12-31-19

We traveled West to Lake Charles Louisiana and had lunch at Mama Rida's Kitchen. It was a wonderful southern restaurant and the food was so good. Better than the picture shows. Mama Rida cooks a mean meal and came out to see how everything was. If you are ever in the area check her place out. With a full tummy we started out drive on the trail. The drive itself is 3-4 hours without any stops but of course we always find places to stop and see what there is to offer.
Our first stop was the highlight. A woman with 4 kids was on the dock but had no poles, just strings in the water and a few nets. One of the young boys said come here and I'll show you what we're doing. He was slowly pulling up the string and his brother had the net near it and the brought up a raw chicken leg with a large blue crab on it. The smiles on their faces said it all as he put it in a cooler with about another dozen they had already caught.
Back on the road we could see lots of birds, tugs and barges on the intercoastal. There are 4 National Wildlife Refuges that are contained within the trail, Sabine, Cameron Prairie, Lacassine and Rockefeller. They are linked by lakes, Intercostal Waterway and Gulf of Mexico. There are numerous walkways and places to stop and observe the wildlife. Only alligator we saw had been hit by a vehicle on the roadway. I saw many places they had been and dug a place in the mud on my walks around marsh areas. I did see some nutria sunning themselves and took a few pictures. I also was able to take photos of a few types of birds during a drive around a pond that is used by migrating birds.
We had a beautiful sunny warm day to enjoy the drive.