31-JUL-2007
8:20 am
My parents live off of Highland Road. Usually, I take a left out of their place, and within a mile or so, I'm at I-10. Due to the weather and morning rush hour traffic, there was a bad accident on I-10 headed east, but Mom said the onlooker delays were pretty bad. So, she gave me directions for the back route to the bridge which involved taking Highland Road. Normally, this is a really pretty drive with large houses, estates, and oak trees. It's just not as pretty in the rain.
31-JUL-2007
8:40 am
The altered route took me right by the LSU campus. Actually, this might be a road going through LSU. Pretty little drive through. Would have been prettier if it was sunny.
31-JUL-2007
8:44 am
This is the big bridge in Baton Rouge. It reminds me of a smaller version of the GNO (now the CCC) in New Orleans. See the traffic on the other side? That's the back up from the accident. It went all the way to where I took the cut-off to 190. Mom said the traffic the other way was backed up to Highland Rd. I made a good choice. This picture was a little difficult though because I'm not used to getting onto I-10 at Nicholson. That's a nasty little merge at 50mph while juggling a camera.
31-JUL-2007
9:04 am
I have no idea where this is. Somewhere on 190 between Baton Rouge and the Morganza Spillway. Desolate drive, but it beats I-10 which is nothing but the bridge over the bayou all the way to Lafayette. I don't know if this really saves you much time over the Interstate. Maybe 15 minutes.
31-JUL-2007
9:25 am
This is the Morganza Spillway. It is known helping to control flooding on the lower Mississippi River. Yeah, right, you didn't know that. At this point of the drive, I finally reached my mother via cell phone. She wanted me to call her after I gassed up in Lobdell and let her know that I had made it through the traffic. She was on her way to New Orleans, and I think the rain was making the connection difficult. This is also the 55mph section of the drive. So very slow, but the cops like to come up and get you on these little spillways, so there's not much speeding going on.
31-JUL-2007
9:28 am
Okay, this picture is close in time to the last one, but I had to get a shot crossing the Atchafalaya River. It's pronounced just like it sounds. I thought getting the railway bridge though the beams looked pretty cool.
31-JUL-2007
9:43 am
Some little town between the Atchafalaya River and Opelousas.
31-JUL-2007
10:00 am
This is the worst part of the stretch. I-49 must be one of the least traveled interstates in the US. Before it was completed through Alexandria, I could make this drive and be the only car in sight for miles. Thus, after Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast though, when I made this drive, it was so very odd to see so much traffic especially so many trailers, trucks, and army convoys. After just a few minutes on this road though, these little road mile signs become like manna from heaven. Each one showing you that you're a little closer to the next milestone. On this drive, the milestones for me are Opelousas, Alexandria, Nachitoches, Shreveport, and Tyler.
31-JUL-2007
10:03 am
This is another one that is close to the last picture, but I had to get a shot of the Casino in the middle of nowhere. These little slot machine casinos litter the landscaping of Louisiana. They popped up pretty quick after it became legal. I tried to get a better shot as I drove by, but at this point, I was traveling over 70 mph, it was starting to drizzle, and I couldn't get the window rolled down and the camera set. I thought I took a picture, but when I got home, it ended up being of my passenger seat.
31-JUL-2007
10:06 am
You may notice that these pictures are coming really close together now. That's because this is for the most part what I-49 looks like. This is the part where you start to drift off when you're driving, and you beg for anything at all to try and keep you awake. So, I took pictures.
31-JUL-2007
10:09 am
Yep. I'm telling you. This part is really, really, boring. Although, I think it was around here traveling to Baton Rouge for Christmas late one night that we found ourselves behind this car filled with girls who stuck themselves out of the window and flashed their boobies at a trucker. Scott was kind enough to turn on his brights and spotlight them from behind while they were doing this. I'm telling you. Everyone gets desperate for entertainment on this stretch of road.
31-JUL-2007
10:15 am
At this point, I was desperately trying to stay awake. So, I got the grand idea of trying to get a picture showing my speed and the speed limit sign. I thought I'd attempt some sort of artsy picture. This is as good as it got, but I did wake up for a bit while trying to look for speed limit signs. They aren't very convenient when you actually try to seek one out.
