Strangers In A Very Strange Land (Day 2) Friday

   According To My Voice-recorder)

   We awoke from a very deep sleep, about tennish maybe? Mom was aware of the error and rushed through breakfast (Dad went out and got McDoodles for breakfast, whose clown, by the way, my mom helped to design.) Mom got to the exhibit hall where we set up last night, and that's the last I saw of her.
   Fast forward to the outside of the hotel. The planes were still landing a mile away, roaring overhead every eight minutes.
   So, I find out I'm going to downtown New Orleans, well, not really downtown, but the French Quarter.
   We arrive at the South Gate (Basin St. Station) to what looked like an old trolley system, but it had been replaced by a tour bus. In fact much of New Orleans revenue consists of tourism. We bought tickets inside and had a look around. It's not every day you get to see the inside of an antique train/trolley station.
   We boarded a double-decker bus, and yes, you read that correctly, a double-decker bus. My dad and I were on a guided tour over the Bowl City. I was taking pictures left, right, and almost through the window. After making most of the stops on the bus, we made a stop in the French Quarter for lunch. We passed the original site. for filming NCIS New Orleans, and wound up at the original Café du Mondé the place to go for French donuts, (translated, "beignets,") but I suggested that we not do sweets for lunch. We walked down Bourbon Street to the The Creole Shop where I had a mixed platter of seafood, rice, and gumbo. I was having a problem with my walker (Later I learned that I was chasing it and all I needed was a cane.
    I needed some time to digest, and all they had to eat down there were different types of gumbo. There's nothing different. It's just how hot you want it.
   So we continued our sightseeing trip on foot. I was going too fast to keep up with my walker, and not slowing down to really appreciate the sights. Dad was consistently  remind me to come to a more leisurely pace. All it did was frustrate me. This continued to build as we tried to come full circle to the South Gate. I was taking the wrong way off of intersections. You see, New Orleans is not built for the disabled. They do not even have countdown numbers on sidewalks at intersections. I did not know on which light to cross. So when I tried to go left at an intersection, I was supposed to go 90 degrees to the right, but my destination lay 180 degrees.That's straight ahead, folks. So I'm mad from chasing my walker and dad constantly on my case. So, we're on the West side of the South Side Station when I finally unleashed on my dad who, it turns out, was an innocent victim of four wheels. He was just trying to show me around the French Quarter.
    Once inside the station we went over to the store, bought some drinks, sat down and  cooled off. Dad took my walker back to the car, and I finished cooling down. Then it was off to see the above ground cemetery. It was the same one the tour bus passed on the way round robin. The reason they bury their dead above ground was because if they buried them six feet under, they would really be six feet under! Apparently, they stack the bodies on top of each other. When we got to the cemetery, it was closed, but  when did that ever get between me and a photo?! I know, that's sick.
   We were on our way back to the hotel and mom who was supposed to finish her exposé at five p.m.
   I got back to the room and collapsed for twenty minutes. Dad was just concerned about getting mom out of the exhibition hall and getting her something to eat. So finally, at about twilight, we all got together in the main lobby of the hotel and entered the adjoining restaurant, "The Landing. " it was quiet for the rest of the night and an early evening.

Stay tuned for Pt. 3, when I go to the WW2 Museum!

Strangers In A Very Strange Land (Day 1) - Thursday

   (According To My Voice-recorder)


   I tried not to anticipate this trip a.k.a. getting too excited, and it turns out, I wasn't let down. I had to get up at five am, and get outta' Dodge before rush hour, my dad at the helm of course.
   We were off to New Orleans for mom's National Association Quilling Guild. In current english, mom has a group of fellow quillers that spans the U.S. They have an annual meeting and this one just happened to be in the Bowl City.
   What spooked me was a crop duster that appeared to spray a field at five feet and didn't pull up until the very last moment. I thought it was going to crash into the interstate.
I   Our first stop on this six-hour trip was in Winnie, Texas. We gassed up and were on aour way--with my new halogen flashlight- which I managed to grab at the checkout.
   About 10:15 am I crossed into Louisiana, for the first time, I might add. There is a river to cross there too- the Sabine.
   I had lunch in Bauthea, one of my last stops before I hit the swamps.
   Just down the road, was one of the longest bridges I have ever traveled upon and when we ran out of swamp, we ran into trees. I mean the thickest bunch of trees with their height being about 50 feet and their roots in.. you guessed it. Swamp. I probably couldn't even fit the length of my index finger in between those Cypress and Pine trees. Whilst in the fauna, we hit a six-lane highway. Now this wasn't your average six lane. No. We had your average two lane east and west and the stream in between, wide enough for a canoe. Oh, and you had your water intersections at perfect 90'.
   At 10 'til 2p, I finally crossed the Mississippi River, and the Lake Pontchartrain bridge.
   At 3p, we got to the hotel, the quillers were going to hole up at. After moving all of the baggage in, dad and I laid down.*


   Stay tuned for Pt. 2- When I go into the French Quarter

    * I put that flag up there on the board as part of an experiment. Guess it works!!!


