It was the morning of my departure from NOLA, I was starting the long trek home, I am just over 5000 kms away, but today I am heading even further south, towards Padre Island area to visit the Aircraft Carrier Museum for The Lexington. You may not know this of me but I am very interested in both WWII and Cold War history and it has become my thing as of late to tour these all across 'merica.

I have previously toured The Hornet in San Fransisco and my patient and doting wife accompanied me aboard The Midway this spring in San Diego. The Lady Lex will be my third and although I don't personally endorse the term 'bucket list' it is another check mark.

So I call for the bellman to pick up my 17 luggage items and I go to get The Rocket. The valet lady walks me to the parkade and then instructs me to drive around the arm saying that parking has already been charged to my room. I trust her that it has, but when I stumble upon my checked out folio later in the day, put under my door and ignored by me, but placed in my belongings by the bellman, I see it was not. Again I struggle briefly with my moral compass, but if your system is busted, that's not my problem.

I once was making pickles and I went to WalMart for jars and lids. The way I put the items in the cart made the cashier miss charging me for a box of jars. I didn't realize that until I got home. Later we realized the jars were the wrong size anyway so we went and put them back on the shelf, sort of a reverse shoplift.

Anyway bike, rider and luggage ended up at the concourse and I was loaded up in no time. I elected to leather up inside the lobby to take advantage of the meat locker temperature. The bellman eyed me curiously as I donned thick black leather in 100+ degree heat. He gave me some directions to the Interstate that would skirt the construction on Canal street and some advice for getting out of town and I was off.

I was taking the Interstate West out of town through Baton Rouge and then connecting with another Interstate to head South again. I had to stop for gas just west of BR and the skies were starting to cloud up, I toyed briefly with the idea of putting on my rain suit, but elected against the extra layer of plastic in the heat. I usually check a US Doppler radar website each morning as sometimes it influences my route, but this morning I couldn't as my internet connection had timed out and I didn't want to pay $5 for a new one. There you go being cheap again!

If I would have, I would have seen this huge storm system covering almost my entire route! I am not sure what the information would have meant to me but it would have been nice to know! Perhaps it would have influenced my rain suit decision.



The rain started lightly at first and I could see light patches all around me, I felt confident I could drive out of it. It got a little heavier and I engaged my helmet top GoPro for a few minutes, then Blamo it started pouring. I realized I had the camera in a skeleton housing so the sides were open and I stopped to remove it.



So this became the theme for the day. I could see the rain bands coming down from localized storms with light patches generously interspersed, would the highway go through the storm or into the light? Usually it was the storm, I was soaked down to my gaunchies! There is usually 1 good through and through soaking on every bike trip and this was it. The thing is, its not even really all that uncomfortable, and it is still 80 degrees out so its not even cold. Once you are that wet it doesn't even make sense to put on the rain suit, I am not going to get wetter!

There was one stretch, for prolly 15 minutes where I just got pounded! 'mericans react to driving rain by slowing right down, to like 5 mph, but no warning, no 4 way flashers, just bam, they appear out of the mist, in the driving lane, almost at a standstill. I like to find a big semi who hasn't slowed right down and follow his tail lights, using him like a big cow catcher. If there is something to hit in the roadway, better him than me. It cleared up briefly but I could see another huge system ahead I knew I was going to drive through so I stopped. I shot a short video about the water that pools inside my jacket at the elbows.



The longer I hung around that gas station the longer I wanted to hang around. I ended up waiting out the storm and shot quite a bit of video. I had a very good internet connection this morning so I uploaded a longish video about my time spent there.



After the rain subsided I hit the road. Sitting on my soaking wet sheepskin isn't as bad as it looks, it dries incredibly quickly. Have you ever seen a soggy sheep? I think not. I stopped for gas a bit later and while I was pumping the heavens opened up again so I was stuck there for about 30 minutes.

Twice more I drove through dry sections where even the pavement had dried and even saw the sun for maybe 5 minutes, but the system was made up of bands so it was only a matter of time. Twice more before I stopped I got pounded, the last time was the worst, visibility zero but I don't want to get hit from behind so I don't stop, but I am worried about rear ending stopped traffic. It is a conundrum to say the least. I always pick moving forward. The other concern I have is hydroplaning in the very deep water that pools on the road.

Due to the low speeds driving throughout the day, rarely over 100 kph for any period of time I have driven less than 500 kms today but I am bagged. I see a sign for Winnie, TX. The sign that really caught my eye was Al-T's Seafood Restaurant. A bowl of Gumbo would be great right now! I took the turn and pulled into an ABVI, sadly not a walkout version but right next door to Al's!



So they had a room, but the storm had knocked out their computers so they couldn't accept my credit card. I keep a little 'merican cash on me, but not much. The room was $73.40 total and between my soaking wet cash and the change in my pocket I had $74.40, yeah, a whole dollar extra! Then the nice lady said she needed a $25 deposit for cash customers, I said it is your system that made me a cash customer, how about you waive it this time?

Thus ensued considerable negotiations with her, her middle eastern parents, then the grandmother and ultimately ended with me giving them my SIN, DL Number, Address, CC number and I was worried there was gonna be a blood sample, but I prevailed! By the time I left the front desk area I had created a large puddle of standing water.

Load in took a long time as I was on the 3rd floor as far away from the elevator as I could be. Eventually I used the stairs and got all of my gear into my room. On the last trip I see the grandmother out there mopping up! I apologize for the mess but she dismisses me with a wink of her eye, I guess we are all friends now! I didn't notice it a first but the m'otel was right next door to the town liquor store so medicinal potions were handled as well.

Despite having spent about 6 hours in the rain, the only thing I can think of is a long hot shower and that is what I take. My hands and feet are wrinkled like prunes. I arrange all of my riding gear around the room on the furniture and anywhere I can hang something. This m'otel does not supply a hair dryer so there will be problems drying the footwear, but I do turn the AC to heat and 90 degrees before I leave for Al-T's.

I end up sitting at the bar and enjoying some Gumbo as well as my perennial southern favorite, Frog Legs. Very hard to get in Canada and it is, in my opinion, the overlooked other 'other' white meat. If people would get over the sqeamishness of a frog they would find the meat to be delicate and very tasty.



I chat with a couple named Amy & Skipper for awhile but the driving today was exhausting so I retire to my room around 10 PM. When I open the door to my room I am hit with a blast of hot humid air, I turn off the heat and open the window to air out the room. I set my alarm for 0800 to start the drying process in earnest and I hit the hay.

Day 13
New Orleans, LA to Winnie, TX
468 kms