#1,161 Trip Home + Chili Cookoff Part 2. @ Automotive World

First of all, we got a very early start hopping aboard the train this morning. We were starving (always are) and headed straight for the dining car for breakfast as we crossed the Pontchartrain. French toast, roasted potatoes and fresh fruit were our favorites on the menu. I can't believe how romantic it felt to take that 3 hour train ride there and back. It felt like we were far away, traveling across France or something (living my French Kiss dream!), thus making the close-by New Orleans a totally different place for me than it's ever been before.

We came home to find our darling pups had eaten Baker's bed. He's had it for 6 months, it's his favorite thing in the world. Every time I would take it out to clean it or shake it, Baker would get all bent out of shape, following me, worried about his dang bed. But to let us know how displeased they were with our brief absence, they took that bed, dismantled it and strowed the fluffy brown innards across our property. They're hard workers.

Remember last year's downtown chili cookoff? It was freeeeezing cold and raining, but we still had a ball. Today there wasn't a cloud in the sky, but the temperature never reached 50 and the wind would blow the hair off your head. It was actually perfect weather for a hot bowl of chili. I can't believe how many people came!