonight we will return, searching for a female African American jazz singer, that one is on the bucket list.

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We passed through mile upon mile of tall swampy forests before arriving at the city outskirts of New Orleans (or Nyorlins as it is known locally). Our airbnb we booked for the next nine days is a traditional structure, quite cute and very comfortable.

The first night we wandered down the little-bit-shabby street to a nice French/Japanese fusion restaurant and enjoyed an absolutely superb meal, we even got to have a couple of glasses of Tusker beer! Yum! Tusker is a Kenyan beer that we haven’t tasted since lounging on the verandah of Africa House on the island of Zanzibar. Coupled with the delicious food it made a wonderful start to our Nyorlins adventure.

The next morning (on Georgie’s 60^th and Rod’s 62^nd un-birthdays,) saw us wandering the streets marvelling at the brightly coloured and beautifully crafted architecture that it was too dark to notice the night before. The Cajuns (French-Canadian settlers) have created wonderful building styles that echo the elaborate wrought iron, slatted window and door shutters and the fancy timber work of their French origins. Plus, people have painted many of the buildings in loud colours that would normally be garish, but in these settings it works just perfectly.

We drove about the city, getting just a little bit lost in all the narrow one-ways, and soaked up the architecture and art of this special city. Tonight we had planned to return to town and enjoy a jazz concert, but we are a touch travel weary and probably would be better off postponing it until tomorrow.

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The next morning we drove out of Beaumont Texas and meandered down towards the coast, taking, once again, the road less travelled. Huge oil refineries dominated the landscape as we neared the Gulf of Mexico. The land was very flat and very wet, there had been big rains just before we arrived in the region and some flood debris had been evident the day before, strung up along some fences, and there was still lots of water lying about.

The coastal stretch was low lying and swampy, primarily reedy freshwater swamps with the occasional low outcrop of small-tree be-speckled dryer land. The road followed a narrow spit that threaded through these bayous. After following one small track down to a long empty beach we got out of the car and wandered bare foot along the sand that stretched off into the distance, with only a few birds running about and a couple of high-set beach houses set well back. Not another soul in sight. We counted over twenty off-shore oil rigs hugging the horizon, and read a warning sign that described elevated bacteria levels in the water.

We drove through absolutely miles of reedy bayous, hoping to catch a glimpse of one of those cute and elusive alligators, as it sure looked to be an ideal spot for them. In fact at one ‘gas station’ we stopped at the lady seemed surprised that we hadn’t seen any these ‘pests’ warming themselves on the actual road! But no luck, however we did get some nice photos of stunning moss-laden trees, coated in more ‘old man’s whiskers’ than their own leaves.

By that time we had crossed out of Texas and into the state of Louisiana, and had stopped at a bird and butterfly’s sanctuary, hoping to view a few of the afore-mentioned animals. We did espy a couple of pretty butterflies, but that lush and soggy sanctuary was actually more heavily populated with starving mosquitoes, so after donating a litre or two of vital fluids to the hungry skeets we high-tailed it out of there.

Eventually we arrived at La Fayette and checked into our comfortable accommodation. We had decided to pay a little more for a motel that night, as the cheaper dives we’d mostly been stopping in were very noisy and a touch grotty. For dinner we had a real cultural experience by eating at a recommended traditional restaurant with a Cajun band playing violin and accordion music and people zydeco dancing to it. That was a bit of fun.

Unfortunately it turns out that the traditional recipes of the region always contain what they call the ‘holy trinity of vegetables’: onion, celery and Georgie’s nemesis capsicum! This left very limited menu items for her to choose from, so she ended up with a plate of deep fried ‘crawfish’ (freshwater crays). Rod was fortunate that the ‘chilli-free’ meal he ordered had only mild chilli in it.

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The day began with the regulation morning cuppa tea served to Georgie at an alarming 7 am, so that we could beat the crowds at the very famous Magnolia Table for breakfast. Mission accomplished! We just strolled in with no queue, no waiting and ensconced ourselves in a beautifully renovated and decorated room, light bright and airy with lovely fixtures and fittings. The sweet and cheerful waitress soon brought us what turned out to be the best meal we’ve had on this continent so far, and reasonably priced too. A bucket list box ticked for Georgie, who left with a big grin on her lovely face.

We opted to veer away from the main roads and only take the smaller four lane divided super highways, until we found some nicer two lane country roads that meandered through tall dark forests that were not just dominated by pine trees, but instead had a variety of different species intermingled together. After exploring a couple of small quiet side roads we stumbled upon the beautiful Lake Conroe tucked away in Little Lake Creek Wilderness. A stunning place with masses of gorgeous mosses draped from the trees overhanging the water. The bird and insect life there was the best we had come across to date, including a couple of regal looking vultures perched upon a log. That was pretty special. Butterflies, dragonflies, bumble bees and the like entertained us as we watched the eagles soar overhead.

