New Orleans

I had to go to New Orleans last Monday and Tuesday to attend a workshop for my job. I don't travel much for work, which is good because I hate it. I like to travel, just not for work. I half expected to see piles of rubble all over the place. We didn't get the chance to see too much driving back and forth from the office to our hotel but if you paid attention you could definitely see there is a lot of work left to do. They booked us at the Royal Sonesta on Bourbon Street. This was my first time in New Orleans. I heard stories about Bourbon Street but it wasn't what I expected. Maybe because I arrived on Sunday night and there is still about three weeks to Mardi Gras but the place was dead. A few people walking around and some music in the bars but basically dead. My room faced Bourbon Street. I don't know what time the music at the bar across the street stopped but it wasn't too much before the garbage trucks showed up at 5:00AM. This is great, no sleep and now I get to spend the day listening to people talk about how we move data around the company. Its boring stuff but on rare occasions, it can be interesting, at least that's what I tell myself.

During the workshop, I sat beside a really nice guy, Bwout, from Holland. He works in IT at one of our European warehouses. During one of the breaks, somehow the subject of cycling came up (I admit I brought it up...hey the guy's from Europe, he might follow the Pro Tour). Anyway, he was a big fan of cycling and had even ridden in Belgium and the Alps. We talked about the Rabobank team, discussed Erik Dekker, Thomas Dekker and some of the old Dutch riders...pretty cool.

I won't go into detail on what we did on Monday night after dinner. Turn a bunch of IT guys loose on Bourbon Street on a Monday night and I'm sure you can guess what could happen (yes, insert sarcasm here). I will say I did listen to some really good Jazz.

The beer in the picture wasn't mine...I was drinking the Diet Pepsi, at least during this round. I didn't get back to the room until after 2:00AM. We need to be checked out have breakfast by 8:00. I couldn't sleep again so I didn't have to worry about being late. I was the first one in the lobby at 7:00. Pretty uneventful for the rest of the trip. The flights all left on time and arrived early. I was so glad to be back in my own bed. I was finally able to get a good night's sleep.