Planes, Trains, and Automobiles: Chasing Hurricanes

It was pre-dawn. September had just begun. The Pacific Northwest was having a record case of Indian summer; we hadn't had rain in well over thirty days. So we didn't suffer the heat too much where we were going. New Orleans.

Our first layover was Hotsun... I mean, Houston, Texas. I'd been to Houston once before, decades ago; it was a layover on my way to Spokane from Guam. I was dead tired that I didn't even bother to look out the window then. Until today. I was shocked to see how green Houston was! I was expecting adobe colored land as far as the eye can see, covered with the Taco Time cacti and tumble weed.

This, on the other hand, is exactly what I expected. Football fields.

Five hours (including layover time) after leaving Seattle, the might Mississippi was in sight.

New Orleans. I'd put it in my Top Three list of favorite trips.

There was so much to do, so much to see, so much to eat, so much purple and gold! Oh, didn't I mention that we were here to see our beloved UW Huskies play only the No. 2 best college football team in America, the LSU Tigers?

Days before our arrival, hurricane Isaac barely missed New Orleans. But there were plenty of hurricanes left in town after. The sweet and inebriating kind. The kind that makes you dismiss the blister forming on your feet (see No. 15)...What is it about these hurricanes that keeps you coming back for more?

At any rate, that blister didn't stop me from exploring the campus of Louisiana State University. And the game, although a crushing disappointment, was a wonderful, wonderful experience!

We left New Orleans exhausted. Not only had we lost the game 41-3, LSU, but we had walked Bourbon Street more times than I can remember - ahem, pursuing the mighty hurricanes - explored haunted sites after dark, and a cemetary during the day (I dare not go there when it's dark!), steamed up and down the Mississippi, ran the Twilight Run 5k, then walked another 5k on the LSU campus. Did I mention chasing hurricanes?