Alabama to Louisiana (Yes, New Orleans!)

When I left Chattanooga, I just had a few hours drive down to a boondocker’s farm in Verbena, Alabama. I was looking forward to being alone – not visiting anyone and not going anywhere. I wanted to get a bunch of little things done (which I did!) and relax a bit, and recharge. I stopped to buy groceries on the way down. I spotted a Trader Joe’s in Birmingham, AL. Why I keep ending up grocery shopping on a weekend is beyond me. It was a total zoo and parking was also a nightmare. Usually, I park way back in the far end of a lot where there are always empty spots and I don’t feel bad hanging over into a spot behind me. Well, this shopping center was a big circle of stores and restaurants with the parking in the middle…so there was no far end! I managed to find a place and not destroy anything in the process. I picked up a whole chicken, determined to finally roast a chicken in Rita’s oven. And there was no room for it in my fridge, so I HAD to roast it when I arrived. I even made soup with the bones and had good eats the whole stay.

The owners of the land didn’t live there, but they came to meet me when I arrived – they were very attentive, showing up every day to check on things and meet others who were also passing through to stay. They were a super friendly couple who like to travel around in their RV and had just returned from a trip when I arrived.

I was able to do a few bike rides while I was there – I was grateful it was only a little hilly, instead of the all up or all down of Spencer. I made one trip to the dumpster at Dollar General in ‘town’ with a bag of trash in my backpack, mostly full of chicken bones! I could only imagine what my trash would smell like if I hadn’t been able to offload that.

This stay went through the election – I was happy to be alone through that nightmare with no tv or media coming at me against my will. The next morning was a bit of a brutal reality. My mind went to plans for a longer stay in Mexico come January.

I had discovered that my best friend Jen’s mother, brother and his wife lived less than an hour away from where I was staying. They invited me down for a visit and I was excited to meet them. I was all charged up and ready to be social.

Some skoolie friends I have yet to meet in person, also recommended I visit “The Legacy Museum: From Slavery to Mass Incarceration”. While I was going to be so near to Montgomery. I made that happen, and I’m so glad I did. It was a very intense experience that made my head spin and is still impacting me daily. It deserves its own blog post and I will get to that eventually!

I loved meeting Jen’s family! They fed me and opened their driveway and shower to me! (of course they offered me a room as well, but I always prefer to stay in Rita – then I don’t have to pack stuff up, and they don’t have to wash sheets!).

My next stop was a longer haul down to New Orleans. I had booked 2 nights in a HarvestHosts spot at a cider brewery parking lot. It looked like fun and I was excited to have a day tromping around NOLA. I had only been there one other time, probably 20 years ago. It was really fun then, but I was also sick the whole time.

I got in late in the day and was definitely not feeling like going out anywhere. I’m discovering I really don’t like showing up in a city at rush hour, with unfamiliar territory at the end of an already long drive. I’m trying to have much shorter drives these days – to avoid that, as well as to have more balance in my days – driving, working, sight-seeing – a little bit of everything.
The cider brewery looked really cool, so I figured I’d make some food and walk across to try some ciders. It happened to be a trivia game night. I ended up staying and playing. I was the only ‘team’ with one brain (aside from some temporary help from a stranger next to me), and I didn’t come in dead last, so that was something!

The next morning, I tried to get up and out early for a day of sightseeing (a little bit of a cider headache may have slowed me down). I walked a bunch through a pretty cool area that the bartender had told me about. I came upon a wonderful bakery that had so much amazing stuff and it was all vegan and organic. I had a delicious boston crème brioche that was to die for – and a local kombucha. I was eventually in an area to hop on a street car stop and rode the into the hub of NOLA activity. I had NO idea how I was getting back, because Ubers from where I was staying were like $50, but I was sure I’d figure something out. I had visions of a long day in the city and rolling over into some exciting nightlife, live music, fancy dinner…. But after nearly 7 miles of walking, riding the street cars and wandering about in the rain, it was getting late and I was getting pretty tired. I got to see some fun music and so much other great stuff that day, I didn’t feel bad missing a night on the town. I just wanted to curl up in Rita. Given the weather, how tired I was, how not excited about roaming around solo amongst drunken tourists (OMG Bourbon Street was the worst! Day drinking adults everywhere!), I decided to find something to drink so I could rest a spell and figure out how to get back to Rita.

