February 1, 2013 More Beaches

Today it was sunny and not very windy, so we snapped the leashes on the dogs and stepped outside to walk to the beach.  Before we got out of the Park we were being consumed by super-big, very hungry mosquitoes.  Well, maybe it will be better at the beach - nope, they are there, too.  They like me and Shorty but they love Randy and Julienne.  So we scooped the dogs up and quick-walked back to the RV.  

It seemed like a perfectly good day was going to be wasted until Chris called to suggest we all head across the state line to some Louisiana beaches they like.  That sounded good so we put the dogs in the car and drove East.  It’s a 90 mile drive to get there so we got to see a good piece of the country.  We passed through wetlands on both sides of the road, and to our surprise we saw a lot of Prickly Pear cactus along a long stretch.  Cactus in the wetlands - who knew?  

Because the road runs so close to the Gulf, it passes over several waterways.  Instead of putting in drawbridges, here they make the bridges tall enough for ships to pass underneath.  The bridges looks like very steep hills as you approach them.  Good thing it doesn't snow here.

A lot of houses along this stretch are built on stilts, too.  And this was the first time I've seen a church on stilts.

When we got to the beach we parked the cars and took the dogs out with us as we looked for shells.  Last week they found big shells on that beach but today we found that sand had covered those.  Now other shells litter the beach - small ones, but lots of them.  We don’t really need more shells but we had fun strolling along the beach with Chris.  Lonnie stayed with us awhile, then he headed off in search of fossils while the rest of us walked slower, picking up shells just because they are so pretty.  Besides shelling, we also were watching the dogs have a wonderful time.  Shorty and Pita spent hours chasing each other and wrestling, while Julienne walked daintily out of the way.  

On the way back home we stopped at a roadside restaurant/gas station that Chris suggested for fried chicken.  Good recommendation!  The dogs conked out on the ride home.  We stayed awake while we were on the road, but found it easy to just relax at home all evening.