Muddy Waters

Last week, the USOC saw fit to send me to a national sport science conference in New Orleans!!! As soon as I stepped out the airport with my parents, the glorious heat and humidity of south Louisiana enveloped me in a blanket of southern familiarity. The dry and chill of my Colorado residence started to escape from my pores and was replaced by the moisture and warmth of the Gulf Coast. This first picture is of a magnolia flower (picked from the tree in my Momma's front yard) and has always represented the easy, sweet way of life my home state is known for.

The second day I was there, I spent the afternoon on my brother's Harley-Davidson Road King with our friend Eric. We logged over 200 miles throughout the afternoon. It was amazing to ride in short sleeves for a change and be perfectly comfortable! We cruised along the Mississippi River on what's known as River Road. This corridor hugs the levees of the Mississippi for about 70 miles between New Orleans and Baton Rouge. Interspersed along the River Road are some beautiful old sugar plantation homes set on the greenest lawns you've ever seen (yards to us Southerners!) and surrounded by Live Oak trees dripping with Spanish moss. This picture is of a patio behind Madewood Plantation. Notice the screened in porch behind the sugar cane syrup kettle fountain.

From there, we rode to Killian and the Tickfaw River. The Tickfaw River is a popular place in the summer. As you can see from this picture, there are houses and camps along the river with lots of people in boats and on jetskis. There's a landin (AKA "boat launch" to you Yankees!) with a bar and dance hall that's on warfs over the River called Tin Lizzy's. I had never been there before, but it was quite the hoppin place! This last picture shows that Cajun's have a great self-depreciating sense of humor (and apparently a lot of money)!

I tried to spend as little time on the computer and as much time with my family as I could while I was at home, so I'll be posting about my trip to Louisiana now that I'm back at my house in Colorado. Stand by for a few more posts!