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| Blacksmith turned into Pointe Noir. Point Noir crossed PB and rejoined 35 and I headed south. PB was now to my west. |
| I left 35 and went west on 365 at Branch, crossing the bayou a few
miles west of town. This is one of the last remaining bridges where the bayou's name can be read. On many of the other old bridges, the abutments have been augmented which has covered the old names. Such a shame. Now, without that easy recognition, no one will know their local geography. I asked some kids down on Bayou Rouge what the name of the bayou was. They didn't know. Or maybe they just didn't care. |
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| I took Heinman, a gravel road south off of 365. It joined 367 which crossed the bayou just before La 1113, where I went west again. |
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| I was now on La.370, one of my favorite routes out into the Praire. I'd been riding out here long ago but hadn't really gotten into Prairie rambling until the ride Dave sent me on. He had set up points of interest, a lot were his personal interest, granted, but a lot were places and things which are universally interesting. The Prairie is a canvas or maybe a backdrop for all kinds of stuff, natural and manmade. With the added relaxed admosphere, it makes a wonderful place to ride anything. Sorry, I'm rambling, again. |
| Ponds and flooded rice fields are a big part of the Prairie. They provide liquid airconditioning in the summertime heat. They may be a factor in the wind blowing all the time. It is not a bothersome breeze. When you stop there's not that dead calm heat. |
| La.370 heads toward Mowata. Plaquemine Brule did not. I had to head south and Blacksmith Road was the ticket. |
| A James Taylor moment presented itself. (he sang "Going Down a Country Road"). I now realize that not everyone is 50 or older and/or remembers all that trivia. |
| Man had obviously been messin' with the bayou. Man can disfigure anything. |
| You may not know how rare this scene is. I "get around" and I'll tell you it is rare. It is part of the Praire, also. The many bayous support this growth. More of the Prairie had been this way. Only low, unfarmable lands remain in this condition. |
| You just can't take too many pictures. You may share too many pictures, but that's their problem. I know I saw something special in each of the shots. But, alas, I'm not real clear on that right now. Look hard and you may see something I'm missing. What I did see was this.......... |
| The sleuth in me figures that this was not the first bridge here, or, that concrete block down there supported a rail crossing. I'll go with "previous car bridge", first. |
| DL waited as I dealt with PB. |
| This picture demostrates what I was talking about when I mentioned the rarity of certain scenes and the fact that treed areas were limited to non-farmed lands and low areas. Down the road is where the wetland ceases and farming commences. |