Hi Family and Friends,
The move down to Nawlins was successful. Unfortunately, it was during a heat wave. We left Dallas with a heat index of 108 and arrived in New Orleans with a heat index of 110! Without James, Dad and Rebecca, we couldn't have done it. We did find time to ride the St. Charles Streetcar (which runs right by our house) and visit the French Quarter together (even if we were dripping sweat). The only casualty of the move (besides some tears from a stressed out Jamie) was the U-Haul had a boo boo. While parking the truck at Grandpa Dunlap's, the big tree in the front yard "jumped" in front of the Uhaul. Luckily we took out the insurance!
Now we are nearly settled in to our new home. The only thing lacking is to hang up the pictures. One thing we are learning is that older homes are built differently. We live in a 1920's home in an area called Riverbend. The walls are made out of plaster so our landlord doesn't want us to hang pictures on the walls. Instead, there is moulding about a foot from the ceiling that pictures are supposed to be suspended from. We thought the moulding was for decoration! We are always learning something new.
After arriving in New Orleans in August, we did what any reasonable person would do. We left!! Justin wanted to visit the Northwest, so we headed to Portland. We had a wonderful time driving down the Pacific Coastal Hwy to San Fransisco. The weather was cool (50-60s) and the scenery was stunning. The jagged cliffs abutting the cool Pacific Ocean was memorable. We even saw a wild Bald Eagle (a first for each of us)! Some of the highlights included: visiting the Columbia River Gorge, riding dune buggies at 70mph down 300 foot sand dunes, hiking through the Redwood forests, revisiting some of our favorite honeymoon destinations and seeing some dear friends in San Fran. With the stress of moving, we hadn't realized how badly we needed a vacation. Luckily we got all rested up to come back to New Orleans ...
And start real life. Justin started graduate school this week and is starting to find his feet beneath him. Jamie is eager to begin her new job on Monday (and making some friends!) We are already planning on some visits from loved ones and coming back to Texas. We are really missing our family and friends... And knowing where the grocery store is or the post office!
Love,
Team JJ
(If you want to see pictures of the vacation, check out the following link:)
Oh, Oh... We nearly forgot. Justin finally got to mark off an item from his bucket list! We got to visit Pixar while on vacation. (Pixar is the company who makes fantastic animation movies like Toy Story, Cars and the Incredibles that Justin loves!) A friend of ours was able to hook us up with a secruity guard from Pixar. We got a private tour, saw their super cool building and bought clothes/books from their exclusive store. Now only 998 more things to cross off his list! (Oh the other item he had crossed off? He married Jamie!)
