#148 New Orleans in July!

I have made my hotel reservations for the Mensa Annual Gathering in New Orleans, July 6-11.  I got a "deluxe" river view room, high up (apparently they get "deluxer" as they go up the tower). 

I tried to get a room starting July 3, a few days before the gathering, thinking that I would look up some old friends in Baton Rouge (Obie's sister Vera, and their parents) and watch fireworks over the river on the fourth, but there was absolutely nothing available the nights of the third or fourth, and the only thing available on the fifth was a suite (French Quarter view) for $1100 per night.  Gasp! 

It's possible I might still go a little early, and stay near Baton Rouge the first night or two.  But to do that, I'll need to contact Vera well ahead of time. 

I really want to drive, not fly, but nothing on the hotel website mentions parking, so I'll have to call and ask.  (Long pause here while I remember the time Obie and I picked up a reconditioned taxi cab in New York City that his uncle had bought at an auction, in late 1966.  Obie dropped me off in Gettysburg, where I was teaching, and then drove the danged thing all the way to Baton Rouge.  It took him more than a week, because it wouldn't go over 40 mph, and it kept breaking down.  He had no money, so he had to sleep in it, and you wouldn't believe how bad it smelled.  None of the dials or gauges or turn signals worked.  By the time he got home, he hated it, and that's when he found out that the uncle had bought it as a gift for him.  I really miss that boy.)

But anyway, I thought I'd let you know I'm locked in.  New Orleans in July (that could be painful!) and the Hawaiian cruise in August. 

Now all I have to do is lose 30 lbs by the end of June.