A Full Day on Little Sleep

We made it to New Orleans in about 21 hours without seeming to hurry.  The trip was painless as the pros did all the driving, but also sleepless because the buses are mad for riding in not sleeping in. So we have 21 tired youth and 5 tired adults.  We were able to check into the dorms right away and we took showers and cleaned up and hit NOLA refreshed and ready to sightsee.  Turns out that the roads, which were built in the 18th century, are not conducive to tour bus travel.  We found that all the major arteries around Tulane had road construction that prevented us from turning onto or off of them when we needed to and the side streets caused us to go 5mph and turn repeatedly, and sometimes back up.  A 6 mile trip to the French Quarter took almost 40 minutes for the first 2 miles.

We did make it to Mothers for their fabulous po'boys and had lunch a 3pm.  Then of to the Louisiana State Museum for the Katrina and Beyond exhibit.  We had 45 minutes to to see it before the museum closed but we decided to go for it.  I think it was worth the time even though it was rushed.  Then we did a quick walk through the French Quarter up to Louis Armstrong Park and decided at 5pm to call it a day.  We were all exhausted.  We called fro the bus drivers to pick us up earlier than planned and during the wait we walked over to the St Louis #1 Cemetery but it was also closed.

The bus arrived to fetch us and we stopped fro FroYo, a mission trip tradition, and headed back to our dorm.  Free time until 9:30 when we will watch a Katrina Documentary and go to bed.  Late start tomorrow and more sightseeing before beginning the official Camp Rhino at 6pm Monday.

I feel really fortunate to be spending this time with a great bunch of youth and fellow adult leaders.

John