July 29, 2007 - Travel day from #$%@

Hi everyone! Here is the first post from beautiful, humid New Orleans. It is Monday morning and the kids are all still in their rooms. Today is the only day that they don't have to be up early - breakfast is not until 9:00 a.m.

Yesterday was quite a day.

• Patrick did not make it on the plane - so no Patrick in NO
  
• Adrianna's plane was delayed over and over, so at 9:00 she finally gave up and went home - so no Adrianna in NO
  
• Alexander made it, but it luggage did not - so no clothes for Xander in NO
  
• Jean, Randy, Pam & Cristy sat in Chicago for hours, but finally made it 2 hours late
  
• The Wolfe's ran into thunderstorms in Dallas, but finally made it 2 hours late. Cat's plane circled for over an hour waiting to land, but luckily she made her connection.

So we finally all arrived at the New Orleans airport and met our new friends Bear & Diana. They both work for Rustic Pathways and are both natives of New Orleans. Bear was here when Katrina hit and was stranded for 5 days before he was airlifted out of the city. He seems like a very nice guy and has so far been very interesting to listen to (oh yeah, Cristy & I have determined that he is cute too!). He put a care package in each of our rooms which included a DVD that he made of his experience during Katrina, along with beads, hot sauce and other New Orleans goodies.
So by the time everyone got to the House on Bayou Road last night it was about 9:00. The inn is owned by a very nice woman named Cynthia and her dog Odie. It is a beautiful, old indigo plantation. I am pretty sure there is a ghost in my room! We also met Chiquie and Anna. Chiquie is a chef and a darn good one! She had snacks set up for us outside - crab dip and crackers and Cajun biscuits with hot jelly/cream cheese dip. Dinner was delicious! Started with a salad, then pasta in garlic & olive oil with broccoli and chicken and sausage balls also fresh from the oven garlic bread. Yummo! For desert bananas foster. After that we were all very tired and went to bed, so no posting last night.
This morning after breakfast we are going on a tour of the city. The kids will all write about that this afternoon, so be sure to check back later tonight for news from them. Hopefully Adrianna will arrive today about 1:30, then we just need to see if we can get Patrick down here and our team will be complete.
That's all for now...
Jean