Trip Wrap-up (mostly pictures)

Location: Heart of Haynesville RV Park; Mansfield, Louisiana

I made it back to my homebase after an uneventful tow of about 150 miles with one Walmart stop to stretch my legs and get a couple chicken strips to eat on the road. They were fresh and good. A good deal for $2.25. 

This trip began on December 6th and ended on December 20th. It was a short, local trip to see parts of south Louisiana that I hadn't seen before or it had been many years. This shows that trips don't have to be 1000's of miles long in order to see and do something new. After all, at least to me, it's all about seeing and learning new things. It's my way of keeping the memory demons at bay. As with all of my trips, I set a long range destination and then pick campgrounds and sites to see along the route. This route is never a straight shot. On this trip, the destination was to see the end, or as close as I could get, the Mississippi River. 

The trip lasted 15 days and I stayed at 5 campgrounds (1-Parish, 1-Casino, 3-State Park). The average cost of the campgrounds was about $17.00 per night. This only $4.00 per day more than when I'm here at my home-base. I towed Liberty about 800 miles. The cheapest gas was $2.11/gallon at a discount gas station in Westwego, Louisiana. I usually don't keep up with the per gallon price of fuel, but this low price was so unusual, I remembered it.

The rest of the post will be pictures with captions:

This was the view from the bridge over the Intracoastal Waterway. My campground is the spot on the top right side of the picture. It was a hub of barge and tow activity. All for $12.00 per night. 

From my ICW campground, I was able to explore the Louisiana/Gulf of Mexico area. It was a good exploration day.

This was a sunset from the door of Liberty while still at the ICW campground.

This was my second trip to Avery Island to tour the Tabasco factory. It is worth a stop.

This also from Avery Island's Jungle Gardens. It shows the Live Oak trees with the Spanish Moss.

This is one of the agricultural industries of Louisiana. A crawfish pond. Big business in South Louisiana. 

Another agricultural industry is Sugar Cane.

Locally known at the Belle Chasse Carwash, the tunnel was permanently closed on the 20th, about a week after I went through it. It was built in the year I was born. It won't be removed, it will just be allowed to fill with water. Yeah, what could go wrong with that. Look for future news reports. 

Shrimping and crabbing fleet. 

This is from Fort Jackson looking to the Mississippi River. That is a ocean going ship coming up the river. I still get the hibbie-jibbies just thinking about the fort. Something definitely is going on at the place. I feel as if I dodged a bullet by getting out when I did. If you think I'm going back, you're crazy.

This was a boat ramp from the Atchafalaya Swamp side of the levees. The swamp is in the distance, but's it there. 

If you're looking for a nice bayou to canoe on the is outside of the swamp, this is Bayou Teche. 

And just to show you that you don't have to be in the Atchafalaya to be in a Cypress Swamp, this is in the Sam Houston Jones State Park, located in Lake Charles, Louisiana which is just a stone's throw from the Texas State Line.

Since I had a picture of a sunset earlier in this post, I figured to balance things out with this Sunrise picture.

And now we are up to date with my current campsite at Heart of Haynesville RV Park in Mansfield, Louisiana. It may look desolate, but the Park has about 150 campsites with only about 30 or so occupied. I chose to get a section by myself. I have doctor appointments for the end of January. After that, I'm not sure how long I'll be here but I'll be looking over my shoulder to see if anything is catching up with me. 

Merry Christmas Ya'll

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