Houma to New Orleans for Christmas

Well we made it to New Orleans, so here's the story,  We stayed an extra day in Houma because the weather was calling for 40 mph gusts in New Orleans and one thing I don't like is wind.  The next day was suppose to be down to 5 mph and the rain was forecast 80 percent at 4:00pm.  Rain, no problem, bring it on.  We  untied the lines at 6:30am of the 22nd and headed to New Orleans.  We were only 30 minutes out and the rain started to come down.  Then another 30 minutes and it was thunder and lightning and heavy rain all the way. There were times when there was no time between the lightning and thunder.  Now they say not to be on the water with lightning, but where are you going to go?  I figured those tows with the barges would be more susceptible and if they were out here I figured I was okay.  New Orleans was only a 52 mile trip but we had to go through two real locks and under 10 bridges to get to our destination of the Pontchartrain Landing Marina.  One of the things you want to do is have a backup plan in case you can't get thru the locks or open some of the bridges to be where you want to go before it gets dark.  Ours was to stay at the Boontown Casino tie up before we reached the locks, or get permission to stay at the Industrial Lock tie up after we went thru the Harvey Lock into the Mississippi River.   Fortunately we made it all the way before it got dark.  The two locks we went through were our first real locks we've ever experienced.  The first lock was the Harvey Lock which puts us into the Mississippi River.  We were the only boat in the lock and when you come in there are these bollards in the wall of the lock you put a line around down to your boat.  As the water raises or lowers you let out line only to keep your boat against the lock wall.  The rain gear we bought at West Marine before we left came in real handy since it was raining during this whole process.  The second lock is called the Industrial Lock.  It connects the Mississippi to Lake Pontchartrain.  Pontchartrain Landing is a RV park/marina.  We are the only visiting boat here and they have many amenities such as a pool, hot tub, bar and grill, and convenience store.  They also provide a  shuttle three times a day to the French Quarter.  We plan on going there this weekend.  Today is Christmas so we slept in exchanged gifts and talked on face time to our family.  Chloe got a new tear apart toy and blanket.  We rode our bikes over to the grocery store yesterday and bought a prime rib and sides for our dinner tonight.   Jan and I got to experience our first taste of gumbo and a poo boy sandwich since being here and will post our next experience at the French Quarter.

Boontown Casino

This is for you Dad

Entering the Harvey Lock

New Orleans from the Mississippi

Entering the Industrial Lock

Where we are staying

Rudolph guided us all the way

Panacea in New Orleans

Old Chloe Blanket

New Chloe Blanket

New toy, new blanket, too much fun!

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Merry Christmas !