Lush Louisiana

SLIDELL, La. -- Even while driveing through the thick Sunday morning fog we could see that Louisiana was a different world than what we had left behind in Minnesota. Our first stop of the morning was for breakfast in a park (see photos). From there we crossed Lake Pontchartrain and drove into downtown New Orleans for four hours of free time, after which the group split up and drove to the three separate work camps that would host them for the coming week.

Although Louisiana is beautiful and the downtown would prove to be a worthy tourist destination, the stretch of highway between the lake and city served as a sobering reminder about why they are here. We passed neighborhood after neighborhood that had been wholly abandoned. In other areas we could see entire blocks of damaged homes, some of which were completely covered by blankets of moss and vines. Veterans from last year's Ole Spring Relief trip could see improvements over the past year, but it's obvious to everyone that there is no shortage of work.