EriqX / New Orleans / Log Book

05-SEP-2005

06:30

Set out from Chicago. Stop at Wal-Mart, pick up a spare gas can and propane for the grill. Later down the road we witness the biggest damn cross ever, foreshadowing the increasing religious atmosphere we are entering with each passing mile further south.

Gas is $3.32.

10:02

After a seeming parade of cops for hours on the northbound side of the freeway, we witness a trooper pull over a young man in an Intrepid. The trooper is behind his squad car door, rifle aimed at the driver. The drivers hands are sticking out the window. Perhaps more foreshadowing? We hope not.

12:00

Stop at Cut-Mart in Cairo, IL. It's a small, humble gas station with old-fashioned pumps. The kind you have to turn on, listen to the roar of a pump, then pull the lever to release the gas. It's their grand opening, we appear to be their 3rd ever customer. They only had premium available, which was only $3.19. Employees were grilling over an open flame by the pumps.

Took a picture of a cool tunnel, as well as the sign for "Future City", which was not so futuristic.

12:07

Entered Missouri.

12:24

Stop again for gas. We forgot to fill the spare can in the trunk, which we are carrying because there is reportedly no gas available between Tennessee and Baton Rouge. We had been meaning to buy some plastic knives for making our PB&J's in the car, one item we forgot. The gas station is large, but no cutlery is for sale. Matt steals one from the coffee/condiment bar. We can eat.

Worst rest room ever.

St. Louis Post Dispatch headline reads: "New Orleans Prepares for Body Count".

Gas is $2.99.

14:27

Entered Tennessee.

Gas is $2.99.

14:36

Entered Mississippi.

14:55

Crossed Hickahola Creek. Continued to make general fun of the south.

14:57

Stopped for gas at Kangaroo Express / BP. Cleaned most of the bugs off the windshield.

Gas is $2.97

15:13

Encountered a mobile home on stilts. Just outside of Sardis, Mississippi.

15:15

Another incident of "Trust Jesus" spray painted on the pillar of an overpass. Matt suggests it is the work of the Mississippi highway department.

15:18

Gas is $2.69

16:23

Theme of trip is determined by Matt and myself to be "chocolate and peanut butter". This is following our breaking open the Peanut Butter Chex-Mix. I had previously purchased some Illinois State Fair prize-winning chocolate and peanut butter fudge at a gas station earlier.

16:44

Passed exit of Yazoo City. Briefly mocked the name.

17:05

Another "Trust Jesus". Matt may be right.

17:15

Passed "Cowboy Maloney's Electric City". Possibly an electronics retailer. Possibly a porn store.

17:16

Passed massive convoy of utility vehicles and cherry pickers. Obviously en route to help with storm recovery. Probably 25 trucks or more.

17:24

90 miles from Mississippi / Louisiana border. Start to see downed highway signs.

17:32

Blue Pontiac Firebird for sale on side of road. Asking $29.00. Looks worth it.

Gas is $2.47

17:36

Downed signs continue. Downed trees join them. Pieces of roof missing from a peach stand. May have been that way already though.

17:50

Gas is marked $2.49, which is less than Milwaukee or Chicago by 75 cents a gallon. But when we get to the pumps they are all marked "Emergency Vehicles Only". The station is closed. We go across to a McDonalds where we use the restrooms. A few patrons are talking about how there is no gas between here and New Orleans. We have a half tank left, plus the 5 gallons in the trunk.

18:30

12th hour of driving. The car's computer shows 11 hours, 22 minutes of operation. So we've only spent 38 minutes of the last 12 hours resting.

18:56

"Trust Jesus" strikes again. This Jesus guy really has a hold on Mississippi.

18:57

Entered Louisiana.

19:03

Rest stop at a Super Station. Diesel is available for semi trucks only. Windows had been taped to prevent shattering. Employees were only just removing.

19:43

Only 30 miles to Paul's house. Passed another large convoy of utility trucks. These ones were from Mansfield, Texas.

20:05

Drove past Auto-Rouge pre-owned mart. It seemed funny at the time.

20:12

Exit in Baton Rouge.

20:34

We arrive at Paul's building. There is an "A" and a "B". We know Paul is in "D", but don't see it. We ask a woman who comes out of "A" while we are idling in her driveway if Paul lives here, or where unit D might be. She has no idea what I am asking her. I ask again if this is 3462, as we couldn't see the last number on the building. It was behind a parked car. She asks who we are looking for. When we say Paul she say's Paul doesn't live here. I ask again if this is 3462, she looks at her door and says it's "A". I ask again if the number of the building is 3462, motioning to the number on the building that we can't make out. She looks and says "Oh yes, it says right there". This was our first unfortunate experience talking to someone since we left Chicago.

