Driving experiences in Louisiana - USA

Driving in USA was much different from driving in Canada But mostly that earlier experience made me feel more confident about my driving.




Getting driving license from Louisiana (where i am living now) was hassle free. With our indian driving experience lets us get american driving license easily. All we have to do is first clear a written test and then take a drive test. thats it we get a license with no restrictions.

Previous driving experience in any country counts specially international driving permit. Indian or any other country driving license will also do.

Canada and US driving rules are mostly same. Biggest difference is all the numbers are in miles in USA and Canada and most of the world uses Kilometers.
Its cautiously driving for a few days is whats important and eventually you will get used to it.

Crossing worlds longest bridge - Lake Pontchartrain Causeway

Lake Pontchartrain Causeway is the longest bridge in the world. Its built on lake Pontchartrain thats between New Orleans(South shore) and covington(North shore).

Some facts

spanning 23.9 miles from Metairie on the South Shore.

Speed limit 70 miles per hour.



We did not notice the first time we crossed it in the midnight. But now its a feast to the eyes every time we cross it. At the same time its a bridge where we have to drive very carefully as only 2 high speed lanes are the on each side.

Mardi gras 2009 @ Slidell, Metairie, Covington, Mandeville, New Orleans - Louisiana

Although Mardi gras is celebrated worldwide in various forms, Louisiana is famous (and notorious!!) for Mardi gras carnival.



Fun part of this carnival is lots of beads, soft toys, plastic glasses are thrown from the floats. Families with kids await eagerly for this carnival and come prepared with huge bags and ladders. Kids sit on those ladders along the roads(path of the floats). They catch everything thrown at them and almost fill multiple bags of beads and other stuff collected.

This take place for almost two weeks and almost everyday some part of Louisiana will have some mardi gras celebration.
We attended Mardi gras in Slidell, Mandeville and Metairie.

Bubbles at Gymboree on Inika's birthday.

Rishab attended Inika's birthday in Gymboree at Mandeville. As a part of games organized, bubbles were blown all over the place.

All games were for kids below 5 years and they had a blast.

Life changes

Life changes dramatically with the entry of our kid(s). Mine isnt different, Rishab changed the way we look at every minute thing in our life.

I have been maintaining his blog regularly, but haven't been updating my own.

Stamps of 2007

Wow yet another year with amazing memories. Best way to remember these events is by making stamps of important events. Since most part of 2007 was spent in Canada, almost all the stamps of 2007 are of Canada.

Driving in Canada

Driving at 120KMS speed on the highways was exciting and memorable event. Read all about my experience of driving in Canada

Created Kannada-Greetings.com

One of the most important task that i did during my stay in canada was the contribution to kannada lanugage on Internet - A Kannada greetings website. Lots of people use it now, 2500+ hits a day sometime.

CN Tower
visited CN Tower on June 30 read the full details of CN Tower travel experience

Niagara falls
visited most beautiful water fallsNiagara Falls A must visit place on the world map. Dont forget to read my reivew of the niagara falls travel experience

Fall Season
Fall season is the most brightly lit colorful season of the year. We were all excitied to be a part of it.

Chilling Winter
Winter was the exact opposite of fall season. It was the most difficult time of the year. We had to spend almost all the time at home.

Dont forget to see my previous year 2006 stamps

Hot air balloons in London, ON

Brief about Hot air balloons
Hot air balloon is one of the oldest technology to carry humans in air dating back to 1783. It consists of a bag that holds the heated air, and a basket and heating sources are carried along with passengers/pilot. They can also come in a variety of shapes and sizes.


Balloon festival was going on in London On August 4 2007, Saturday. It was 1 hour drive for us from Stratford.


View Larger Map

It takes place in Harris Park at the forks of the Thames River during Simcoe Day(first Monday in August) weekend.
After having some food and roaming around the groud that had some amusement games, slowly the crowd started gathering and a few balloons started inflating.


First ones were a maple leaf and Canadian Flag hot air balloons. Crowd cheered with pride. There were other participating balloonist from USA. More than 20 balloons were launched from this location one after the other.



Then there was a diano which was inflated but never took off. It finally bent over the crowd and fell down. It was just an attraction for kids.

How and where do they land?
Each hot air balloon will have its vehicle on the ground that chases these balloons. they will have GPS


Official site :http://www.londonballoonfestival.com