Florida Day 24

March 22

Biked and hiked 4.1 miles

Left Louisiana early in the driving rain, thunder and lightening. That was okay since we were on the "Hurricane Evacuation Route"! It lasted about 20 minutes and then clear skies.

Along the road were flood plains and spillways. Hydro poles emerged from the middle of Lake Pontchartrain. The ditches were full of egrets. A scary moment when a transport truck blew a tire right in front of us. Yikes; first time for that.

The highway at Baton Rouges was lined with huge refineries (it's the "Petroleum Gold Coast" according to CAA). We did see our first small oil well pumping in the area.

Funny yellow "Church" signs:

Usually yellow means caution; are we to be cautious of churches? Hmmm...

In St. Francisville, you could see some plantations from the road. Some were for tours, others were inns and convention centres, but the area is still quite evocative of the antebellum days. We learned later that the white people treated these like summer homes and spent the rest of the time being "seen" in Natchez. One was called the "Catalpa Plantation". Laughed because my Dad HATES that tree; imagine a plantation full?

We hit Mississippi and its "Hospitality Centre" (coffee, ginger cookies, and nice hostesses).

We wound our way to Natchez State Park (just off the Trace, near the beginning; Site 48). We rode our bikes and saw Canada Geese (and other Canadian Snowbirds heading home to Quebec and Ontario): 

Here's the view from my chair: