Fireworks

We had been seeing fireworks stands since we entered New Mexico, and Louisiana was no exception. Evidently, they like to shoot fireworks off on New Years Eve in the southwest. It is as big an occasion as Fourth of July. We saw a lot of fireworks going off while we drove from New Orleans to Houma, and heard a lot as we were camped in Houma. On New Year's Day, we got up and did laundry, and then visited with a friend of Susan's. I had expected Houma to be a fairly small town surrounded by bayou wilderness, but it is actually quite developed, with many new stores and restaurants. Hwy 24 was developed from Hwy 90 all the way down to Houma, a distance of several miles. We left Houma in the late afternoon, heading east again.

We had seen cases of storm damage as we drove into New Orleans on Sunday, as well as between there and Houma, but it was minor compared to what we saw as we went east of downtown New Orleans. From I10, we saw several shopping centers, large apartment complexes, and even neighborhoods abandoned and in various states of devastation. A few houses had white trailers parked in driveways, which we assumed to be FEMA trailers. We passed Six Flags New Orleans, and while the coasters were standing, the entrance sign was severely damaged. We continued on into Mississippi, where the damage was much less evident. We stopped for the night in Gulfport.