Day 6

Day light reveals that we have settled ourselves on top of an anthill, & uncomfortably close to a pair of park trails trafficked by mountain bikers..

A brisk pack up and we jam.

“Where are we going again?”

…Why don’t we ever know.

Morning swim washes the night’s sweat off us.

We check out Shane’s Jeep for wear….oil is still gold & the hydrogen cell is at perfect amperage.

Decide to head Louisiana…gotta see New Orleans & the oil spill.

Stop in a moonsooning Houston for some Chipotle.. our spirits are lightened.

Hug the coast to check out the oil spill…Can’t really see anything.. Which is good right?? As dusk approaches we are forced to stop in Franklin, LA.

Finding a rural campsite is compromised as the entire place is a swamp, complete with alligators & water moccasins. Decision is to try to sleep in a Church’s lawn. We find one. Pull up the long dirt driveway, only to find it’s connected to an occupied house. A young man comes outside..ohh crap

We drive up & tell him our situation.

He obliges and allows us to set up the tents behind the main sanctuary. Plush Louisiana grass..nice. We get to talking to this young man & we find out the bayou 15 feet behind our “campsite” is home to a few of gators…one is 14 foot. He convinces us we’ll be good in the tents. By the time we get our teeth brushed, its pushing 1am, then from out the blue the kids dad peaks around the corner of the sanctuary:

Him: Awkward menacing/confused stare.

Rory: “Hello sir, we’re roadtripping through & your son here said we could make a quick camp for the night”

Him: (To boy) “You head inside right now boay” (to us) Sorry he’s an idiot, I don’t know what ya’ll are doing; but, you’re to pick up & git outta here. You got 20 minutes”

Shane, Jon, & I (in unison) “yessir, right away sir”

We proceed to grudgingly pack up..realizing we’re so going to have to sleep in the car..again.

He awkwardly acts like he’s picking up twigs in the lawn while he non-dicreetly stares at us throw our gear in the back of the Jeep…mad creepy.

We drive back on out & the shock of what just happened fades within a few miles.

We pull into a gas station like place. I attempt to sleep underneath the front bumper, while Jon & Shane lay the front seats back.

Between the biting ants and the stifling heat..not a moment of rest is to be had.

We are left alone for the most part except for a white Chevy Tahoe that suspiciously drives around a few times. At about 4 am..this Tahoes comes by again and parks on the other side of the building..ohh s. here we go. Rory prepares for the worst while Jon & Shane go confront the car. He says he’s a cop. But, his uniform looks more like a security guards..we’re creeped out. Jonny & Shane mimic his accent till sunrise…we laugh & realize it only gets better from here. We wait till sunrise & drive the last few hours in New Orleans.