On the Road: New Orleans to Austin

It rained on our last morning in New Orleans, which made the previous day’s sunshine and St. Paddy’s Day festivities seem like a dream. It was just a sprinkle when we loaded up the car, and a steady downpour during the first couple of hours on I-10. It reminded us of our 2021 road trip, when we also encountered heavy rain passing through Louisiana - that time it was further north, on I-20, but the experience was uncannily similar.

It was about 500 miles from New Orleans to Austin, which was about 8 hours of driving (because of the rain), mostly on Interstate 10. A large portion of this stretch of I-10 was in poor condition, with construction projects in progress. Combined with the rain, it wasn’t exactly a relaxing drive. An audiobook - Harvey Fierstein’s funny memoir I Was Better Last Night - helped pass the time.

After leaving New Orleans, we crossed Lake Pontchartrain. After Baton Rouge, we crossed the Mississippi River. We had some blue skies for a while, but it always managed to be raining whenever I wanted to take a picture. Through most of east Texas, the highway median was carpeted with wildflowers! They were so pretty, but it was raining too much to take any decent photographs from the car.

We stopped in Houston for a late lunch at Los Tios, where we tried their famous “puffy queso” stuffed with fajitas. Delicious!

I know there is a lot to see in Houston - and their big rodeo was underway - but we had to keep moving because Steve had to work the next day. We will have to explore Houston another time.

We arrived in Austin with plenty of time to unpack and settle in. Feeling hungry and tired, we walked a short way to Bufalina and were revived by their outstanding Caesar salad and Margherita pizza. It was a nice welcome to Austin.