The Big Easy. Nola. The Crescent City. N’awlins. Whatever name you want to call it, I’ve been there four times now, three by air, one by land, and while this certainly doesn’t qualify me as any sort of expert, I have learned enough to give you my impressions of the area. One thing I cannot address is New Orleans pre-Katrina versus post-Katrina. I never visited the city before Hurricane Katrina struck in 2005, so I have no point of reference to make any comparisons. Anyway, that particular issue has been done to death by so many people in so many different ways that I doubt I could add anything new to the discussion even if I felt qualified. So, with all those caveats out of the way, here’s my random ramblings about one of the USA’s truly unique cities.

(Jackson Square and St. Louis Cathedral, French Quarter, New Orleans)

Number one, if you don’t like oppressive, semi-tropical humidity and heat, STAY AWAY from about mid-March to mid-October. I do not care for this kind of weather and found out to my chagrin that one month can make a huge difference. My previous three trips were all in October, and while a little warm for my blood – seventies and eighties with considerable humidity – October was tolerable, if only just.

Continue reading “Days Nine to Fourteen, September 20 – 25:New Orleans – A Streetcar Named Perspiration” →

Since we first began planning our trip, I’d known this day would come. The fun stuff – national parks, fabulous scenic drives, day hikes – was over. Now, it was time for some serious driving.

Around nine a.m. we left Trinidad, Colorado, where we’d stayed the night at the Budget Inn (3 out of 5 stars and 50 bucks.) It had been an interesting evening after leaving Great Sand Dunes Park, driving in the dark along Highway 160, then picking up I-25 at Walsenburg and streaking south to Trinidad. It took us a while to find the Budget Inn, a little off the freeway and not too easily located. In fact the only thing that really helped us find the place was it being situated underneath a large radio tower.

As we unpacked the car and settled into our motel room, a windstorm barreled into town and nearly blew us right out of the parking lot. The wind continued unabated all through the night and woke me several times with thoughts like I didn’t know they had tornadoes in this part of Colorado and I wonder if our room will spin around inside the twister like Dorothy’s house in The Wizard of Oz? and Was that the radio tower I just heard toppling over on our car?

We survived the night and hit the road heading south on I-25. In no time at all we crossed the state line, and I was glad to see the “Welcome to New Mexico” greeting sign and to know we were going the right way this time. The land flattened out with rolling hills off to the west.

(Las Vegas? Did we take a wrong turn? No, it’s Las Vegas, New Mexico)

Continue reading “Days Seven and Eight – Saturday,Sunday September 18,19: Pedal To The Metal” →

When I first read about Great Sand Dunes National Park, it seemed a real head scratcher to me. It’s not in a desert, nowhere near the ocean, so what the heck are the largest, tallest sand dunes in North America doing smack in the middle of south-central Colorado?  Located in a bowl-like depression and stacked up against the western edge of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains to over 750 feet in elevation, the Great Sand Dunes of the Rockies are a one-of-a-kind phenomenon and definitely worth the time to check them out on your Colorado itinerary. And on day six of our trip, that’s exactly what we did.

(Life among the dunes)

We left Cortez around 8:30 in the morning heading east – the correct direction this time – zipped past the Mesa Verde Park entrance and sped on toward Durango. When first planning our journey, I’d hoped to include a side trip on the Durango-Silverton steam locomotive, one of the finest remaining examples of a fully functional, old-time steam engine line in the country, winding through spectacular mountain and river valley scenery to boot.

Continue reading “Day Six – Friday, September 17: Sand Dunes In…Colorado?” →