From Kentucky

I finished work in Memphis on Friday and yesterday I drove to Cincinnati, where I'll be working for about a month before I head back to Utah. I don't have to start work again until Tuesday so I drove down to Cousin Shawn's house this afternoon. Lexington, KY is only about 90 miles from Cincinnati so it wasn't too bad of a drive. They fed me dinner and Shawn and I watched He-Man while we talked about the old days. I'll head back in the morning. I'll post pictures of Cincinnati as soon as I have some. It already looks like a more exciting city than Memphis was.

Gordon Woods

Any word about his funeral? Was it held on Wednesday? What was the cause of the accident/death?

Katie's Turn

This week it was Katie's turn to have a birthday. Now she is the big number 4. Thanks for the purse Mom, she sure enjoys it.

Brant

Top a Story

Wow, how can we top a story to the top of a mountain, to New Orleans, or in a trench along side of a basement foundation???

It was another basic week. Mom officially starts back to school tomorrow. She has enjoyed the summer and got lots of things done. My work is fairly mild this summer. They cancelled all our capital projects due to money conservation so we are just doing lots of little things.

I have visited several doctors lately. Several weeks ago I have a "panic attack" and it kind of scared me. They have me on some medication and life seems good. I don't quite float through life like in the 60's but things are much better. In a couple of weeks I go to Gritman for a sleep study to see if I have Sleep Apnea. They said I can bring my favorite blanket and teddy bear. Hopefully this will all work out and help to resolve my anxiety. Grandma and Grandpa both seem to have the same thing so it must run in the family. Look out when you get in your 50's and 60's. Thank heavens there are medications that can help.

We hope school is going good. Let us know what you are doing.

Love,

Dad and Mom.

New Orleans

My New Orleans post from my blog:

Last weekend Trav and I went on a journey. We began with a stop to my favorite childhood road-trip restaurant: Shoney's. They only exist in the south, and I had been dying to go since I first arrived in Memphis. They offer a great greasy, southern, sugar-filled breakfast buffet. I would definitely recommend the french toast sticks, but would encourage you to stay far far away from their dinner menu. We tried it once many years ago on the way to/from somewhere southern and it was terrifying.

Our destination was New Orleans, a mere 6 hours from Memphis. Knowing that we don't often have reason to head south, we couldn't resist. We had also heard that since Katrina, the tourism industry has been seriously hurting, causing the price of lodging to drop significantly. It was true- we booked a good (as in not the Ritz, but clean and simple) and very cute bed and breakfast right in the French Quarter for less than $60/night (on the weekend during the second busiest season).

If you're looking for an "exotic" feeling vacation, but don't have the money, time, or adventurous spirit to venture outside of the US, New Orleans is a great option. The architecture makes you feel as though you're walking down a street in Italy...or maybe France. The food is unlike any you'll find in other parts of the US (including the biegnets- I think I ate 6 or so in 1 day. Call me a glutton, it's true). There are plenty of historical things to see if you're in to that sort of thing- you can take a walking tour of the city during the day or a haunted tour of the spookier parts during the evening. You're also very close to plantations and swamps, which both offer guided tours for a price. Being the cheapos that we are, we opted out of any official paying tour (however we swiped an itinerary for one of the walking tours and did it on our own). But had we stayed longer and had a bit more money to spend, we probably would have indulged in something touristy.

New Orleans felt so festive. There was a ton of live music playing in restaurants or on the streets (we even heard a homeless woman busting out some impressive opera for spare change). You can find all kinds of souvenirs, from street art to voodoo dolls to overly offensive t-shirts (watch out for those) and spices.

And, of course, there's Bourbon Street. If you're a drinker, Bourbon Street = heaven. Even being non-drinkers, we still had plenty of fun peering into the bars, laughing at the drunk people stumbling about, and watching the men-folk taunt the girls with beads (a few boys desperately shook their beads at me in hopes of seeing some...skin. They were disappointed).

We also drove around the 9th Ward, which is the area that suffered the most damage from Katrina. It was interesting and depressing at the same time. On one hand, we were in awe of the destruction. In an area where houses used to be packed in so tightly you could shake hands through the windows, there are now chest high weeds and broken sidewalks. The houses still standing are either recently repaired or newly built. The city removed most of the houses that were past hope, but a few still remain (notice the slant on the house below).


Other lots are meticulously maintained-the owners obviously intend to return and rebuild one day.

I found this both sad and hopeful. Katrina happened four years ago and people are still displaced, still hoping to go back to their "homes" and start over. Four years! How much longer will they have to wait before they either give up or finally have enough saved to return? Maybe they never will. Maybe they shouldn't. Maybe it would be better to give up and start a new life somewhere else, somewhere they can have a fresh start with none of the bitter memories that life in the 9th Ward might dredge up. But the fact that these people still care enough about their homes to mow and edge their vacant lot means they're trying. Maybe these are the people who will actually succeed in life, the ones who will go back to New Orleans and make it a better city than it used to be.

Either way, New Orleans was great fun. You should go visit.