Louisiana . . . Laa Dee Daa

     Adios East Texas, Bonjour Central Louisiana! This is my third summer on the road with La Lair, and it still feels like a honeymoon.  I love my diesel van; during the winter, it's a tack room and tows my horse Topaz in a trailer . . .

And during the summer, it's an RV on the back roads of the USA. Last week after cleaning out the horse hairs, I packed La Lair for another five months of adventure. Topy came to my front door to say goodbye.

     My first campground was about 200 miles east of my cottage; Kincaid Lake Recreation Area (click here for map) which is located in the Kisatchie National Forest.

     Unlike most artificial lakes that are noisy with speed boats, Kincaid Lake has too many stumps/snags to go fast. Boaters here motor slowly and carefully while fishing.

     There's something about Louisiana that makes me say "Laa dee daa".  I say it with the same inflection as Dianne Keaton in the movie "Annie Hall."  I'm not sure why. From the moment I crossed the Texas border into Louisiana and took notice max speeds were 45 and 55 mph (instead of Texas' 65 and 75 mph), I smiled and said "Laa dee daa".

     Louisiana's back country roads are interesting. I passed a convoy of over 100 mud-caked RVs and flat-bed trailers with muddy big-tire custom-made vehicles (like the clean one pictured below). They were heading home from a weekend at Louisiana's Annual Mud-Fest.

   There's still the occasional Antebellum mansion. This one is now a wedding and party facility, Juliette's Antebellum Mansion in Boyce.

     I haven't done a long hike since last summer. So I decided to do an "easy" 9-mile Kincaid Lake Loop Trail (click here for trail map). It's a typical southern Piney Woods environment. The trail was wonderful; it's a well-marked, well-maintained path of pine needles on soft sand, no rocks.

     When I trot with Topy on woodsy trails at home (East Texas, very similar to central Louisiana), I don't get off the saddle to notice and wonder about the little things. Such as, why do leaf cutter ant colonies choose red dirt? I passed several of these colonies and they had all excavated red dirt.

     The gentle sound of lapping water around the lake shore made interesting sand ripples underwater.

     See the insects on the petals? What flower is this?

     What orange flower is this?

    The trail isn't boring. I think it's an excellent sampling of central Louisiana's flora and fauna. There were signs at the trailhead "Do not feed alligators", "If you see feral hogs, do not provoke, turn around and walk away", laa dee daa.

    I confess I intentionally provoked this little guy.

     There was a long boardwalk over a boggy area; saw no snakes or alligators.

     These pony-tail shaped saplings from 3 to 6 feet tall are Longleaf Pine trees and when mature, they'll be at least 70 feet tall. They're indigenous to this area including East Texas.

     The Longleaf is often confused with the Loblolly Pine, but there's no mistaking the Longleaf pinecone, it's much larger. Another major difference is the Longleaf Pine lives longer than other southern pines.

    I passed hundreds of young and mature magnolia trees, many with blooms. Their immense flower petals fell on the trail. This is just one petal; as big as my hand.

     Does anyone know, what are these dirt towers?

     And what is this pretty yellow fungi on a dead log?

     Laa dee daa, Spanish Moss draped over magnolia trees everywhere . . . .

     This dinner plate has been pecked over thoroughly . . . .

     My reward for finishing nine miles? A blood-filled blister on my little toe.