To The Big Easy and Back

Oh my goodness, we were so tired when we came home; all of us were beat. We had a great time and we're glad we made the trip. It was so good to see New Orleans and relatives; we feel closer for having made the visit.

We stayed with Dan's parents in Texas and the twins met many more relatives there. We toured the neighborhood Dan grew up in and took Ella and Aidan to the park where they played on the swings for the first time. We spent an evening with Rob, Elaine, Jamie, Jennifer and Janea; it was really good to see them. We went to Rockwall to see the Texas twins and their mom and dad who are doing very well. The Texas twins love soccer and we were able to make it to one of their games. Ella really enjoyed playing with Natalie and Janea - the two cousins closest to her in age. Aidan loved scampering around on the sides lines of Joshua's soccer game - seeming to catch the spirit of running with the boys. On our last evening, Papa took out Maman's old wooden box of photos and letters and we looked at pictures of "Gromam and Gropop" and many other relatives from Lafayette.


On our way home from Richardson Dan chose some nice hotels to liven up the journey home. We stayed at a Marriott Residence in Memphis - the hotel's atrium was filled with tropical plants, palm trees, waterfalls and a pond of ducks. The twins were mesmerized! As we rode the glass elevator up to our room they liked the little Christmas lights that twinkeled in the trees. We didn't make it to Graceland but to us the hotel was just as good.

We left the Memphis Marriott at 3:30am the following morning as it started raining. We drove into the night about an hour when the map light started flickering on and off independent of our using the on/off switch. Yes! Then Ella and Aidan woke up crying just as the car ceiling started leaking big drops of water over the passenger seats. Dan was in the back with the kids, daubing at the water droplets with a wash cloth while cajoling the twins; I was driving. He was getting weary and I was having trouble seeing the road with the map light flickering on- off - on---off--. Finally, the rain stopped, the map light remained off and the kids fell back to sleep! ...Ahhhh. It's all funny in hindsight.

We arrived in Abingdon, VA at the Martha Washington hotel seven hours later with time to spare. The " Ma Wa", as Dan calls it, is a wonderful historic hotel that used to be a women's college. Dan visited during his residency. This was our last night on the road and Dan had made an appointment for me at the spa. That was really thoughtful and I really! appreciated the moment to relax and pamper myself...it was wonderful and too short but I am a sucker for spas. I highly recommend this spa, ladies, when your traveling through Virginia. They are very skilled and gentle plus the hotel has a beautiful pool, steam room, etc, etc. That night we had a room service dinner, watched "High Noon" and the kids flopped around on the pillows and cushions making themselves very happy until it was time to go to bed. A&E woke up at 4:00 am the next morning - shattering the luxury. I guess they thought we were going to head out in the car again....but that's another story.

On the last leg of our trip, driving through the mountains as the leaves were changing color, I totaled our road trip successes and failures if you will. On the one had, Ella and Aidan never cried in hunger, lost their shoes or blew out their diapers nor were they corrupted by partying on Bourbon St. On the other hand they had missed some naps, messed up their sleep schedules and they put up with a couple of intolerable moments in their car seats. But I consoled myself with the memories of Ella and Aidan around the table with their grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins, wrinkling their noses and calling out to waiters, relaxing in their stroller along the Mississippi river, eating gumbo, playing with their little cousins for the first time and sleeping in the towns and homes that their father and grandfather and many of their cousins have slept in, too. It is those experiences that were meaningful and worthwhile; that is what we made the trip for and for those times, I am grateful.

Right to left: Ann Metzinger, Walter Metzinger, Ann Larriviere, Louise Cordell, Rob Larriviere, Bob Cordell, Kyly Larriviere, Ella and Aidan Larriviere ( center). Dan took the picture.

Elaine Larriviere in the background and Janea holding Ella in foreground.

Elaine is Janea's mother

PS: While in New Orleans we made it to the Audubon Zoo where we all saw some great animals, white tigers, leopards, jaguars and roseate spoon bills -to name a few. Aidan rode the Carousel (Ella was sleeping). He rode the lion and loved it!