You know, it was exciting because I have read and heard about Louisiana through books and movies, especially New Orleans. I tried not to let my mind get the best of me and I wanted to stay focused on the real motive for why I was going to Louisiana, financial prosperity. Who wouldn't in my line of work! This was no vacation, but yet at the same time it was like a dream come true. Now that I look back on the experience it seems so far away like a childhood memory.
On the way down our second stop was in good ole southwestern Ohio. We were in my part of the country. As we drove past the exit I usually got off to go to my hometown of Hamilton, Ohio I thought how it would be great to stop in and see my friends and relatives, but I knew time was precious. We got to Cincinnati and stopped for food,fuel and nature. It took about four and a half hours to get that far, about 275 miles to be exact. Our next stop was in Kentucky. Yeah, I have relatives there too. And no, we didn't stop to see anyone. There was no time for anything but eating,refueling and restroom breaks. Not necessarily in that order either. This was pretty much our routine during the whole trip. I'm sure you've guessed that by now.
In all, it took eight stops for the necessities and fuel, eighteen hours and one thousand miles to reach our destination. It was around midnight the next evening that we arrived in the now not so glamorous city of New Orleans. You could smell the funk from the mold and trash piled up on the curbs. I never saw anything like it. There were vehicles piled up everywhere we looked. You could see the waterlines on the houses and vehicles where the water level had reached. It felt like the end of the world and all was chaotic. We drove around for about a half an hour dazed and lost until three police cruisers and a military vehicle pulled up on us. They had their weapons drawn while asking us for identification. They had told us that Marshall Law had been declared upon the entire state. The fact that New Orleans was notorious for murders was an incentive to leave immediately. There was also a curfew of 8:00 p.m.. Of course, we weren't aware of that. I guess we should have done a little bit more research before we left. I think we were just in shock at the whole experience thus far. We had no idea as to what we were getting ourselves into. After our run in with the police and the military we left there in a hurry. Once we got back on track we headed north for Slidell, Louisiana by way of the Lake Pontchartrain bridge.
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