Category: Louisiana

We continue to have a really busy time here, especially since we are getting ready to go. We’re packing and getting our food ready for the trip, and I’m calling campgrounds and looking up hosts on Couchsurfing. Chelsea is doing our bike maintenance tasks. It’s amazing how much time it all takes.

Birding – we saw a flamingo!

We managed to see the Cameron Prairie Wildlife Refuge last week, and while it doesn’t strictly count as birding, we really enjoyed the displays about Cajun life in the marshes (new after Ike and Rita). We did see a belted kingfisher (stuffed) so now we can recognize it, along with a marsh wren.
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We’re chugging along here in Oak Grove, making preparations to leave on May 20. We’re lining up places to stay and looking over the mileage and distances on our daily stretches in between stops. We’ve been riding every day, covering our usual 22+-mile route, and still dealing with 15-30 mph winds (which are head winds or strong side winds most days).

Though the winds are a nuisance, we are pleased about how strong we are getting. We can really feel a difference. Since we haven’t ridden hills in forever, we are glad for the strength-building workout.
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After having a week filled with writing and tasks, we thought we’d take Saturday completely off, doing as little as possible. Much to our surprise and delight, Donny came by midafternoon and invited us to go birding and adventuring with him, over towards the Texas border.

Oak Grove to Texas and back

We crossed Calcasieu Pass on the Cameron Ferry – Chelsea and I love ferries, so that was a treat. At the ferry crossing, we saw many boats for the oil industry, from spud barges to lift barges (see notes below), to work boats (bringing supplies and materials out to the oil rigs in the Gulf) and crew boats (bringing the crews and supplies out to the oil rigs). Bird-wise we saw great egrets, lots of gulls, a yellow-crowned night heron, and lots of brown pelicans (which made us feel at home).
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Our weekend was extremely busy, filled with activities out of our local area. After a great breakfast at home, we started Saturday early with a two-hour car trip to Youngsville, up near Lafayette, to repair a hurricane-damaged stained glass window from the Baptist church in Oak Grove.

The stained glass shop was really beautiful. It was spacious and airy, with many over-sized windows letting in sunlight and showing off the beautiful stained glass and etched windows the owner has created. We loved the clear glass etchings he has done, especially a particularly gorgeous bayou scene.
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We’ve begun riding four to five days a week around Oak Grove and Creole and it’s been well worth the effort. We ride seven miles east out towards Grand Chenier, turning north just before the Mermentau River Bridge. We’ve got about a mile of east/northeast before turning north on Pumpkin Ridge Rd (a hurricane evacuation route for those between Oak Grove and Pecan Island).

After three miles north on Pumpkin Ridge Rd. we ride due west on Chenier Perdue/East Creole Hwy to Creole, where we head south for two miles, then east for the final mile home. The round trip is about twenty-two miles.
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We’d planned on leaving Tuesday or Wednesday , but got so busy over the weekend that we knew we wouldn’t be ready to go. There was another four-day storm front coming in over the weekend, and we weren’t looking forward to being out in that, either.

Monday, Jo-Ann asked why we were leaving; asked if it was urgent that we go; and asked us to stay for a while longer. We need to increase our income (the rent income we’ve been relying on has been unpredictable), and we need a place to write our articles, e-books and trip book. We decided to say yes to staying.
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We’ve been under a severe thunderstorm warning for the last few hours, and we’re still under a tornado warning, but we’ve remained free of any excitement – in fact, the rain has just hit us and we think we’ll skip most all of it. North of us is taking a beating, though.

I’m in the living room checking weather online and catching up on news and blogs while Jo-Ann teaches Chelsea how to play dominoes out in the kitchen. I can hear the low rumble of conversation from the other room, punctuated by laughter and the sound of the dominoes clattering on the wooden tabletop.
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Around Oak Grove and Creole

After a hot shower and an incredible meal of rice and shrimp in a roux sauce that first day, Jo-Ann took us on a tour of the local area. Asking how we felt about pizza for dinner (the answer was affirmative), we headed west on Hwy 82 to see if the section of highway Donny had mentioned was navigable for us or not, and then we drove north and east on Hwy 27/82 towards Creole.

Jo-Ann kept up a running commentary on the areas, pointing out the damage from Rita and Ike, still a huge factor in local lives around here. We saw the Catholic Church in Creole being rebuilt after Rita, complete with gargoyles on the roofline; and we saw the local hospital with its automated door in the emergency room.
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As we climbed down to our bikes again to get some clothes, shoes, and shower items, a utility truck pulled up in the driveway. We’d seen the same truck a few minutes earlier as we stopped at another house down the road, and yet again back down at Grand Chenier. Rolling down the window, the driver began chatting with us.

Donny

We’d just met Jo Ann’s son, Donny. Having seen us on the road since Grand Chenier, he was concerned about the next stretch of road we’d be riding, and wanted to let us know it would be rough going due to road work. He suggested that we may want to backtrack and take another route.
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