The Smiths and the Schmidts

At the Beach

The beach was fun and it was a beautiful day. We also took a little time for an afternoon drink.

After Christmas

It's almost back to normal, but I get rides from Grampa. I also crawl as fast as I can.

Cruising and the Cat

Gramma caught me standing still--usually I'm in motion holding onto everything I can to get around on my two legs. I also stand still once I catch the cat!

New Orleans, Louisiana

So much for Texas. We traveled I-10 and went over a lot of bridges that went over a lot of swamp land. We eventually crossed a bridge that went over Lake Pontchatrain (not the really long one across the middle), but, boy, is that a lot of water. Destination--Don and Jackie's house.

There's Don and Jackie in their beautiful house finally refinished two months ago thanks to Hurricane Katrina.

Christmas in New Orleans

We drove the streets to see the Christmas decorations. For a city that has undergone so much, they have certainly gotten into the Christmas spirit.

New Orleans--Hurricane Katrina

A trip to New Orleans leaves not much to the imagination regarding Hurricane Katrina. Everywhere we went there were signs of devastation. There were whole neighborhoods where only one or two houses were inhabited. The rest of the street was an empty slab, or a house with the entire inside gutted, or left the way Katrina left it--swamp grass on the roof and debris everywhere. It was amazing to see a nice neighborhood and there were still FEMA trailers in the front yard with people living in them waiting for their house to be redone.

The first picture is just steps--the house is gone and the lot next door is empty. Don says there were no empty lots in New Orleans. The sign is from the 60 year old owner who just wants his house replaced so he has a place to live. (If you click on the picture you may be able to zoom in to read his whole story.) The second picture is a renovation plan that Brad Pitt is establishing. It looked like hot pink plastic house parts--a roof to put on top of a box. There were solar heating panels. It would be interesting to see the finished product.