06.29-07.01 New Orleans, LA

It's our last night in New Orleans and I am definitely sad to leave though I am excited to get back on my bike. Stange...I never thought I would actually be excited to get back in the saddle but when you are used to being on the move, sometimes staying in one place for too long gets tiring. But this stay was definitely worth it. Let's recap...

Friday was our third build day and I went back to the same house as I did on Thursday to finish painting. There actually wasn't much for us to do because we had the wrong kind of paint/not enough ladders etc so we had to sit around a lot which made the day that much longer. Plus Evan arrived at 10am and I was anxious to go see him. We finally finished around 3pm and I jumped in the shower and caught a cab to Evan's hotel in the French Quarter. He stayed at the French Market Inn on Decatur street. Only $50 a night for a really nice room. Not bad. We walked around the Quarter for a while, had beignets at Cafe du Monde and eventually ate dinner. I was insistent on having famous New Orleans Po-boys (basically sandwiches with fried fish) which turned out to not be such a good idea because we both felt pretty ill afterwards. Doughnuts...fried pickles...fried fish...not so great. But we felt good enough to go exploring later that night. We walked to Frenchmen Street to check out the Spotted Cat. A band was just finishing so we left to Bourbon Street and sat for some real jazz (check out the photos/video). On Saturday, Evan was supposed to work with us, but the Po-Boys really hit him hard and he had to take the day to...get it all out of his system. ick. I felt so bad, especially because it ended up being my favorite work day. We went to paint and prime the interior of a house and the family was there helping out and chatting with us. They were so nice and helpful and even bought us lunch! Shrimp scampi, caesar salad, chips and cookies from Semma Lee's (???). It was just an all around awesome day, especially because we felt so productive. We primed the whole house, two coats (almost). And the family was going to continue working that weekend. Saturday night was great too. Evan and I met up with my cousins Tracy and Paul who drove in from Hattiesburg, MS. We had dinner on Bourbon Street (I had alligator soup! It really does taste like chicken) and then headed to Pat O'Brien's, which is a famous 'irish' bar. There was a dueling piano bar and a great outdoor patio and I experienced my first 'hurricane' which is an intense mixed drink. Delicious but dangerous. Afterwards Evan and I headed back to the Spotted Cat to meet up with some Bike and Builders. We of course had to hit the dance floor a bit and it was so much fun :) I actually do not have any pictures from Saturday...funny how the best days usually only get recorded in our minds.

Today we got to sleep in finally! First time that I have slept past 6:45am in almost a month. Evan and I got a delicious breakfast (I eat sooo much nowadays) and then headed to the Aquarium to meet Tracy and Paul and their two boys, Collin and Alex. We enjoyed the fish (I will never be too old for aquariums) and Evan and I saw a showing of the Imax movie called Hurricane on the Bayou about the wetland loss because of humans and hurricanes. We had a great dinner and then I had to get back to the Bike and Build house for a group meeting. It was so great having Evan here this weekend. A bit of familiarity is comforting and it was awesome having someone to explore the city with. He leaves tomorrow morning...way after I do because we're waking up at 4:30am...Baton Rouge here we come!

So the most anticipated part of our trip is coming to an end. Now I realize how much biking I have ahead of me...about 3000 miles. And deserts...and mountains...and San Francisco! The hardest part is yet to come...Texas in July. But I'm psyched and I know we'll get through it.

Happy July! Much love.