13NOV07 - Houma, LA (please buy this house!)

Today we woke up to dense fog and very poor visibility (welcome to Louisiana). But being in an RV meant we didn’t have to leave immediately, so we waited for the fog to lift. The drive east on I-10 was uneventful. But when we turned off on to old US 90 at Lafayette to head toward Houma things did not go as well. First, getting through Lafayette is always an adventure even in the best of times, in an RV it is even more fun! US 90 runs right through the heart of Lafayette and has three very narrow lanes with a speed limit of 35, and numerous traffic lights. Everyone tries to drive 45 or faster, and tries to get ahead of the next guy by passing on the left and right. Throw into this mix numerous semis carrying large oilfield machinery, and you see why we enjoy it so much. We have learned long ago to just get into the middle lane and be patient.

After clearing Lafayette we had another pleasant driving experience. Everything was going well when all of a sudden we slowed to 20 mph behind a two mile line of traffic. Turns out that someone was moving a house down the freeway with a LSP escort, and there was absolutely no way to get around the moving roadblock! After twenty minutes of this the entire procession came to a complete stop and we sat there for many minutes not moving. Turns out someone forgot to measure the airgap under the house and they were hung-up on a guard rail! Finally Dan got a Louisiana map out and went up to a trucker to ask where we were on the map and if there was an alternative route? First driver asked did not speak English (Espanola); second driver was from Louisiana but had no idea where we were on the map; third driver was the charm. Luckily the RV was right next to a paved cross over, so we made a U-turn, back tracked three miles, drove five miles north out of our way, got on LA highway 182, drove through New Iberia and reconnected to US 90 east and made it home.

We are now parked in our driveway of our vacant house which has not sold in four months on the market. So if you know anyone in the market for a nice house in the bayou, send them our way. Anyway, we will be here at least for the holidays with the kids. And Rebecca is engaged to Raymond Pitre, and we are discussing wedding plans. So there probably will not be much in the way of new entries on the blog, but keep checking because we will be making small trips and will be back on the road by the spring at the latest.