This morning we finally got out of East Texas. We didn't see much while we were there, or there wasn't much to see. Within the first hour, we crossed over into Louisiana and the scenery got quite a bit different. We started out on US--90E at Lake Charles and changed over to LA-182 at Lafayette.   Louisiana is definitely a lot more populated. There's not much distance between towns and there just seemed to be houses and people everywhere.
      It may just be that US-90 is the business route for I-10 so we went through one small town after another . It was a nice change to see civilization again. Once we turned down LA-182, there was more farmland and a little less people. As we came closer to New Orleans, LA-182 started to follow a bayou canal and by then it was very scenic. We even stopped to take a canal picture. We also passes several shipyards with barges and tugboats, and of course several huge bridges connecting between the land and the various waterways. It was a welcome change in scenery.
     The last 30 miles or so was the the typical I-10 rat race into the big city. Almost all of I-10 as you get close to New Orleans is actually a long bridge as almost none of the roadway is on the ground. We're staying at the Courtyard Marriot on Iberville St right next to Bourbon Street. It's actually the same hotel we stayed at back in 2001 the last time we were here. I guess it must be off season and mid-week, because the rate was only $100 per night for a king bed suite. Such a deal!
     We had concerns about what it would be like in New Orleans since Katrina and all . But, I'm glad to say that nothing has been cleaned up in the French Quarter. The streets are still as filthy as ever, it still smells as bad as ever, and the same strange looking people are still wandering the streets. Same old New Orleans! We didn't do much sightseeing tonight. Just a quick one time up and down Bourbon Street. Must have been 20 guys trying to get us to come in for happy hour. We were planning to have dinner in the Red Fish Grill, but it's closed for the week for painting. So we ended up at Olde N'awlins Cookery. Jody had the Taste of New Orleans with Gumbo, Etouffee, and Red Beans and Rice and I had the Cajun Jambalaya Pasta. Both were great! The food is always so good here.
     Tomorrow we will do a little more exploring around town. We need to head over to the French Market, and check out some of the shops. We might even do a little wandering around at night!

334.9 miles today
19,197.7 miles total

10.844 gallons today
458.160 gallons total