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| 2006 Trip Out West |
| New Orleans |
Another of the activities was a 4-wheeling excursion into the desert. Thank you to John for driving his pickup, and I hope it didn't receive any severe damage when the tail-end hit on some of those deep washes. (See the picture of the group below.) |
| I left Lakeland, Florida in January 2006 to meet up with the WIN group (Wandering Individuals Network - a group of single RVers) in Quartzsite, Arizona for the huge RV and Rock Show. On my way I stopped in New Orleans to see first-hand the effects of the recent hurricanes; WOW!, what devistation, and yet what perseverance the people of the area have had! I met up with Jacob and Joe, whom I met in Zacatecas, Mexico last year, and they showed me around the area and told me some stories of what they and others endured during the storms. They had moved to a new house, because their previous place was in one of the harder hit, low-lying areas, and that neighborhood still hadn't had electricity returned to it when I was there! We're talking January! Almost 5 months later! Unbelieveable! One of the homes that I saw had a high-water mark of nearly 6 feet! (See the purple house below.) Surprisingly some of the areas that sit a bit higher were not nearly as damaged, such as the French Quarter. Many of the shops had re-opened, although some only recently. In fact, the guys were saying that they had to drive quite a distance just to find a fast-food restaurant that had re-opened, and finding gas was also difficult, with long lines at times. One of the places that had re-opened was Jimmy Buffett's Margaritaville, so I had to express my fondness for him and his music by stopping for a quick drink (non-alcoholic, of course). The next day I parked my truck and rode my bike around the French Quarter, and although it wasn't the boisterous, heavily crowded place it had been on my previous visits, I was happy to see that it was getting back on its feet after such a stunning blow. However, a number of the residential areas were taking much longer to getting back to a semblance of normality, if they ever reach that stage. Sidewalks were blocked with debris from the insides of homes, with piles of insulation, destroyed sheetrock walls, and many other ruined items waiting to be picked up by the garbage trucks. I did not notice as much roof damage in these areas, but in the areas outside of New Orleans were many homes with the ever-present blue tarps on the roofs that those of who live in hurricane-frequented areas have seen all too often. And there was roofing insulation and shingles blown for miles that could be seen all along the sides of the highway. I wish Jacob, Joe and all the rest in New Orleans a speedy recovery, and know that some of us haven't forgotten you now that the hurricanes have come and gone. |
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| The high-water mark can be seen just below the window on this side. |
| The crowds are slowly coming back to the French Quarter as seen here near Cafe du Monde. |
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| After leaving New Orleans I headed out to Quartzsite, Arizona, a place where there are normally only a few hundred residents. But in January, during the huge RV and Rock Show, it swells into the 10,000's! RVers come from all over to see the latest in gadgets and gotta-haves that the RV companies have come up with each year. I had chatted with a few people from the WIN group on the internet while still in Florida, so I pulled into their meeting place, parked my travel trailer, and met a bunch of neat people. Now I'm normally a loner, especially when camping, but it was a nice change of pace to spend time with some interesting people. Granted, there were none my age, but they are an active bunch that had activities planned for every day, such as 4-wheeling in the local desert, chili cook-offs, and other planned activities. During my time there I met Walter (about whom you'll hear a lot more later as my gold-mining buddy), Panama-or-bust Jim (who made a one-year long trip all the way down to Panama and bag with a few RVs), Bagpipe Bob (who played his pipes for us a few times, and who also became a gold-mining buddy later on), as well as many others. |
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| Bagpipe Bob playing at the WINs chili cook-off. |
| James in his Mexican Sombrero |
| Panama-or-bust Jim with the rig he took down to Panama His website is www.panamaorbust.com - check it out. |
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| Here's the WIN group full and happy after the chili cook-off. |
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| One of the activities that was lined up was some music by some of the WINs. My favorite was Bagpipe Bob (see his photo) playing his Scottish bagpipes (could it have something to do with the fact that I am of Scottish descent?). He got the people up and dancing, such as James in his huge sombrero dancing away (see him in the photo), as well as getting the whole group up and doing a (Scottish?) Conga line. This went on during our chili cook-off (see the two photos of the group) where we all stuffed ourselves with some great chili. |
| While we were out 4-wheeling, we came across some Big Horn Sheep. They're not as big as the ones I've seen in Yellowstone, but that could be because of the difficulty of finding much nutrition in the deserts. They just stood watching us from about 20 yards away while we took some pictures of them. (See them below). |
| Another of our trips included a jaunt out to Queen Canyon, where we had lunch next to an interesting rock formation that looks like something out of the "Pirates of the Caribbean" (see the photo of the skull rock). |
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| Arizona |
| I took a trip into Lake Havasu City one day to see the famous London Bridge that was bought by some rich guy, who had it taken apart a piece at a time, shipped to Arizona, and reassembled in Lake Havasu City |
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| Arizona Big Horn Sheep |
| Skull Rock |
| London Bridge, in Arizona |