Swamp Goodies

Back in the Atchafalaya Swamp- on one of our favorite pieces of road in the country. Stopped for the night at one of our regular haunts- Frenchman's Wilderness, pretty much right in the middle of the swamp. We unhitched the tow-able chuck wagon and headed off to Pat's for an all cajun meal on the bayou just beside the levee. In order to fit this in, we had to do an early dinner, so we had the place entirely to ourselves. Tried a bunch of cajun classics and a few things we'd never had before- all very interesting. Cajun or not, we added a generous portion of Pat's local made hot sauce. Whew! Good! Think of it as Happy Tuesday - a day late!

That's A Atchafalaya

Back in March of 2007 (see previous post) we first traveled the southern cross country route 10. "The Bridge" so called, a section of rt 10 that passes through the Atchafalaya Bayou in Louisiana immediately caught our attention. The long section of the highway passes some 25 feet ABOVE the swamp for a long section of divided highway, the views from which are quite stunning. It has been stuck in our minds as one of the niftiest stretches of highway the country has to offer...and we vowed to come back. And yesterday we did just that. We had an overnight IN the swamp about a mile away from the visitor's center seen in the previous post linked above. There is much to be explored here and this was not the time for that...but we still need to come back and have an extended stay here at some point.

We did put our time here to the best use. Took a four mile walk along the river, down to the swamp boat launch, past the visitors center, under "The Bridge" where-ever we could find firm land to hike on. Marilyn has her first "all mine" camera and we used this stroll as a training session. So to commemorate the occasion, all of the photos in this post will be her shots- taken by her, cropped by her, highlighted, sharpened, adjusted by her. Start to finish. So accolades are welcome. Hold the criticism....or else!

The day before, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, had all fallen into the rear view mirror on the push to New Mexico. The mighty Mississippi River had been crossed yet again. We blew by New Orleans, Lake Pontchartrain, Baton Rouge. Today we cruised into Texas and through Houston- a portion of the trip marred by the closing of Rt 10 where it passes directly through the city, creating detours, accidents and long delays. Tonight we are honkered down in Columbus, Texas which is God knows where, and I'd just as soon not. But true to my motto: Where-ever I go, there I am!

If the schedule can be maintained, two more nights in Texas, followed by arrival at camp in Arrey, NM on the 22nd. So let me sign off for now. Enjoy Marilyn's first photos. Not half bad, huh?

Mighty Mississippi and More

If where-ever else we are is “Gundyville,” then this must be “Sim’s City.” Our friends Sandy and Waylon (SIMS), minding the house while we travel, are from Louisiana, and a while back we toured New Orleans with them and had a great time. Lucky we did that because thanks to Katrina much of the opportunity to do that, at least in all its old glory, is gone for now. So for this trip we are content to see parts of the natural Louisiana- parts that were surely affected by hurricanes but not so an outsider would ever know.
We drove right through the heart of Baton Rouge and were excited to go up, up, and over the mighty Mississippi River. It was as expected: muddy, with paddlewheel river boats on either side of the bridge and lots of tug driven, steam belching barge traffic. The crossing is not significant because of its beauty ( it isn’t) but because it represents our having crossed into the West. And it represents the most central commercial artery of the country. We will be on this side of the Mississippi only for a short while on this venture. Just enough to get our feet wet in the west so to speak. And we did just that.
Having crossed the river, we drove through the Atchafalaya Bayou, the world’s largest river swamp system. To be honest, I never even heard of it before. But what a discovery! Swamps are interesting to begin with, but this one is downright exciting and we spend much more time exploring it that we had ever expected to do. We learned a lot and the welcome center for the area had interactive displays to help visitors learn lots. To date this is the best visitor’s center we have seen in any state we have visited. Amazing displays! We award Louisiana the “Best of Trip” welcome and info center. Unfortunately, I didn’t reset my trip meter on the coach so I don’t know exactly how many miles we were driving through the swamp, but surely this has to be the longest bridge anywhere, so long as you are willing to classify it as such. It’s actually a divided highway that goes for nearly 30 miles through the bayou on pilings. We snapped a shot or two as we drove down the highway, same as we had done when we crossed the river. There are some places you just can’t pull over when your vehicle is a combined 60 feet or so long! From the road, you are eye to eye with the tree tops and look down into the swamp. Incredible perspective - the kind of view you pay good money to see from a gondola at a theme park or mountain resort.
Most noteworthy about traveling through the Atchafalaya Bayou - the scenery is different than we have ever seen to date in our travels. Unique. Distinguished. Noteworthy. And very, very memorable. We enter the Bayou as the first entry on the list of places we would hope to return to for future consideration.
And a word or two about Gulf Coast hurricanes: As we have progressed through the states of the Southeast that border the Gulf of Mexico, we have both told and listened to many a hurricane story now. The stories are, in all truth, more or less the same, depending on how close to landfall the story was generated. But, as they used to say in a twist on the old detective TV shows, “the names have been changed to protect the innocent.” In this instance, the names change to blame the guilty. We were hammered the hardest by Charlie in Cape Coral. In the Florida Panhandle, we crossed the newly completed bridge on Rt.10 which was destroyed by Ivan. Got a close up look at Katrina in Biloxi and parts of Louisiana, but here, near the Texas border we are hearing and seeing about the rath of Rita. We all share the human experience. We all face the natural world. Hurricanes. Tornadoes. Earthquakes. Hail. Snow and Ice. It really doesn’t matter. Here on the planet, there is no getting away from it all. And only the names are changed…..

Up, up and over the Mighty Mississippi...
Paddlewheels upstream:
See the barges downstream, honey?
Nice looking "bridge artwork"
Highway infrastructure through the Atchafalaya Bayou
Interactive displays in Louisiana are excellent!