We are at the Lake Fosse Pointe State Campground in the cajun country in the Atchafalaya River Basin which is basically swamp. It is beautiful swamp, full of cypress and red maples just beginning to bud. They're releasing their bright red fruit into the wind like toy helicopters. I always loved to toss handfuls of them up into the sky and watch them twirl gayly around me when I was a girl. The weekend was crazy here at the campground but now it is quiet and I am sitting here listening to the birds call in their spring boisterousness. It has been VERY cold. Last night it was 38 dg. with a wind chill. We spent yesterday exploring the "towns" in the area. They are very poor. It is cajun and the accents are quite heavy. We were going to stop at a dance hall/ bar on the levee to hear some cajun music but, once we got their, neither of us wanted to face the smoke or the crowd, so we drove around, over the levee at every gap we could find, to see what was on the other side. The levee separates the river/swamp from the other river/swamp. Buildings are on both sides. I'm really not sure what good the levee would be in case of severe flooding. We got back to the site at dark and sat in the van using the internet and working on photos as the cold southern wind blew around us, safe and warm with our little electric heater. It seems odd that there is Wifi but no cell phone coverage. It is an interesting culture here and we have decided to stay another night and go into some larger towns in the Acadiana area today and get a better feel for it. Maybe we will get to hear some cajun music. If it doesn't happen in daylight hours, we won't hear it. I guess I've always been this way.
We decided to go down to a state park called Grand Isle at the southern tip of Louisiana for a few days. It should be 70 dg. there tomorrow, a little warm gulf beach time would be nice. Then we will start home, following the Nachez Trace Trail through to Tennesee and into North Carolina to get us to Ocracoke for a few days. The campground there doesn't open until April 2nd so we need to drag our feet a bit. It has been a great trip so far, but when that cold spring wind hits us it reminds us of what is waiting at home. I expect we will be home by the 9th or so. Hopefully most of the chill will be past.
Hope to see you all soon.
We decided to go down to a state park called Grand Isle at the southern tip of Louisiana for a few days. It should be 70 dg. there tomorrow, a little warm gulf beach time would be nice. Then we will start home, following the Nachez Trace Trail through to Tennesee and into North Carolina to get us to Ocracoke for a few days. The campground there doesn't open until April 2nd so we need to drag our feet a bit. It has been a great trip so far, but when that cold spring wind hits us it reminds us of what is waiting at home. I expect we will be home by the 9th or so. Hopefully most of the chill will be past.
Hope to see you all soon.
