Adventure Car on the ferry in Cameron Parish

This Sunday James and I set out on our first trip to New Orleans, Louisiana. The trip was prompted by an invitation from a close friend which coincided with a week of fantastic weather. Is there a better way to embrace the spirit of spring than with a road trip under a blue sky with the windows down? No, there is not. So, we strapped the bikes onto the car, packed our cleanest clothes, and hit the open road.

This drive took us east from Austin to Houston. Then, rather than take the interstate in to Louisiana we decided to venture along the Creole Nature Trail, also known as Highway 82. This route parallels the Gulf of Mexico allowing us to take in some interesting views of beaches, wetlands, and numerous massive oil and petrochemical refineries. True to its name, this scarcely-traveled two-lane highway is indeed a nature trail and in this coastal landscape we spotted thousands of birds, several snakes, a few alligators, a beaver, and a wild boar!

We are old hands at road trips having traversed the North American continent by car this past summer. At that time we learned a thing or two about eating well on the road and our favorite car snack, whenever we had a chance to make it, was hummus with sliced vegetables. For this trip we were armed with a healthy selection of carrots and radishes from the Saturday farmer’s market and a fresh batch of Megamaga Hummus. Car trips can be exhausting, but eating well and staying hydrated helped us reach our destination ready to take on (almost) any adventure the Big Easy has to offer.