The Quest & NOLA

Matt and I will travel through Mexico and each country in Central and South America, no matter what happens.  Matt is disappointed in the new schedule. He wanted to spend a few nights in several locations in each country, but due to the time constraint we’re working under we had to cut out a lot of the initial plan.  We have to get to Panama before February 10^th to catch the boat over to Colombia, plus we have to make it to Ushuaia by mid-March or else the winds will be too strong for our little bike.  Ushuaia is the capital city of Tierra del Fuego, Argentina.  I cannot wait to visit the southernmost city in the world! Warning: I might go overboard on the picture taking in that place. Of course I would like to spend a few days in many of the cities on the way to Ushuaia; to get a feel for the place and the people, and make friends in the hostels, but that’ll happen on the way back up South America.

The other part of this quest includes Matt and I making a CCNA podcast, with me taking the test for it in Buenos Aires. We’re planning on starting this in Mexico.

As for the past two days in New Orleans, Matt and I went to Bourbon St. both nights and recouped at the hostel in the French Quarter.  The hostel we stayed in was gorgeous on the outside and in the common areas. It used to function as an orphanage from 1861 until the 1970’s. Here’s a picture of St. Vincent’s Guest House, located on Magazine St, LA.  The furniture on the inside was Elizabethan period, there were huge doorways, and it had a spacious courtyard; yet our room was not so lavish.  The bathroom had the tiniest shower I have ever encountered and Matt found a bedbug in his sheets (AH!).  I slept just fine though.

I liked the French Quarter.  I had one bad experience for five minutes when I ordered a po-boy for dinner at a local convenient store: I had two drunk older men attempt to talk to me and as I backed away they stepped in front of me to order first (no way was I going to speak up) and at that same time four or five more (what seemed to be homeless) drunk men came in, all grabbed either a MD 20/20, a 40, or a tall boy (or all three) and swayed in line behind me while being loud and obnoxious. Besides that, I had a great time, especially on Bourbon St. – what a lively place!  Matt and I showed up around 9 on New Year’s Eve eve; it was already packed with tons of people, a lot of them already hammered.  We each got a hand grenade early on the street and a purple daiquiri at end for the walk back.  I sang along to one of the performers we stumbled across who was playing the piano and singing “Love Song” by The Cure.  Soon after, we heard a band in one of the many bars and decided to stop in- they were talented and entertaining.  I had a blast watching them and dancing around.  On the rest of the walk I got some beads and Matt got a slice of cheap and greasy pizza.

The next day, I slept in while Matt went on a run and did some work at a coffee shop nearby.  Later, we had po-boys for lunch/dinner and went to a motorcycle store so Matt could get a better helmet- the one he bought the day before didn’t fit properly.  That night, on New Year’s Eve, we took part in the festivities on Bourbon St.- we watched fireworks, had a drink, threw beads to people walking on the street from a balcony, and called it a night.  Matt and I saw a few shocking things from that balcony…

We left early this morning from the St. Vincent’s Guest House. The ride was decent today- my body didn’t hurt at the end of it (yay!). Though when we started, we got stuck in the rain and when we stopped to put covers over the saddlebags, I burnt my right index finger on the exhaust.  Still cannot believe I did that.  Luckily, it didn’t rain for that long.  During the ride we stopped at a casino for lunch: I had been craving gumbo since we arrived in LA- finally got it (score!). Now we’re in Beaumont, Texas- watching Star Wars, Ep. 5 (awesome sauce).

We’re headed down south tomorrow. Then further down south for a while after that.