Allan wrote...


Tuesday...I'm on the way to San Antonio via Interstate 10. There is a an 18-mile stretch of elevated highway between Lafayette and Baton Rouge known as the Atchafalaya Swamp Freeway. It goes over the Atchafalaya River, across the Atchafalaya Basin Bridge and the adjacent swamps. It crosses the Mississippi River at the Horace Wilkinson Bridge. 

Interstate 10 from Hammond/New Orleans area to Baton Rouge

Just a few hundred feet of an 18-mile long
"elevated highway" (aka bridge).  Note the
swampy bayou between the two bridges.

It's quite an amazing piece of engineering. There are actually two, 2-lane bridges: one Eastbound, the other Westbound. Each is held up by thousands of huge concrete and steel pylons. There is very little berm, so any traffic incident could result in hours of delay while the wreck is cleared. On the map you'll see Interstate 10 running just south of Lake Pontchartrain, through Metairie and over to Baton Rouge. 

A bit further along, in Baton Rouge, the Wilkinson Bridge spans the Mississippi River. It too is quite a piece of work.  Here's a snapshot courtesy of Wikipedia.

Horace Wilkinson Bridge, built in 1968.

After leaving Georgia, traveling through Alabama, a snippet of Mississippi and, now, Louisiana, I was happy to see the Welcome to Texas - Drive Nice, Texas Style sign.  I had been driving for several hours with an outside temperature around 72 degrees. There was no need for air conditioning, so I just drove with the fresh air filling the car. After a while, though, I did start to feel like it would be a good idea to find a place to stop and freshen up, change clothes and be presentable when I arrived at the final destination and met the folks for whom I'd be house sitting.

It turned out that Sealy, TX has America's Best Value Inn - Garden Lounge. I got some fresh clothes from the suitcase, my toothbrush, toothpaste and headed for the front desk.  A polite young man agreed that I could use their restroom to freshen up.  Hmmm. Did you ever try to wash your hair with that lavatory soap that comes out like a foam...in a tiny sink...to rinse it with hands-full of water...then only to discover that the "touchless" paper towel dispenser is also "paperless" and out of paper?  Hmmm. Well, the shirt I had just taken off worked well as a towel, and I left feeling refreshed and at least somewhat presentable.

America's Best Value Inn. Actually a very nice, rather upscale
but reasonable ($60/night) hotel. The paper towel issue
wasn't a reflection on the hotel. In fact, it kind of made
me laugh at the way unexpected details surface.

The trip through Houston was rain-filled. I got off the Interstate for about 30 minutes to let the worst of the storm subside, then continued on toward San Antonio. A multi-car wreck in San Antonio added another 30-minute delay as hundreds of cars in each direction waited while emergency personnel cleared the crash scene. I counted 11 emergency vehicles on the scene and saw three vehicles being towed away. None appeared to be devastatingly smashed, so hopefully everyone survived.




Arriving at the destination I met Ryan, the homeowner and Ria, his Australian Cattle Dog mix. She's extremely well-trained and became an instant friend.  Today, Wednesday, Ryan took Ria and me to the local dog park -- a daily routine.  Ria ran like the wind and found two of her best dog friends there to play with, squirrels to bark at and generally had plain old dog fun.

Ryan said DNA tests on Ria showed signs of wild Aussie dingo,
hound and Cattle Dog.  Her disposition is excellent and she does many
"tricks" that I'm eager to see up close later today.