Sana po, nasundan nyo ang Part 1 nito. Andyan lang sya sa Byahe at Lamierda Category. Ako po si Reynz, ang Kapitana del Barrio Siete, at eto po ang kwento how I ended up here sa 10 feet below sea level na shoedad. This was originally posted in my blog. Since then, I would occasionally get an email from my readers asking what I was doing in New Orleans. You see, I’ve lived in Philadelphia for a very, very long time, I am sooo antiquated kulang na lang na isalpak ako sa Museum. So, let me share my travelogue avec you all mon amis. Especially to those in the Middle East and China who have no access to reyna elena. Namnamin ang hirap na ginawa nang lola, mag-ka-trabaho la’ang.

7. Georgia

It was raining bad that night in South Carolina. I remember, nagulantang ako nang kidlat and the downpour. I went outside. Feel ko, nasa Pasig ako watching the rain. An lakas nang buhos. I was glad I did not drive that night. I left South Carolina very early in the morning, around 4am. No storm, maliwanag na ang langit.

70mph din sila here, kaya you could imagine an daming eroplano sa daan and Route 85 South seemed endless. Pagkahaba-haba nang highway na to.

Atlanta is a big city. Like Washington DC, meron silang beltway paikot sa city. I was in Atlanta around 9am, inabot ko ang rush hour traffic.

I saw a lot of construction here. Spared ba sila sa financial crisis?

I saw an Olympic sum’tin sum’tin on the left! Kinabahan na naman ako! Babagyo na naman ba?! Napaka-weird nang weather dito sa South!!!

What I noticed in Atlanta was the 6-lane highway, magkabilaan, and there were about 4 highways side by side.

Juicekoh! Ilang lanes yon?! Akala ko, Toronto has the widest highways, nakakaloka pala ang lapad nang highways dito sa Atlanta!

8.) Alabama

From Georgia, I’m still on 85 South na wala na yatang katapusan to! Juicekooo!!! This must be the longest highway I drover ever! Interesting though, patag na ata ang dinadaanan ko because the highways looked like this:

Kia Motors has huge plant here.

They even have their own boulevard built just for them by the City of Valley, Alabama.

I’ve been to Birmingham, Alabama on a business trip when I was working for a radio company. Now, I’m back in Billy’s country. Billy, the guy I met on the plane while I was interviewing for the New Orleans job.

This place reminds me of Baguio City. Indi lang nga sya bundok.

Back to my car, I was now headed towards Montgomery then Mobile, Alabama.

Alabama must have the straightest highway in the world. Yon tipo bang nilatag lang sya. Another thing I noticed, looked like paborito sila nang Koreans. Look what I saw! It’s Hyundai and it’s huge!

Did I say na napaka-straight nang kalsada dito? Check this out! Hanggang dun sa Bundok Banahaw na nakikita nang mata mo nang walang hanggan ever! Ganetch!

9.) Mississippi

I have no more clue where I was. Passing by Montgomery, I figured, mukhang kaya kong i-drive to up to New Orleans, tutal maliwanag pa, and get this – naka heater ako up to Georgia, and pagdating ko nang Alabama, I turned my airconditioner on! Now, I don’t know if this is Mobile, Alabama.

And what I saw was probably the largest and widest marshland ever na nakita ko sa buhay ko. I’m sure this is a protected area dahil ultimo daan is a very long bridge. It’s nice to know that this entire area is protected. How I wish for the world to be concerned about the environment. Kung sa Pinas to, leche, Mall of Mars na yan at siguro magagarbong palasyo nang mga kurakot.

And here I was in Mississippi! I thought it was funny listening to the radio tapos naririnig ko ang “the time now is 4:00pm sum’tin sum’tin in Biloxi, Mississippi!” Hahahaha! Truly ever na nasa South na akooo!!! Pagod na pagod na talaga ako. Sinugal ko na pagod ko and decided to drive the last two or 300 hundred miles ata ang dinig ko dun sa babae to New Orleans.

Kaya ba tinawag na Tornado Alley at Hurrican Corridor to dahil walang kabundok bundok? I mean, leche! Pag tinamaan ka nga naman nang bagyo dito, eh saan ka tatago?! Look kung gano ka-planudo to!!!

10.) Louisiana

I knew malapit na ako sa Louisiana when I saw this bridge construction. Tinataasan kasi nila ang dating bridge dala siguro nang experience from Katrina. I don’t know kung dagat or lake yong nasa baba, but this was another bridge na pagkahaba haba.

New Orleans

Finally! I could see New Orleans on the horizon!

Local roads here are bad. Uuga-uga ang kotse!!!

Finally! After 3 days of driving at ewan ko how many hours! After so many kaba, takot at delubyo sa daan! I have arrived!

Akala ko, it was a lake. They call it “bayou”. Ewan kung ano ang ibig sabihin nyan. Basta, it was tubig with pato, it must be a bayou.

Took a nap. Nasobrahan nang tulog. I woke up around 4am, nag-drive ako sa City and I was looking for Dunkin Donuts! Leche! Wala akong nakita! And I was starving! Pasalamat sila walang tao sa kalye, else lalamunin ko sila sa gutom mo! I ended up at Starbucks at kahit na dito never ko talaga magustuhan ang lasa nang lecheng Starbucks na yan! I wish merong Barako Kape hehehe!

Score card? 2 days, 2 nights plus 1 whole day of driving non-stop from South Carolina to New Orleans.

Gusto nyo ma-sight ang palasyo ko?

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reynz is one Uragon and a Filipino-American, has many years of public accounting & auditing, broadcast investments, housing tax credits and equity investments as his background. Based in the US, he maintains his personal and humor blog at reyna elena dot com. A graduate of Aquinas U, he went to GWU and Temple U in the United States.