Katrina Update #31Katrina Update #31"When you get to the fork in the road, take the dirt road, not the gravel one." That was part of the directions for getting to Coop's Place out-of-town regular Lee Robertson's home near Galena, Missouri, which is near Branson. The dirt road was a winding one. So was the gravel road. So was the county road you had to take to get to the gravel road. Cary, Jarret, and I were in the heart of the Ozark's to drop Barry off where he will spend a week communing with nature and shooting firearms. On the winding dirt road we pass through a gate that says "NO TRESSPASSING. NO LOOSE DOGS OR CATS. This property was purchased for wildlife habitat. Thank You." Note that the sign only refers to loose dogs and cats. It says nothing about loose women. :) At the end of the winding road is a Geodesic dome. That's where Lee lives.
The "No Tresspassing" sign at the entrance to Lee's place.
Lee's Geodesic Dome.
Lee is a Los Angeles native, sometime French Quarter resident, a poet, an artist, and a Vietnam Vet. He owns about 160 acres of land in this southwest corner of Missouri, and that keeps the encroaching population (thanks to the popularity of Branson) just far enough away. He says he sees a Turkey every day, a deer every other day, and every once and a while he will see a black bear. He says he likes to take people with him when he is walking around in the woods because, should they come upon a black bear, he then does not have to worry about outrunning the bear — just those with whom he was walking. (Sorry. Old joke. Couldn't resist.)
We enjoyed talking about Coop's Place, about how New Orleans will be different, and we watched "Last Man Standing" starring Bruce Willis (great movie, by the way — I highly recommend it). On the evening newscast they said that Rita had been downgraded to a Tropical Depression and would not stall out as previously thought, but would be moving through the area during the night. We went to sleep to the sound of rain hitting the dome's roof. I awoke to 50-60 mph gusts (with sustained winds above 30 mph) as Rita pretty much passed right over head. Which means we got to drive back to Mascoutah, IL with Rita as our traveling companion. Oh joy.
Before leaving Lee's place, he and Barry introduced Cary, Jarret, and I to a few of his collected firearms. I grew up around shotguns and rifles, so guns were not something new to me. A pacifist at heart, I am definitely not a NRA person. In fact, it wouldn't bother me at all if all guns were outlawed. I used to joke that I wanted to modify that famous bumper sticker "When guns are outlawed, only outlaws will have guns." I wanted to add "well, duh!" after it, since it always seemed to me that it would be easier to tell the good guys from the bad guys if the only good guys with guns were the ones wearing badges. Maybe that is too simplistic, and I certainly don't want to fuel the debate on this web site.
Anyway, my kids have never handled firearms and I thought it would be a good experience if they did. Particulary the AK-47, since that seems to be the weapon of choice used by gangs in cities throughout the country, New Orleans included. In the movie Heartbreak Ridge there is a scene where Clint Eastwood picks up an AK-47 and shoots it above the heads of his soldiers. They understandably react with great alarm and ask what the heck he was trying to do. He replies that he wanted them to know the sound of their enemy. I guess that is pretty much what I had in mind. Here are some pictures:
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Cary with the AK-47
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Cary & Jarret shooting at bottles with pistols
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Jarret shoots the AK-47
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Jarret looks way too happy with the Assault Shotgun
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Jarret shoots the 45mm pistol
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Jarret shoots the 9mm pistol
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I had no idea there was such a thing as an "Assault Shotgun." It looks exactly like the video game weapon of the same name in the Marathon games. You can see a QuickTime video of Cary shooting the Assualt Shotgun here.
With the threat of Rita over for New Orleans (if not for us), our thoughts turn once again towards returning to New Orleans. For those of you who are just joining this saga, allow me to fill you in. Plan A was to take Adam and Megan to Washington, D.C. after last weekend's Bourbon Festival in Kentucky. Janis' cousin Barney was going to help them find jobs there. Then we would slowly make our way back to the Chicago area, where we would meet up with Janis' niece Terri, who would be visiting from London (where she works for Oracle). That plan was scrapped in favor of Plan B when New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin said we would be allowed back in the city on September 21, 2005. So we all went to Nashville for what was to be one night last Monday, intending to head down to our friend Keith's house in Ponchatoula, LA on Tuesday, September 20, 2005.
Rita heading north towards the Louisiana Coast meant discarding Plan B. Plan C had us stuck in a hotel trying to decide what to do until Friday, when we headed back up to Mascoutah, IL, to the home of Janis' best friend from high school, JoLynn Fee. We spent Friday night at The Juicy Peanut, where we learned our new friends there had put up a sign on the marquis outside that said "Good Luck to our new friends from New Orleans." Unfortunately, they didn't put it up until after we had left town last week, but - how neat is that? We really wanted to do something nice for them, so upon returning to Mascoutah today I cooked up a double batch of my Bratwurst Jambalya to take over to the bar. (Adam and Megan grilled up the brats on Saturday evening.)
So it looks like it we are now on Plan D. On Monday, we will head back up to the Chicago-Milwaukee area. On Thursday, Adam and Megan will fly back to Florida using their return ticket. (They purchased round trip tickets from Orlando originally because they were cheaper than one way, not realizing they would actually be using the return portion.) We are arranging to purchase the Jeep we have been borrowing, since it has proven to be a reliable vehicle, and besides - we already have the car top carrier. So we need to finish up some paperwork with Janis' sister and her husband. After that, Cary and I will head south, pick up Barry, and hopefully get into New Orleans.
We checked the GPS today. I reset its odometer when Cary and I left New Orleans in a rental car on August 24, 2005. Over 3,500 miles traveled since then, and still counting. No wonder I am tired. (And that doesn't count the miles Janis put on Cary's car going to Texas, then to Mascoutah!)
We made my famous Bratwurst Jambalya for the folks at The Juicy Peanut as a way of paying them back for all their hospitality. It sure was good! Andrea had seconds:
Andrea has a second helping of Chuck's Bratwurst Jambalya
Here's a picture of Jarret modeling his new Maker's Mark Bowling Shirt:
- I spoke with Coop yesterday. He is picking Laura up at the airport on Monday and heard on the radio the French Quarter may have power as soon as Tuesday. He plans on opening Coop's Place within a day or so of when they have electricity. He is understandably anxious for us to get back, since we are traveling with a significant portion of his staff. He also spoke with Jim Monaghan about subsidizing housing in the apartments above Coop's Place and Molly's for returning workers who no longer have homes. Apparently, almost no one is returning to those apartments.
A person has published tons of pictures of all over New Orleans. You can view the pictures by going here and entering "Motoheath" in the search field.
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