Month: November 2018

DAY #13

First full day on the island and what a gorgeous day it was.  The weather was blue sky’s, upper 70s, and breezy.  Decided to check out the island and see what it was all about.  Getting around the island is easy; stay on the one main road.  It’s the one (and only) that will take you on and off the island, as well as getting around once there.  As you go you’ll find no stop lights or signs.  The speed limit is 45 mph except for a short stretch were it goes down to 25 mph and there’s two cops, one on each side of the limit who seem to make sure it’s adhered to.  Translation-tickets, lots of tickets. 

There’s not a lot of retail other than a couple of grocery stores/hardware and two places to get gas, all local owned.  For entertainment, there’s a couple of laid back bars and that’s it.  Development has so far stayed off the island and it really gives it a nice vibe, just the kind I was looking for.  

Pretty quiet on the main road through town (LA 1) and this was on a Sunday around 4:00 in the afternoon.  Maybe everyone was home watching the Saints game.  The island is about seven miles long and less than a miles wide (and that’s being generous) and if you take the road (LA 1) out of town, the next stop is the Gulf of Mexico.This is the actual end of LA 1, the first photo is where the road ends in Port Fourchon which is just west of Grand Isle.  I used it for effect purposes (busted).

The one common denominator you’ll see on the island is pillars.  Every house is built on pillars along with hurricane shutters, all of them about ten feet off the ground.

After giving the town the once over, I stopped at the local gas station (Jo Bobs), bought a sausage and two biscuits for dinner, and headed back to the trailer, calling it a day.  damn, that sausage was good (and healthy too I’ll bet).

 

DAY #12

The day started out nice and uneventful, just the way I like it, and off I went, on to the next leg in the journey.  Again, I took a mixture of interstate and state roads and again, it worked out well.  The land slowly changed from one of deep forests to flatter lands with less and less trees and more and more, water.  One thing that I noticed along the drive and especially on the back roads, was the amount of trash along the side of the road.  Sadly, it reminded me of some third world country’s I’ve visited and it made me sad to see.  For Christ sake, how hard is it to keep the trash in the car until you can properly throw it away.

Around Morgan City, LA, I began to see fields upon fields of sugarcane, I knew I had made it to the deep south, kind of cool to see something other than corn or soybeans.  The final section of the days drive was on Louisiana 1 and it was slow going, it seems it was sugarcane harvest and the roads were heavy with trucks filled with cane.

The weather had been great at the last site and it continued on down here.  The temp got into the upper 70s and it was warm, humid, and breezy.  Google gave solid instructions (today) and by early afternoon had reached the next destination.  Now to set up and hang out for the next eight (6 full) days at Grand Isle State Park, LA.

The place is a nice and quiet campground.  The park is 140 acres in size with bathrooms at each end of the campsite.  It’s a bit of a walk to the bathroom or shower but hey, it’s not like I don’t need the exercise.  I am really liking the fact that all the sites I’ve camped at so far have been quiet and with some minor exceptions, pretty much to myself.

DAY #11

Last full day in these parts of the woods and a nice clear, warm day it was.  I started the day looking to replace my reservation at Three Rivers State Park in Florida which had been cancelled due to damage from Hurricane Michael.  I was a bit concerned that with all the damage to the parks because of Michael, a lot more campers would be scrambling to find new reservations just like me.  A few spots west, east and north of the path of Michael that I checked and that fit my schedule and course were all closed due to damage.  I was able to find a site in Opp, Alabama (Frank Jackson State Park) that fit my needs so I gave them a call and while expecting to hear, sorry we’re full, I was able to book a reservation.  It takes me a little way off the path but not enough to worry about.

Checked out the area some more and came across an ICE detention center.  Not a big center but lined with concertina wire and formidable looking just the same. I was going to take a couple of photos but then thought, maybe better not, and so I didn’t.

I don’t know if locking people up like this is the right direction to go.  The vast majority of the people coming across the border are doing so, not for welfare and a free ride, but rather, to find jobs (that we don’t want to do) to support themselves and their family’s back home.  I do agree that we need controls but to put people in prison (and while this was a small center, it looked every bit like a prison) for trying to make a better life seems to me to be the wrong way to deal with this issue.  I’m not sure what the answer is, I just don’t think this is it.  OK, enough on the liberal soapbox.  One last political tinged story. While heading back to the campsite I saw a small political sign way up on a power pole that said; Trump.  What was so impacting about this little sign was its location deep in the woods on a windy, narrow two lane road.

I found my way back to the campsite and nestled in for the night because come tomorrow, it’s on the road again (sing it Willie).To have spent the last five days in this park with it pretty much to myself does make it a bit special, like it was there just for me, and I’ve enjoyed every moment of it.