Later that evening we went wildlife spotting at Walmart, ever hopeful of seeing the legendary weirdos that apparently frequent its bright aisles. Luckily we were fortunate enough to see a couple of strange and exotic humans, so we returned triumphant to our motel room quite satisfied with the day’s explorations.

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Yesterday we took no photos and did very little but drive. I guess the highlights were scrabbling around in the boot looking for our passports for the stony-faced border control guards. The terrain that whizzed past us was a bit greener than the day before, but what really stood out were the scattered oil rigs, looking like huge woodpeckers rocking back and forth. Skinny little road runners kept dashing across the road, they are about the size of a scrawny pee-wee bird. So many of the small towns had about half of the buildings boarded up and derelict, central Texas really had a ghost town feel to it.

Today had us travelling through much more lush country side with trees and green pastures, but the small towns still had nearly half of their buildings deserted and dilapidated. One unexpected surprise was when Georgie thought she saw a zebra! What? So we turned Mary car around and went back to check it out. Sure enough, some Texan millionaire must have imported three of the gorgeous stripy horses, Weird!

Then we arrived in Waco, home of Chip and Joanna Gaines of ‘Fixer Upper’ fame, and their Magnolia businesses. Georgie, who claims to be their number one fan in Australia, did the whole ‘fan-girl’ thing. We tried to get into Magnolia Table for lunch, but we were advised of an hour’s wait (which even Georgie agreed was too long), so we went to the Magnolia Silos instead. We had lunch there, and a browse around the Magnolia Markets, which was filled with delightful, but very overpriced homewares. Georgie says she is extremely appreciative of Rod’s willingness to indulge her teenage groupie behaviour! He just went and found the ‘grumpy husband bench’ and waited patiently. However, Georgie’s quest to conquer Magnolia was not done, so we selected a motel just across the road from Magnolia Table, so that we can be there bright and early enough to beat the breakfast queues.

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We took the road less travelled (as per normal) and veered away from the horrid highway and its busy trucks and high speed hoons, and meandered towards the Mexican border. We wanted to get to El Paso for the night, but that main freeway was insane, and besides, we like side roads.

There the road was thinner and slower, we had to reduce our speed from 85 mph to a more mundane 75 mph (121 kph, although the official speed limit was 55 mph) but the traffic was practically non-existent, thank gollywogs! We saw more road runner birds dashing across in front of us than cars on that road! The views were wide and the mountains distant. When we stopped in a random spot for a quick power nap Rod went for a tiny wander and discovered a number of little flowering herbs.

Because we were so close to the Mexican border there were lots of Border Control vehicles parked in strategic positions along the road. Standing vigil to stop the poor and impoverished people from improving their lives.

We took not a single photo today.

It was a day of lots of driving in the comfortable Mary car, travelling hundreds of kilometres (miles – but I still struggle to think in that way) passing through expanses of tall pine forests, lakes and small towns. There was small scale timber cutting evident, but most of it was National Forests and protected predominantly.

Along the way we encountered a very helpful and chirpy lady at an information centre in Payson, who gave us lots of information about the local area, in particular about finding and viewing the weird cacti of the region. She told us about a successful book she wrote called ‘How to Rid Yourself of Toxic Family Members’, and we all chuckled at the concept.

Then we reached the edges of the Saguaro cactus country.

An alien landscape, populated by life forms I’ve never encountered before. Whole hillsides and valley floors covered in very large living things, a colony like nowhere else. Enormous figures standing tall and erect on the hillsides, many of which were multi-limbed and contorted into strange shapes. Huge areas of cacti, spread out further than I’d ever imagined. Impressive.

We took a million photos! So, we will let the pictures do the talking:

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The day began with a long drive toward the South Rim of the Grand Canyon. We travelled through more stony deserts on fast wide roads, plenty of rocky escarpments and mesa-like structures lining the edge of the highway. Traffic tends to move quickly on these American roads, often we had Mary car’s cruise control set on 80 mph, but occasionally a camper van or a mob of Harleys would slow us down a bit.

We understand camper vans taking it slowly but what is it about those Harleys? I know they are not exactly a performance bike or anything, but geez they trundle along slowly! Rod sure misses his powerful big red Italian Ducati and his sweet nippy dirt bike…

Finally we arrived at the rightfully famous Grand Canyon and were treated with amazing views that stretched on forever and disappeared off into the pastel coloured distant horizon. Enormous cliffs reached down down down into the huge valley floor which sinuously wound to and fro between the incredibly high escarpments. The Colorado River could be glimpsed here and there, its white water rapids clearly visible from our view point many miles away.

