5 November 2023
Richard and I always take a while to negotiate where we'll spend the winter. Our first priority is somewhere warm, or at least not cold and wintry. Our second priority is somewhere affordable and within our budget.
We tried for St. Thomas, Virgin Islands. We really tried. We looked online at housing, wrote to landlords, avoided scams, even contacted a realtor. All to no avail - everything we liked was either in a location we wanted to avoid (such as a gated community), or out of our price range. What was in our price range was either inside one of those gated communities, or was too small (as in only a microwave and no kitchen).
So, we both threw out ideas. I thought Las Vegas might be fun and different. Richard suggested New Orleans. And I thought hmmm, that could be fun. Even though the distance is more than double, New Orleans sounded better.
We did our usual search for furnished apartments that included utilities, and found a place in what seemed like a nice area near a university or two. In a residential neighborhood, but also walking distance to some more commercial areas.
The next blog will be about New Orleans. But this is a summary of our drive here. We didn't take the most direct route, but Greta the Garmin sent us along a reasonable route on either interstate or state highways. There's a map of our route at the end, with each day a different color. Photos are from our trip along the way - not many, just a few.
Day 1 – Sandy Point to Yakima, WA – 240 miles – Unfortunately, it was a cold and rainy drive, especially in the mountain passes!
Day 2 – Yakima to La Grande, OR – 182 miles – More cold, more rain, and extremely foggy in the passes.
Day
3 – La Grande to Burley, ID – 327 miles
– Mixed weather so not as much rain. We hoped to go to Twin Falls, Idaho, but somehow didn’t see the exit sign on the highway so drove on to the next reasonably sized town for the night. Finally had some sun!
Day
4 – Burley to Evanston, WY – 223 miles – Woke up to a fire alarm! It turned out to be something minor burning in the kitchen as the staff began breakfast. Greta Garmin tried to send us on a different route,
we weren’t planning on WY!!! Our day ended
with deer/elk hunters at our hotel, wearing camouflage and 
carrying guns!! YIKES! Turned out it was opening day of rifle season! (I asked the desk clerk what happens if the guys actually shoot a deer or elk - she replied they have to leave it locked in their car or truck over night. Is that creepy or what???)
Day 5 – Evanston to Rawlins, WY – 208 miles. Reports of snow in the mountains where we had planned to drive along the state highway, so we went with the more travelled route of I-80. Cold, and crazy windy!
Day 6 – Rawlins to Pueblo, CO – 341 miles. Insane wind in Wyoming, I had trouble getting out of the car at our first rest stop! Colorado’s landscape seemed to change dramatically from Wyoming’s right after the state line - really, it went from flat prairie to hilly and piles of rocks!
Day
7 – Pueblo to Santa Fe, NM – 278 miles.
Sunny and warm day. We'll spend 36 hours staying with friends.
Day
8 – Our friends in Santa Fe took us out - Richard went on a foodie tour with his college buddy, I went on an art and culture and shopping trip with his wife. I think I had more fun! Mural is "Three Sisters," by Ehren Kee Natay, referring to the Native American practice of growing corn, squash, and beans together, forming the three staples of their agriculture.
Day
9 – Santa Fe to Adrian, TX – 230 miles.
Windy, but we found a motel on Old Route 66. I think the motel dates back to when that
route was built, or at least 1966 or so. Population of the town
is 129 people (2021 census). This town
is the midpoint of Route 66! (Our lunch was
a taco truck burrito at a rest area mid-day!)
Day 10 – Adrian to Vernon, TX – 222 miles. More excitement in Adrian this morning; we went to breakfast at the Midpoint Café, and found the place overrun with tourists on a Route 66 bus tour!!! Most people were taking photos or having a morning snack, but the café was packed! We invited a couple to sit at our table, they were from Arkansas – they told us about the tour, arranged by a company in Seattle. This was a two week tour of Route 66, from Chicago to Los Angeles, with stops all along the way. Fifty tour participants from across the US, plus four people from Ireland and at least one person from Japan.
Day 11 – Vernon to Terrell, TX – 219 miles. Greta the Garmin kept taking us off and then back on the same highway through Dallas. Totally confusing! We had lunch in the town of Jolly – unfortunately, they didn’t have any Welcome to Jolly tee shirts. Very disappointing.
Day
12 – Terrell to Natchitoches, LA – 224 miles.
We had lunch in Kilgore, Texas, which made us laugh. As fans of Kurt Vonnegut novels, we both
think of Kilgore Trout, so we toasted this fictional character. I have no idea how to pronounce Natchitoches, locals somehow make it only two or three syllables. It sounds more like Nachos or Nach-toes than "Nah-chi-TOE-chez."
Day 13 – Natchitoches to Alexandria, LA – 56.5 miles. Richard was not feeling great, so we cut the day short and found an affordable place. Not a stellar day of driving, and a bit rainy. More rain predicted for tomorrow, so if need be we can spend a second night here.
Day 14 – Alexandria to New Orleans, LA – 205 miles. Pouring rain, sometimes quite heavy, but we made it. Apartment is nice, we’ll figure out our way around, and this is home for the winter.
Total: 2,955.5 miles
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