Houston We Have Touch Down

Fuel: 10 gallons @ 2.55/gal

Trip: 650km

Hotel: $67.00

Food: $20.00

oil: 500ml

Total: $111.00

We pulled out of New Orleans and pointed ourselves towards Houston Texas. The Highway I-10 is a 150km bridge through the Bayou's of the Mississippi delta, as the area is at or under sea level. The highway is a concrete 4 lane bridge that is approximately 30 feet above the waterline. Its crazy!

We crossed over the Mississippi river on a bridge that looked like the one over the Miramichi River from Chatam to Miramichi. The width of the river at this point was similar as well although the bridge here was 6 lanes wide.

While driving through the Louisiana bayou I looked into the marshy landscape and saw pure white Egrets hunting for fish and other prey. They look just like pure white Herons with yellow beaks. At one point we drove under an overhead high tension transmission power line. I tried to see where it was going in its east - west direction but it disappeared on the horizon out to sea.

The ride across Texas so far has been somewhat uneventful. There are dozens and dozens of gambling advertisements, no H1N1 advertisement what so ever...(I guess marketing it here like it is in Canada is a waste of time because people here can't afford it since their government isn't footing the bill) There is also no recycling, its throw away everything and when you get a drink they serve it with a straw inserted into the drink with only the top portion of the protective paper left intact on the straw. (oh and its in a Styrofoam cup)

We got into Houston at 5:00 pm it was 10 solid lanes of bumper to bumper traffic for miles and miles. Our faces were actually covered in soot when we took our helmets off. The smell of exhaust was strong and it actually burned my eyes as we entered the orange and yellow cloud enveloping the city and beyond.

I saw a couple of motorcycles ripping in some special lane and decided that the fast lane is where we also needed to be. This lane was some sort of toll road that had camera's on it. I thought that we'd have to pay at the end of the road, but instead the special lane ended several miles past the jammed up traffic with a lovely sign stating that Toll road violators will be prosecuted. I guess there will be a warrant for my arrest soon enough.

We passed several huge oil refinery's that were about the size of Saint Johns refinery x3. It was cool looking at them now that I've worked at an oil refinery and been inside the boilers and Vertical columns and understand a bit of their form and function.

We headed out for supper to a little Mexican Chain called "Adrians" Alas it did not beat Las Margaritas in Tennessee. Tomorrow we'll head to San Antonio where I'll get the tires, chain and sprockets & oil changed.

Adios amigos