Gators and a Plantation

First of all, this is what they call a stacking lane in Louisiana.  There are grass filled medians down the middle of almost every road and every few yards is a stacking lane.  So if you want to go to a store that a left hand turn is required, you proceed to the next stacking lane and make a u-turn and go back.  Also, stacking lanes are used to make left hand turns....you get into the stacking lane when it's clear on your side and then wait for traffic to clear on the opposite side.  Ok, see how many cars in that stacking lane?  It can be scary business.  Brent says you need a constant supply of heart medication to drive in Louisiana.  Also, Louisiana has fast speed limits.  This road has a speed limit of 45 so you need to be quick when getting on and off.

We went to an alligator park a couple of weeks ago in Natchitoches (pronounced nack-a-dish). Natchitoches is about 3 hours north of Baton Rouge.  

On the way to the gators, we stopped an took this picture of the Red River which eventually empties into the Mississippi.  I almost felt like I was in Brazil taking a picture of the Amazon River.  Although, I have never been there, this is how I imagine it to look like.  So green with jungle to the river.  

Ok, back to the gators.

Stacks of em'.  

Stacked up....appropriate for Louisiana.  They are very pre-historic and scary as heck!  When they are lying around like this they look almost dead....and then an eye slowly opens and you get the feeling of being sized up.  One of the ways they catch their food is looking dead and then a poor unsuspecting creature gets too close and lunch is served!  We learned that an alligator can run faster than a horse at short distances.  

An albino.  Too much sun and he wouldn't make it.

Crusin'

Lunch time.  There were probably 30 to 40 gators in this swamp.  Only a few bothered themselves to swim out to get something to eat. 

A pretty little bird I saw.  There are beautiful birds in Louisiana and bird songs that make you stop to listen. 

This past weekend we visited the San Francisco Plantation which was originally called Sans Frusquin, a name derived from a French slang phrase meaning, "without a penny in my pocket", in reference to it's high construction cost.  That fountain is made of two sugar pots they used to cook down the sugar harvested by slaves on the plantation.  The house in the background was built about 1855.  

You can kind of see the slave cabins there behind the trees.  I would have taken more pictures of them but our camera ran out of battery.  Jeeesh!  I was frustrated.  Anyway,  the registry showed that at it's height, the plantation supported 70 slaves.  It also showed how much they cost each.  If a slave was skilled, such as a blacksmith, he would cost around $2000.  In all, for this plantation, the cost of buying those 70 slaves was $66,000.  It gave me the creeps.

This is the back of the house.  The front faces the river.  You can kind of see the grassy knoll in front of the house.   That's the river levee.  When standing on the porch in front of the house you can see the river, it's that close.  Inside was much of the original furnishings which if I had a camera, I would have taken a picture of.  :(   Those 2 side towers on each side of the house are water cisterns.  Rainwater was collected from the roof for use in the house.  Two brothers owned the house.  One Confederate and one Union when the Civil War broke out.  The younger brother went and fought for the Confederacy and survived the war.  The older brother stayed home and ran the plantation and housed Union troops when they came through.

This is me trying to be artistic.  Needs work.

These are the 'go homes' for May.  Elder Terribillini from California. Elder Wilkins from Logan, UT. Elder Harris from Springville, UT.  Elder Calderon from Georgia.  Elder Maher from Ohio.  Elder Hausladen from Las Vegas.  

 Another shot of that Amazonish looking river.  Love you all.

Carol