We called Paul, and he picked up. We described where we were and he said we got it right. D was in back, but he was out for food, currently on his way back. We waited only a few minutes until he and Bekah got back. Hugs and a very happy reunion ensued. It had been 2 years since we had seen Paul. Or Bekah for that matter. Paul introduced us to his roommate, and some friends who were over. We sat around and relaxed a bit. Eventually Paul took us around Baton Rouge, which was nowhere near as crime-ridden as we had been lead to believe. We ate at Louie's Cafe, which is where all of the LSU students converge when it's late and they are drunk. The place was busy, dirty, and the same waitress took our order 3 times. Matt and I sampled some local food by ordering PoBoy's. They were very good, if not delivered twice, both times incorrectly. By 11:00pm we were back at Paul's and ready for sleep.

06-SEP-2005

11:30

We are awake. Bekah has already left for class. We wake Paul and head to Race Track for gas. It's $2.65. Now that we are closest to the damage, gas is the cheapest it's been the whole trip. The front tire needs air. We pick up a map of New Orleans. I lose my favorite pen.

11:51

Bekah opts to skip keyboarding, we reconvene at Paul's, and get ready to head out. Paul had previously told us about an abandoned hotel in downtown Baton Rouge. We may try to check that out too.

11:58

Before leaving Paul shows us a pair of Love Bugs, which spend their entire lives connected. We spot a cool little lizard before we head out.

12:23

Pass a Home Depot in Baton Rouge. The front lawn is filled with Katrina survivors, all waiting in line for an All-State insurance tent.

12:26

62 miles to New Orleans. There are signs redirecting the re-entry traffic. Bekah says that re-entry without ID won't be open until Thursday. It's looking like we are going to have to sneak in.

12:34

Exit in Gonzales. Everyone agrees it's better to get caught sneaking in first, as opposed to getting caught sneaking in after we are turned away by a checkpoint. Our cover story will be that Bekah lives there - which was once true.

12:42

Entered St. Gabriel, LA.

12:45

Pass a company called Bio Additives LLC. Matt suggests that DoomCorp should own them.

13:22

Pass through Grammercy, roof collapsed over a shell station.

13:34

Take a right onto a side street. Traffic was slowing down due to checkpoints.

13:38

Traffic slows down again. Visible cops and potential checkpoint ahead.

13:39

Cops put their lights on and take off. They must have something better to do. Traffic starts moving slowly.

13:42

Waived through by a sheriff. Just a traffic accident.

13:44

$1.83 gas sighting. Could be the results of being only blocks from the oil refinery. Not that we know if they even had gas, or how long they've been closed.

13:52

Passed an above ground cemetery. My first. It did not appear to be disturbed by Katrina.

14:02

We ascend from River Road up to the Bonnet Carre spillway. River Road ran along the Mississippi River levee.

14:31

Pass through Jefferson Parish, which was reported to be under martial law, and requiring checkpoints. Our progress is looking good.

14:34

The destruction is getting much worse as we move on.

14:40

First stop light working for several miles. Wal-Mart is trashed. Carts scattered across the lot, they appear to have their own police force, complete with Hummer in place. Looting is not an option, they are closed in a heavily-armed sort of way.

14:44

First witness to any flooding, only ankle deep at first. But then driving becomes impossible. We turn back to try and find another way north. At first we are going to follow a series of buses, which are being lead by police.

14:55

We decide after sloshing through continuing flooding, to go back and proceed on foot.

15:05

We park at a small strip mall along side another car, and make sandwiches. Two women get supplies from the other car, then head out to do exactly what we are about to. Each group wishes the other luck.

15:12

We begin walking south along a residential street, blocked by trees and water, as well as fallen power lines.

We reach River Road and walk along the levee, but large police presence leads us to walk back north through an industrial area. We reach a flooded out section attended by Army guards. We head back south to the levee along rail tracks. A pickup truck with 4 guys ask if River Road is clear. They drive off.

16:00

We walk along the levee, out of site on the far side to avoid cops. Eventually one police car comes down the bike path, which is along the top of the levee, and asks us where we are going. We get past with our cover story, and continue. We walk along the other side of the levee this time, per police suggestion.

We are able to bypass another checkpoint by staying on the levee. We reach St. Charles st.

St. Charles st. is residential with a wide median for the trolley. Trees and power lines are down everywhere.

