March 1, 2006

March 1, 2006

Lafayette, Louisiana to Mississippi / Alabama border

YEAR 2 DAY 257

 

Today was sunny and warm.

First thing this morning I got online with Wi-Fi and retrieved updated investment data, so that I can update my investment files with month end data. I tried to fix a minor maintenance problem with the exterior door latch, but I needed some hardware. We prepared for departure, hitched up, and left Maxie's Campground. As we drove through Lafayette, we stopped at a large grocery store. I dropped Joanne off to do the grocery shopping, and I drove across the highway to Home Depot. I bought the hardware I needed, and fixed the door latch. I drove back across the highway to the grocery store, refilled 4 water jugs, then joined Joanne inside the store as she finished the grocery shopping. She bought another Mardi Gras King Cake, our third. Hey ... ya gotta make hay while the sun shines !

We departed Lafayette heading east on interstate 10. At Baton Rouge, we crossed the Mississippi River. We stopped at Love's to fill up with diesel. We had lunch in their parking lot, then continued east on I-10. On the east side of Baton Rouge, the road split into I-10 going through New Orleans, and I-12 going around New Orleans. We took I-12, thinking it would be a good idea to bypass "The Big Easy". The damage from Hurricane Katrina was evident as soon as we were east of Baton Rouge. Lots of broken and uprooted trees. We drove around the north side of New Orleans, and rejoined I-10 heading east.

We crossed into Mississippi. When we got to Hwy. 49 heading south to the Gulf Coast at Gulfport, we filled up with diesel ( again ) at Flying J, then decided to head south to the coast and see what the Hurricane Katrina damage looked like right at the shore. At the coast line, we turned east on Hwy. 90 which follows the Gulf Coast shoreline. Hwy. 90 has just recently reopened from Gulfport to Biloxi, a distance of about 25 miles. At Biloxi it remains closed to the east.

OMIGOD ! ! ! We had seen what damage Hurricane Ivan had done to Gulf Shores, Alabama when we there 15 months ago, about 2 months after the hurricane. But it did not prepare us for the awesome destruction and devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina, and we saw the area today after 5 months of clean up and reconstruction. Everything was flattened and reduced to piles of rubble and debris. Brick buildings destroyed. Huge metal pylon signs bent over 90 degrees and flattened to the ground. Piles of concrete with girders sticking up out of them, where shopping malls used to stand. Even seeing it with my own eyes, it was difficult to comprehend that wind and water could cause that much destruction. FEMA trailers everywhere, providing temporary housing. Villages of trailers housing construction workers around the large hotels and casinos. The large hotels and casinos are being rebuilt first. Private housing, and smaller commercial buildings will have to wait. I guess big money talks. And maybe the tourism industry needs to get back on its feet to provide employment before everything else can get rebuilt.

At Biloxi we turned north to get back to I-10. At I-10 we continued east. We pulled into the town of Gautier, to find the campground we had selected in our Passport America directory. Because we had taken a Hurricane Katrina sightseeing detour, it was dark by the time we got to Gautier. It was a bit difficult to find the RV park. When we finally did find it, the office was closed, and we couldn't find any empty sites. The place was filled with FEMA trailers. We had been warned that it might be difficult to find overnight camping along the Gulf Coast from New Orleans, Louisiana, through Mississippi to Mobile, Alabama, because all the RV parks are filled with FEMA trailers providing temporary housing. We drove to the next rest area on I-10, only to find it posted as "no overnight parking". We usually don't find that posted in rest areas, and when it is posted, it's not enforced, but Joanne wanted to keep going. We continued driving until we reached the Mississippi / Alabama border. We stopped for the night at the Tourist Information Centre.

Sharon had called just as we were in Gautier, lost in the dark, and looking for the RV park. While Joanne prepared supper, I returned the phone call to Sharon, and sorted out some mail forwarding issues. We had a late supper. Joanne started reading the book I'm in the middle of reading ( I hate when she does that ) while I did today's accounting and journal entry.

DSK