Left the Runner’s Expo in downtown Baton Rouge & hit I-10 West to Lafayette.  An hour half until our scheduled swamp tour on Lake Martin.  Travelled to Louisiana, so wanna see gators, right?

50-State Marathon prep:

• Alaska – ice climbing
• Arizona – Saguaro Nat’l Park cactus hike
• Louisiana – bayou swamp tour 🙂

Quick turn in Breaux Bridge, six miles down a dirt road, a left, a right – then ‘you have arrived’ at the Meetin’ Place.  Did a quick walk-about, met our guide, then loaded onto a small metal fishing boat.

Travelled slow through the swamps of Lake Martin — surrounded by bald cypress, trunk-swollen in murky water & covered in Spanish moss.  Creepy, quiet bayou undergrowth filled with herons, egrets, cormorants & other fish-feeders.

Comfortable temps – sunshine & upper 50’s – but unfortunately too cool to coax any gators from their cozy mud burrows.

FAAANNNNTASTIC pre-race adventure!  AND no bugs – awesome benefit to touring in January 🙂

What did I learn?  Gators don’t eat from October to March.  Their heartbeat slows & they remain fairly inactive during the cool Louisiana winter – feeding off fat stored in their tail.  ALSO – unlike crocodiles, gators are skittish & fearsome of humans.

No gators, no pay (at least not yet).  Could’ve been because our guide was a bit disorganized.  He loaded his next group immediately after we disembarked & off he went.

Dinner?  Noticed a small Cajun seafood shack earlier when entering Breaux Bridge.  Check, done.

Didn’t see any gators so decided to eat gator instead 🙂  Couldn’t tempt M to try more than a bite – but gotta say, I stuffed myself on gator, seafood jambalaya, shrimp zydeco, fried potatoes & bread pudding.  LOVIN’ me some spicy food.  I-EEE!

Carb loading for tomorrow’s marathon run – Cajun style!