16:12

During the hike down St. Charles, many cops drive past, as well as military and others. The street is dry, but trees are down all over. Some damage to houses, some evidence of looting. We pass Audabon Zoo, Loyola University, among others.

16:55

We've traveled approximately 2 miles down St. Charles. It's about a half mile from the river walk and the French Quarter. A Suburban filled with heavily armed cops and other military vehicles go by. A cop car, followed by a military transport truck stop us.

Paul told the head state cop we were on our way to Decatur st. to get things from Bekah's apartment. They get out and the military unloads 4-6 soldiers. They search Paul and take our back packs, asking if we have dope or anything else illegal.

They search us and our backpacks. They question the tools, flashlight, knife, and lock pick set from Matt's bag. They confiscate the picks - or as the Boss Hog-esqe state trooper so eloquently pronounced it - "pigs". He questions us in private on each other's names, but never check anyones ID. They check our cameras and look at the pictures we've taken so far.

They finally let us go, "suggesting" that we get our stuff and get out. We begin heading back.

17:40

The same black pickup truck with the same 4 guys in it drove up and offered us a ride in the bed. We accepted and they took us within a few blocks of the car. Along the way we pass through the checkpoint we avoided on the way in. These guys were out for pictures too.

17:57

After the pickup drops us off, we start walking again. Taking more pictures along the way. When we reach the car, the car we were parked next to is gone, perhaps they didn't get as far as we did. Another man emerges from a residential street, camera in hand. We converse briefly. At this point we've run into more people who are doing exactly what we are than people who were nay-sayers before we left. It felt better.

We start driving back, taking more pictures as we go.

20:30

We are back at Paul's in Baton Rouge. The drive was long and slow. We stopped for some Raising Canes, a local chicken place. I wanted their much talked about lemonade, but they were out. Dinner for me was PB&J, as I discovered my black bean veggie burgers were never packed.

22:00

We say our goodbyes and hit the road. We decide to get as much of road behind us before sleeping.

07-SEP-2005

02:03

We pull into a Mississippi rest stop. Approximately 3/4 of the state is behind us. The state map in the pavilion has a small circle along with a hand-written note: "Your are here". We recline the seats and go to sleep in the car.

07:00

We are awake. Sleeping in the car took its toll on our necks and backs. We quickly recoup by consuming the last two danishes, and stretching it off.

There is a new car next to us, with a couple sleeping. On closer look a little girl along with dog are asleep in the back seat too.

07:23

We are back on the road.

07:52

Trust Jesus again. Apparently Jesus has both south and northbound lanes covered.

08:06

Entered Tennessee.

08:17

After the freeway sprouts crosswalks and a Texaco, we realize we are no longer on the freeway. We proceed through Memphis along what would best be described as Milwaukee's Lincoln Memorial Drive. From what we saw of it, Memphis was beautiful.

08:25

Back on track. Entered Arkansas.

08:40

Pull off for gas. Make an elderly couple in a motor home wait by getting to the pump they had their eye on first. Gas is $2.99.

09:32

Entered Missouri.

10:29

Matt and I take turns deliberately sighing back and forth. We've been sustaining ourselves on snacks, but are both hungry for a hot breakfast. Unfortunately the Missouri countryside has nothing to offer, and the south ran out of Waffle Houses a few hundred miles ago.

10:41

Crossed the Mississippi River for the ump-teenth time. Entered Illinois.

11:07

Still no restaurants. So hungry. Crackers and cheese not sustaining us...

11:25

Pulled into a Cracker Barrel in Marion, IL. Food and coffee finally acquired.

12:22

After finishing our overdue meals, we drained the cooler and emptied our strategic 5 gallon fuel reserve into the tank. We hit the road again.

12:29

Joking that our giving in to Cracker Barrel would be topped by something much better only two exits down, I suggest to Matt the existence of "Billy-Bob's Bad-Ass Breakfast Emporium". Matt admits that he would eat at such a place. Unfortunately we are too far north now for any such fantasy to come true.

12:32

Two exits down we discover we could have forgone the country themed insanity and stopped into Hungry's Pancake House. That sucked.

15:22

Stopped at Main Line Station rest area. Badly needed stretch, it's been 6 hours and 49 minutes of driving since we set out from waking in the car a dozen rest areas and a few states ago. It's 100 miles to Chicago limits, once there we still have to traverse from the south to north side. So close, yet so far.

17:30

We return to Matt's home safely, unscathed by snipers, looters, or other unsavory types. I did get a bothersome mosquito bite on my left wrist though.