The Big Freezie . . . yes it is still cold!

Okay Milo . . . you are so right . . . we need to post . . . it has come to Pete photographing  red wolves behind fences! After a wonderful visit with Virginia we headed up the West coast of FL and into the panhandle.  What a refreshing part of the state, especially the eastern part of the panhandle.  Very much old school FL.   A big thanks to Alice’s cousin Terri and her husband Eric.   We had a wonderful visit and they were able to give us great tips on places to see and photograph and of course Hannah’s delicious Tupeol honey!!  Going back to the Apalachicola area is on the list for The Grand Adventure Part ll.  From there we made a beeline for The Big Easy.  When we passed into Alabama and then Mississippi it just felt refreshing that is was not FL.  (We had been in Florida since January 11th ) For those of you that camp, Louisiana State Parks are the best deal going.  It costs only $18 dollars a night and they honor the Golden Age pass (it’s Pete’s card by the way) . . .  so it becomes $9.  $9 dollars to stay in New Orleans! (and they have free laundry!)  Bayou Segnette State Park is conveniently located to NO.  We drove about 20 minutes, paid 5 bucks to park and took the Algiers Ferry (about a 5 minute ride)  The ferry docks next to the River Walk and about two blocks from the French Quarter.  We spent two days in the city.  The WWII museum is a fairly new addition to the city and very well done.  We took a Hurricane Katrina tour.  It is amazing how far the city has come and how far it still has to go.  There are so many more areas damaged as badly or worse than the 9th ward.  The last evening there we hung around the French Quarter since Pete had not been exposed to Bourbon Street after dark.  I took him to Pat O’Brien’s since the music there is right up his alley.  No he did not have a Hurricane but of course he had beignets at Cafe de Monde, it’s a powdered sugar thing!

From there we camped at Grand Isle State Park and then  headed to New Iberia which is in heart of Cajun and Creole country.  (SPICY)  We met Barry and Linda Hicks from Missoula, MT but who are natives to Louisiana.  We toured the Tabasco Plant at Avery Island and different parts of New Iberia and ate wonderful food:  etouffee, gumbo, muffolettas, and boudin.  Yum!  I still need their expertise on how to eat crawfish,  I don’t have that down pat yet.  But even better than the food was spending time with such good friends.  Saying goodbye was hard!

Heading back east, I will miss that South Louisiana drawl! 

Pete

NOLA was fun, but not too productive photographically.  Aside from risking my life (see pic) to get armadillo photos, the cameras stayed in the car.  I was hoping for something better from a trip out on the delta to Grand Isle SP.  I wasnt prepared for how overwhelming Big Oil was down there: offshore rigs, stockpiles, refineries, helicopters, pumping stations, Halliburton, tankers.   It was kind of like Wyoming with water.  New Iberia has been somewhat better.  There’s 3 rookeries here:  Avery Island  is an egret rookery with thousands of birds.  However they all nest on prepared bamboo platforms, so you can’t get any nesting behavior.   You can get flight shots, and because the pond was covered with duckweed, they were somewhat unique.  Lake Martin is an egret rookery with thousands of birds, few of which can be photographed. Too far away, too many branches.  Jefferson Island is a spoonbill rookery but the birds haven’t come to yet.  should be about two weeks, by which time we’ll  in the Carolinas. Oh well.

As you can see, I’ve kept up my wolf photography skills.  But judging by what Kim sent around, that’s as close as anyone got this winter.

I know we just  posted yestrerday, but I just found where I’d been downloading Alices pictures to, so I thought I”d put them on before I forgot. 

In the ’80’s today and we got a campground right on the gulf.  About time…

Still Waiting for . . . Florida Weather

As we enter the third month of this trip we are still waiting the arrival of some honest to gosh Florida weather.  Yep, we are still sleeping under a down comforter.   Talking to folks down here you hear about the coldest winter they have experienced in 10,15, or 20 years.   We have really enjoyed the West coast of FL.  And the further north we drive the less crazy the traffic seems.  After we left Ft. Myers we headed over to Myakka River State Park.  This was the only reservation we made before leaving MT.  We had to bump it up a couple of weeks and in the process somehow one day was not transferred so our 2 days there turned into one.  So we went to a  KOA, our first of this trip.  Fortunately, it was within range of the Venice rookery.  The next morning we got up at 4:45 to drive to Ft. De Soto Park so we would be first in line for the walk-in camp sites.  It was worth the pre-dawn drive.  This is a county run park and it is like camping in paradise (only I always imagine Paradise a tad warmer.)  There was lots for Pete to photograph and great bike paths for Alice.   And since its a reliable stopover point for migrant birds, this campground will definitely be on the list for The Grand Adventure Part II.  From there we went to Largo and Indian Rocks Beach, which is where Pete’s mom retired to.  We spend a couple of days visiting with her last living friend.  Virginia is 90 years old and amazing: still active and full of life.  Alice ask her secret and she said “I’m just really happy.  I think happiness is the key that keeps you young!”  That and maybe because she drinks a beer with a friend every Friday night!  Now we are heading up the coast and through the panhandle, a totally unexplored area for both of us.    Alice has a cousin who live in Crawfordsville.  From there a drive to New Iberia, Louisiana to meet Barry and Linda Hicks, Montana friends who are Louisiana natives.  Looking forward to a personal introduction to Cajun Cuisine!   After all Avery Island is home to Tabasco!  Pass the Crawfish!