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Our "Ozarks/Cajun" trip was a criss
crossed circle across Louisiana, Dallas, Kansas City, Memphis and New
Orleans. We had talked about visiting "Cajun Country" since
learning about the Acadian Diaspora during our Canadian
Maritimes vacation in August 1999. However, it was not supposed
to be this year.
Our original trip was to be a visit to Western Europe. We still
expect to take that trip eventually. We already had booked the plane
tickets and some of the hotels. Jesse had already done considerable
research on various sites over there. Then the economy started to
"slow down" and there was a small round of layoffs at work.
It suddenly didn't seem like a good time to run up several thousand
dollars on the credit cards. We are still weathering that economic
storm as this story is written.
The original trip had us flying into London Gatwick and home from
either Paris, Amsterdam, Zurich, or Frankfort. Lyn and Jesse were to
arrive a couple days before Dave, then we were to all spend a couple
an extra couple days. We were to take the chunnel train to Paris, and
stay at the Courtyard near the Arch de Triumphe, then get a car and
drive out to Normandy and generally across northern France,
Luxembourg, and into Holland. We would dump the car and enjoy
Amsterdam before flying home. We were working the logistics of where
to get the best price on the car, most convenient flights, and
general train and hotel logistics. Then we changed our minds.
Dave put in for two weeks vacation and had a class scheduled in
Dallas for the launch. We had already booked his Dallas to London
outbound flight. When the economy started to go sour, we returned the
points to the Delta account, and started to look again. We already
had two weeks vacation blocked, so we figured we should do something
"local" to Florida or something very cheap (visit and stay
with relatives?).
That's when we started to kick around our
postponed plans for "Cajun Country". Maybe we could fly in
and out of Dallas and drive over to New Orleans and back. Well, that
seemed like a pretty silly use of frequent flyer tickets and besides,
in that plan we would have to pay for the car ourselves (and it would
be quite pricey for two full weeks). That's when Dave hit on the idea
of driving from Florida and driving across to Dallas (getting a cheap
"Florida Rate" on the car, then billing it car back in lieu
of Dave's plane tickets). We would keep the car and driving a
big loop that deposited us back home in Florida. We would spend no
air fair or points, and rent no car. We would have our pick of
Marriott Courtyard and Holiday Inn Express locations dotting the area
and zillions of points at our disposal. We would only pay for gas,
meals, entertainment and a couple nights of hotels where we ended up
in an odd place.
We looked around the area, and decided to visit New Orleans, Memphis
(from the original plan), Dallas (for Dave's class), and to go north
to Oklahoma City, Wichita, and Kansas City (places Dave had never
been). Also, Branson Missouri was nearby that route, so we would at
least stop in and see what everybody was talking about. We started
calling it our "BBQ & Gumbo" trip, but eventually
decided on "Ozarks/Cajun". There would be a lot of driving
and the proverbial "lot of nothing" out there, but we would
see it all and it would not run up our credit cards. There would be
plenty of good eating. We formally pulled the plug on Paris and
Amsterdam (for now), and had Jesse start researching in earnest on
our new destination.
Lyn quickly found a bargain rental car rate out
of Florida, with unlimited mileage. It made sense to get the car
there, and to drive the whole trip. Dave would be teaching in San
Francisco the week before Dallas, and flying home on a red eye
Thursday night. The logistics wouldn't work. If Dave slept all day
Friday, we would not have enough time to drive all the way to Dallas
in time for his class on Monday. Lyn would have to get the car early,
then drive half-way. Dave would meet up somewhere in the middle, and
drive Saturday and Sunday to Dallas.
We investigated Pensacola, as it had good Delta flights and handy
Marriott Courtyard. However, there was really nothing to do there. We
looked at several other cities, then settled on Mobile Alabama as the
meeting point. Dave would work in San Francisco Thursday, then fly a
red eye to Mobile and arrive Friday around 10am. The Mobile Courtyard
would allow him "early arrival" and he would hit the sack.
Lyn and Jesse would get the car Wednesday night and drive all day
Thursday to somewhere in the panhandle and spend Thursday night. They
would drive to Mobile and meet Dave at dinnertime on Friday. The
Mobile Bay Bears minor league baseball team was home for a Friday
night game. We would have a nice dinner, then go to the game, then go
to bed. It was decided that Lyn and Jesse's shopping point would be
Tallahassee. If they arrived early enough, they could visit anyone of
several government or museum sites. They could make it to Mobile in
one day with enough energy to enjoy a baseball game.
Planning forward from Friday night, we would
drive "halfway" to Dallas on Saturday. There were Marriott
Courtyards in both Monroe and Shreveport, Louisiana. Lyn followed her
tried and true strategy and made a reservation for Saturday night at
both of them. We were going to use points, but found out that a
week-end special was going on and the room could be had for $69 cash!
We were hoping to make it to Shreveport, as the Swamp Dragon minor
league baseball team would be playing a Saturday night home game. But
it seemed like a very long drive (if we even made it that far) and we
would probably either arrive too late or too tired to see a ball game
at the end of the day.
But the plans were finalized and the reservations were made. Lyn and
Jesse began to research things to see in Louisiana, Texas, Oklahoma
and Mississippi. Dave packed extra clothes and headed off to work in
San Francisco. When Wednesday night arrived, Lyn had her friend Holly
drive them out to dinner and to the airport to get the rental car.
Then it was home to bed for Lyn and Jesse with the trip to start in
the morning.
Please Read On and enjoy our story .... |
Preparation and Planning
