For our visit to New Orleans, we boondocked on the BioLiberty compound down on Bayou Liberty in Slidell, Louisiana.

This is where our old Humboldt friend Gordon Soderberg now calls home.

Living full-time in his RV, he has established quite an impressive green enterprise with the help of a local dentist who owns the property.

BioLiberty employs US Military veterans to produce biodiesel from waste vegetable oil and demonstrate sustainable energy solutions for commercial and residential applications. Gordon relocated to the compound shortly after showing up to provide relief efforts for the Hurricane Katrina levee breach. He’s been gutting houses and clearing lots since.

Though there are plenty of downed trees left after clearing the property, we had a hard time getting a bonfire lit. But that didn’t keep a few well-intentioned hippie kids from showing up – in a Volvo – for a spontaneous BBQ. I really didn’t mind cooking for everybody while they attempted to light the pile of mud. Someone had to keep an eye on the grease fire they started in the RVQ attached to the side of our trailer!

The compound was muddy, across the lake from New Orleans, and down a winding narrow road. But you can’t beat free! And it served as a good base to check out the devastation that remains in the lower Ninth Ward – see our dashboard movies playlist for a closeup – and a night on the town in the French Quarter.