Introduction to Louisiana

Louisiana - On May 11 we crossed the state line into Louisiana.  We new it would be different but we had no idea.  About 3 miles into the State we passed some road kill on the side of the road...it was a 3 foot long aligator.  Yes, something was definately different.  We headed for a city call Lake Charles and checked into Sam Houston Jones State Park.  Nice looking sites with power and water hook-up.  We drove into town and had a look around.  There are some wonderful homes located right the lake and the town had some historic buildings, a nice quiet little town.  Then we headed back to our campsite.  We took a look around the park and discovered that...we were surrounded by swamp (see picture).  The brochure said that there were all kinds of wild life in the area and there certainly was.  We had squirrels running through our campsite and 4 or 5 dear came out of the woods and cirlced our RV. 

Hooch made friends with a turtle that was sunning itself on the grass.  Every night before I go to bed I take Hooch for a walk, so I opened the door of the RV and it was pitch black; I mean black.  We started walking around the campsite and there were weird noises, swamp noises, you know like in the movie 'Deliverance'.  There was a garbage can that had been tipped over.  I had never heard these types of noises before and they scared the heck out of Hooch and I, so we made it a very short walk.  Next morning we woke up to a beautiful morning.  I now know what it is like to spend a night in a swamp.

From there we headed for Lafayette, Louisiana.  I was looking to arrange an airboat ride in the swamp but we weren't able to get it done.  We booked into Cajun Palms Resort and it was the nicest RV Resort we have ever been to.  They had a beautiful pool area with palm trees, a swim-up bar, dancing on the weekends, pool tables, etc, and very nice camping sites....but the place was empty.  Someone is spending a lot of money to develop this Resort but I don't think they are making enough to pay their bills.  Lafayette is a quiet small town with some historical significance.  We did a quick tour and the next day we headed for Baton Rouge.  On the way we travelled over Henderson Bridge, the first of many long bridges that elevate the highway over the swamp, and these bridges run for miles.  They are really good at engineering and building bridges here; they have to be as the highways travel through swamp land so much.

Baton Rouge (red stick) is the state capital and it is in the area known as 'Cajun Country'.  Cajun food, music and culture is affiliated with the French Canadians (Acadians) that left Canada to escape Bristish rule.  As a Socials teacher, I had no idea of the scope of the French Canadians involvement in Louisiana.  I knew the New Orleans Saints Football team has a Fleur de Lis logo, but their influence is everywhere.  It was also our first look at the Mississippi River and it is huge.  The Baton Rouge area is also known for the large number of beautiful plantations.  We travelled around the area and visited a couple of them and they are truly magnificant.  We stopped at a Louisiana river boat that was converted to a casino, but we didn't go in.  We also drove through the LSU campus and saw the huge football facility, and many other nice facilities that they have.  The university is big business in this town.  Like most towns in the south, each town saves and restores the 'old town' that reflects the history of the area.  Great walking tours, restaurants, and bars are usually located in each of these towns.  After one day in Baton Rouge it was time to head for New Orleans, and oh what a trip it was.

A story that is almost too hard to believe!

We were driving along I-10 on the outskirts of New Orleans and we go over a bump as we approach an overpass.  A lot of the highways are in disrepair compared to our standard in BC.  At this point I-10 is three lanes going East and 3 going West; we are on the extreme right lane getting ready to exit.  As we come down the other side of the overpass a truck comes up beside us, roles down his window and yells (at 60 miles/ hour), "You lost a tire".  I quickly check my mirrors and there is no smoke, the rig is handling as usual, I think, we must of lost a bike tire off the back bike-rack.  I have to travel quite a way before there is a shoulder to pull over.  I jump out of the truck a go around the back and the bikes are intact.  A car pulls over in front of us an backs up along the side of the highway and a gentleman comes to talk to us.  He says "I think you lost your spare tire".  Sure enough I check under the RV and a cable has snapped that holds the spare tire in place.  He says that the last he saw of the tire it was headed for the middle median.  We thank him and off he goes.

We decide that the tire is worth looking for because the tire is brand new and the rim may be difficult to match this far from home.  So we get back on the highway and drive a mile to the next exit, go under the underpass, and return to the highway going the opposite direction.  Laurie and I search the median and the side of the road and we were coming up to an exit, I had given up, and Laurie spots the tire in the grass on her side of the truck, up against a fence.  That means that the tire bounced across all the lanes of traffic on our side of the highway (there was continuous traffic going both ways) ran through the median, continued across the 3 lanes of traffic going the other way...I don't know if it hit any vehicles or what.  That is hard to believe!  I didn't have time to pull over as we where already on an exit bridge so we went around and came back on the highway going our original direction. 

 I parked the RV at the side of the road and ran across the 3 lanes on our side to the median, then across the 3 lanes on the opposite side of the highway and found the tire.  The tire and rim were not damaged, again hard to believe.  The tire and rim are very heavy so I looked at the fast moving traffic and realized that I couldn't make it across 3 lanes rolling the tire.  Luckily, I found a route under the overpass, through weeds and dried mud, and it was a long trip back to the RV, rolling the tire all the way.

It is hard to believe that we had all of this good fortune in one incident. 

* Not one, but two good samaritans that helped us.

* That a tire that weighs 80+ pounds could travel that far, across the path of tons of traffic.

* That the tire did not cause a traffic accident or hurt anyone, as it bounced through cars and trucks.

* That we were able to locate the tire, particularly when it was quite a ways from where we thought we lost it.

* That the tire is undamaged.

I went out and bought a cable and lock to store it in the bed of the pick-up for the rest of the trip.  When I get home I will get the dealer to repair the spare tire storage mechanism.  What a day!!

 We have been on the road for a month and it seems to have gone by very fast, much like the pace of our travels.