The Camel Diaries: A Trip to Texas and Louisiana

In March I managed to sign myself up for a conference in Houston. Having never been to the States before, it seemed a fantastic opportunity. Unfortunately I had to leave the Desert Rat at home but we did manage to have a few days r & r in London before I left.

I had heard many stories about Houston before going there – both good and bad. I must say that I was pleasantly surprised. Everyone was really friendly and there were loads of things to do. A highlight was going to the Fine Arts Museum to see an amazing international exhibition from Pompeii. I did the obligatory visit to the mall – you could literally spend your whole life shopping if you put your mind to it.

Downtown

School bus - How do these things balance???

Houston Arborteum

Some local Houstonians sitting at the front of their house

I happened to be there for the presidential campaign, and although I did not see any of the candidates in the flesh, there was plenty of evidence of them being around.

After the conference, I made a quick dash over to Louisiana to see Gator Girl and Swamp Boy. They took me out on the town in New Orleans which was loads of fun. I can only describe Bourbon Street as being like Hindley Street on steroids!! They also gave me the Hurricane Katrina Tour of New Orleans – it was incredible to see some two years later that there are still wrecked houses with the writing on the side of the wall from when they were searching for bodies during the initial rescue and clean-up operations. There is a very obvious difference between the rich and poor areas in the city. Unfortunately, while in Louisiana I managed to get sick, so my adventures in New Orleans were somewhat restricted (as well as the number of photos I took!). However, the Desert Fox and I plan to go back sometime and check it out.