It's over...

We rolled into New Orleans this afternoon, the car in reasonable shape (our exhaust leak is slowly redeveloping), us showing a bit more wear. Found the hotel after driving through some still-abandoned parts of the city, and some that have been re-inhabited; I'm not really sure which were creepier.

The hotel, however, is a huge improvement from Birmingham, and is probably the nicest we've had in the whole rally. It's in the Garden District on St. Charles Ave. We went into the French Quarter for food, walked around some to stretch out our legs after five days of being sedentary, and then made our way to the hotel where the official closing ceremony was to be held.




As usual, things were running late, so the assembled throng spilled out into the street and promptly drew the ire of the hotel management. We were shifted further and further up the street until we ended up in an empty parking lot bordering a rather dodgy area of Canal St. The ceremonies continued on for a while, with the organizer being completely inaudible to those more than two rows back. Nonetheless, trophies were awarded, applause was given, and the group slowly broke up, drifting toward their hotels or the French Quarter, depending on whether they had to start for home tomorrow morning or not.










We are of course beginning the return leg tomorrow, heading for Atlanta. We're not looking forward to more driving, but it's a pretty straight shot, and it will be nice not to have to worry about challenges and routes. The whole thing was lots of fun, but grueling at times. While it proves that you can drive long distances in a $500 car, it also proves that it is not something you will want to do often. And it makes you appreciate your other cars that much more.

P.S.- Forgot to mention that, on Day 4 while out taking pictures of mailboxes in order to fulfill a challenge requirement, I rescued a turtle in the middle of the road. No road trip is complete without a turtle rescue.