BBB Day 29

March 24

It was a quiet night and we had a good sleep, so were up and out by 7:30, heading south a bit for a diversion in to the Louisiana Cane River Heritage area.

We drove on the Terry Bradshaw PASSway (funny, huh?) and found ourselves back amongst Spanish Moss and Wisteria and Azaleas in bloom.

Our first stop was the Oakland Plantation. The Prudhomme family owned this place for seven generations. The last living brother and sister sold the main house, the store and some outbuildings to the National Park Service in the 1960’s (they still own the 2,000 or so acres).

The main house was a little less grand than what we were expecting, but the Live Oak trees made for a grand entry:

I loved the bottle gardens in the front (some of these bottles date to teh 18th century):

Since the family lived here until the 60’s, the house is furnished in an eclectic way. ALL of the furnishings were either as left or found in the attics:

Some things were very beautiful:

…others reminded us that this WAS a plantation with slaves:

This was an interesting juxtaposition of images:

“Granny”

“Mrs. Butterworth”

The store was in operation to the 70’s:

We travelled on to another place, the Magnolia Plantation. The last female of the family still lives in the main house, and it’s rarely open for visits.

Here, the Slave Quarters/Tenant Quarters (yes, they were both through the years, but…) were in view:

It was a nice way to spend some time. We stopped at Walmart and I got carded (second time in two years!). When you buy alcohol, the cashier gets an electronic prompt, “Is customer under 40?”. I said yes and he HAD to ask for my ID. Okay, a cheap thrill!

We avoided a two-hour delay on our first south/north highway choice and headed a bit cross country, but we finally were heading east on Highway 20 again.

We tried the Poverty Point State Park, were told to take any empty site, set up then were informed by someone knocking at the door that we were in a reserved spot and had to leave. Aargh.

So we drove some more and stayed in a very quiet Loves Travel Center in Richmond, Louisiana.

Here’s a view from my chair (still cold; still inside):

BBB Day 28

March 23

Notice we’re not hiking or biking? But we’re putting on a lot of miles!

We had an okay sleep despite transports, trains and crazed Grackles screeching in the trees around the parking lot!

The long drive took us along Highway 20 in Texas, which could be anywhere in North America. In fact, it often looked a lot like Ontario.

Here’s what we saw today:

• Texas Cattle Exchange and Steakhouse (same location)
• Equine Sport Medicine (for horses or rider?)
• Snow (near Mingus)
• George Bush Turnpike (a toll highway!)
• New Frontier Cowboy Church (sharing land with a rodeo ring)
• “Inventory Reduction on Tombstones”
• best Picnic Area in Texas for lunch:

We decided on another free camping night at the Louisiana Welcome Center in Greenwood.

Here’s the view from my chair (you know the chair is inside, right? It’s cold!):

BBB Day 27

March 22
Before we left New Mexico, we decided to drop in to the Living Desert State Park.

Though I don’t LOVE zoos because the animals always look so sad to me, I appreciated this institution in that most of the animals were rescued or are being protected. So, though some looked sad, they WERE alive and well.
This little Gray Fox looked just fine in a tree seemingly made for him; seeing him confirmed that this is what David saw in the Davis Mountain campground:

We saw some beautiful birds:



…a big old Bolson Tortoise:

…an endangered Mexican Wolf (they’re breeding them to release in to the wild):

…typical western Bison and Elk:


…and a Cougar:

The Bobcat was in quarantine. Apparently a few days before, a child was scratched by the cat. The zoo worker said that the child’s Mom was holding the kid close to the cage, which was a few feet beyond a well-marked metal barrier. Mom claims the animal reached out and scratched the child. We couldn’t imagine how. Now they’re planting Prickly Pear between the barrier and the cage. Some parents…
The zoo also has a beautiful Cactus of the World greenhouse. It was a nice stop before heading east:

Then we drove…and drove…past New Mexican Potash mines and oil fields and hit the red soil (and a sign for potatoes!) of Texas. More and more small towns were derelict and abandoned (sign for $1.08 gas). Looked like the world stopped in the 1960’s.
Signs we saw on the road included

• Nothin’ BUTT Smokes
• Bush’s Chicken (new job for W?)
• “Caution: Wind Currents” and “Gas and Grab” sharing a billboard

We decided to sleep at the Flying J near Sweetwater, Texas after a long day.
Here’s the view from my chair:

BBB Day 26

March 21

Hiked 3.5 miles

We bid farewell to Davis Mountain, but not before we saw another Life Bird; we think it’s a Black Hawk, but need to do some more research:

We needed a new state, so decided to head up to New Mexico for a diversion. As we left, we passed through Wild Rose Pass, with nary a rose, except for the artificial ones people have affixed to bushes:

But we did see wild pigs!

Things were much greener as we headed north a bit, and we saw our first oil drills in a long time:

Then, we also saw water drills and signs for Water for Sale. But mostly everything was being converted to oil rigs. The town of Pecos also was partially prosperous (the white pickups we are finding synonymous with the oil workers are everywhere) and partially derelict (businesses long closed stay abandoned; land must be cheap).

We had our first glimpse of the Guadelupe Mountains (a visit for another trip):

and went to Carlsbad Caverns National Park. Wow. We went in to “The Big Room” and spent hours walking around and taking pictures of the beautiful formations. This is the most impressive cave we’ve been in:

Gorgeous.

We took the drive north to Brantley State Park, and stayed in this lovely and cheap ($14) place with a view of the reservoir and fun French-Canadian as our neighbours.

Here’s the view from my chair:

BBB Day 25

March 20

Hiked 1.5 miles

It was much more chilly this morning. It got to 80 today, 20 degrees cooler than in Big Bend!

We went with the Birding Volunteers to The Seep (those of you who went to Western will understand why I giggled every time they mentioned the name and I heard “The Ceeps”).

It was a little spring that creates a muddy watering hole for birds. And we saw more Life Birds: the Spotted Towhee:

…the Hermit Thrush:

…a sparrow that I forget the name of (and am still searching for):

…and the Lincoln Sparrow:

We drove over to the Fort Davis National Park, a refurbishment of a late 19th century fort which was established to protect those travelling the Pecos to El Paso Trail. It was also the site of Black Cavalry troops. It is quite lovely:

We had lunch and took the Skyline Drive within our park and saw the landscape around us:

One more trip to another bird watering hole and our busy touristy day came to an end.

Here’s a view of the campsite: