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!
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- swamp tour on Louisiana’s Lake Martin
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- lotta photo opportunities
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- Bald Cypress
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- snowy egret (bottom right)
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- Spanish moss
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- anhingas & cormorants
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- our proud National Bird – BEAUTIFUL!
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- SPECTACULAR swamp day – highly recommended!
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- fried gator, jambalaya, shrimp zydeco & bread pudding — all carb’d up for tomorrow’s Louisiana Marathon!
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- eating GATOR in Breaux Bridge, Louisiana
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- what are the chances? waiter with the same name
Left work an hour early, barreled down E-470 to DIA, caught a late flight on Southwest to New Orleans, then drove an hour north to Baton Rouge. Marathon weekend in the Bayou – woo-hoo!
Woke early & drove to Baton Rouge’s River Center – sandwiched between the city’s historic downtown & Mississippi river. Louisiana’s Old State Capitol, Planetarium (housed in an old train station), the USS Kidd & of course…the mighty Mississip’. Yep, super scenic – even in January. Sunshine & 50 degrees – cool, a little windy but BEEEE-UT-IFUL.
Spent at least 30 minutes on the banks of the Mississippi, watching barges slowly travelling through its muddy waters. This river has witnessed so much American history — WOW! No more than a mile wide, I can now swim this distance twice (thanks to consistent Ironman training) 🙂
Bib pick-up, quick stroll through the Runner’s Expo. While I enjoy the solitude of hiking our high mountains, gotta say LOVE the unity & camaraderie of the runner community. This run is gonna be a fun one – happy to be in Cajun Country!
CLICK HERE & enjoy CCR’s “Jambalaya (on the Bayou)”
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- Welcome to Louisiana!
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- USS Kidd & the mighty Mississippi
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- mighty MUDDY Mississip’
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- Louisiana Old State Capitol
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- downtown Baton Rouge
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- Louisiana Runner’s Expo
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- “ready, ready, ready, ready…ready to run” – Dixie Chicks
End of the year & unexpectedly found myself with a few extra days (my employer decided to close between Christmas & New Years). What to do? Kick around locally or road trip. Yep, I vote ROAD TRIP.
Durango & the many peaks on Colorado’s Western Slope have thus far eluded me – hard to spur motivation for the 7 hour drive. Having the extra days off however, no excuses. Drove 5 hours with M before camping near Pagosa Springs.
Day One destination – Mesa Verde National Park. Day Two – Dog Sledding…yep, dog sledding. Awesome idea, huh?
Added Mesa Verde to my Colorado bucket list from a AAA Traveler flyer viewed almost 3 years. Pueblo Indian ruins located in a Southwest backdrop? No brainer – gotta go!
Started at the Visitor Center educating myself on everything Native American. The Pueblo cliff dwelling people settled in Mesa Verde from 500 – 1200 AD (long ago for our continent). Their kiva dwellings were constructed under surrounding cliffs which protected from the harsh winter elements – but also trapped smoke in the village (largest cause of death).
A kiva is a room used by modern Puebloans for religious rituals, many of them associated with the kachina belief system. Among the modern Hopi and most other Pueblo peoples, kivas are square-walled and underground, and are used for spiritual ceremonies.
M & I hiked down to Spruce Tree House, Mesa Verde’s best-preserved & only cliff dwelling open during the winter. Unbelievable [that] these structures still exist & remain intact for visitors to explore. Hard to imagine these ancient people constructed buildings & planted crops 7,000+ft UP. SPECTACULAR!
Drove Mesa Top Loop Road, taking in other nearby cliff dwellings before enjoying late lunch/early dinner in Cortez.
Kick back, catch some zzz’s before tomorrow’s adventure? Nope 🙂
Ended the day at Four Corners Monument, a marker designating the border of 4 US states – Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico & Utah. Located in the middle of a Navaho reservation, kinda sad to see the poverty of our native people. The hour drive from Cortez however was BEE-UT-IFUL. Savored our last hour of sunlight in the neighboring New Mexico mountains.
LOVED this place, LOVED LOVED this day!
Road Trip: The Southwest’s Four Corners
https://travel.nationalgeographic.com/travel/road-trips/four-corners-southwest-road-trip/
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- Mesa Verde Nat’l Park
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- cliff dwelling people of Mesa Verde
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- chilly day in the American Southwest
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- Spruce Tree House
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- inside a native Kiva
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- LOVE Pueblo ruins!
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- smoke infused village (poor circulation)
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- adobe townhomes (500-1200 AD)
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- Navajo Canyon settlement (inset)
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- Cliff Place cliff dwelling
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- 75% of park has burned since 1925 (frequent lightning strikes)
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- cowboying near Cortez
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- Four Corners Monument – CO, UT, AZ & NM
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- sunset over New Mexico – SPECTACULAR!
