Day 18

Before we departed Lafayette we met some nice people from the camp site next to us. Dennis and Mary from Washington state. They even had a cat travelling with them. There was talk of and Alaskan trip so I am a little nervous.
We had a short drive day today, only 130 miles, but we sure saw a lot of stuff . We crossed through the Atchafalaya Wildlife Preserve. I may have seen a Nutria but that is questionable. We also crossed the Mississippi River at Baton Rouge. We saw  lots of bayous and swamps . We set anchor at the KOA in West New Orleans.
After setting up camp in record time we were on the road again. We drove through the 9th Ward. It still  looks pretty devastated even though it has been over five years since Katrina. After that we drove to Slidell. Mom said she wanted to see how our old house looked since the hurricane but I think she really wanted to get a shrimp Po'boy at the Check in Check out. Fortunately the old house was still there and so was the Po'boy store.
We then headed for Mandeville to meet up with old Coast Guard  friends John and Valarie. They brought their three boys and we had a great time. They are pretty cool kids.  John and Val weren't bad either.
To get back to our RLB we had to take the causeway across Lake Ponchartrain. It's a 26 mile long bridge.
That's one big lake.
It's really nice here in Cajun Country. Great weather, Nice people.

Atchafalaya River









the 9th ward

Louisianna / State # 6