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Road Trip 2005 |
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| Val and I decided to head down to the Dirty South once and for all, where the swag runs wild and free. So for Thanksgiving, we decided to pack up Monet and Dali and go visit my family in Louisiana. We left Mass on Sunday November 20 and arrived in Raleigh, NC that night, where we stayed with one of my best friends in the whole world, Sandy and her husband Brod, until Tuesday the 22nd. Tuesday morning we got back in the ol' rental car (a GMC Yukon, which we packed to the gills) and headed down to Louisiana, via Hotlanta. | ||
 Val displaying our photo of Geno, which we stuck to the dashboard to keep us in line 11/20/05 |
 Missa presenting our homemade bumper stickers that we stuck to the back of the Yukon. One read "Got Swagga?" and the other read "We on our game like Shaq." I must say, we have been getting many a swag's attention with these bad boys. |
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 This is Yago, Sandy & Brod's fabulous b&g macaw, who I am in LOVE with! Monet isn't too happy with that 11/21/05 |
 Val, Missa, Sandy & Brod after dinner in Raleigh at the Bonefish Grill, which was simply fabulous 11/21/05 |
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 Sandy & Brod, truly the cutest couple on earth 11/21/05 |
 Missa & Val in Raleigh, NC 11/21/05 |
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 Sandy, Missa & Val 11/21/05 |
 Missa, Brod the ladies man, & Val 11/21/05 |
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 Calling all Hotlanta swags, here we come!!!!!!!!!! 11/22/05 |
 Later on in Mississippi (home of David Banner...only 2 ghetto bitches like us would know such a thing, eh H.S.?) on I-59 South towards NEW ORLEANS |
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 In Baton Rouge, we found this fabulous Mexican restaurant called Papacito's. The name being priceless, we decided we must have a piece of Papacito's flare, therefore us two mamacita's might steal this entrance mat later on during the week 11/23/05 |
 On the wall behind our booth at Joe's Crab Shack in Baton Rouge, this stuffed squirrel sat. Val dared me to stand on the booth and touch it to see if it was in fact at one time alive and real.... |
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 ...so of course I did. And yes, I believe it was in fact at one time alive and kicking 11/23/05 |
 My brother Matt at my mom's house with his flour covered shirt. Tossin' pizza dough up in the air, were we, Luigi? 11/23/05 |
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 And here's Val ripping up a rather scary, albeit humorous note from a fat stalker, who thought it would be cute to leave a greeting card (complete with his self portrait drawn on it) in my front door at 2:30 in the friggin morning. Now I'm afraid to walk my puppy in my own yard in fear that this stalker might cruise on up my street in his affordable ladies version of the Hummer 11/23/05 |
 Missa, happy as all hell enjoying a refreshing Cherry Limeade from Sonic. We don't have Sonics up north, so this was an extra special treat 11/23/05 |
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 Starting off Thanksgiving morning in appropriate Missa & Val fashion, we decided the Papacito's welcome mat needed to be dealt with... 11/24/05 |
 ...and here's Val, absconding with our new Papacito's welcome mat, as earlier predicted! 11/24/05 |
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 And here we are, back at my parents' house with our new Papacito's welcome mat 11/24/05 |
 My brother Matt and his damaged car 11/24/05 |
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 Me and my brother Matt after Thanksgiving dinner, Matt enjoying a frosty beverage, me sipping on Redline. Yes, I somehow managed to curb the alcohol consumption for the entire trip so far! |
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| On Friday November 25th, Val and I drove down to New Orleans to see what Hurricane Katrina left behind. As many people know, I used to live in New Orleans, so seeing the devastation was truly difficult for me. Every reporter who has reported this story on the news from New Orleans has said you just can't understand the total devastation until you see it in person, and more correct they could not be. It was truly mind blowing to see entire sections of this wonderful city in total ruins. | ||
 This is my old apartment building in Metairie off Veterans Blvd. It didn't appear that my old building suffered much damage... |
 ...however this building directly across the street from my old building was being gutted by demolition crews, as were many of the buildings in my old neighborhood |
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 After leaving Metairie, we headed for the Lakeview section of New Orleans, which was hit incredibly hard and suffered awful floods after the levees breached. |
 Every house in the Lakeview area was condemned and deserted |
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 This is just one of the hundreds of homes we drove by in total ruins |
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 We saw tons of cars still sitting abandoned and ruined, right in the middle of intersections |
 This was once some kind of store, but all that is left is heaps of debris |
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 Then I see this. A For Sale sign....in front of a condemned house in the middle of what appears to be a war zone. I highly doubt the property value is worth much, seeing how this area of the city will probably be inhabitable for years to come. |
 More smashed up abandoned cars randomly tossed about |
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 Houses as far as the eye could see were in total ruins, destroyed and inhabitable |
 Every business is this area appeared to be totally destroyed as well |
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 Here you can see the mold/water lines on this house, which shows just how high the water rose and sat for days. You could smell the mold and must just driving through the neighborhood |
 As we were leaving Lakeview to head to the French Quarter, we saw this building in total ruins |
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 We saw this sign on Bourbon Street above the Tropical Isle, where I have enjoyed many a hand grenade in my day. You've got to love the pride and attitude of the people of New Orleans. Indeed they will rebuild New Orleans...one hand grenade at a time. lol |
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 Later on that day, Val and I did a little shopping at a mall in Baton Rouge. As usual, we made a few swag filled friends |
 Here we are later that evening, enjoying our 5th or 6th Cherry Limeade from Sonic since we'd been in Louisiana |
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 Here I am in my stepdad's plane. We were quite all set with actually going up in the air in it, but it was certainly good for a nice photo op 11/26/05 |
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 This is a photo of what was once a house near my mom's house. Hurricane Katrina knocked this huge tree over and right on top of this little house. If you can see, to the left of the photo you can see the roof was actually knocked off and laying on the ground 11/25/05 |
 The front view of the destroyed house up the street from my mom's house 11/25/05 |
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| Val and I headed back to Mass on the morning of Sunday, November 27th and drove straight through for 22 hours. The highlight of the ride was finally going to a Bojangle's in Virginia. Oh boys in correctional facilities! We got your Bojangle's!!! | ||
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Me
& My Friends Monet Dali Monet
& Dali Member of You can contact me at MissaJC324@verizon.net You are at http://www.missajc.com Visit my other sites: |
