Important: all photo credits go to the Louisiana State Parks website.
Last week, Rich and I took a short trip “up north” to the Monroe area, though we did not go into Monroe. Instead, we visited the five state parks in that area. It was fun, but Rich is a goer. He can’t “take a sit” for any amount of time. His back and neck hurt if he gives either one a chance to rest. We took off in the morning, hauled the camper (that’s been waiting on us for two years) to a spot on a lake somewhere. Set ourselves up for a quiet night in the woods with almost no people around since we began this foray on Sunday. Weekenders were already out by the time our trip got starte at Lake Bruin State Park which is on the northeast edge of the state.
A nice walk, some supper and we were ready for sleep at nine. Richard fiddled with the TV until he found a channel he could watch. Lots of playing with the antenna for something that became a nightly ritual with him. As usual, he got everything happening, went off to shower, then went to bed. I don’t even mention it to him anymore. It’s just a part of my life, this noise from the “idiot box,” as my dad loved to say.
The second day of our trip found us at Poverty Point Reservoir State Park in Delhi. With only 45 camping spots, it was fairly quiet also, but it was Monday. Aren’t these cabins spectacular? Of course, we were quite happy in our little camper. It’s been my dream to take it out for two years, but sometimes life gets in the way, and we put our own wants after other people’s needs. That’s what happened with the camper. In the interim, Rory and Meggan enjoyed a few nights’ stay. Emile especially loves using the camper. And I think Marley and a couple of friends slept there after Adam decided he could take only so much sleepover noise.
That just means that we put it to good use before we got to use it for a trip! Hmm, rather interesting. Poverty Point was the name of a large plantation, which no longer exists. Some archaeologists discovered the mounds on the old property and soon it became a place of interest for many history buffs. It turns out to be one of only a few places in the world that proves the existence of man in prehistoric times. The earthworks were built around 1700 to 1100 BCE. Just reading about the soil and rocks that were moved there using baskets and manpower blows my mind.
From its website, “Archaeologists have much to work with, as millions of artifacts were found at the site. Domestic tools, human figurines and tons of stones from up to 800 miles away have led to speculation that Poverty Point was an ancient residential, trade and ceremonial center…. In 1962, the federal government designated it a National Historic Landmark, one of the highest honors for an archaeological site in the U.S. And in 2014, the site achieved perhaps the highest honor of all: UNESCO, or the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, named Poverty Point a World Heritage Site.”
That designation alone makes it worth a trip to Louisiana. But I digress, we were camping on the reservoir, packed up our little area, and headed to this place of importance. (I’ve been there a couple of times and love it. Can you tell?) We got brave and decided to hike the 2.5 mile trail. At 10 in the am. In the late summer Louisiana heat. And there was kind of tall grass, which I’m allergic to. We didn’t even consider the possibility of snakes or black bears.
We lasted for about 1/4 of those miles, huffed (yes, huffed! It was hot!) it back to the truck and took in the rest of the site in the comfort of a cold A/C. No reason to be unreasonable once you know you are not going to make it. We saw a family on the top of the largest mound. The kids were fine, but mom and dad–not so much. We readily admitted that we would have looked much worse. If you’re truly interested in this fascinating place, start here for information.
Once we had taken in about all that our brains could process in the heat, we continue the trip to Chemin-a-Haut State Park, which borrows the French word meaning “high road” because it is on a high bluff above Bayou Bartholomew. This is the smallest of the parks we visited. The park was easy to walk around because we stayed on the shaded roadways. While it’s small in size, there are all the amenities of some of the larger parks, just in smaller numbers. We hiked a little but spent most of our afternoon rocking in the shade.
We did not walk down to the bayou for a couple of reasons: we know what old bayous look like since we live on one, but more importantly, I did not want to fight the mosquitoes. Mosquitoes are buzzards flying around waiting for the first weakness in a body. Any body. All the bodies. Swatting, slapping, nothing helps to keep them off except a good breeze and solid doors. We rock in front of a fan. Suffering is mostly unnecessary, even in Louisiana. At least, until the truck decides that it doesn’t want to start. A jump start from a kind, friendly stranger, and we were again on our way.
We eased our way to Lake D’Arbonne State Park on Wednesday. We were able to get a spot on the lake, which was so pretty we decided to park it right there, despite the angle of the camper. The front, where our heads rest, was higher so we didn’t think we’d mind. Anything to avoid unhooking the truck. It’s just too much work and everything is heavy, so I am more in the way than help. We didn’t mind the little angle, though I did feel a little drunk (without a sip) when I walked too fast and the trailer shook. But, hey, I needed to slow down.
Jimmie Davis State Park was last on this trip. We had plans to stay there for a couple of days, but we woke up to hot milk in a broken refrigerator. Ohh, no! I want it duly noted that I suggested the problem could be that we were angled too much. That got nixed in a hurry. Now we were facing down two mechanical problems, which are two problems too many for my hubs. I might be able to get my way with one issue and get my way, but come on, two? So, we met in the middle and did a driving tour of Jimmie Davis on our way home.
Jimmie Davis State Park
Jimmie Davis State Park, which is on Caney Lake is rather famous for its huge bass fishing. Caney Lake was originally Caney Creek but dammed up to create the lake. We now need to make three other quick trips: one for each of the corners of the state. When we go northeast toward Shreveport, we’ll consider spending a night at Jimmie Davis. It looks really inviting with lots to do if we were to bring a couple of grandies.
In all, we traveled just over 500 miles and visited five parks in five days, plus toured Poverty Point World Heritage Site. It was a whirlwind trip, but not too difficult for a couple of oldies trying to get back into the swing of traveling again. The camper is beautiful and I do love it, but there are some problems with hauling it. It’s a great deal of work, requires more gas than we can easily afford, and we know we can handle living in a smaller setup. That’s for another day. For now, I’m trying to catch up on the things I should have completed already. This post is one. Check!
Before I go, I want to tell you that I’ve updated my “Returns and Refunds” page. Have a great week, everyone! I’ve been enjoying some slow-stitching while rocking in the shade. More on that when there’s something to share rather than rip out.
