We have now been “on the road” for nine days. We plan to arrive in Santa Monica on January 29, so we are right in the middle of the journey.

I didn’t do an entry on Sunday…a day of rest. Don was worried I would lose my readership. However, I figured that the “Nation’s Newspaper” USA Today doesn’t publish on the weekends and it is still in business, so I can take at least one day off.

Sunday morning we had such a great reunion with the Busovne family. Twenty-four years is a long time not to see friends, so we are resolved to not wait so long! We a looking forward to seeing Bernie, Jr., and his son Nathan when they visit Penn State this summer.

We hit a milestone while on our trip from Niceville to New Orleans. On I10 we hit 70 degrees while driving 70 mph! 70 is the warmest it has been on our trip. (By the way, on disc 9 of Call Me Ted, Turner finally marries Jane Fonda.)

We arrived in New Orleans late afternoon. We will be here for three nights. Don is visiting with colleagues at Tulane Monday evening until Wednesday. We are staying in the Garden District and took a trolley to the French Quarter last night. We had reservations at Galatoire’s on Bourbon St. (Yes, Michael, we are eating our way across the USA). We had some time to walk around the French Quarter. I have been here a few times for various conferences. It is interesting, but not really my “cup of tea” or more appropriately my “hurricane glass.” (Gosh, do they call the drink glasses that any more after Katrina? Have to ask someone.)

This morning we woke up to a bright, but cooler day. Martin Luther King Day will bring some celebrations downtown, I suspect. Don has the day free and I put him in charge of finding something interesting for us to do. The only thing he has come up with so far is visiting Café du Monde to eat beignets. I pressed him for something more cultural. There is a D-day Museum he is interested in…how that subject figures into New Orleans culture will be interesting to learn!

There are tours of the City and tours of the Katrina-stricken area (we did see some demolished buildings as we drove into town). But neither Don nor I care to view other people’s catastrophes. Also, knowing so many friends who have come to help Katrina victims, I would feel humiliated to be here as a mere gawker. Our cab driver last night (who was originally from Youngstown, OH) thought the City is coming back, albeit, very slowly. These are tough economic times for everyone…let alone a place struggling to make a comeback.

Don signed us up for a City tour…got to go.