Relaxed, rejuvenated, replenished, ready and raring to roll, we set off to the Pensacola DMV office. Renowned across America for it's atrocious customer service we were keen to get in and out as quickly as possible and, bar a few clerical errors, our darling in disguise Gloria did us proud. Ninety minutes later we hit the streets with our new digits, went to the garage next door to get some free bolts (thanks guys!) and got going.
It has been such a long process to get it sorted we were still in disbelief. Now the road trip proper could begin! Heading back west towards New Orleans we saw Doug senior outside our favourite Louisiana Bayou local and couldn't resist stopping. Surprisingly (??!) Dougy boy and the guys convinced us to have a drink, then another drink, then a few more to be sure. We didn't pay for a thing that night! Before we knew it we (mostly Doug) were slurring our words and it was pitch black outside. We got offers from seemingly everyone to crash over at their place and finally decided on Chris' as it was the shortest stumbling distance away!
When we got in around midnight he cooked us a full dinner and we listened to some strong female singers on vinyl. Sadly we have forgotten whom exactly (thanks Jack Daniels!) In the morning we awoke to coffee and this incredible place to chill out in!
Chris headed off to work fairly early and left us to it - what a top guy. Chris is one of the first in a long line of people who have shown supreme levels of kindness to a pair of strangers. We felt strange at first, as if we were receiving so much and giving so little, but then we realised that people gain a lot from our company, our stories and the great feeling they get from giving. Chris identified with us as he has travelled before himself and he had plenty of interesting and funny stories. People want to help and to carry on exploring, vicariously, through us and we got better at letting them.
When we finally dragged ourselves off the sun balcony we packed up and headed into the N.O. streets to check for Aby's post at the hostel and try to buy some new tent poles, as ours were cracking (no luck with either!) We were offered a possible cheap replacement tent by a really cool guy at a tent shop but decided we'd just hit the road and work it out later- we were hungry to eat up some tarmac. Such drifters!
The highway out of N.O. to the north is rather charming, as it heads across a huge expanse of lake, with the city disappearing behind in the haze of a sunny spring evening. The bridge is over twenty miles long so you can't even see the other side when you set off. It is some feat of engineering!
Once across the bridge we stopped for supplies - hungry tired and feeling like we'd travelled a lot that day. In reality we'd done about twenty five miles of our route north and were still a few hours from our potential camp spot. This scooter quest was going to take some getting used to! Onward we forged, through the night, eventually stopping around midnight in a vacant field to pitch up and conk out, uncaring and unconscious. Still, the tent pitched ok, albeit a touch wonky and we were on the road, really doing it. We were actual adventurers now and we liked it!
It has been such a long process to get it sorted we were still in disbelief. Now the road trip proper could begin! Heading back west towards New Orleans we saw Doug senior outside our favourite Louisiana Bayou local and couldn't resist stopping. Surprisingly (??!) Dougy boy and the guys convinced us to have a drink, then another drink, then a few more to be sure. We didn't pay for a thing that night! Before we knew it we (mostly Doug) were slurring our words and it was pitch black outside. We got offers from seemingly everyone to crash over at their place and finally decided on Chris' as it was the shortest stumbling distance away!
View of the Bayou- good hangover cure!
When we got in around midnight he cooked us a full dinner and we listened to some strong female singers on vinyl. Sadly we have forgotten whom exactly (thanks Jack Daniels!) In the morning we awoke to coffee and this incredible place to chill out in!
Chris headed off to work fairly early and left us to it - what a top guy. Chris is one of the first in a long line of people who have shown supreme levels of kindness to a pair of strangers. We felt strange at first, as if we were receiving so much and giving so little, but then we realised that people gain a lot from our company, our stories and the great feeling they get from giving. Chris identified with us as he has travelled before himself and he had plenty of interesting and funny stories. People want to help and to carry on exploring, vicariously, through us and we got better at letting them.
Some inspiration for us!
When we finally dragged ourselves off the sun balcony we packed up and headed into the N.O. streets to check for Aby's post at the hostel and try to buy some new tent poles, as ours were cracking (no luck with either!) We were offered a possible cheap replacement tent by a really cool guy at a tent shop but decided we'd just hit the road and work it out later- we were hungry to eat up some tarmac. Such drifters!
The highway out of N.O. to the north is rather charming, as it heads across a huge expanse of lake, with the city disappearing behind in the haze of a sunny spring evening. The bridge is over twenty miles long so you can't even see the other side when you set off. It is some feat of engineering!
Once across the bridge we stopped for supplies - hungry tired and feeling like we'd travelled a lot that day. In reality we'd done about twenty five miles of our route north and were still a few hours from our potential camp spot. This scooter quest was going to take some getting used to! Onward we forged, through the night, eventually stopping around midnight in a vacant field to pitch up and conk out, uncaring and unconscious. Still, the tent pitched ok, albeit a touch wonky and we were on the road, really doing it. We were actual adventurers now and we liked it!
The packing system was FLAWLESS.
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