We were totally overwhelmed by the utter hugeness of the canyon, and each of the many vantage points we stopped at gave us a different perspective of its depth and size. It is very difficult to capture the canyon’s grandeur and magnificence with words, and even more so with a camera. You just have to see it for yourself! It. Is. Big!

We saw lots of rock squirrels! There was a colony of not-shy-at-all little characters that lived in one jumble of boulders. Gorgeous little things tumbling and scampering about our feet.

Finally the day ended with us staying the night at a hotel on the famous Route 66, where we indulged in what we considered to be a cultural experience by eating dinner in a Texan Steak House. Big meals, big noise, the real deal.

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A day of magic.

The previous night we had strolled down ‘The Strip’ of Las Vegas in search of a meal and, of course, to ogle the legendary decadence. It was loud and glaring, crowded and jostling, busy busy busy, lights flashing, fake volcanoes roaring, ostentatious displays of ridiculous opulence in huge totally over-the-top shrines to the senseless throwing around of too much money. Rod found it terribly headache inducing all up. Georgie put $10 on a roulette wheel just for the experience, and poof! It was gone. That was easy!

But the next day we escaped from that throbbing metropolis of money-grabbing over-indulgence, and followed the wide road that led us through the states of Nevada and Arizona and finally on to Utah. We drove Mary car through wide rocky deserts, always surrounded by sharp stony mountains be-speckled with prickly shrubs, and then finally to a sweet little spot called Red Gorge. It was lovely, and quite spectacular, with amazing red columns crafted artistically by millennia of erosion. Very photogenic stuff.

Then not far up the road we travelled through the forested escarpments of Bryce Canyon, a delightful environment very similar to the previous Red Canyon, but on a much more massive scale. Huge cliffs topped with limestone, which created hard caps on the beautifully weathered columns named Hoodoos by the local Indigenous people. We stopped at multiple view points to marvel at the expansive views and the time sculpted rocks, the crevices, caves and bright colours adorning the landscape. It was almost a religious experience for Georgie, who felt it may well be her new favourite place.

Along the way we saw plenty of chipmunks, deer and even a skunk scurried across the road. All very exciting!

We sadly drove away from the beautiful Bryce Canyon as the Sun finally set below the horizon and headed off in search of a place to sleep for the night. Unfortunately, the only room we could find in the nearby town was somewhat disreputable looking, so we declined the ridiculous price they were asking and decided to pluckily venture forth and locate somewhere better.

Unfortunately our options were somewhat reduced because the mobile phone coverage we had paid for didn’t cover that area, so air-bnbs were not available to us. After about 70 miles of driving in the dark, stopping and asking at every motel along the way, we finally gave up in utter frustration and settled in to a western saloon bar for a burger, well after 9 pm. As they were closing the bar we asked the duty manager if she would mind if we slept in our car in her parking lot. That sweet lady then quickly got on her phone and found us a room in a nice hotel across the road, and for a cheaper price than the sleazy joint we had first declined! Talk about wonderful! People can be so lovely.

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The morning started with a long drive East toward Death Valley, up another mountain and over several passes into desert country that has a reputation of being the hottest place on Earth. Lucky ducks that we are, the temperatures were quite reasonable for us, even a bit chilly at times when we stood with the wind whistling around our knees.

The high desert was spectacular with rugged stony expanses dotted with dry spiky shrubs and stunted and twisted yucca trees. Steep rocky escarpments with a broad variety of coloured minerals abounded. The views were stunning, but so big it was hard to squeeze them into a little camera.

The road then descended down down down into Death Valley, in places up to 85 metres below sea level. Down there it started to warm up a bit. We drove around a long scenic route to see a gorgeous area called Artist’s Palette, a stunning Mars-scape almost totally devoid of life forms but bursting with a huge variety of mineral colours splashed over intricately eroded cliff faces. An extremely beautiful place indeed.

Following that we progressed on to check out the salt pans further down the valley. We stopped at a place with heaps of other people and large buses, and were a bit discouraged with the crowds and the trampled condition of the place, so we progressed on until we found a quieter and more pristine section that Rod foraged about in.

The long road wound around beautiful dry and colourful mountains until we came out onto the big wide highway to Las Vegas. Hooting along the amazing stretch of broad tarmac we approached the notorious den of decadence. More on that in tomorrow’s blog.

Click on the pics, particularly the panorama