meanwhile, back in New Orleans...

Sorry to leave you standing in the airport like that, especially with things being as hairy as they were and all. Now, where were we?  Oh yes, we had just arrived at the check out counter at the airport…

The woman at the counter told us we could try and get through security and take our chances at the gates but she wasn’t showing anything available. She suggested we just wait and fly out Sunday night, using the tickets we already had.

Nope, not happening! I had already turned in the rental car and we were not leaving that airport unless it was on a plane, hopefully that night. Found two flights leaving that night with a few seat possibilites because the people hadn’t checked in yet. They would let us stand there and if the other passengers didn’t show before they closed the door, we could have the seats. Many, many other people were doing the same thing.

Picture it, Mom standing guard at one gate while I hovered impatiently at another. Both of us poised, ready to bolt to the other’s post if the call came. Back and forth we waited, the urgency was palpable, the crowds growing thicker by the moment. Just as I was about to give up on my gate, I got the nod for us to board. Mom came running and away we went.  It felt a little like "every man for himself" type of deal and Katrina hadn't even hit yet.

The empty seats?  Well, those poor passengers were stuck in that traffic on the freeway. I will be forever grateful for that traffic jam. 

When the images of post Katrina New Orleans started to appear on the news, I was horrified. That could easily have been us. If we had waitied for our Sunday flight, we’d have been in the middle of it - our original flight home never left New Orleans.

After lots of thought and contemplation, we decided it best that our daughter not return to school in New Orleans.  In December, when they opened the city up on a conditional basis, Andrew Henry and daughter flew back on a “retrieval” mission. They took one day to get a u-haul, load up the “mountain” of belongings and head out of town.

They took these photo's "on the fly" as they drove out of New Orleans.  They said it was eerily quiet, empty, scary and sad, very very sad.

It has been quite a battle for that city. I have great respect for those who went back. For those who rebuilt their homes and their lives and hung in there those first few years when things were pretty tough. This is why I was glad the Saints won that game.  Congratulations to the New Orleans Saints!

they sure came marching in...

Were you surprised? Did you win a bet? Did you lose a bet? Do you even know what I’m talking about?

Super Bowl.

Andrew Henry was rooting for Peyton Manning. I only went into the room to check out the commercials. If the Colts had scored another touchdown right there at the end, we would have won $150 in a work pool, so that was the most exciting bit for me. That, and some tortilla chips with guacamole followed with a rocky road ice cream chaser. I have nothing else to say about that.  It shall not be discussed.

I do have a soft spot for New Orleans so, in the end, I was glad they won. The daughter spent her freshman year of college there. I suppose she would have spent the next three years as well except for that little storm that swept through in 2005. You remember her don’t you? I believe they named her “Katrina”. My mother and I had just spent the day unloading the MOUNTAIN of necessities the daughter “needed” for her sophomore year, when the call to evacuate the city came in.

Daughter had a friend who had just driven in and had yet to unload her car. I told her to hitch a ride out of town with said friend so they could just drive back as soon as the “you can come back now” bell was rung. She threw a few things in her backpack, grabbed her laptop (thank goodness) and was out of there.  No biggy right?

Mom and I went to go gas up the rental car that Saturday afternoon because we had planned a little antiquing the next day before our flight home Sunday evening. Bit of a line at the gas station which left me to look around. The gas station across the street was packed. Our line was getting progressively (and a bit aggressively) longer. A growing sense of urgency to get out began to creep up on me.

Checked out of the hotel and headed to the airport in the hopes of getting out on an earlier flight. By then, the freeway to the airport was PACKED. Eventually got to the airport, returned the rental car and shuttled over to the terminal. Things were a bit hairy my friends, oh yes, a bit hairy indeed.

To be continued………..