The Louisiana Bayou is a place of legend and lore. A primeval swamp more associated with monsters than the modern world. Many who have never been most likely get their preconceptions of the Bayou from movies and books. My vision of the bayou came from Disneyland’s Pirates of the Caribbean ride.
This indoor dark ride starts off with your boat leisurely floating down a meandering river through the bayou at night. As your journey takes you past wood plank cabins and keel boats, you can hear crickets chirping and frogs croaking. A banjo softly plays. The bayou setting is aglow with stars in the sky and the orange flames of kerosene lamps. Just before your boat plunges into the pirates abyss you scan the ripples in the water hoping to spot an alligator while secretly hoping that you don’t!
My wife and I are snowbirds. As early retirees we spend our summers in Vancouver, Washington playing with our granddaughter. In the winter we travel south in our RV. We travel as much to find a winter warm spot as we do to see America. To visit new places. After spending a week at Disneyland in California for Christmas with family, we headed east.
This year our journey took us across the Interstate 10 on our way to Florida. Sometimes in our winter travel things start to get cold, even in the sun belt. But this year seemed especially brisk. As we made our way across east Texas the temperatures started to drop. By the time we got to Lafayette, Louisiana we knew that there was a storm headed our way. New Orleans would have to wait.
We hunkered down south of Lafayette on the edge of the bayou at Lake Fausse Point State Park. Temps were already in the 30’s when we arrived. We had plenty of propane for our heater, as well as food. We just had to get off the roads before they iced up.
After setting up camp we decided to explore the park while we still could. We walked along a boardwalk on the edge of the bayou. Mr. Disney got a lot of things right. While there were no keel boats, there were wood plank cabins. Spanish Moss hung from the trees, vines attached themselves to anything that would carry them aloft, and the roots of the Bald Cypress sprung from the waters edge like stalagmites in a cavern.
There were no creatures anywhere to be found. No frogs or crickets, the forest was silent. Along the muddy shores tracks from deer, armadillo and alligators were visible. But like us they too had found places to hunker down to weather the approaching storm.
The next morning I opened my window shade and saw something that hasn’t been seen in the bayou in years, snow. Eight inches of it. There hasn’t been that much snow here in over 130 years. This wasn’t the bayou we were expecting.
Just because we try to avoid cold weather doesn’t mean that we weren’t prepared. After donning our wool beanies, waterproof boots and a couple of extra layers, we ventured outside. With her doggy coat on Sasha began bounding through the snow. We had to be careful where we walked as there were a number of ponds in the campground which were now frozen and hidden beneath the thick white blanket.
We had expected to see lots of wildlife in the bayou, but it was seemingly devoid of life. There were a couple of stray house cats that lived under the rangers office who would travel the campground, even in the snow. They ate the treats we left outside in a bowl but would not let us pet them. A red northern cardinal landed on a branch outside our rear window and watched us for a bit. And a swamp rabbit left its trail in the snow.
For the next few days we ventured out only to walk our dog. Any plans to hike the bayou or tour it by boat were canceled. My wife read some books and worked on a puzzle, I used the time to write and catch up on the news. When the snow had retreated enough to expose the roads and trails we went exploring, careful not to step in frozen ponds. Melting snow still clung to life in the shadows. The birds and squirrels came out to forage but the bayou was still silent.
Our bayou experience wasn’t what we were expecting, but it was still beautiful. After nearly a week it was time to leave. News reports showed that though some bridges were still closed the roads had mostly reopened. We packed a lunch, hooked up the trailer and headed out of the park. Our journey eastward was overdue, New Orleans awaited.