Follow along with us on the Creole Nature Trail main loop – LA-27.
First stop was the Sabine National Wildlife Refuge – the wetlands:
The bayous (water, water, everywhere):
And the birds – this is a birder’s paradise!:
And the houses on stilts:
Next stop was the Gulf of Mexico at Holly Beach – oh my!
Up and down the beach – yes, we were able to drive it and you can even camp there – :-))).
And the shells – another oh my! I just had to take this picture – there were thousands of them!
So I picked up a few:
Aren’t nature’s colors and designs awesome – :-))):
And one of the houses – they are all on stilts:
We continued on our way along the coast – even crossed a waterway on a free ferry (sorry, no pictures – I could not get out of our car and the car was between two trucks.
And on to Rutherford Beach where we could also drive or camp on the beach. Notice the oil rigs in the Gulf. There were many rigs in all directions:
We had lunch in a small cafe in Creole – catfish sandwich that was yummy – :-)). Then continued on our way.
Now one thing I have not talked about was the hurricane damage. We saw a lot of rebuilding which is good. We also saw many areas where there was a driveway that led to a concrete slab (where there had been a house). We saw many areas where people are living in RV’s on their property. We did not see a lot of debris in this area – an occasional car, or truck or building in the middle of a swampy area but that is all – which says a lot for these communities. There is no pictures because I just can’t take them. We see too much suffering on the daily news. (With that said, please keep all those who are suffering in Japan.)
But there was one picture that says it all:
The sign says “Buffet Pizza”.
Our final stop was at the Cameron Prairie National Wildlife Refuge where we did the Pintail Loop.
This was another birder’s paradise – oh my!
But this loop had an added treat – gators, gators, everywhere:
This one was hiding:
This guy looks like he ate a lot of the ducks over the hill behind him:
This is what nightmares are made of:
Yikees!!!
This is the first time we saw alligators in the wild – Amazing!!!
What a wonderful day!
4 comments:
wow, great gator pictures! Whew! We saw that kind of damage near Biloxi after Katrina, and it was hard to see. What I remember is that the casinos were the only around that was again up and running. That beautiful southern beachfront filled with historic homes is gone forever.
Yes, it is sad.. I could not even imagine seeing it all years ago before the clean up - how sad!
Whew - finally caught up Diane! And we saw the same in Mississippi as we came through. One of the locals explained that the reason there wasn't so much evidence of the devastation was because the water came in from the Gulf, destroyed everything in its path and then receded taking all the debris with it. So somewhere in the depths of the Gulf... Many homes will never be rebuilt along the Gulf because insurance companies are refusing to provide hurrican insurance so many waterfront properties are for sale. I can't begin to understand the sense of loss these folks must have felt.
I cannot imagine the loss either - how sad!
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