Sunday, November 26, 2023

Let's Explore Southern Louisiana (swamps and all)

 Location: Heart of Haynesville RV Park; Mansfield, Louisiana

I've been home about 6 weeks now and since Thanksgiving is over, I've decided to take a short trip before Christmas gets here. I can't leave until after December 4th since that is Grandparents Day at my granddaughters school. So the trip will begin on December 6th and last until about December 22nd. It will be about 900 miles long with 6 campgrounds along the way. Several readers of the blog have asked about Louisiana so I've decided to show off the extreme southern part of the state. Most of the parts will be new locations for me as well and I look forward to visiting them. "Going places I've never been before" has always been good advice. Although I've done it a few times over the years, I don't like revisiting the same places since there are so many new places yet to see.  

I have the trip pretty much mapped out with reservations at the first 3 campgrounds. The 4th and 5th campground are first come, first served, so I will be anxious about not having a reservation for those two. I haven't decided on the 6th and final campground yet. I'll be staying 2 to 3 days at each of the campgrounds. 

I won't be exploring New Orleans during this trip since I've been there before and wrote about it in this blog. If you want to read about that exploration, you can search for it in the search bar. This trip will be exploring the swamp and wetlands of deep south Louisiana. It will also include going to the farthest south you can go in a vehicle in Louisiana which is near the mouth of the Mississippi River. Since I explored its source in Minnesota years ago, it will be another one of Life's Circles. (another blog post to search). Five of the 6 campgrounds will be south of Interstate 10. I-10 enters Louisiana from Texas after passing through Beaumont. It then heads east to Baton Rouge and New Orleans before leaving Louisiana and enters Mississippi. On its way across the state it passes through the heart of Cajun Country before crossing over the Atchafalaya Swamp and Mississippi River.

The route is in red and Interstate 10 is in green. Generally everything south of I-10 is swampy wetlands. Well will see.
 
This is a short list of words to help some of my Yankee readers with the pronunciation. 

It should be an interesting trip and may highlight parts of Louisiana that people haven't seen. It will also show that trips don't have be months long or cover multiple states. With 2 to 3 day stays at the campgrounds I shouldn't feel rushed or in a hurry. Some RV'ers now-a-days feel they have to travel great distances to get somewhere quickly by driving several hundred miles per day and several days back to back with only overnight stays along the way. I can understand that for people on vacation who need to get some place quickly before having to return to work. Full-time travelers and retirees should not have to "ball the jack" like that when traveling. They should remember; it's the journeys along the way, not so much the final destination. But, as a full-time RV'er (may she RIP) taught me years ago, everyone travels and explores in their own way. 

I'll finish out this post with some picture. My campsite is located pretty good where I can see the sunset from the door of Liberty. Since they are self-explanatory, I'll post the pictures without captions.



 







Ya'll take care of each other. Maybe, I'll Cya down the road.