Today was fairly uneventful.  First, we got new tires for the car and went crockery shopping.  We really noticed the Texas drawl among the people in the grocery store.  Then we went to grocery and ate lunch.  We also picked up Kent's stuff so we could leave more quickly and easily after the bowl game.  While Kent was with us we ate at a restaurant for lunch.  Then we went to the Sonic Drive-in tailgate party where we watched a couple bands perform and also saw the Alabama and part of the Iowa State marching bands.  We waited around and then went to the game.  It was pretty exciting, although Iowa State lost.  Then we ate supper and went back to the condo.

    We also stopped at the Texas and Louisiana welcome centers where I picked up brochures to look at today.  I'll give a brief summary of Louisiana.

     Louisiana is divided into five main regions: Sportsman's Paradise in northern LA, Crossroads area in central LA, Cajun Country in south LA, Plantation country in south central LA, and the Greater New Orleans area in southeast LA.  One interesting fact is that jazz has been traced back to the slaves of New Orleans.   In many parts of Louisiana the culture is called a creole.   A creole is a blend of French, African, Spanish, and Caribbean cultures.  Creole culture is found mostly in southern Louisiana.   A creole culture, however, should not be mistaken for the famous Cajun culture of southern Louisiana.   Cajun is made up of several different cultures: Acadia/Nova Scotia, French, Haitian, Spanish, English, German, and Native American.   The cajun culture is very unique.   From this culture comes cajun dancing, cajun music, which uses a lot of accordions and fiddles, and cajun food, which is usual very spicy (and very good).