Our Last Day at Tickfaw

  Today is our last day here at this state park…We have really enjoyed it.  This morning I went to their laundry and did a couple loads..They have 3 washers and 3 dryers, all Maytag, and it’s only $1.00 a load to wash and the same to dry. ..and the dryers run for an hour.  This is much cheaper than the Laundromats, where it is about $1.50-$2 @ to wash and to dry…and then you are lucky to get 30 minutes on the dryers…This makes for hanging damp clothes all over the fiver to finish drying…looking like a gypsy camp.

  This morning on our walk, I didn’t take my camera, which is a guarantee we will see some wildlife..Yup…We were walking the wooden walkway through the swampland, and suddenly we both heard a large splash!..We expected we had startled a sun bathing Gator on the banks, and we could see bubbles and mud stirred up and now moving underneath our walkway and over to the other side.  We stood and watched the air bubbles (actually, I hid behind McGuyver)..and suddenly this little face popped up and peered at us..This was a cute little face, not one with scales and big teeth…We laughed as we watched a Muskrat family of 4 scurry out of the water, up the bank and into the thicket…At first we thought they were beaver, but their tales were rat like (yuck)…McGuyver , my loyal scout, identified them as Muskrats for me…I wouldn’t have had a clue.  …and of course, I had no camera.  I should know better by now, right???

 

Next to Dennis is a huge uprooted tree, viewed from the bottomroots.  There are lots of these in this swampland..Apparently, the ground is so wet, it won’t support the bigger trees, with the exception of the Cypress who LOVE  the water.

 

 

Yesterday, I walked out to what is called the “fishing” pond.    McGuyver and I had walked around it on Tuesday, hoping to catch  see a lazy Gator sunning himself.  The path goes all the way around the pond, with a few picnic tables scattered here and there…In my humble opinion, I really can’t imagine myself sitting calmly at one of these picnic tables, eating lunch, while watching a Gator clamber up on the tree bank in front of me..Nope…not happening!

 

 

Above, left, Den at the end of the pier on the fishing pond…Right, he is trying to lose me on the walk around the fishing pond…but I managed to keep up.

 

Above, left…looking inland from the path…green swampwater ..Right is a photo of the pier from the other side of the pond.  I just had this a feeling we were being watched on our walk, and that the wildlife would immediately appear when we DIS appeared…So, later in the afternoon, I walked back to the pond alone, being very quiet and covert, camera in hand, trying to sneak up on something…anything!! And..sure enough….

I’m saying this is a Snowy Egret…just saying. This pond was soooo still and quiet that reflections were all around me…

I am having some problems making enhancements on Picasa and saving some of the photos..It tells me the disc is full and won’t let me save my changes on some photos, especially if I crop them…Hence, the uneven color between photos…This is really hacking me off, as you can imagine, and...I am in full “Maxine” mode when working on photos, so this computer is lucky it isn’t “swimming with the fishes”…and gators!

Tomorrow, we are leaving here and going about 115 miles West to the town of Opelousas, LA , self proclaimed Zydeco Capitol of The World…They have a park called  South City Park that has RV camping …right in town.  They have 67 sites with W & E for $10 a night…Yep, I thought it was cheap, too. I don’t think they take reservations, so I hope they have a spot.

One more thing…This is for Al and Kelly, who are experiencing some trouble with their satellite dish tripod set up…In case you couldn’t get our attachment photos on email, you two,  here is what McGuyver did with our TV dish, so we never have to worry about a tripod…

He holds this down with 4 long tent stakes…Never had one problem….MCGUYVER’S “THE MAN”,EH??

"If you don't have the right equipment for the job, you just have to make it yourself." - MacGyver (Out in the Cold)

(OK, I just discovered I’ve been spelling his name wrong..I shall correct that from now on!! After all, I’m his WIFE!)