Louisiana Marathon pre-race

So The Louisiana Marathon...

It was a good race, a great course for the most part.

The drive is pretty easy.  Two friends (Becky and Tala) and I took off in my car at about 7 am Saturday morning to head south.  I used my iPhone to keep directions and it worked pretty well.  Becky worked until 2 am that morning so she slept most of the way and Tala sat up front to keep me company.  I have to say the drive was easy.  The weather was nice and we only stopped a couple times, once for gas and another for lunch. Driving to Southern Louisiana is not straightforward by any means.  It's not like driving to St Louis, Memphis or Dallas where you can hop on an interstate and cruise.  Going to Louisiana takes you though every little town, slowing you down so you are sure to enjoy the scenery.  Divided highways and two lane local roads keep the traffic flowing though the inner cities and there are no bypasses.  In a way it's good because it forces you to see the towns, stop in the towns and shop in the towns. 

as we proceeded south the pine forests were gradually taken over by lumbering expanses of branches of large ancient oak trees.  The water level got high, the branches sunk lower and the Spanish moss floated with the wind.  It is beautiful there. 

we crossed the river into Mississippi, then hopped back into Louisiana, curved and winded and finally ended up on Interstate 110 that looped us around Baton Rouge.  We pulled off the highway and I dropped the girls off at the door of the Belle Casino and Hotel while I parked the car in the deck.  Our room was OK, it was sort of an older hotel, there was a casino where we promptly deposited all our available cash.  The expo was simple enough (not very big, about 30 vendors)  and we had our packets and belongings organized in our room before 4:30.    We are pretty good at this race stuff by now.

We strolled down the street to meet up with some friend for dinner and drinks then on the way back took photos of downtown, some interesting river sculpture, a couple boats and chatted.  Pretty low key and calm. After desert and drinks in the hotel bar we were ready to turn in.

The next morning was race day....

I apologize if this blog is boring. :)