The First Five Days...

Our first five days have been amazing! We have seen so many wonderful things already and visited with so much family. We picked up our rental van in Tallahassee and set out. The fist thing we saw was Falling Water State Park. Neither of us had ever been there so our interest was piqued. The waterfall is a sinkhole that is about 75 feet high. They have no idea where the water actually goes. The sinkhole just goes on forever. You can see more about it here. Next up was Louisiana. We went to New Orleans first to visit my best friend Hali and all of her family! It was great fun and I am so glad Noel was there with me. We drove up US-61 to do a little sightseeing but unfortunately it rained the nearly the entire drive. We were able to get a few shots though. The Myrtles Plantation home (the haunted one) was our first stop. Then we saw this extraordinary thing. It is an actual restaurant that serves lunch daily. On the second day in Louisiana, I took Noel by where I used to live. Where I grew up. These are photos of the fish market my grandfather owned and operated back in the day. I am so glad the building was still standing because I had no pictures of it. Amazingly, you can still the signs that he hand painted YEARS ago. Very meaningful for me. A desk he used to use... The soda machine I used to buy drinks from... And lastly in Louisiana, I could leave without Pierre getting his hand into a little farming. Day 4-5 Yesterday, we drove to Dallas. I was so excited for Noel to hang out with my family again. We had a great time. Uncle James hosted dinner for everyone and my aunts and uncles were there along with some cousins. This morning we set out for the west. Somewhere I have NEVER been before!! Before that though, we swung by the Dallas ball fields.. Then we were really off and the landscape and historical markers let me know quickly I was no where near "home"! My first "ghost town"! On OLD OLD Sears store.....that's still in business!!! Finally we get to the New Mexico border....which I couldn't wait for! I have never seen this state!!! This was the ONLY sign on the read welcoming people to NM. Oh, and you see the clouds in the background? As I was taking that picture a storm moved in FAST! Winds at 60 miles an hour moving at a an approximate speed of 25 miles per hour. It was scary! We experienced a COMPLETE blackout in the car. We could see nothing and if I weren't educated and knew better I would firmly believe we were in the middle of a tornado! Our car was covered in mud from the sand, water, and rocks being thrown into the car. I had my very first ever dull-fledged hard core anxiety attack. I was terrified. The wind was so strong it was blowing us off of the road. After this excitement, we FINALLY made it to Roswell where we sleep tonightin a Best Western with no elevator! lol. Good night and I can't wait to show you photos from Roswell soon!!!