Arrival in Lousiana at Jeanne's House

Written Nov 7 at Jeanne's House, Mandeville, LA
(1 Photo Attached)

I’m here folks, arrived in Mandeville, LA yesterday, Friday afternoon, about the time Jeanne got home from work. Mandeville is a lovely upscale suburb North of New Orleans separated from the famous city by a 24 mile bridge spanning 27 miles of water. Each weekday over 42,000 cars cross Lake Pontchartrain on the longest bridge in the world, Soon I will be in one of those cars, covering my eyes, irrationally gripping the passenger’s seat, somewhat like I hang onto the seat of an airplane when I’m above the clouds. If I want to hear some of the best jazz on the planet in Preservation Hall, I have to cross that water! Here is some info & photo about this wondrous engineering marvel (which is how I will attempt to perceive it, as I grip!).

http://www.engineeringsights.org/SightDetail.asp?Sightid=56

So many people have curiously questioned or complimented my bravery about making this journey alone that this is one of the many things I have pondered as I drove these past six days. I am a very fearful person, generally. Anxiety is one of my basic personality traits and absolutely my biggest nemesis. And so I do wonder, when I see myself doing something like this, how could this come to be! There have been days when it was difficult to get in my car and drive anywhere. I have concluded that my ability to make this trip can best be described by one of my favorite quotes: "People are so made that whenever anything fires their soul, impossibilities vanish."

Between here and the last post I made on this blog, there have been so many places, experiences and stories I want to share with you. My frustration is finding the time and the energy to write and post them. It’s best to write while the energy of the experiences stir within, but that was difficult to do because I was often so tired from driving that I could only crash once I got to a hotel, and I was always conscious of the time because I wanted to make sure I got to Louisiana to be with Jeanne for the week end. I often wished I could write and hand the words and photos to a computer savvy person who would then wrangle with the technical issues that often ensued on the computer.

I am officially off the road now, so to speak, not in a solitary situation, so many stories will have to wait until I’m back on the road to be written and posted. I anticipate being here four to five days. I plan to go back up the Blues Trail on my return journey because I missed a number of things I want to see. I expect the return exploration to be easier because the territory is no longer a complete unknown. I can’t wait to share with you some of those territories, experiences and feelings.

I have been acutely aware of missing you all in the midst the distracters which have prevented my getting on the computer to write. But the distractions are all good and wonderful experiences, with the exception of a nasty sinus infection which has given me grief the past two days. Thank you to my husband and Fed Ex for the antibiotic which awaited me when I arrived at Jeanne’s which will hopefully enable me to get rid of this buzz killer.

I will write as time permits while here in LA, and definitely once I’m back on the road, so keep checking back with me. To my new friends and old friends, thank you for sharing this journey with me.

Helen