Carrie Barton

Mom & Son Day Out - The Creole Nature Trail

Ouray and I went out for a drive on the Creole Nature Trail, which borders part of Calcasieu Lake, as well as a bit of the Gulf of Mexico. It also goes through some National Wildlife Refuges, and I thought for sure I'd see some gators at these spots. But no... I'm not sure if it was still too cool for them to be hanging out in the open much or if they hadn't recovered from Hurricanes Rita ('05, which directly hit this area) and Ike ('08, which hit in Galveston, TX), or if I was just there while they were "out to lunch" or what!?! But I was bummed.

Marshlands and neato houses on one of the waterways.

One of the industries so hard hit with this awful oil spill...

Big graceful oaks and gorgeous azaleas - what a yard!

Finally! I'd been standing there for a long time, hoping the horses would come closer for a photo! (they did, and then they peed for the camera! lovely, eh?!)

A stop at one of the NWRs. Ouray leads the way. We didn't do much walking that day though, because it was much hotter than these photos show...!

Our little friend... I just barely caught him with the corner of my eye, scrolling across the paved trail. What a cutie!

Our escorts while waiting on a ferry.

Dog is my copilot!!

Ferry coming in for a landing. And me and Ray are out in front!

Anywhere you see houses in the southern coastlands, you are likely to see most of them up on stilts like these, or...

up on a mound like this.

Evidence of hurricane damage. Still in disrepair.

Another quick stop at an NWR. No gators but a pretty scene at the close of the day.

Other folks at the park...

Of course, the ubiquitous squirrel! (and his/her peanut!)

A less fortunate fish (bluegill?).

A very weird looking duck called a Muscovy. There were quite a few of these around.

A great white egret, striking a great pose.

Poor egret - I followed him/her along the shore as he did his fishing. He didn't seem to mind much though, and he was very successful in his pursuits! (again, the fish were not so lucky...)

Some type of bullfrog - before he ribbeted off! I have really enjoyed all my frog encounters on this trip! There are so many - different sizes, different colors, different locations, sounds, etc.! But it's usually very hard to capture one in a photo - they are ever-vigilant and rocket off (sometimes with the cutest chirp sound first!) their perch at first hint of an invader!

Billy Boating

Bill brings out his boat for a try at sailing on a Calcasieu River tributary.

Unfortunately, the trees lining the river make for strange wind patterns.

But he enjoys good mud-pie-making company, nonetheless.

Please feed the animals??

For better or worse, park visitors are allowed (and apparently even encouraged?) to feed the resident deer and raccoons! They throw out bread and corn, and the critters come running!

The deer and raccoons happily cohabitate during these times!

And of course these are opportunities to get very close to one another!

And to photograph the antics...

While it is all very cute, sometimes close can become too close. After all, these feedings are altering wildlife behaviors and creating an abnormal comfort level with being close to humans. This little boy's parents called him off in order to avoid a conflict. I enjoyed these cute scenes, but I doubt they're the wisest events... And for those of you who are wondering, no, they don't encourage feeding the alligators (which I never saw any of at this park - or in Louisiana at all!). Unfortunately, I did hear about gators getting fed, getting too accustomed to proximity to humans, and then being "relocated" (usually = killed) because of the safety question. Doesn't sound fair, does it? That's because it's not!! People feed wild animals because it's fun, cute, exciting, etc. But if they only truly realized they are often signing the animal's death sentence, maybe they wouldn't be so quick to hand out those scraps...?!!!

Mysterious Meeting

While out on an early morning bike ride around the park, I spotted some deer grazing. They spotted me too...

And then, I spotted this cat... (and yeah, he/she spotted me too!)

And then, the deer spotted the cat!

They were obviously very curious and interested in the cat - and started following it around!

I was never really able to tell if they were already long-established friends or just curious passers-by!?!

New Friends - Meet Jackie, Kirth, & Morgan!

One of the highlights of RVing has always been meeting new people. We have met so many wonderful folks in the various campgrounds! And this park was no exception - it was a special thing for us to get to know Kirth & Jackie, who were there with their very sweet granddaughter, Morgan.