Sunday, a day of relaxation

Today was elimination racing day. Stuart's class was the 2nd class to run, and Stuart was the first race in his class. He lost by ONE-ONE HUNDREDTH OF A SECOND. Actually, L and I thought he won - we were jumping up and down like fools in the stands, because he ran his dial-in time exactly, which is really unusual, and typically means that you've won. But the other guy beat him by this teeny-tiny margin. So it was a great run, and he fixed a problem that the car has been having, and it's a good sign that he's able to predict what the car can do in certain weather/temperature/wind situations, but... as Stuart says, "if you have to lose, this is the way to do it - with a good run."
So we hung out at the track until early evening, since the track owner is letting us leave the trailer there for the days that we toodle around Louisiana, so that we don't have to drag the trailer with us. It was actually a really good day - we'd kind of settled in, knew where everything was, etc. L and I made cards and watched a movie and checked on the alligator. We had more wonderful food for lunch - fried balls of crab and of crawdads, fried fresh fish, and tiny spicy rolls with beef in them. Everything was wonderful - I could eat this every day. I ate a truly impressive amount of that fish. :)
I've also discovered Snowballs. I think maybe I mentioned them yesterday. They are like snowcones, in a cup, with really really finely shaved ice. I am now officially addicted to "Strawberry Wedding Cake" flavored snowballs - the lady at the concession stand knew what to make when she saw us in line this afternoon! They have evaporated milk in them and are just about the best things ever!
This morning it was so humid that we could actually SEE the moisture in the air - I've never experienced that before. We could see the water particles floating down - like mist, but different.
This evening, after we left the track, we came back to the hotel so that L could go swimming. They only have an outside pool, but it was really warm, so L got to swim outdoors in the third week in March - that just seems so crazy, but she was deliriously happy.
We went into Donaldsonville to try a restaurant tonight - it had great reviews for authentic local food - Cajun and Creole. However, it turns out that pretty much all of the small local restaurants are closed on Sunday evenings. So we ate at Wendy's. Not quite the same category - but we did have the NICEST man help us, and he was so sweet to L, so everything worked out.
We are heading for New Orleans tomorrow. One nice thing about meeting other racers at the track is that many of them are local, and they gave Stuart the scoop about where to stay in N.O. and where to park, and what attractions are must-sees. So we got a swamp tour scheduled for Tuesday (on an AIRBOAT - I am really excited!), and we're going to the Audubon Insectarium and L wants to tour the famous above-ground cemeteries. I think we're just going to head for the French Quarter and walk around. And we're going to try to toss in a visit to the Gulf of Mexico, too, while we're down here. You know, everything Louisiana offers in three days! Oh, yeah, and another plantation visit, to one that has costumed guides and lots of hands-on demonstrations for kids to try. We're going to be exhausted but happy!
Carla
Sunshine Bridge, which crosses the Mississippi about a mile from our hotel

A tree beside the place from which our swamp tour was supposed to depart - I love the moss dangling from all of the trees!

An enormous boat on the Mississippi