I haven't updated this in forever, so there's probably no one reading it anymore, but I want to keep it going so I can remember where I've been! It's obviously way behind, but I'll get dead confused if I start doing it out of order, so here goes...

According to my last entry we'd been in New Orleans for a few hours and were feeling a little out of our depth...After having snoozed for a while, I woke up starving hungry and although it was dark, we decided to venture out to find some food. I asked the girl on reception (who, in hindsight, looked at me a bit funny when I told her we wanted to leave the motel after dark) where we could find a fast food place, and she directed us south on the interstate for a couple of junctions. Off we went out to the car...and merrily got onto the interstate. It was 10pm by this time and the road was completely dead and completely pitch black. For some reason there were absolutely no street lights at all,which was more than a bit disconcerting, but we kept going in search of the Golden Arches of Mcdonalds. The junction the receptionist had suggested came and went and we began to lose hope, but the vending machines in the hotel couldn't even provide us with a bottle of water, so we knew we had to find somewhere. We decided to come off the interstate and have a bit of a drive around (bet you're glad you hear about these things after the event, eh mum?!) and we swapped places, so that I could drive as the lack of light was affecting Emily's eyes...It was at this point on the side of a pitch black road somewhere off the interstate in New Orleans that I felt a little foolish, and realised we needed to head back to the motel - hungry or not. When we got back there, we had the bright idea of asking the security guard/policeman on the gate if he knew of anywhere that was safe to go. He directed us to a gas station he thought was open nearby, but advised that we drive there, without stopping, whatever the reason, get out of the car when we got there, get what we needed and get the hell back to the motel. Great. Even the locals were nervous. Off we went again, in the direction of the gas station. It didn't take us long to get there, and we only passed one dead dog in the road, so the trip was considered a success from that point of view...I'd be lying if I said I wasn't surprised to see a tank with soldiers in it on the forecourt, but it's all part of the experience, isn't it?? (Yes, I do mean that seriously.) We took the security guard/policeman's advice and headed back to the motel as quickly as possible and installed ourselves for the night.

At 5am we discovered the joys of the "internal corridors feature" of the Motel 6. Basically it means that all the noise in the place is amplified and has no way of escaping. So, when our next door neighbours had a shower we got to enjoy it with them, and when the deaf person on the other side of us decided to start watching the American equivalent of GMTV at 5am, we got to listen too...so we were wide awake at silly o'clock. Admittedly it wasn't the most restful night we'd had on the trip so far.

The following day was Hallowe'en. I was going to write about it now, but the sun is calling me...I'll update asap. x