It is day 16 as I write this. Finally I have caught up with myself thanks to being able to type my blog on Steve's blackberry as we drive down the empty roads between towns. We have just passed into Louisiana from Texas and have ticked over the 2222miles mark, that plus the 888 miles we drove in the convertible brings us to a moving total of 3110 miles! We've certainly done the distance.
This morning we woke up in Corpus Christi and headed off early to Houston.We passed hundreds of 'nodding donkeys' of varying sizes. By nodding donkeys I mean oil drilling machines, pumping up the black gold that has helped make much of Texas so wealthy and the reason George 'doubleYa' Bush has been so apathetic towards the environment. Helping the big oil barons make more money by changing environmental laws to support the big corporates rather than.. well.. The environment! I have a couple of books on this and the damage he has done if anyone is interested..
We passed through many more nodding donkeys and no entry areas with big Exxon signs before finally seeing some wind turbines.. And by some I mean hundreds! Exxon showing they 'care' !?!
3 hours later we arrived at Houston and our next tourist destination.. NASA Space Centre! We learnt about how astranauts live in outer space.. If you thought my dads earth toilets were bad try pissing in a tube as negative pressure pulls it away from you! We saw some of the original space suits and went in a 3 minute stimulator that took us on a roller coaster through outer space.. Definitely not worth the $4 extra we paid for it.
We decided to eat in the space centre cafe. Jenny opted for the usual fried chicken and chips (I think we are having a competition as to who can eat the most fried chicken.. Not difficult considering the option is everywhere) and Steve and I got excited with the possibility of actual fresh vegetables and got a stirfry from the 'moon wok'! Before we left Steve realised he was running out of clothes and bought a new NASA T-shirt! Its a close call as to which is more touristy.. The NASA one or the free 'cold, smooth, wild' one he got in a bar in Austin?!!
After a whistle stop tour of NASA it was time to move on out for Louisiana. On the way we stopped on the side of the road to check out the 'everything that flies' stand .. An old local selling kites, flags and birds.. And caps.. Well I guess they kinda fly when its windy!?! He almost had his wife driving from home to bring Steve a Texan cap from the box he had left there as he did not approve of Steve's trendy skateboarder cap.. but we had along way to go so said our goodbyes and promised to do as he said and 'speak well of America when you go home y'hear!?' - of course... we bloody love this place!
So far Louisiana is much like Texas.. Long straight roads, occasional country stores selling cowboy hats and boots and lots of Craccer Barrels which is where we are stopping for dinner..
Biscuits..?!?!...Hobnobs, digestives, custard creams.. The usual subjects! So exactly why do they serve them with a full steak dinner? Because biscuits over here aren't like ours at all, but instead are a kind of cross betweena scone and a muffin.. Tasty? .. Not really! I'll stick to British scones, british muffins and good ol' traditional dip in y tea biscuits!
For my dinner I had 'chicken fried chicken' and no that's not a double mistype but a popular American delicasy! I think that gets double points.
Steve and I continued to swap driving through the darkness till about midnight and we were within 20 miles of N'orlans (New Orleans in local speek) and tried to find a place to lay our heads for the night. We managed to find our way to a scary area filled with late night partiers, dodgy deals behind cars and 'would only be found dead in' motels! We decided to make a sharp exit and headed closer to town until we found a decent, safe place for the night.
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