I had wandered off the beaten track a bit and looking at my map, the nearest thing open was some place called “Ike’s Love and Sandwiches”. I wasn’t hungry, but they had some interesting drinks and I cynically thought “I wonder what would happen if I just ordered some love?” Turns out the love is included for free! First of all, I had NO idea this place was a chain, it didn’t LOOK like a chain. When my cute “waiter” pointed out the top items on the menu were in order of his favorites I jokingly said “oh did you design the menu?” Yeah. He did. He asked my name then I asked his and he turned out to be Ike himself (my first moment of dorkiness)…I just assumed this was his cute little, local restaurant. It was a super cozy place to hang out, and I was welcomed to take my time and just enjoy. I had a nice cold chocolate drink and got to relax a bit. I decided to order a sandwich to go because they all looked so interesting (and I thought I was supporting a little local place!). But I stayed in for the love. The place was playing good tunes and there was no pressure. I ordered a second drink (girls gotta hydrate!) and read the entire menu. Found out later there were donuts, too. Along with my sandwich (Ike’s 2nd favorite on the menu), I got fresh, hot chocolate cake donuts with butterscotch glaze. Amazing. There was a break in the rain so I decided to make my way back to Rita. When I went up to pay the bill, I asked Ike if he had stickers (for Rita’s bulkhead!) and was surprised when he pulled one out of his backpack and handed it to me- free. I made Ike take a selfie with me, since I realized I had no pix of me in NOLA (you know I don’t do many selfies). We chatted briefly, then paused and had a bit of a moment where it was clear, without a word, that we were going to hug – it was best hug and proved the love was indeed included. Only after looking this place up to follow online, did I learn it’s a chain that started in San Francisco and is now in 6 states and Ike knows all kinds of famous people and stuff. Apparently, this location is brand new (which would explain Ike’s presence). Felt like it had been there forever. How have I never known about this place? It turns out I walked right past one a few times when I was in Santa Cruz, CA last! I couldn’t stop laughing at myself.

I had figured out I could catch a street car not too far away and then take a bus and then walk a bit to get back to Rita. I found the street car stop and one was coming soon. It did not come. The app quickly switched to say one was coming in 30 minutes. I didn’t know what else to do, so I waited. That one also did not arrive. I was getting a little crank by now. I started walking. And walking. No streetcars were to be seen anywhere. I couldn’t figure out where buses were, either. It was starting to rain again. I bit the bullet and called an Uber. It was almost $30, but the driver was super sweet and dropped me right off at the cider brewery and I didn’t have to walk more in the rain. I was happy to dry off and get cozy with my sandwich and donuts. I didn’t go in for another cider.

The rain kept on coming down. I had been hoping to visit an interesting-sounding artist friend of a friend, who lived on a boat, just outside of the city. Unfortunately, it sounded like the parking lot there was possibly flooding. It was also in the wrong direction from where I was headed next, so I decided to pass on that and begin heading westward. Another weekend stop at a Trader Joe’s (why? Whyyyy do I do this?) before hitting the road. I ended up getting a call from a long-lost cousin who lives in New Orleans. Michelle, on my mom’s side – who I hadn’t seen since maybe I was 8 years old – contacted me (the Mommy grapevine is alive and well!). We had a really nice talk and I was hoping to get down to visit her, not that far away. But the more we discussed logistics, with the rain/potential flooding and her narrow street, it didn’t seem like a good idea for Rita to head down there. We will meet up some other time, for sure! I got on the road, headed on west, aiming for the Atchafalaya Visitor’s Center -which was rumored to be a lovely, safe, free place to pass the night.

It was!

The center itself was like a little museum, to learn all about the life in the Bayou. The 2 women working there were so friendly and knowledgeable. I got a little excited to go see the bayou for myself. Even tho it hadn’t been in my plans, it seemed a shame to miss out. There was a display with a talking raccoon and turtle with full on Cajun accents, that were beyond charming.

I had a nice quiet night in the secure lot. I spent quite a lot of time killing mosquitoes, though. They were viscious! But I got every last one of them and was able to sleep peacefully. The next morning, I went to have one last chat with the women inside, and watch the little video production with a ‘real’ talking bird introducing it. They gave me even more interesting information about some places to see. I set off with some optimism about seeing the Bayou. It quickly turned to uncertainty as the road turned to one late, dirt, rutted, and with some confusing signs about getting fined $1000 for driving on the road. We took it REALLY slow and luckily didn’t run into anyone coming the other direction. After seeing how long it took to go just a short way, I decided to abandon the final destination and stop at one of the closer turn offs and maybe do a little hike, to see what I could see. I was still being optimistic. The weather was warm and lovely though. I even dug out my hiking boots, and set off down a trail. It was incredibly buggy. Mosquitoes. Who knows what else. It was woods and plants. None of it all that interesting. There was no swamp or bayou, turtles or alligators in sight. I quickly said “F-this”…and went back to Rita and got back on the road west, to my Cajun boondocking experience. I got to see some bayou-ness on the drive and realized that was plenty for me. The bayou is not a place that calls to my soul. I enjoyed the animated displays in the visitor center far more than what I saw ‘out there’. Also, Rita got super covered in muckiness – what a mess.

