April 25

April 25, 2012 The morning started with me watching the sun rise in the lounge car, but I quickly returned to my seat as we rolled in to Memphis. I disembarked the train and quickly found Karina and April racing to the station to change their tickets. (I had effectively convinced them the night before to skip their memphis stop and head straight to New Orleans). Just as quickly as the disappeared in the to the station, the pair emerged with new tickets and a new itinerary. Before I could really say anything, the duet of guys quickly stepped in, so I again just let it go. Once we were on our way, however, Karina, April and myself began to converse more and more learning more about each others journies. We caught breakfast in the Dining car with Frank, a nice gentleman that used to live in NOLA. The breakfast went well as the girls Asked questions about the city and what to do. Frank and I filled them in on all that we knew that would enhance the two's journey, hoping this would ease the pain of skipping Memphis. To my surprise the girls had one of the venues on their list, that I knew would be a hit, the "Hi Ho Lounge". When they asked what was so good about the Hi Ho, I simply said "The Stooges". The club had recently been bought by the infamous "Kings Of The Street" and was the home of their regular Thursday night gig. The two had never heard of The Stooges, and I wasn't surprised. They had also never heard of brass bands, which also didn't surprise me, but was a little weird, since they were going to New Orleans, but that aside I knew they would soon discover the culture and the music. Breakfast quickly ended and was fairly decent considering the trip. April decided to return to the seats to take a nap, after a restless night, while Karina and I returned to the observation car to discuss New Orleans and learn more about each other. During our discussions I learned that Karina and April were escaping Vancouver for this trip and just ready to have fun. I let her know that she's going to a place that I truly love and admire and told her that it had been a two year drought, since I had last been to the Crescent City. Frank joined us again and I said to him "Do you know what it means?" He simply looked at me and said, "Oh yes." Karina was puzzled and didn't understand my question, but I told her after this trip, this week, she would know what I ask that question. April joined us some time later on our trip to New Orleans, but we quickly retired back to our seats so I could help them find a place to stay. While in our process, two of the intrepid young men offered a hotel room to them, that friends had or to get a room together. Karina, being the nice person that she was, entertained the idea but was still looking for places and taking my suggestions for numbers and hostels. April on the other hand, was not as enthusiastic about the prospect of sharing a space with the young men. We finally found a place that seemed suitable called "St. Vincent's House". After several tiring calls over 2 hours, the girls made contact, as we crawled in to New Orleans. After helping them find and book their hostel, I realized that the hostel was only 4 blocks from the house that Erik had rented for the group. When that was discovered, the three of us decided to split the cab over. As the train pulled in to New Orleans' Union Station, we disembarked and made our way to the station. There I offered my number and services to the two guys that wanted to split a room with Karina and April, but the said that they would figure it out. They were obviously unhappy about the fact that the three of us (April, Karina, and I) were going to be in contact for the trip. With all of that behind us, I picked up Erik's tuba and we hailed a cab to the Lower Garden District, near Magazine Street. With some minor confusion of the address of the band's house, we pulled up to a wonderful little shotgun house. Here I left the girls to find their hostel. Finally in New Orleans, I awaited the arrival of Roc, Kid and Jordan. I was home, at last, and after a hectic 5-6 months, I was finally at peace