travels part 2: New Orleans – New Mexico

Lung and I are at a motel somewhere in New Mexico right now after about 13 hours of pretty much straight driving. We left New Orleans two days ago, spent the night near San Antonio last night, and tomorrow should be setting up camp in the desert.

Louisiana is an incredibly warm and welcoming place, and I find myself daydreaming about going back to stay for a few months. We did a few of the touristy activities – fresh shucked oysters in the French Quartier, a haunted history tour, and a boat tour of the swamps. Living in Montreal, I’ve often seen these sorts of tours go by, and they always looked positively snooze-worthy, but I must say the ones we experienced were entertaining and informative.

New Orleans is such an old city that there is pretty much a story to be told at every corner. Bourbon Street was pretty wild, though apparently even on Halloween was nothing like what it would have been like on any old evening before Katrina. The city has largely recovered, with about 3/4 of the population it had prior to the hurricane, but there are still many empty buildings and the effects are quite visible once you get out of the city a bit. I will have to return here someday.

Tomorrow we arrive in the desert, and I can’t wait to see it. I have wanted to see this landscape for many years now, and is particular place since I saw Lung’s photography about a year ago. I still can’t really believe it’s happening. I have a pile of postcards to send – many do not have anything written on them yet, so please forgive me if you receive a New Orleans postcard with tales from the Salton Sea written on it.

~ by Natasha Duchene on November 3, 2008.