Monday, 3 February 2020
We saw that lone deer again this morning on our early walk, and the dogs started bouncing around again like idiots (though not barking this time). But this time, the deer just stood at the edge of the road and stared at the dogs like he'd never seen anything like them and didn't run away and didn't run away. I was thinking how wonderful the traction was on my shoes and begging the deer (silently) to go away and telling the dogs (quietly because of sleeping nearby campers) to settle down (fat chance). And after at least a full minute or more of that, the deer finally walked across the road and into the woods.
I was starting to feel comfortable in this campground, and part of me wanted to stay an extra night since I knew I could get a wifi signal here. But David said my mail was due to arrive at the Bogalusa Post Office today, so I decided to go on up there.
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| today's route |
On the road again
I passed a sign saying Mandeville was established in 1840. Louisiana has many towns that are much older than those I've been seeing since almost a year ago. With the importance of the mouth of the Mississippi River to traders and explorers and settlers and soldiers, and the fairly mild climate, a whole lot of people came here early and many of them stayed.
Counting only activities of Europeans (because Native Americans were in this area since 1800 BC), Natchitoches was established 1714, and New Orleans and Baton Rouge both in 1718. Like I said, older than places in Wisconsin and Kentucky, for example.
My impression of Louisiana drivers, after admittedly only 3 days worth of exposure, is that they actively look for chances to pull out in front of other cars. Okay, maybe not that bad, but they have no fear at all about leaping out into moving traffic when what's coming at them is a big, hard-to-stop RV.
Part of my drive this morning took me through St. Tammany Parish. I always think of Tammany Hall, the icon of corruption, when I hear that word, so I've been curious how sainthood figured in. This link to a Wikipedia article explains where the "saint" came from pretty clearly. https://en.wikipedia.org/Tamanend And this link to an Encyclopedia Britannica entry helps explain how the corrupt Tammany Hall arose from sainthood. https://www.britannica.com/Tammany-Hall
I've started seeing several paved, well-marked bike trails in the state. I'll be interested to see how pervasive they are.
Next town down the road was Abita Springs, apparently known best for its mineral springs and a local brewery. But another attraction, the UCM Museum, aka Abita Mystery House, looks like it appeals only to people with quirky senses of humor, and I'm not sure mine's quirky enough. These Yelp comments do a good job of explaining it and give a range of opinions about it. https://www.yelp.com/ucm-museum-abita-mystery-house Anyway, I didn't want to take the time for it; but maybe next time.
I saw a sign by the road that said only "Magnum Justice Randolph." I started wondering if this was another campaign sign or had something to do with Louisiana's unusual judicial system, so I looked it up. And all I could find for those 3 words in that order was a very brief 2018 obituary for a 17-year-old with that name. I'm sorry someone so young is dead, but I can't imagine what that sign was about.
For about an hour, I passed one small town after another, but they were all small rural types of towns, not part of suburban sprawl. It was nice.
Anyway, this church looks even more traditional in person than in this photo, partly because this photo doesn't show how it's nestled right up next to a cemetery in the old fashioned way. It really was very sweet.
I saw a handmade sign for Brahman Bulls for sale except I swear it was spelled Barman Bulls.
I came into Washington Parish, which covers the whole northeastern corner of this leg of the state (as opposed to the northeastern corner in the northern part of the state). I saw several signs posted saying they're celebrating the 200th anniversary of the parish. We have states that haven't been around that long.
I passed a field completely covered with yellow wildflowers. It was such a beautiful burst of sunshine.
I drove past an isolated burned-out Airstream RV, and right next to it was a gorgeous tulip magnolia in full bloom.
I'm passing lots of pines and oaks
Bogalusa
Just a guess, I think the town's named for Bogue Lusa, a creek that I found running through town. Bogue, pronounced "BOH-guh," seems to be a French word, and whatever it means in France, here it refers to a creek or stream. Bogues are all over the state.
Coming into town, I took a main street that was nevertheless not one I expect the city powers want tourists to see. For instance, I passed a large building labeled Genco's Amusement Co., which looks thoroughly out of business. I looked it up out of curiosity and found a reference to one in Hammond as well, but that may also no longer be a going concern. It used to make coin-operated toys and amusement devices and arcades. While there seem to be a lot of those still around, I haven't heard that any of them are new. Shame, really.
I stopped at what's called Main Street Grocery, a little local place, and I'm glad I did. According to the internet, the competition is Walmart, and I'm sure that's pulled a lot of their business. But there were still plenty of customers when I was there so I got to listen to some of the local gossip. And I was very surprised to find they had almost everything I wanted - unusual in such a small store. Nice little place.
Bogalusa's most obvious industry is the International Paper Plant. It was going at full steam, literally, and the smell was pretty bad. And air being what it is, the smell covered a good-sized area. I saw several filled logging trucks turning in at the plant's gates.
I stopped at the main post office and, with no trouble at all, got my General Delivery mail that my wonderful brother had sent me.
The dogs and I had lunch and a walk at a park a block from the post office. Nice little park with a paved pedestrian trail. And along the trail they had markers with yoga positions and children's activities. Nice for a relatively small town (12,000).
I passed a veterinary office with the sign: "Your pets will love us - we shih tzu not."
The local high school team is the Bogalusa Lumberjacks.
Back on the road
I turned nearly due west from Bogalusa and found I was driving beside a pine tree farm that went for miles on both sides of the road. Ten filled logging trucks passed me (hence, "Lumberjacks" I assume). I couldn't help but think what busy little beavers they were to fill all those trucks.
I was surprised to find a lot of bugs hitting my windshield. I would have thought early February would still be winter and bugs would still be absent from my life. There were a lot of them.
I passed what looked like an actual castle that was named Louisiana Castle. There's no uncopyrighted photo online, but their website says it's a replica of an English Norman Keep Castle, and it's available for weddings and stuff.
In Franklinton I passed the Hillcrest Baptist Church and noted a full parking lot. Since it's about 2:00 on a Monday afternoon, I figured it was a funeral, except I didn't see a hearse. Maybe it was a memorial service. Odd though.
When I got into the campground, I cleaned the RV's windows. I remember how my uncle in Florida used to be urgent about us getting the car washed when we'd drive there during love bug season because they can ruin the paint job. I didn't think that's what these were, but they were still covering the windshield.
I found when I spent a little time out there that gnats were being a real nuisance. That's not what I had on my windshield, but it is what was flying around my head while I cleaned it off. If there are this many bugs in Louisiana in February, I'm glad I'm not here in the summer.
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