April 29, 2014 (8th Day)

It is hard to believe that a week has gone by since the beginning of our journey.

Now on the 2nd week and we are looking forward to exploring more areas.

Spending the night at Walmart parking lot was not a problem. We slept through the whole night.
Arose to see the sky so cloudy and it was in high 70's.

After breakfast we got on Prospect Blvd (3087) from Grand Calliou. It started to drizzle when we were on way to Highway 24. The storm clouds were hovering above us. The drive on Highway 24 was very interesting, and Edith spotted a small shrimp trawler along the bayou.

Many nice/fancy homes on Route 659. Erwin stopped at Roland's Klondyke Mini Mart for coffee at the intersection of 659 and Hwy 24. While getting coffee he saw meat pies and decided to get one. He used to live in Lousiana for several years and has always talked about how good meat pies were.

Now on Gateway to the Gulf Parkway (Main St - LA 1). Stopped in Cutoff, LA to take pictures of shrimp trawlers and a houseboat being built.  We were surprised to see a lot of houseboats, some of them so beautiful and others in rundown conditions.

On the same route Erwin spotted several locquat trees that are loaded with Japanese plums, so we pulled aside, grabbed a plastic bag and picked some. Oh my, they were oh so so good.

This is what seeds looked like inside the tiny plum.

We made several stops along the canal to take pictures of the barges going through Galliano Bridge in Galliano, LA. We crossed this bridge to go to the cemetery that caught Edith's eyes.  Almost everything was so white and the burial very interesting and different.  Tombstones and plaques.

It started to rain, and Erwin hurriedly walked back to the van, but Edith was not done with taking pictures. Just one more picture, she said and when she turned around this plaque grabbed her attention. A 'ILY' hand sign engraved on the slab. Little did she know that she would later meet the guy whose parents are buried there.

We had to wait for about 15 minutes before we could cross back to LA-1 because there were two barges going through.  We continued traveling along the canal.  Hundreds and hundreds of shrimp trawlers, some so big and some so little. Some in excellent condition and some really in bad shape.

It was amazing to see that the canal we drove along is almost as high as the road we were on.

There was a road construction in Golden Meadows, LA, but it did not take long to get out of it.

Toll bridge to Grand Isle was $3.  Very interesting bridge. The old LA-1 was destroyed by hurricanes, so the new high bridge was built.  We arrived Grand Isle town limit at noontime.

Almost 95% of homes are built on stilts.  We checked into Grand Isle State Park at 12:30 pm.

Got site #2 next to the campground host site.  We decided to spend 2 nights here, so we can really relax and enjoy the scenery.. It is a short walk to the bathhouse and the beach.

After settling in we walked to the beach and strolled along the shoreline. There were lots of seagulls and plovers.

There were roped off areas for least tern nesting. We decided to go biking and went to the observation tower, went up and got a good view of Grand Isle. Check the video below
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-89cO1YGcso

For supper Edith fixed tacos, but she could not find salsa and she swore that she brought it from home, so we went without salsa. While eating there was a lady walking a big dog, and we introduced ourselves.  The breed is called Leonburger from Great Pyrenees and Newfoundland then St. Bernard and Mountain Dog.  Her fur was so soft and wavy.  A 2 year old named Samantha.

Settled in for the night around 9 pm. The evening was very windy, but cool. It was easy to bike east but tough to go west against the wind!