The house I was parking at for the next 3 nights in Breaux Bridge, LA was surrounded by farms and had some beautiful trees full of Spanish moss. I was happy to be there. And Pearly and Clyde were just the sweetest hosts ever! For a modest fee, you could also have Pearly cook up a homemade Cajun feast. I absolutely wanted to have that. It sounded far better than trying to find some overpriced touristy restaurant in New Orleans.

Unfortunately, the next morning, Rita decided not to start. I was planning to go to a laundromat to get some wash done as well as use their wifi (the cell service at the spot was not useable for work at all). Clyde spent considerable time trying to help me get Rita going – continuing on while I had to have phone meetings. We re-cleaned the battery terminals and tried to jump start her (even though I was quite sure it was not the battery). Nothing worked. Clyde called a mechanic he knew who talked to me and offered some helpful advice. Unfortunately, he was very busy and couldn’t come out. When Pearly came home from work that day, she made me chicken and sausage gumbo, and crawfish etouffee with potato salad, and carrot cake for dessert. I learned, by reading the side of a police car, that Breaux Bridge is the crawfish capital of the world! They sure were delicious. She also offered me a frozen vodka drink…which, after the day I’d had, I accepted. Pearly and I chatted while she cooked and I drank the sweet slushy drink. It was fun having someone cook for me! They regaled me with stories of all the people they have met by hosting boondockers – what an amazing cultural experience they get to have right there amidst farms in Louisiana!

I posted my non-start issue on one of my skoolie Facebook groups. I got some very helpful information – and determined the issue was most likely a neutral safety switch going bad and causing it not to start. I put it in neutral and it started right up! I headed out to the laundromat and decided to also find a mechanic to see if we could fix this issue so it doesn’t keep happening. I called a mobile mechanic who called me back right away and said he would come by. Immediately after I got off the phone, someone in the laundromat said – “is that your bus? Someone is looking for you”. Damn, that was fast! It was actually the mechanic’s son who some how was nearby. He was standing outside Rita’s door with a cigarette hanging out his mouth. I told him the whole story and he started looking at everything and then his Dad (Brock) showed up, also with the cigarette (like father, like son) and oversaw the scene and then ran for parts. They assured me that the battery connector terminals were the problem and needed replacing. I knew they were a disaster and had thought about replacing them, so I was happy to get that done. They found the best ones from a Ford dealer and picked them up and had them installed in an hour. I was really happy – until he handed me the bill!! On the phone, I thought he’d said $100 service call and $45/hour if they work on it. Well, turns out it was $145 an hour (the laundromat was loud…I misheard) and he put 2 hours on the bill – (because, 2 of them??) plus the parts, which were reasonable. I was so shocked when I saw the bill, I yelled “HOLY SHIT!” – it was well over $450 – for something that, realistically, I probably could’ve done myself. Brock almost immediately said “hey look, I really just want to make my customers happy, so what it we just call it $300 even?”. He also said he really wanted a positive review on Google… Given the numbers I didn’t hear correctly, that was at least a more accurate amount, even though I felt like I was really getting taken advantage of. That hourly rate was far more than I paid a mobile mechanic and the mechanic shop in California or Maine. But anyway, I paid was relieved to have it done and not have to go anywhere else – it all got taken care of in the time it took me to get about 6 loads of laundry done. Very productive day.

That night, Pearly invited me in for leftover crawfish etouffee over baked potatoes (I didn’t eat as much as I could have the night before, I get full fast these days ever since my hiatal hernia surgery last year). Even though I had food, and was pretty tired, I was definitely interested in more of that etouffee. It was so yummy and Clyde and Pearly were easy folks to hang around.

The rain had been pretty relentless for days now. I was looking forward to driving out of it and into some nicer weather. Originally, I had planned to head down to Galveston and maybe the Padre islands, to find some beaches. Pearly told me about some beaches in Louisiana, not that far away. I decided to have a look. Stay tuned next time for how that went!!