Busybussin'!

Hey, here I am again,believe it or not! This will be about our trip into yet another bayou, but this was oh so different! This fellow was born and raised here, and was very knowledgeable about the things here. He has been in the bayous since He was 3 or 4, when his dad use to take him in his boat to go fishing.
Here is what it looked like when we started out, breathtaking, to say, the least! We all asked what that houseboat was doing out here,(next picture down) He laughed and said "itsa sad,sad stowree" "Thees feller brought it bahind a truck, put it in the wata, and was gona rent it aut to da tourist what come ever year, but not knowin' what He was a doin', hit bottom right off da bat and messed up the plummin', crazy fool dint have the mowney to feex it, and if he takes it outa da wata, He aint neva gona git it back in! Sad, Sad stowree!"

As we headed into the canal, that is actually the bayou, we had some company. Gliding quietly beside us, only about 15ft away, and mind you, we are in this 20ft. fishing boat that holds only about 12 people,was this Alligator, just watching to see which one of these "tourist" would taste the best, and I'm thinkin' "NOT ME, I'm to FAT", but then the guy says that Fat is what keeps them warm in the winter! GULP!!!!! Bill and I were in the very front of the boat, because I didn't want to miss anything, and the 'gator was keeping pace, guess where, AT THE FRONT OF THE BOAT!!!!Help!!!!! Someone said they should have brought marshmallows to feed him, and I thought the guy was gona throw him off the boat! "Thees is NOT an Alligator Farm, it is the real theeng, an if he chose to he could turn thees boat ova and have lunch, don theenk about it, OK?" It was sure OK for Bill and I, and the other guy decided not to be funny!!

Here is a good picture of a Cypress Tree, and it's "knees", no one knows just why they are like this, but some think it is to give the trees stabilization during the Hurricanes down here.

This tree was a dead Oak that had been dead for over 60 years, but still standing.(ever feel like this?) It is really sought after wood because it is very hard and makes good furniture, etc. No, it isn't like our oak trees in Oregon.

A cypress tree planted on land has a straight up and down trunk, but those in the water sorta "spread out" like this, told Bill, "Hey that's what happened to me, shoulda kept me out of the doggone water!" I thought the boat was gona turn over cause the other 5 were laughing so hard!!

Here he is, getting closer,do,do,do,do.......

This pretty little girl was really nervous when we came close, the fella told us what it is, but for the life of me I can't remember, so if you know, E~mail me, OK?

We sat real still for about 5 minutes and she decided that we weren't a threat, sooo...She very gingerly stepped OFF her nest to show us her beautiful eggs! She stayed off a long time, then walked very slowly over, as you can see in the next picture and.........

Fluffed her feathers and sat back down very carefully. It was incredible to see this, and the fellow said that if we hadn't been really quiet, she would never have done that!

This looks like a carpet across the water, so pretty, but it is really called "Duck weed", will tell you why a ways down the blog, OK?

This is spanish moss, did you know that it blooms, and has little pod like things that SPIT out seeds to grow MORE spanish moss, then how come they charge so much for it in the stores I ask you!

This is just a small one the guide saw, so he went "fishing" sorta. He puts minnows on his line and then tries to hit the 'gator on the head with it, It is perfectly legal, and as you can see, he went for the bait. The guy pulled back his line and had half a minnow left, the 'gator just looked at us then disappeared beneath the water, YIKES, maybe he thought it was a sample finger from one of those pesky tourists!

He really had a big mouth, and he was fairly close to the boat, but I couldn't help it, just had to take this picture, if he had come after me, maybe someone would get my camera and put this picture on!!!

We were gliding along, and suddenly the guide veered off to the left and told us to take a look see, and there they were, the cutest little critters, there are 3 pictures of them, and if you look you will see there several different sizes. These little guys won't eat each other, they sorta take care of each other. The mama won't eat them, but any other Alligator over 2 years will! We asked where MaMa was, cause they were squeaking like a toy, and the guide said, "Very Near, probably just under the surface, I think it is best that we leave, they are starting to get nervous, and like any other MaMa, she will protect them to her death, or ours". YIKES Bye,bye little babies!!

Cute little boogers!

Aren't they just the cutest??? They do bite tho!

Here is where Bill and I sat in the boat, and it was AWESOME, the weather was perfect, not to hot, and had a gentle breeze!

This is a duck blind, actually it was the THIBODEAUX duck blind, there were many more, but all have been abandoned, because when they dammed to make the lake, all the "duck grass" (remember?) disappeared except in the Bayou it self, and the ducks just decided to go elsewhere to eat. Can't say as I blame 'em, why go to a restaurant that has no food!!!

This shows where you park your boat, then crawl into this hole, and inside there are holes facing the lake, and when the ducks come, BOOM, go get 'em dawg!

This is a blue Heron, it was nesting time and they are protected, I did get a picture of some fluffy headed chicks, but didn't think it was close enough for you to see, sorry!

Isn't this a serene scene??

I took this because it was so beautiful, and blessing of all blessing, there were literally Millions of big beautiful Dragonflies, (much to fast for me or my camera), but because of them you will never find a mosquito in the Bayou!! Cool, Huh?? (no chiggers either?) Don't know.

We headed back in, paid the man, he said to keep our money, and IF we got back, we could pay him. funny, haha!But as you see, we got back!

Hopped out of the boat and somebody hollered "I'm Hungry", NOPE IT WASN'T ME, this time. We asked the guy where we could get some good food and he sent us down to Pouches, pronounced Poo~sheys, and He was sooo right, the food was amazing! And even Bill stepped out of his box a little,He got pork riblets in gravy over rice, and ate every bite. Me, I got my ettoffee, and it was sure different than the last time, a lot hotter, but not burning, just good, and the sauce wasn't as smooth, but it was wonderful and the price was about half of the last one, I ate every bite along with my pork n beans, coleslaw and a roll. There was an amazing amount of crawfish in there, guess it was because that is where the locals eat, and there were plenty of folks there to eat. You got in line, decided what you wanted to eat, and whiles they were dishing up, you paid. It was great and the line was LOOOONG, but we got in the front. Thank the Lord!

Bills food, Yummy

YUMMO, even the coleslaw was amazing!

These are the folks we were with, they are Eagle bus owners too. On the left is Dave & Lois, on the right is Dick & Di, we enjoyed being with them, they were as nutty as we were!!!

Then we fired up Whody and headed out, within an hour our windshield was full of bugs, 'sometimes you're the windshield, sometimes you're the bug' now I ask you, how many crazy ya~hoos take picture of bugs on a windshield?? Sorry sometimes I just can't hep ma sef!!

I just thought this was so cute, this guy was really carrying a heavy load, don't ya think??? Cracked us up.

Well folks, that's it for now, I will be down a few days 'cause Bill is going to be doing some maintanence on Whody and we won't be doing much. But don't give up, do come back and see us, it will only be a couple of days, I promise! In the meantime, Love, Prays & Smiles from us to you, Arlette & Bill too, and the Sassy