 

Great Trip (Day +0)

I'm back a.o. last night. 5 days in New Orleans was more than enough. Our hotel was right across from the airport so on average, every four minutes a 737 took off over our hotel. More than enough details following...

Anticipation

   It's Mother's Day '14, and Thursday, we shove off for New Orleans. It's a six- hour journey from Houston to the Bowl City. So, what business do we have The Big Easy? Simple. Mom has a quilling guild she belongs to, and they have an annual meet somewhere in the U.S. This one just happened to be in New Orleans.
   Mom is working her fanny off in order to make the deadline, and dad's giving his all, doing chores, mowing the lawn etc, etc... As for me, I'm falling all over the place, so I stay glued to my chair, or my walker,
   I've also got my hobbies to keep me busy. The Rubix Cube, Assembly Line models, Audubon's bird copying coloring books, beading, and weaving braclets. Of course, there's also my huge music collection on Itunes - Classical musical, and classic rock. I could set up a radio station right here in Houston!
    Well, there's work to be done, rides to be taken, and scenery to be explored all in four days. I'm going to use a micro-cassette recorder to record everything interesting so I don't miss much of anything since I've got the memory the size of a hair on the hind leg of a flea.
   So hang on, and I hope to get back to you soon.

Giving der Boot der Boot

Finally, riding into the sunset is my boot. After four or five weeks of remaining on the first level of the house, I can finally move back up to my room.  What did I do to keep my sanity, or lack of same? Well, a plethora  of opportunities presented themselves. Working on three models, repairing some of them, playing tetris, and finally getting to watch Star Trek TNG all the way through, were just a few of the activites I engaged in. 

I had to get outta' the house, so on weekends, I went out to breakfast with my folks, and then carte-blanche for me plus groceries for the family, all with a removable full-leg cast on my left foot. 

Most of the time I sat, slept, and ate in my leather recliner, the best birthday present ever bought me. Sure, it's secondhand, but it's buttery smooth  uptown. Certainly, it has wrinkles and tears, but it looks like it used to belong in a plush office or house. Most of the activities took place in that chair summed up my life for five weeks. And boy, was I happy to FINALLY ascend that staircase last week- minus the boot. 

New Sight

This special eye surgeon I'm seeing put a prism on the lens of my glasses. Now I'm not seeing double and with two eyes at last, in 19 mos! So excited! To quote an old Christian song: "You never know what you have until it's gone."

What we take for granted- the use of an arm, the sense of taste, being able to walk, to hear, even to be able to walk; "for every movement of the body, there should be a corosponding and equal feeling of sensation of same." - Never heard of it? Good. I just made it up. Go ahead and enjoy your day, but remember what life could be without the use of at least one of your faculties.

Cast Away

Well you knew it would have to happen... Again. Yeah, the steps reached out grabbed me for the second time in nine months. I knew it would happen again. Actually, it was my stupidity (as a result of total brain fog that day) that caused it.
 See, a pile of my youngest brother's clothes was in the middle of the right lane alongside the railing. When I had my stroke, I had a a PT session where I was taught to divide the stars into two lanes, and stick to the side that had the rail. Well, I did just that and a pile of clothes where in my way. So instead of scooting them out of way, I tried to go around while keeping my fingers on the rail. Muy Problemo.  Result --> Same fall (even though it is 4 or 5 steps up this time), severly strained tendons in my left foot, bruises up half my leg, and severe swelling in said foot.
The foot doctor (nice guy bty) put me in a boot. You know, like cowbows used to wear, except it is made up a firm felt-like substance with a foam bottom that resembles an astronaut's shoe tread when they walked on the moon. I hear it will take six months for it to heal properly. (Gibb's slap) 4 weeks x 6 months = 24 weeks. Oy Vey. Only I could do this to myself.