4/7 – 4/10 NOLA, French Quarter RV Park
This strategically located RV park is 2 blocks from the FQ and therefore allows him to ditch me during the day in the trailer (complete with AC and a soft bed) while he and Joyce take in the 25 music stages and countless food, beer and booze stalls along the river and throughout the quarter. They (mostly he) stagger back for occasional naps and to make sure I have not found the hole in the bottom of the trailer and made my escape. After 3 days of music, dancing (mostly him alone), eating and drinking we drive to Kent’s lakeside house in Metairie for a quiet night of recovery.
One night during the festival, after he had consumed many adult beverages and Joyce was asleep, he told me about how 36 years ago he arrived in New Orleans on his home-finished 31’ Southern Cross sloop after a 1,200 mile river voyage from Parkersburg WV with first mate Andy White and his father as crew. He intended to continue sailing to “the islands of the half-naked women” (this quote appeared in the November 7, 1979 edition of the Marietta Times who sent a reporter to cover the launching) but ran into a girl named Lilly and the course of his life was dramatically altered.
4/11 – NOLA – Galveston
En route from NO to Galveston, TX via Katy, TX where he will drop off the trailer for final bottom repairs. Joyce is with us now, thank god (yes dogs believe in god too) as she is there to remind him to drive carefully and feed me twice a day. Galveston is the home of Christina, Joyce’s good friend and old sailing and MRE buddy in Annapolis and her husband Bob. They kindly offered to take care of me while my master takes a vacation from his vacation.
4/12 – Galveston
After a morning walk they ditch me at the house and drive to Houston to meet Christina for a tour of her workspace. As she is employed by NASA and hopes to go to Mars one day so I’m sure they saw a lot of cool stuff during the visit. If he doesn’t improve his RV driving skills soon I would be glad to sign on to the Mars trip just to remain safe.
4/15 Annapolis – Iceland – Amsterdam
He and three college buddies (Tom, Bill and Steve) decided it would be fun to re-live their youth and return to Amsterdam to celebrate the 45th anniversary of a previous trip. Since I stayed in Galveston enjoying walks on the beach and park and two squares a day plus treats, I am not able to provide any details of the “Amsterdam four”.
