Roswell

Sunday 27th

The aliens have landed! In the shape of some very strange folk with extremely odd hats! Graeme did a great impression of the Statue of Liberty but I think he actually thought he had spotted an alien craft up ahead! (probably another plastic Walmart bag in the wind!).
We certainly caused quite a stir, parking on the central reservation for a start, then donning our anti-brainprobing and alien detecting hats we entered Rosswell!
The lady at the petrol station thought it was hilarious and had her photo taken with us. We hope she will remember to email us a copy of it! Graeme kindly donated his hat to her incase the aliens called at her petrol station for refuelling. So if you pass by Rosswell you just might come across his outstanding creation!
We rode with our hats on until they disintergrated into space dust.

San Angelo to Carlsbad

Setting off from San Angelo we had a good 250 mile trip ahead of us. The four of us (G,S,N and I) set off just after a hearty breakfast, sad to leave our fabulous hotel. The road stretched out in front of us with the most fantastic views though so it wasn't long before we were totally absorbed in the beauty of this very vast state of Texas.
Along the way Graeme and Sandra passed us with the hood down and the wind in their hair, well Sandra's hair!
We suddenly spotted them stopped and flagging us down. They had come across a rodeo for youngsters so we had an unexpected stop to watch. They were all aged between 8 and about 16 and were very impressive, although I am not sure the poor goats were too impressed!
Onwards towards Carlsbad and we were surrounded by nodding donkeys and mile upon mile of wind farm.
Just as I was pointing out the vast landscape on one side of us I spotted three deers right by the side of the road. We did a quick U Turn and got some lovely photos of them. Wonderful!
Tea was a BBQ Pit Stop much to Nigel and Graeme's delight!

San Angelo

Friday

Setting off from San Antonio the weather was a little grey and there was a chilly wind so I donned my leather jacket and Nigel his hoodie. I was grateful of it as we got a bit further and Nigel was wishing he had worn his. However by lunchtime the weather got hotter and hotter. With nowhere to stop except the hard shoulder we were unable to take our jackets off. By the time we arrived I thought I was going to die! The temperature was well into the 90's!!!!

I was rather envious of Graeme and Sandra's air con I can say.

We had a lovely surprise when we got to the hotel though. It was a 'secret hotel' where you book a hotel only knowing the price and star rating. It is pot luck whether it is a nice one or a grotty one. We got a top notch three star one. The  Staybridge Inn. It is super! Graeme said he felt this is more his standard!

After a light tea we headed off a few hundred yards to the baseball ground and watched the San Angelo Rams and the Texans play. We had no idea of the rules or at first even which team was which! So we sat where we fancied, which happened to be on the away teams side (The Texans).

It was absolutely brilliant and best of all our team won! I am not sure how or why mind you, lol.

The Alamo

Thursday
Today we went to the Alamo, seemed strange that it was in the middle of such a big city but it was very pretty none the less. We also had a ride in a 'barge' (Nigel was adament it was NOT a boat) along a 'man made canal' (again Nigel insisted it was NOT a river like the man kept saying)
We also had a tram ride so all in all a busy but wonderful day.
We briefly caught sight of Pat, Des, Martin & Rachel but then they were gone again. Hopefully they will have some interesting things to put on the blog when they get back.in touch with us.

New Orleans

Sat 19^th

Stayed in  Siddle with Des, Pat, Martin,Rachael Graeme and myself in a very interesting hotel!  Not to be repeated, found a excellent bar with Karaoke  the locals could certainly rap! We were very entertained

Sun 20^th

NEW ORLEANS what a experience it started by finding our hotel in the French quarters , doesn’t help when the road you want is closed! the sat nav kept telling us to go right we ended up the wrongway down a oneway street not once but twice! finally we found the holiday inn and got parked  we had a wander round until our rooms were ready

It was excellent the weather glorious the street artists unbelievable and the music second to none, real street blues, there was certainly some characters,  after lunch we went on a street tram ride it was amazing all the trees were decorated with colourful beads after the mardi-gra  the houses and the people were excellent, after a very tiring day we went for a meal and a couple of drinks   then to bed on the  14^th & 16^th floors  of the hotel what a view we had of the Mississippi and the river boats.

Monday 21^st

Set off from New Orleans with the sunshine for a leisurely 240 miles through some wonderful scenery, the Americans can certainly build bridges,   to arrive in a place called sulphur we stayed in a very nice studio6  with Des n Pat, Martin & Rachael stayed a few miles away  in a place for only $24 we think they have a mission to find the cheapest and best accommodation!!!! Even when locals tell them not to go but they said it was ok and slept well.

Tues 22^nd

Martin & Rachael arrived 8.30am to ride with Des & pat , as they were not going on interstate as it was very windy, we went on ahead to meet up with Nigel & Amanda.