On to Texas

Yesterday we left Mississippi behind, bypassed New Orleans, and crossed the state of Louisiana on I-10. The governor had recently called for some evacuations due to the rising waters of the Mississippi River, but we sailed well above it on the highway, crossing it at Baton Rouge and entering "The West".  There are long stretches of I-10 in LA that are above swamp and the waters below are full of egrets and other water birds.  We had a lunch break at the visitors center for the Atchafalaya River/Bayou/Refuge in the middle of it all---good exhibits, free coffee, and a man playing Cajun music in the lobby.

We crossed into Texas in early afternoon and pulled over for the night in Lumberton, just north of Beaumont.  We're at Village Creek State Park, which is small but nice.  Apparently it's a place favored by paddlers, as they can travel along the creek through Big Thicket, just to the north, and pull in here for the night at the tent sites along the water.  Today we'll go through Houston and head for our next stop at Goose Island State Park near Corpus Christi.