For our first day back on the road in quite a while – actually, for any day on the road – today was just about perfect. We did have a fairly stiff headwind, which slowed us down a lot, and we are out of shape for pulling the trailers, but the weather was gorgeous, the traffic was minimal, and the scenery was wonderful.
Nolan came out to watch us off – he seemed really sad we were leaving, and kept trying to talk us into staying. He was fascinated by our setup, and watched every move we made really carefully. He was especially fascinated by the shifting system and the way the trailers are hitched. We gave him a big hug, and promised we’d call him as often as we can until we hit Mexico. What an incredibly kind man he is!
We rode twenty-five miles, leaving Pecan Island about eleven, arriving at the Rockefeller Refuge at about three. We rode the entire day through the marshlands on the extreme southwest Louisiana coast, just inland from the Gulf itself. We saw scores of roseate spoonbills, purple martins, blackbirds, blue herons, white egrets, and we even saw a Louisiana tri-colored heron, as well as two night herons.
In less than a mile after leaving Pecan Island, we saw at least a dozen alligators, all sliding off into the water as we approached. Last night was so cold (about 40 degrees) that they took the opportunity today of sunning themselves on the banks. We frequently saw three or four at once scrambling over each other to get into the water. Some of them slid in synchronization, making it look it was choreographed.
This was our first chance to ride with our new waterproof dry bags – the big portage bags – and it’s working out really well. We’re delighted to know that everything is out of the elements (except heat) and they have helped organize our gear quite well. They also make life immeasurably easier as they fit the top of the trailers really well, and are much easier to strap down than our snorkel bags were.
Though we added a fair amount of gear and clothing to our collection (the titanium plates and mugs, kickstands, winter clothing and shoes), we eliminated things that didn’t work, too. Somehow in all the changes we ended up a lot more organized. It was quite a bit easier to pack this time, and somehow everything fit in much more easily than ever before. We are delighted, needless to say.
The sun will set in another hour and a half, so Chelsea is out trying to remember how to use the cook stove so we can have macaroni and cheese for dinner. I’m writing, as we want very much to keep on schedule with the blogs, though all I really feel like doing is lying down on my comfy sleeping pad and calling it quits for the day.
The Rockefeller Wildlife Refuge is a Louisiana State Wildlife and Fisheries location. To even be on the property each member of a party must have a fishing and/or hunting license. The park ranger office is next to a series of what Louisianans call camps – houses or trailers that are used for getting away from it all, used primarily for fishing and hunting.
Here at the Refuge are a series of buildings, built on stilts, that are available for use as camps. Hurricane Rita, three years ago, nearly completely wiped out the area here, and Ike last September did a fair amount of damage too. They have closed everything, and are in the process of once again rebuilding. We have been allowed to put up our tent on a large stretch of lawn at one end of the camps.
It took about a minute to realize that the mosquitoes were impressively awful on the lawn, so we moved back to a section of cement driveway and set up on the cement. It’s a huge improvement from the grass. The downside here is no privacy and no bathroom facilities, so we’ll get going early in the morning.
The night will be cold, but we’re set for sleeping, and it’s supposed to be warm again tomorrow. Just in the last half hour the wind shifted from northwest to to south, so with any luck we’ll have a tailwind tomorrow.
The hurricane damage down here is really amazing. Chelsea got a few photos today, so be sure to check out the photo gallery. We can see areas where there’s a slab, but no sign of the house that used to be on it. Wind damage is visible everywhere, and all the new houses are being rebuilt on stilts or on mounds of dirt. The ones that were rebuilt on stilts after Rita survived the storm surge of Ike.
We saw a couple of beautiful brick homes that were trashed, and the owners apparently walked away – doors are hanging off hinges, windows are gone, and the marsh is encroaching on the lawn areas.
And it’s not just the homes and camps that have been damaged, the marsh area itself suffered badly. Wind took down many trees and bushes, and the saltwater intrusion from the storm surges has killed the trees and bushes. There’s sign of recovery, but it will be a while before things are back to normal.
We will continue to see more and more of the damage, as we are now getting closer to Texas.
Tomorrow we’ll be stopping on Oak Grove – we did get to see that before Ike, so we can let you know what it’s like. After that is Cameron, and then we’ll be crossing Sabine pass into Texas.
Signing off from Rockefeller Wildlife Refuge, Louisiana…